I can't recall how many times I've heard this.  Can you?  That and  "It's part of God's plan."  

Is it really?  Is God up there somewhere doling out tragedies and blessings because there is some great lesson to be learned by them?  

Are children struck with cancer, hunger, poverty, crimes against them, or even CH because God wants to alter the universe somehow with their suffering?  Or, is it just that life happens and God chooses not to intervene?

I'm just wondering what other views are.

Jeannie

I'll leave the theological discussions to others, but yes I am of the belief that everything does happen for a reason.

I guess God gives us the material and we must choose what to build. We can either build weapons of mass destruction or schools and hospitals.

I once almost slapped my sister halfway to heaven because she suggested god gave me CH to show me how much he loved me.

Tony

The ultimate questions we will probably never really know until our end..trust God that you are where you should be.

I, too, believe that everything happens for a reason.  There have been times (many) when I have said..."should have, could have, would have", but would I be right here, right now if I had, maybe not.

All the pain and suffering, cancer, death, hate, I could go on with this list...I don't have a clue why they are in our lives, but I'm trusting that one day I will find out.

Until then...keep the faith sister!  "It is not length of life, but depth." ~Helen Keller  One of my favorite sayings...

[smiley=hug.gif]

To me, it's just part of life.  

Just to expand on my thoughts a little......

When CH first appeared in my life I used to ask "WHY?". What purpose could this hell have in my life?

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones......I got my answers to those questions. Despite the horrible pain, I'm a better person because of it. I doubt many of you that know me now would recognize me as I was before. So yes, there was a "reason" for me having CH. This in turn drove home the point....there is a reason for everything that happens.

B

Whenever we see something that doesn't fit our concept of "the way God's world should be," we say that it happens for a reason. None of us seem to know what that reason is, but we acknowledge its existence.

Sometimes we learn later what the reason is, but most of the time we don't. Sometimes I think that's a psychological survival technique, sometimes I'm not sure.

Good exists. Evil exists. Does one always win out over the other? Certainly not. I do know this: We would not know what Good looked like if we didn't recognize Evil's face. Which makes me ask: Must they necessarily coexist?

Yes, every thing happens for a reason. But not all of it is for the better. Humans can choose to be good or evil, and even when they are trying to be good they often resemble bulls in a china shop. Huxley once said that about 1/3 of suffering in the world is unavoidable, and about 2/3 we inflict on ourselves and each other.

Another pet peeve: calling earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and blizzards "acts of God."  

Jeannie I recently watched a story based on fact  about Auschwitz in which the Jewish detainees put God on trial for allowing the Holocaust to take place. During their detention they formed a court with those arguing for God's existence and the others arguing that if God did exist he would never allow such suffering. These were very religious men awaiting death knowing that they were about to meet their maker and yet they still made the ruling that god did not exists... Very powerful stuff...!

Lefty...!

Jeannie...
I too believe things happen for a reason but it still makes me sad, mad and pissed off sometimes.  I don't doubt my faith when feeling like this but think my faith is not strong enough.

Love ya,
Jackie

I believe it all happens for a reason and I believe I will know that reason someday. It is just not always ours to know.

Artonio wrote on Apr 7^th, 2009 at 2:24pm:

I guess God gives us the material and we must choose what to build. We can either build weapons of mass destruction or schools and hospitals. I once almost slapped my sister halfway to heaven because she suggested god gave me CH to show me how much he loved me. Tony

Well said Tony. God did not give us Clusters. The Devil did. God gave us the ability and intelligence to fight the curse.

Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason, nothing that we can figure out or understand.  I don't necessarily think that God has *everything* planned for us (or whoever your belief system or not is).  If that were the case, there would be so such thing as free will.  Sometimes, it just *is*.

A good book is When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Rabbi Harold S. Kushner.

A passage of the book says, "  He is limited in what He can do by laws of nature and by the evolution of human nature and human moral freedom.  I no longer hold God responsible for illnesses, accidents, and natural disasters...."   "God does not cause our misfortunes.  Some are caused by bad luck, some are caused by bad people, and some are simply an ineveitable consequence or our being huban and being mortal, living in a world of inflexible natural laws.".

I believe that everything happens for a reason. My faith is a huge part of who I am and I believe in God. I also realize that I don't understand everything, I've accepted that, and I have noticed that some things make sense within time.

Sanna

Thank you all for your responses.  

I too believe in God.   I am struggling right now with "religion" not with faith.  It seems as I get older, things I once felt strongly about I have now begun to question.  Things that once seemed so black and white are now a shade of gray.  This is one area that I have been contemplating.

I have come to believe that circumstances of life are not completely controlled by God.  When we were given free will we were also given consequences.  I'm not saying that our actions are the direct cause of a good or bad thing that may occur in our lives.  I believe that because of living  imperfect lives, in imperfect bodies, on an imperfect planet, we experience imperfections that God did not intend for us.  I also believe that He uses our circumstances to teach us, humble us and bring us closer to Him.  I DON'T believe that He is inflicting disease, pain, or poverty on us.

Anyway, sorry for the deep thoughts from Jeannie :-*  and thanks again for sharing your views.

Jeannie

Jeannie,

I would say that what you said makes a lot of sense, at least to me.

I know how you feel sometimes. I have to cofess that the quote from the movie: "The Dead Zone," when Chris Walken replies to a similar question: "God has been a real sport to me," is hard to get around.

But.... Like my mom said: "There must be something better out there?"

There must be

Charlie

Jeannie,

I believe faith to be a lot more precious than religion...!


Lefty..!

Well in the case of CH - it's a mixed emotion for me.

On one hand, it's given me some of the best friends I'll ever have and an ability to keep going when I just thought I couldn't.

It's also walloped my baby though and that's something I can't come to terms with. I struggle with that one daily.


I do know I've had a lot of adversity at times but I KNOW its that that has made me the person I am. It's not the good times, it's the bad times so yes, in a way they are all good. I just wish it was a lesson I could learn without the heartache.

Everything does happen for a reason. Sometimes it is clear pretty soon, sometimes it becomes clearer with time and sometimes, well there are somethings I won't understand until I stop drawing breath in this world.

I do have faith always though that better times are coming, I've had plenty of proof of that!

I just keep telling myself, one day, all of this will be history..

I like this mans conversation with his Lord.

Guess we have to find a calm way,

to carry on. Andrew.

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Jeannie I think Hope is what we all want whatever or whichever we believe, The hope what we believe is true.
Colin