15. "If God is so good, why does He let such rotten things happen?"

This one has been debated since the beginning of time.

With most "bad things", it comes down to this: God didn't design us all to be robots to go around doing his bidding. He gave us "free will" - which means we can choose if we want to love Him and follow Him...or not. Sadly, many choose to go their own way, actually we all do at various times or in various ways in our lives (see earlier question about "sin"). We humans have an amazing ability to convince ourselves that what we want to do is OK, and this leads to all sorts of problems, like crime, abortion, divorce, financial troubles, STD's, you name it - including all the "smaller things" that lead up to the big things. This all saddens us (whether it's a bad choice we made or someone else), imagine how it makes HIM feel.

For everything else, those things that we know He just allowed to happen for some reason, we have to file it under, "we'll find out someday". That's a very difficult phrase to live with because it means letting go of our own control issues and our need to figure everything out, and just trusting Him to get you through it. This is when the rubber meets the road and you find out what your faith is really made of. Will you still love Him, even when it's not easy? Even when you cannot for the life of you figure out why He would let (fill in the blank) happen?

Often people tell of how even though they were angry with God (He can take it), they stuck with Him, and had a peace through their hardship that they'd never have had without Him. He was their solid Rock to pull them through to the light on the other side. His arms are wide open and He wants nothing more than to be the One we lean on.

I pray I'll be able to walk the talk when my own time of suffering comes, and it will...

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