I am a paramedic, and over the past 11 years of working in EMS (Emergency Medical Services), I have seen many gruesome and inhumane things.
I would like to hear any opinions on why such things happen. I am speaking about car wrecks, infants dying, people witnessing thier family members deaths, there are many examples I could list, but I think I'll stop there; you get the point.
I have been given opinions in the past, but would like to hear others.
Thank you for your time and may God bless each and every one of us,
One of the things we have to understand about God is that He does not micromanage our lives or needs to do so in every little detail of every thing that occurs here on Earth. God has created natural laws, physical laws. He also allows man Free Will and at times our Free Will, the decisions we make can have consequences that affects the lives of others. Let's use the example you gave us about the car wreck.
Why do we assume God had anything to do with it at all? What is God's will mean?
God has two wills. A Perfect will or sovereign in which when He says something will occur then it will. When He acts on His sovereign will we must also realize that God cannot sin nor cause sin as that would make Him a sinner.
Then He has a "Permissive Will where God allows things to occur. Just because He "Allows" something to occur does not necessarily mean it is something He wanted to happen. Does this mean God is not in control? Of course not but we must understand that God is not "controlling" either. God will not allow anything to happen that will interfere with His plans.
While in the case of the car accident can we say it was God's will? We can as long as we understand that it was not His sovereign will but His permissive will. Accidents happen or should I say are caused. Caused by man making stupid decisions or a lack of a good decision. A man or woman goes out drinking, gets drunk and then tries to drive home. They cannot drive correctly and consequently they cause an accident. Was this God's will? Of course not. This was a result of a BAD decision to drink and drive and the consequences of that sin caused the injury or death of another. BUT....God can take this horrible situation and turn it to good. situations like this will turn people to God and somethins though turn them away due to their anger and placing blame on God when it was not His fault. This many times stems from a serious lack of not understanding God. Not truly knowing Him and His great love. This is where we as Christians can reach out to others and comfort them.
I think one of the worse things we can say to someone going through grief in these situations is to say..."well this was God's will" or something along those lines. It gives a bitter taste of God and His true character. It would be better to tell someone...."as difficult as this is, you know that God does love you and will comfort you in this trying time. It is not His will that your little girl got hurt but He can turn this around and somehow, beyond our comprehension, He can take this tragedy and make something good come out of it or something like that. We have to be careful with our words.They can injure or they can comfort.
Walter, your words are so very well written! You have the ability to clearly articulate exactly what you mean and for that I am thankful to you.
I agree that there are no accidents. One can most always explain an "accident" as someone's mistake. Whether it be a parent forgot or didn't pray for protection over their children or themselves and therefore satan was able to get his "hands" on them, or someone was driving too fast, or someone didn't take their medicines as prescribed, there are far too many possibilities to list.
If a parent, or one�s self, forgot or didn�t pray for protection, and they got injured or killed, would that fall under God�s Permissive Will? Whereas, if they had prayed for protection, God would have protected them?
I agree telling a grieving person that, �It was God�s will� is not appropriate. I don�t think we know exactly if it was. But I do agree with you in that God can turn anything bad into good, no matter the situation. He always wants good for us, sometimes we just don�t go about it in the best way.
Lover boy, thank you for sharing your personal examples. Sometimes I can have a tendency to try to make things as black and white as possible, but I know sometimes that�s just not possible.
Before, when I have sought God�s guidance on a matter, I have asked and I thought He�d given me an answer, but it conflicted with what someone else said God told them. So, I asked again and prayed for forgiveness if that was a sin. (to not have faith that He gave me the right answer the first time) He gave me the same answer the second time.
Also, I have noticed that, since I have become closer to God, satan has come after me stronger. It seems that as time goes by, I am dealing with it better and better. Thank you God!
Your personal experiences are greatly appreciated! I hope to hear more from you in the future!
In the garden of eden we were given the choice, we chose to take of the apple, from that point on our lives will become hard, and by rejecting God we choose our own paths. We choose to make the mistakes and we get to live with these consequences.
That being said, The cliche line of everything is done for a reason is true, and by seeing and living through so much of it you are given the strength and knowledge to help those going through difficult situations bring them to God as his is the ultimate purpose, we may not know now but we will know his greater purpose when we get to heaven
