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You didn’t answer my questions. Did your fellow Christians help and comfort you in times of trouble, as they were told to do by Jesus? Did you not believe God when He said He loved and cared for you, to the degree of knowing the very numbers of hairs on your head?
I'd be happier if God quit paying attention to the number of hairs on my head and turned his attention to taking care of people who are in harm's way.
I'd be happier if God quit paying attention to the number of hairs on my head and turned his attention to taking care of people who are in harm's way.
Thanks, you said it better and more concisely than I did.
It's like if I were married to this woman and did not answer her desperate cries for help from downstairs. I cower in the bedroom while she is beaten senseless by a burglar. When I come downstairs after the intruder has left, she asks me in between spitting out her teeth why I didn't come, and I say, "how dare you doubt my love for you. I know that you have 7 pimples on your back, after all". I mean, it's really beside the point.
Thanks, you said it better and more concisely than I did.
It's like if I were married to this woman and did not answer her desperate cries for help from downstairs. I cower in the bedroom while she is beaten senseless by a burglar. When I come downstairs after the intruder has left, she asks me in between spitting out her teeth why I didn't come, and I say, "how dare you doubt my love for you. I know that you have 7 pimples on your back, after all". I mean, it's really beside the point.
Why do you think God cared for your fellow Christians, but not you?
Why do you think God cared for your fellow Christians, but not you?
I didn't say god cared for my fellow Christians. We were not prone to admit to each other that things weren't Going Well -- so I really wouldn't know. I assume their experience was no different than mine, but they were better at rationalizing it.
I didn't say god cared for my fellow Christians. We were not prone to admit to each other that things weren't Going Well -- so I really wouldn't know. I assume their experience was no different than mine, but they were better at rationalizing it.
I think a lot of Christian belief is delusional along with honestly a lot of secular belief ... but I think what you are asking me is, are Christians who say they experience god's grace and mercy delusional and the answer there would be no, that would assume too much. I have no doubt at all that some people are luckier than others and it would be natural for a devout person to see that as god's positive intervention even if such intervention isn't at all necessary to explain the situation. If they want to give their god credit I am not going to argue with them or disrespect them ... that is their business not mine. Would that they had the humility to return the favor in the other direction!
Christianity is an abstraction, part of the purpose of which is to explain what CS Lewis called "the problem of pain". To make sense of the awful things that sometimes happen. I found that abstraction to be more and more leaky as time went on. If I had more dumb luck (less bad luck?) I probably would have found the amount of leakage acceptable. But for me it had become ridiculous. It would be I who would have been delusional, beyond a certain point, to say that all was well and god was in control and loved me and was helping matters. Or for that matter to accept those assertions from others.
I fully understand that this a place that many fear to go, and that many people are better at dealing with the resulting cognitive dissonance than I. You probably consider this some sort of personal weakness. That's your choice. But in a way I actually had a ton of faith. Enough faith to believe the promises and take them fairly literally, enough to be more surprised than hurt that they didn't come to pass.
Frankly, I find people explaining that these promises don't really mean what they say to be baffling. God promises to comfort us, but strictly through fellow believers or others; god promises to protect or even prosper us, except when he "tests" us. He promises to heal us except when he has Mysterious Ways or some Higher Purpose (or if you're non-charismatic, only through doctors). So then what good exactly ARE these promises? They're usually trotted out when you're seeking a convert as part of the benefit of being on god's side, then they are excused away in actual practice.
What are you really saying but that god just simply doesn't act unless he does it through people and circumstances, the same people and circumstances available to unbelievers and believers alike. I don't think you do the Christian god-concept justice. It's like I was making a warranty claim on a car that won't start and you are gaslighting me about it being my fault somehow, frankly.
It's really a mistake to make so many lavish promises to the faithful; someone might actually expect them to happen!
Why did you turn back to God? Did He change or did you?
That's a good question. I do not believe that God changes, so it was me who changed. Realizing that my past perspective was very skewed. And looking back on that time and realizing that I did have an immature view of God. Seeing through a more mature set of eyes completely reconciled that past time in my life and I have peace. It also made me understand more clearly Jesus on the cross. The suffering he experienced and how it relates to a Creator and his creation. It also brought to mind "Jesus wept", which also brought a different meaning to my heart. I see that young person that I was, cursing God, and I have much compassion for not only the young person that I was in those moments in time, but also, as strange as it will sound, compassion for God. That will not make sense to a lot of people, but I would guess it does make sense for some. Perhaps for those who may have shared a similar path as me. Sometimes, your path in life takes drastic changes that you never expected. Some of those changes are very beautiful and full of peace and reconciliation and growth. An open mind is good, an open heart is even better. The two work together. If you deny one, you stunt your own growth.
I think that's all I'm going to say on this topic. (for now.)
Peace,
sparrow
My experience has been this: When I deeply yearned for God, (not a sign, not some money for bills),
but for Him and/or His Divine Love, that was the key, (that we all have), the sincere desire for Him,(Who has no gender...)
Hey Soul Sister,
I just now read your post and I love it! Been there, doing that for years now. What is so wonderful about God, who I call Father (and who Jesus also calls Father) is to know Him and to Love Him even more. His desire for all of His children... and that's every person who has ever been born and those who are yet to be born... is to have a personal relationship with each one of us.
I have a very strong relationship with Him, which began a year before I joined this forum... so that's 15 years ago. Prior to my joining, He gave to me an extra dose of "courage" so I wouldn't give up. Well, here I am still popping in throughout the years, and I hope to be able to post for a few more. Not that anybody agrees with me, but you!
GB.
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