I've been reading Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God, and he makes what appears to be an offhand statement that I thought shed profound light on the question as to whether God causes suffering. He asks, "How can we experience God's comfort if we never experience suffering?" This same question could be asked about many of the other ways we experience God:
- How can we experience God's provision, if we do not experience want?
- How can we experience God's mercy, if we are not aware of His wrath?
- How can we experience God's protection, if we live a life devoid of danger?
- How can we experience God's healing, if we never suffer illness?
- How can we experience God's freedom, if we have never known bondage?
One could argue that these instances are simply God following Satan around, redeeming all the bad things he does. But what if He sovereignly ordains some of these experiences so that we may know Him better?
Oh you'll meet the Lord in the furnace,
A long time before you meet Him in the sky.
- Rich Mullins, "Where You Are"
3 comments:
What's the difference really between God sovereignly ordaining suffering and hyper-Calvinism? And are there really just two options: hyper-Calvinism, or God as victim of the universe gone wrong? There have to be more options. Who knows what realm of Theodicy this fits into...but I have a theory that God is in the business of redemption, and that redemption flies in the face of tragedy. In other words, He takes whatever tragic things happen to us as a result of sin (because I do believe that everything tragic is an indirect or direct result of sin) and spins it into redemption and growth. He's not a victim in this scenerio of a world gone bad, but rather a master tapestry weaver despite it all. To me that seems the ultimate triumph....and the harder road. It's pretty easy to just follow along with a master plan, but much harder to redeem the mess that seems chaotic.
Great thoughts, Susanna. This is a very Eastern view, don't you think? Kind of like divine Judo.
That's it. Divine Judo. Can we market that? It's a good book title..."Divine Judo: The New Theodicy".
Seriously though, it is more Eastern. And maybe that's why I like it. Of course I've thought a whole lot about this topic over the last year or so. I was just reading Job tonight. I find Elihu fascinating. And God's final word is so vague...just some claptrap about how He made everything so there's no way we could ever comprehend His ways. Kidding, by the way...of course that's not claptrap.
Do you think there are dangers and pitfalls to the view I presented? Obviously it has leanings towards the openness of God theories.
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