As humans we want to comfort people who are experiencing tragedy. Often people will tell the one who is experiencing tragedy that God does everything for a purpose (true) and that God only does things for their good. Now, let’s review that second statement for a moment. That is true for some, but not for all. The verse spoken of is Romans 8:28. The NIV version says ‘In all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.’ Well, hat is more specific than the statement that people often make. In fact it rules out those who do not love God.
Now, something that is interesting is that it says ‘in all things’. So, it is not only in spiritual things but in ALL things. The next part of this is the ‘God works for the good of those who love Him’. Now that rules out A LOT of people. If you are a Christ follower this applies to you. If you are working that out or you have no interest in God this may not apply to you yet. Bad stuff that happens may just be bad stuff that happens, or it could be God getting your attention.
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It appears that you saying that you believe God to be actively responsible for the seemingly bad things that happen to His people, but that He has a purpose for them. But, I believe that the Biblical text is saying something a little different, namely that even though God-followers experience tragedy, that ultimately, God's purpose of salvation is the good to which all things work for those who love God and are called according to His purpose(salvation), so that in the end, those who are seeking and following God, though they are subject to the same tragedy as are non-believers in this life, that they will ultimately inherit eternal life, and are therefore in a better position than non-believers even though it may not seem that way now, since Christinas experience the same trials as non-Christians.
The text, I believe, answers the question, "of what advantage is it to be a Christian? No matter whether you abstain from pleasure and lust, etc. you still experience trials. So why not live a little, since there is no advantage to following God?"
The answer is that ultimately, the believer inherits the Kingdom of God, so that all things are working together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. The good to which all things work is salvation. God's purpose is salvation. So, there mustn't necessarilly be some "reason" why bad things happen. The reasons are complex and have to do with natural laws and physics, such as the second law of thermodynamics, etc.
So, one must not necessarilly believe that God has purposed bad things to achieve his purposes. But, instead, that God is so extremely efficient that even the most terrible of things can be salvaged, just like He salvages the most rotten of sinners, so also does He salvage situations.
An example: A wonderful Christian man dies of some terrible and painful disease. He is then in Heaven with the Lord. God is not the culprit who has infected the man with the illness. But, He is responsible for the good to which the man's death worked - the salvation of the man's soul.
Thanks for the blog...
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