“Faith in God includes faith in his timing”
~Neal A. Maxwell
I’m reading this quote over and over again
trying to let it soak in…trying to immerse myself in the true meaning of it. I’ve
come to realize that when things fall into place in a way that I understand and
agree with, my faith in HIM and HIS timing his never in question but when the “reasons” are unclear to me,
HIS timing –subsequently, my faith in
HIM- is put in question… WHY?
Why does God allow suffering to happen?
More specifically, why does God let bad things happen to good people? Why doesn’t
he stop the evil? What is the purpose? What is the lesson? What are the
reasons?
Each day brings new tragedy that we don’t
understand. The Holocaust. A small child dying in his mother’s arms when medical
treatments fail. A newlywed couple is killed by a drunk driver as they leave
for their honeymoon. A faithful missionary family is attacked and killed by the
very people they were ministering to. The lone woman seating on the same rooftop
that now covers her lifeless family she hadn’t been able to save during
Hurricane Katrina. The boy crying at the loss of his entire family in the Asian
Tsunami along with the thousands that drowned. Many others are buried in
earthquakes. Carefree and passionate marathon runners and supporters getting
hurts and losing their lives, limbs after an unspeakable assault. Thousands are
killed in a terrorist attack…
I don’t know the reasons why God allowed
all of these things to happen. I understand HE
gave us free will and probably don’t want to violate that gift. Why ones free
will should affect someone else’s life? Do we need to be interconnected at all time?
I’m sure HE could stop some of the horrible things that don’t involve free
will, the things that are just a mere display of evil in the world.
But then again, I'm
human. I can't see as God sees... I cannot in good conscience say that,
because I see no possible reason(s), therefore no reason(s) could possibly
exist. Without God-eye-perspective on things, I simply don't have the ability
to make judgment calls on the justice or injustice of God's actions (or
inactions).
Real faith in God includes not only faith
in HIM, but in HIS timing, and because I don’t always understand thus accept HIS timing (or what I perceive as lack
of involvement in making things right) it is one of the things that it is most
difficult for me to have seamless faith in. I struggle as I want to keep my
faith in HIM and HIS timing as two separate entities but know deep down it is one. Never
before has this quote rang so true to me.
"With time and
perspective most of us can see good reasons for at least some of the tragedy and pain that
occurs in life. Why couldn't it be possible that, from God's vantage
point, there are good reasons for all of them?
"If you have a God great
and transcendent enough to be mad at because he hasn't stopped evil and
suffering in the world, then you have (at the same moment) a God great and
transcendent enough to have good reasons for allowing it to continue that you
can't know. Indeed, you can't have it both ways."
~Timothy Keller.
~Timothy Keller.
When I question God’s timing, it is often
because I am looking for guidance or deliverance from a difficult situation. When
I judge or question God's standards of how HE
does things, I forget the “wonderful” HE's
already done. HE's already given me
mercy, opportunity to overcome pain and suffering by believing. I forget the
gift HE gave me to face and beat
death. I forget everything that HE will
eventually return to bring. I forget the promise of everlasting…
In any thoughts,
positive or negative, being able to channel them, question them, understand
them without really understanding (boils down to faith) and to accept them
without really believing in the righteousness of it all is HAVING FAITH IN GOD AND IN HIS TIMING…
We will be okay…
RosieSandz
