When God Doesn't Make Sense

When God Doesn't Make Sense Part 1
In 1961, Dr. Carlson had joined a relief agency to serve as a medical missionary in the Belgian Congo. It was only a 6-months commitment, but what he saw there changed his life. He could not forget the hopeless people when he returned to his hometown in California. He said to his colleague, "What you saw there would make you unable to swallow a thing." So, he moved his family to Africa and set up a makeshift clinic. His salary drop to $3230 per year, but money didn't matter.

However, 2 years later, he became a pawn in a bloody confrontation between rival revolutionary factions in Belgian Congo. He was among a small band of Americans held captive near the battle zone. They had one fleeing opportunity to escape by climbing up a wall and drpping to safety on the other side. Dr Carlson reached the top of the barrier and was seconds away from safety when a burst of bullets tore through his body. He fell back. He died.....

That humanitarian commitment cost Dr Carlson his life. Unfair, eh?

That left us to ask, "O Lord, why didn't You have distracted the gunner for another instant?" Even some sweat in his eyes could have prevented a good man's death.............

For times in our lives, we face many agonizing tests and incidents, happening to ourselves or to the people close to us. And we always ask the same questions, "WHY ME!!!???", "What have I done to deserve this from the Lord???", "The Lord doesn't like me and He is trying to punish me and send me to hell when I die.."

We expect the Lord to explain His motives behind all the painful incidents. We try to understand the Lord's intention of letting us suffer. Some vulnerable people start to fall, start to blame the Lord, start to fall into Satan's temptation which always come when they are on their weakest point. Don't we act the same too when we questioned,cursed and blamed the Lord, knowingly or unknowingly?

Maybe we are getting used to a seculiar mind---God loves you and offers a wonderful plan to your life. This statement is certainly true. However it also implies that a believer will always comprehend "the wonderful plan" and that he will approve of it. That may not be true.

In his book Letters to a Young Doctor, Dr Richards said that most of us are protected by an invisible membrane that shields us from horror. We walk in and through it everyday but are hardly aware of it. Then, one day it happens. Without any warning, the membrane tears and terror strikes a person's life...

So, some may ask, "Is our heavenly Father unconcerned about his vulnerable children?" It is almost insane to write such nonsense. Every description given to us in the Bible depicts God as infinitely loving and kind, tenderly watching ang guiding the steps of the faithful. You want proof? How about the great love that led Him to send His only Son as a sacrifice for our sin?

We seem to be struggling with circumstances that don't make sense. We may find it frustrating when things happen that seem illogical and inconsistent with what we learnt from the Bible. Then, if the Lord does not rescue us from those circumstances, some will feel abandoned, and soon his spirit begins to wither. It is logical to think: "If God is all-powerful, why would He let such a terrible thing happen to me? He must hate me."

To be continued..