By Spencer D Gear
It is not unusual to read of or hear about someone who turns off or away from God after a traumatic experience.
A fellow who was hurting deeply started a new thread on Christian Forums that he called, ‘lost all faith in a god’. He wrote:
My world has crashed down like a ton of bricks these last few weeks after watching my 16 year old son die a slow painful death of cancer, he suffered so much and as i am a single parent dad i was the only one to be with him and i never left his side. my faith is smashed now as i think if there is an all loving god who saves people then why not save my son ? my son was the kindest kid in the world always thinking of others and even to the end was thinking about me.
there is just no sence (sic) to this and my feeling of anger is such that if there is a god then when its my turn to die i will beat the hell out of him and make him or her or it suffer like my son did i grew up to belive (sic) in being good kind and help others in this cruel world as it is today my son was so loved and yet this kind of thing happens to many people its just all so unfair to watch others live a good happy life never knowning (sic) what its like to suffer why on earth does this go on why carnt (sic) we just leave in a peaceful world without the suffering ? and when we die then just let us die of old age without suffering ? if god is all powerful and loving and kind then surely he would have to the power to grant that to us all ? hence my faith now is smashed as i dont have the answers and never will have.[1]
How does one respond to a hurting individual, especially when he is blaming God for his teenager’s painful death from cancer? I replied:[2]
I know you are hurting deeply and nothing I can say will ease that pain.
You say that you don’t mean to anger or upset anyone, but what did you say about my Lord God?
Please consider three points:
- When the Lord Almighty made the universe (see Genesis 1), did he consult with you and me as to how the world is to be run? And,
- When Adam and Eve fell into sin (Genesis 3), they did it for you and me. They were our representatives. If we had been there, we would have disobeyed God just as they did. And what happened?
- What was unleashed on your son were the consequences of sin entering into the world. I have lived with a rheumatic heart condition all of my life and have had 5 open-heart, mitral and aortic valve replacement surgeries, along with a tricuspid valve repair. I know the pain of 3 bouts of rheumatic fever as a child that left me with heart problems. I cannot begin to tell you about the excruciating pain I experienced with attacks of rheumatic fever at ages 6, 10 and 12. The pain was so bad that a hoop had to be placed over my knees and ankles to prevent a sheet from resting on them. My father dropped dead of a heart attack at age 57. My dear friend suffered a massive stroke recently and entered the presence of the Lord through death. I am not immune to pain in my life, but I am not blaspheming God like you did.
Why? It is my view of God that is based on biblical revelation. God has told us why your son could experience cancer and why I suffered attacks of rheumatic fever. It is a direct consequence of Adamic sin.
Besides, you and I spend so little time during our earthly journey when compared with eternity. Where will you be spending eternity with your current view of God? Why are you blaspheming him? Do you know God personally and do you have a relationship with him?
I then encouraged him to send me a private message on the Forum and asked if he had had any grief counselling to deal with his son’s death.
Sadly, he did not respond to what I wrote and did not engage much further with others on that Forum.
How do we explain evil in our world?
See my articles:
Is God responsible for all the evil in the world?
Isaiah 45:7: Who or what is the origin of evil?
September 11 & other tragedies: Why doesn’t God stop it?
Sinful nature or sinful environment?
Notes:
[1] Christian Forums, Baptists, ‘lost all faith in a god’, desypete #1, 3 June 2012, available at: http://www.christianforums.com/t7661562/ (Accessed 4 June 2012).
[2] Ibid., OzSpen #11.
Copyright © 2013 Spencer D. Gear. This document last updated at Date: 3 November 2015.
