Last few weeks, well actually months, having to deal with the loss of not just one friend but two it began making me realize the frailty of human life. One of my friends was murdered, and the other died from a massive heart attack, I've began doing some of my own self-reflection. I'll admit I've questioned my own mind in the beliefs I've held teeter tottering between belief and agnosticism. Part of my reflection is the thought of working in the medical field where human frailty that leads to death can either be caused by the person, the environment, or just through the body giving up. I must admit after recently losing a friend of mine who made health changes due to his diabetes die from a massive heart attack I started thinking if I'm going to share the same fate and if so is it an accident, my destiny or by God's hand?
I have watched my own parents, decent human beings live only to suffer from cancer and die, while a regular drug addict who abuse their body and continue to abuse their body with no concern for getting help live and continue to live. I've asked the age old question to God "why them and not them?" Then the other part of me struggles with the scientific mindset that there are certain people born with certain genetic predispositions where their body is able to survive these kinds of abuse. Some of it is environmental. and some of it is just maintaining a healthy diet. Then I fall back into the understanding that maybe that is God's intent, then I fall into this line of thinking regarding myself and I ask "what is God's intent for me?"
Does anyone find themselves struggling with similar concerns?
I don't know if you are a fan of the scriptures or not. If not, you may as well stop reading now because what I'm about to say is based on the scriptures.
The world we live in is not the world God intended for us. His original intent can be ascertained in the name of the garden where he first placed Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden. The Hebrew word Eden means "pleasure." God made it very easy for both animals and people to exist. Both were given all the plants necessary to live a healthy life. Yes, even lions and tigers were vegetarian (Gen 1:29-30). There is no indication of sickness or death.
God did not create Adam and Eve to be robots. He gave them free will. In addition he gave them dominion over the earth (Gen 1:28). That is significant in that it meant that God was not in charge. Man was in charge. What did man do with his dominion? The short answer is found in Chapter 3. Adam, by his free will, decided to believe the devil that he could become God by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Of course that was the one and only thing God had warned them not to do. He was forthright in telling them what would happen if they did; they would die.
Not only was that the moment that death entered the scene, but it also caused the dominion that God gave Adam to be transferred to the devil. That is where we stand to this day. Contrary to most orthodox church teaching, God is not in charge of this present world. The devil is! He told Jesus that he had that power when he tempted him in the desert (Luk 4:6).
The bottom line is that God is not responsible for the bad things that happen on this world. He in fact instituted a plan right after Adam disobeyed. That plan was announced in Gen 3:15 when God promised a redeemer that would right the mess Adam made. Remember, man was originally in charge, not God. As a just God He could not simply nullify Adam's mistake with a wave of some magic wand. Since death came into the world by a man, it would have to be a man that conquered death. That plan was the man Christ Jesus. Because he followed God's will to the letter, death was not able to take hold of him.
We are told in the Epistles of Paul, that by confessing Jesus as Lord and believing that God raised him from the dead, we would be completely identified with Christ, his life, death, resurrection and ascension. But we don't see any of that in reality just yet.
When Jesus ascended he told the disciples he'd be back again. That part of the story is covered in Revelation. He will once and for all destroy the devil along with this present world and create a brand new heavens and earth which will be like the first one (Garden of Eden) with one exception; there will be no tree of the knowledge of good and evil for man to screw up again. The only tree mentioned is the other tree also mentioned in Genesis, the tree of life.
Well, that is an incredibly quick and dirty story of the whole Bible. While we are destined to live a life less than ideal (an understatement) now, we can have hope for a far far better life when Christ returns the second time. In short, we have hope for a better, indeed, an ideal future. Paul tells us to comfort one another with those words and that is why I am replying to your post. I'll pray you do find comfort in all I've said and either start or continue in the scriptures with a renewed hope that all will be idyllic in the future.
Take care...