Hi Tammi
This is an answer that every body needs to seek and answer for them thelves.
This isnt a biblical area Im a great expert on – so there are likely to be rough edges in my answer below (and anyone else feel free to comment, correct or add)
For many people – the doctrine of a personal saviour who answers individual prayers – opens up a number of logical and biblical textual issues – that people need to work through.
This doctrine is – in historical terms are relatively modern doctrine (1800's) arising from the waves of evangelism that swept the USA (also giving rise to the mormons, seventh day adventists and so on) Its interestind to read – especially scholarly history works that will question what happened and the legacy. ITs called the Second Great Awakening. (It also led to the popularity of Millenialism which has left many churches with the doctrine that the end times are close – although Many christian scholars are not enamoured with thus school of thought)
Before then – God saved us, and you prayed to him for guidance and strength and comfort – but there was less focus on Praying for a new job or helping me with my exams and those kind of "I WANT" prayers. I suspect it started with the "SAve me from my sins and temptation prayers – but now its just become – I want"
Theres a flipside to this. God does send judgement onto people in the bible – but its frequently lethal – their sins were so bad – they were just destroyed.
However – we LIKE and anthrocentric universe. It feels more comfortable that everything happens because of us – and with the advent of a personal saviour came the doctrine of personal judgement. (In fact many of the evangelists that swept the USA at this time – WERE of the Hellfire and Brimstone variety)
The book of Job though teaches us a lot. A righteous man – upon whom terrible catastrophe's fall – and not as judgement. One could argue as a test.
Jesus says do not Judge others and he says that three times – in three different ways – a common teaching technique at the time – to highlight very important point. This was a Direct Command from God. Its JUST as binding as the 10 commandments (which were – after all just given once and are part of the Old !)
So when someone says to you – " My parents would say these bad things are a reflection of me not living in God’s plan (their view of his plan is me being straight, going to church regularly) " They have Judged you and in direct contradiction to the command of Jesus. (Although Jesus does command us to not Judge others – there are some more commandments there – they are – Those who do not help the poor, the sick, the needy, the homeless and those in prison – Jesus tells us that they will burn in eternal fire)
IF they arent doing those two things (not judging and helping the poor, sick and needy) then they are directly breaking commandments – ORDERS – that Jesus gave us.
There is the old story of footsteps on the sand – and when you look back – at the hard times in your life you only see one set of footsteps – and when you ask Jesus where were you at those dark times and he said – I was carrying you….
Its a sweet story and its help me at times thought dark and difficult periods.
I dont want to offend anyone here – but there is a modern school of thought in some churches that teach God wants you to be rich and healthy etc. This again is quite modern philosophy (and I commend a thorough study of history – church and secular to temper this with a lot of facts).
The early christians were often thrown in the Lions – and eaten alive for entertainment of the masses. ( e.g. A disastrous fire destroyed much of Rome in the year A. D. 64. Somehow, a rumor started circulating that Nero himself started the fire in order to rebuild the city. It was well-known that Nero considered much of Rome ugly and squalid. Whether or not he had any part in setting the fire is still being debated to this day, but the rumors started to spread and might become a threat to Nero's reign and life if left unchecked. He therefore decided to blame the antisocial and subversive Christians for starting the fire. after all, didn't they hold worship services underground in the city tombs known as catacombs? To make sure he was believed in accusing the Christians of setting the fire, he had many of them killed. Some were crucified in the arena, others thrown to wild animals, and still others were burned alive as living torches to light Nero's garden at his Golden House. St. Peter died during the Neronian persecutions.)
These christians (and many others throughout history) were not burned alive as Judgement for their sins Job tells us that good people can be tested also ….. Some have even prayed to be martyrs for Christ
Some of the best christians I know have / had terrible health issues. (Hellen Keller being a good well known example)
I (personally) cant push the line that God will fix all your problems and everything will be OK because I dont think such a belief is biblical
On of my best friends was crippled at a young age. Live far longer than the doctors ever thought ( into middle age ) but couldnt walk, had difficulty using his arms. Had trouble breathing. And yet his christian faith was strong and he was often ring me up and say – X needs help – lets help them. God never healed him or took away his pain but he was a fantastic christian – and when he died (not so long ago) the church was full overflowing….. and from people from amazing walks of life that he had touched. Was that Gods plan for him to be like that ? Was that just random result from the Original Sin ? These are Big theological debates and I dont know the answer – BUT I know he had peace and unquestionably he left the world a better place than how he found it so he took what he had and used it well.
However there are a few things I can leave you with that I hope will help
1) Many great christians in History went through quite dark times. Struggles with themselves and the problems of the world. They often later see that as testing or as needed to form strength or character or some other positive.
2) I would recommend looking for an accepting church. Having support can be very helpful at these times and for those of us from a church background – seem to be particularly vulnerable to the loss of community. There are lists of accepting churches on the website ( http://www.freedom2b.org/support/faith-religion/ ) and you can also post a question for your area. If you cant find a church – look for some other social group – that will give you support and company.
Hope this helps a bit (sorry its long)
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