You’ve probably asked this question yourself. I can almost guarantee you’ve heard someone ask it. I’ve done both…asked it and heard it just this week in fact. It’s one of those “questions for the ages”…it has been asked ever since mankind got thrown out of The Garden on our ear…

Why does God allow bad stuff to happen to people?

We know deep down that God could stop all of the bad stuff…the stuff happening in our lives, to the people we know, around the world. He has the power, but why doesn’t He do it?

People come to different conclusions. Some think it’s because He’s mean. Some say it’s because He doesn’t care. Some that He doesn’t even exist.

There are “deep” theological answers (think “free will”), but I’m not getting into that today. This whole topic came up while I was reading a passage out of Hebrews this morning. The answer given there is specifically for those who are following Him. Why does God allow stuff to happen to those who are trying there best to follow Him?

Why?

Because we’re His children, and that’s what a good Dad does…

As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children.
Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?
If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children,
it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all.
Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us,
shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?
Hebrews 12:7-9, NLT

When I read that this morning I wanted to know more about the word “discipline” used here. It made me think of how I discipline my own children (a common occurrence…just ask Kyle), punishing them to change their behavior. And it’s close…but it goes beyond how I typically think of discipline. God is using what goes on in our daily lives…the good and the bad…to shape and mold us. He lets the stuff happen because He wants it to train us…to change us. The word is more akin to the idea of instruction and training—not just punishment.

And God’s does this all throw His perfect filter of love and grace. He isn’t allowing these things to happen because He’s mean or doesn’t care. Quite the opposite…He allows it because He knows it’s good for us…it will develop our character and draw us to Himself (if we let it). I don’t know about you, but I want to be a legitimate child of God. And He’s been using plenty of “stuff” in my life to discipline/train me. I just wish it wasn’t so painful sometimes (as does Kyle), and I wish I would realize what’s happening when I’m going through the battle.

Teaching is both by gifting and my passion. But I understand that it’s not everyone’s gifting (1 Corinthians 12:28).

However, we need to be careful not to use that as an excuse in our spiritual lives. We are supposed to be teaching others about spiritual things…

You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others.
Hebrews 5:12, NLT

As I read this passage,a couple of thoughts come to mind:

1. There is an expectation of growth in our spiritual lives. We are supposed to learn and graduate from “spiritual milk” to “spiritual meat”. It’s natural…and it’s unnatural not to grow.
2. There is an expectation that we will take others on the journey with us…we are supposed to be teaching others the spiritual truths we learn as we grow. You don’t have to be some Biblical scholar, but you need to be sharing your experiences…how God has been teaching you and how you have grown.

I’ve been praying this week about who God wants me to pour my life into. Who should I be taking on the journey with me? Who can I teach…and learn from at the same time?

I got my answer…how about you?

This post is for me this morning. God has been challenging me hard for the past couple of weeks. He is slowly changing my attitudes and thoughts in a couple of areas of my spiritual life. It hasn’t been easy. He has been examining my motives and intentions…digging below the surface and showing me things I’d rather just leave alone.

But it has been a good journey too. I am becoming more like Him…but I have a loooooong way to go! I trust His heart. I trust His intentions. I know He has the best in mind for me. So I listen and learn…too slowly, but it is happening.

Just this weekend Go gave me this passage to wrestle with:

If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—
your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life.
Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.
And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple…
So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.
Luke 14:26-27, 33

Take a second and read that again…take it all in.

It’s a steep price to pay…being His disciple, following Him. Have I counted the cost? Am I willing to pay this price? Is this where my heart really is? Are His priorities my priorities? They easy answer is “yes”, but is that the honest answer?

That’s my challenge this week. He and I are working through the questions and the answers. It’s a process. It’s a journey.

I am reading this book again for the second time. I’m not going to go into a bunch of details or review the book or try and convince you. Trust me…get the book (click here or on the image above)…and read it. You won’t be disappointed.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been challenged to mix things up in my morning time/routine with God. I’m not doing anything wrong, but anything gets stale if you leave it sit long enough. And over the weekend God has impressed on my to spend the next 5 days listening to Him instead of my normal routine.

It will just be me, my Bible, and a journal. And I’m just going to listen…hopefully hear His heart and His direction. It’s always hard for me to shut up and listen (in general and with God), but that’s what I’m going to work at for the next 5 days. And I will blog about it a few times along the way too.

So…I’m off for morning #1…always anticipation about what God might say when I actually take the time to stop and listen for awhile…

I got a good reminder this morning about living in community. It isn’t a new earth-shattering, light-bulb moment…just a good reminder that we need community. We need other people. And none of us is perfect. Here’s how McManus put it (better than I can)…

“Love always grows, not just deeper, but wider. Love always loves people more and always loves more people. Love calls us to community; love calls us to humanity; love calls us to each other.

A healthy community is not a place of perfect people. That place does not exist. We are all flawed. If there is a perfect community, it would be ruined the moment I joined it…strangely enough, the best opportunity for building meaningful relationships is admitting up front that you’re not perfect and that you’ve got issues. Honesty is the only context in which intimacy can develop.” (Soul Cravings, Erwin McManus, Entry 16).

So here goes…

I’m not perfect.

I’ve got issues.

There…I said it…I admit it.

