Seeing through the thorns.

Someone posed this question to me the other day, "Why would God let this happen?" in regards to a specific situation they had encountered. And it's been on my mind ever since.

"This" could be alot of things.

It could be a family who's house is in foreclosure because the father lost his job.

It could be the little baby who was born with a heart condition undetected 'til birth.

It could be the tragic death of a friend who died doing what she loved and died way too young.

It could be the loss of three babies in 13 months...

Why would God let this happen?

All of these situations involve suffering. Sometimes our suffering is at the hands of another person. We hurt because someone spoke in anger to us, or another person rear-ended our car. In those situations it is almost easier to handle because there is a responsible party, and someone to forgive.

But when a baby is born ill...or not born at all...I think it is fair for some to ask why God would let this happen.

The truth is that we live in a fallen world. There is sin and there is death, even for the very smallest. If you are a Christian, you know that this world is not your home. It is not your destiny. It is passing. Our soul was created to rest in the Lord, and it will truly rest in a place where there is no sin and no death; in heaven, our eternal home.

I think God allows us to experience suffering to refine our soul. We re-evaluate what is important (that of the world, or that of heaven) and we take steps to draw closer to our goal. Some people turn away from God after this suffering (as I felt myself slipping from my walk with Him these last two months). From my experience, it came from an anger towards God. Anger from having had to suffer the loss of my baby, the loss of my future, and anger over not being in control of all these aspects of my life. And the bottom line is that God is in control of our life whether we want to acknowledge that or not. If He stopped thinking of us for but a second our life would cease to exist. He sustains our very breath until He determines our end.

And because He is all-knowing and His plans are perfect, when He chooses to close a chapter in our life, it is the perfect ending simply because it is how He meant it to be. This is hard to write because it means that I am saying that when God chose to take Mary Grace, it was a perfect choice. That sounds completely wrong, but when you try to see it through eyes aimed toward heaven, it begins to make some sense. Sometimes you have to look through the thorns to find the beauty in God's plan.

God doesn't make mistakes, ever.
God has a plan and it is perfect.
God's plan is perfect because He is all-knowing and all-powerful.
God's plan involves offering us the opportunity to accept Jesus as our Savior, so that we might join Him in a place where we will one day understand.