I have heard the expression “That was God’s Will” so many times. It usually follows some catastrophic event. It is used as a comforting statement to someone else after a loss, a disease process etc. I must say that I have always struggled with the idea that anything associated with misery or sadness is “God’s will”.
Is it really God’s will?
So how is it possible that God loves us as a father if He is willing to hurt us? There is something missing here.
If God is our father, He doesn’t want bad things to happen to us. If we believe that God is our loving father, then this statement that is used to try to comfort us, is extremely contradictory to God being a loving father!
We must admit that this particular expression is very popular. In fact, we might have used it ourselves when we don’t know what to say to a love one that is suffering.
In certain situations like a disease process, this particular expression becomes somewhat dangerous because it could trigger apathy.
What I mean by this is very simple, if a disease happens because of “God’s will” then what can we do about it? Well, nothing.
This particular trend of thoughts could lead to inactivity. Basically, we stop fighting- we just give up. Honestly, it makes sense; what can you do if it is God’s will that you develop a cancer? Why bother to go to the doctor because it’s God’s will that I die. He’s the one who gave it to me!
The book “When bad things happen to good people” gives very good insight in this particular subject. I strongly recommend it.
As long as we are on this earth, we will have to face diseases, natural disasters, death etc. These ‘bad things’ do not favor anyone in particular. People-good or bad- will have to die at some point, otherwise Earth would be too small for all of us.
Imagine if George Washington was still around because he was a good guy and he deserves to be around. Vice versa, Adolf Hitler was still around because bad people don’t die.
The good news is that we can and should rely on God, our loving father to gives us the strength, courage, abilities and wisdom to face adversities. We have to understand that it isn’t God’s will for us to be plagued with tragic events - but it is His desire that we overcome those terrible things and find our strength anchored in His power, not our own.