I need other people in m life pushing me to grow closer to Christ. I need to be pushing others too. Thankfully, I am part of a community that does just that. They love me anyway. I love them anyway. It works.

Most, if not all, of us struggle with living a right (righteous) life. I know I do. I feel Paul’s pain in Romans when he talks about doing the things he doesn’t want to do and not being able to do things he wants to do (Romans 7:15-21). I want to do right and live right, but too often I fail miserably. I feel weak. I feel like a mess.

God has been slowing shifting my focus over the past few weeks. Away from actions and rules. Toward love and grace.

It’s a hard lesson to learn because I have years of “bad thinking” built up. I’m used to thinking about trying to follow all the rules instead of following Him. Years of guilt instead of grace. It’s not the best way to live…and it’s not God’s way.

I got yet another reminder of that this morning in my devotional book…

“Trying to be holy always results in failure after failure. Falling in love with a righteous God results in progress. Failures still happen, but there’s a noticeably different approach to them. Instead of obsessing about shortcomings, we begin to obsess about God’s goodness…Law no longer consumes us; grace does.” (Walk With God, p. 201)

I wish this lesson came more naturally…but for me it’s hard work. I have to work to focus my attention on my relationship with God instead of trying to be good. But it’s getting easier…more natural. I am learning to accept God’s love and walk in His presence every day. I have much to learn, but I have a patient Father who wants me to learn this lesson and live in His grace. What a relief!

I gotta tell you, I am getting way more out of my study of Jeremiah than I thought I would (I know, not much faith huh?). I am 13 chapters into the book and I must say that I am starting to feel…just a little…for Israel. God is putting the hammer down on them. They deserve it for turning to idols instead of turning to God, but He is really letting them have it.

Why? Because He loves them. And He’s a jealous God…very jealous. This morning’s reading gave a little insight into what is frustrating God so much. God has Jeremiah buy and then bury a loincloth. God waits (I am assuming for a looooong time) and then tells Jeremiah to go dig it back up. It’s completely ruined…”good for nothing” is what Jeremiah calls it. And that’s when God makes his real point:

As a loincloth clings to a man’s waist,
so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the Lord.
They were to be my people, my pride, my glory—
an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me.
Jeremiah 13:11, NLT

God was frustrated because He had created Israel to cling to Him…but instead they turned from Him. It broke His heart (so to speak). He wanted relationship with His people and they walked away…they ignored God and turned to idols instead.

Ouch.

God created me…us…for that very same relationship. He wants me to cling to Him…to be His pride and glory. Too often I blow it and turn away from Him instead. I want to listen to Him. I want to walk with Him.

I want to cling to Him…like static cling!

I had a great time with God this morning. The hotel room is quiet; I have a diet Pepsi at my side…and God was speaking (and perhaps more importantly…I was listening). I am currently walking through the book of Jeremiah and reading Abba’s Child by Brennan Manning. This morning they came together.

Manning was talking about how often we treat “life like as a series of disconnected episodes” with no meaning or value to them. But nothing could be further from the truth. We are just looking in the wrong place for the meaning and value (or ignoring it altogether after a lifetime of disappointment):

The dark riddle of life is illuminated in Jesus; the meaning, purpose, and goal of everything that happens to us, and the way to make it all count can be learned only from the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

All day and every day we are being reshaped into the image of Christ. Everything that happens to us is designed to this end. (Abba’s Child, page 108).

Life is about being transformed into the image of Christ. Life is not a mistake of circumstances. Life doesn’t just happen. It is designed and used by God with our best interests at heart. And Jeremiah understood this. In the midst of God railing about the destructive influence of idols, Jeremiah prays this prayer:

I know, LORD, that our lives are not our own.
We are not able to plan our own course.
So correct me, LORD, but please be gentle.
Jeremiah 10:23-24a, NLT

That is my prayer this morning. I know God is at work changing me into His image. And it’s hard work…I’m stubborn and thick-headed. I want Him to correct, change, and transform me. I just pray that He will be gentle in doing it and that I will be more aware of the intentionality of His purpose in my life. Life is NOT haphazard. God is using my life to change me…gently.

I just started reading a book by Brennan Manning called Abba’s Child. It was recommended by one of my favorite bloggers, Natalie Witcher (if you haven’t…please check out her site). And I have not been the slightest disappointed (and I am only into the second chapter so far). In the very first chapter, Manning makes a statement that has stuck with me all week…it is still working on me:

“God’s sorrow lies in our refusal to approach Him when we have sinned and failed. A “slip” for an alcoholic is a terrifying experience. The obsession of the mind and body with booze returns with the wild furry of a sudden storm in springtime. When the person sobers up, he or she is devastated. I had two options: yield once again to guilt, fear, and depression; or rush into the arms of my heavenly Father—choose to live as victim of my disease; or choose to trust in Abba’s immutable love.” (page 20, emphasis added).

Alcoholism isn’t my particular “demon” but I understand the choice Manning is illustrating here. And I too seldom run into the arms of my heavenly Father. I turn to the wrong stuff instead of turning to God. I’m not sure I even know how to run into His arms…but it’s my heart’s desire and something I am asking Him to teach me. It isn’t natural…it isn’t my first instinct. But it’s what I need.

So God and I are working on it. I am learning to trust in His “immutable love”; I am learning to run into His arms; I am learning to be His child. I just wish I wasn’t always such a slow learner!