My Response to Your Comment

A reader left a very thought-provoking comment on a previous blog I wrote about the Power of Prayer. I've spent a long time trying to formulate what my response would be. Even now, I'm not sure I can put my thoughts into concrete words.

First of all, let me say that even though we prayed for hurricane Dennis to change its course so that Mobile Bay would suffer less, we certainly didn't intend for the destruction to be dealt to other people and areas. And it isn't for us to decide who should be spared and who should suffer. It was presumptuous of me to imply that our prayers saved Mobile Bay during hurricane Dennis.

Furthermore, one does wonder what happened to all the prayers of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. I wish I had a satisfactory answer.

I am no theologian; no Biblical scholar; no member of the ministry. All I have is my faith in God to put the words in my brain and let my fingers type them out. I have no other agenda than to try to explain what I feel in my heart.

As mentioned in my last post, I believe God put us in this life to prepare us for the next life. I agree with the idea that He "is more interested in [our] character than our comfort." He never promised that we would be happy or healthy or safe. All He promised was eternal life to those who follow Him. Our life here on earth is but a tic on the timeline. There will be better times ahead for those who remain faithful.

It is through prayer that we keep our faith alive. By talking and listening to God, we can get a better idea of where He wants us to go. Prayer gives us hope. It reminds us that, no matter how much we may suffer in this life, heaven awaits us with eternal peace.

Being devoted to God and striving to be more like him leads us to do the things He would have us do. Yes, we will be challenged. Yes, we will face huge obstacles. We may even die before we thought we would. But if we believe in God, we'll be arriving in a much better place when we leave this one. We get only one guarantee when we're born: that is that we're going to die. Furthermore, it isn't up to us to decide when that will happen. It is up to us to make the most of the time we have here.

Why, we ask, does God let bad things happen?

I'd have to say that God is not a puppetmaster, nor are we His puppets. He gave us brains and resources. We can use them to His glory or we can misuse the resources and wind up causing all sorts of problems for ourselves. We can succumb to the devil's tools, power and greed, and also cause hardship and destruction for ourselves and other innocent people. We make choices. If our faith is strong, we at least try to make God-like choices.

God's own son suffered. Who are we to think we should be exempt from suffering?

The victims of hurricane Katrina are suffering terribly. Moreso than many of us will ever have to endure. Why them? Why the tsunami victims in Asia? Why the Jewish people during the holocaust? I have no answer for that. I also believe there are answers we aren't meant to know. Knowledge that we simply are not equipped to handle. But as their brothers and sisters, it is up to us to reach out to them and try to ease their suffering. It is up to us to pray for them. To pray that they can remain faithful so that they will be comforted in those eternal streets of gold when it is their time.