What I Thought About

During the time my internet was down and I had extra time to think, I began to wonder why people always question God when bad things happen, but they never seem to give Him a second thought when good things happen. People often question why - if there is a God - He would let bad things such as earthquakes happen to innocent people.

I realise I'm treading on very sensitive ground, and I want to be clear that I in no way wish to minimise peoples' misfortune or make light of their traumas. I just wonder why, when good things happen, people don't also question, "Why me?" If a person is going to blame God for the bad things (i.e. shift responsibility to Him), why not also blame Him for the good things?

It seems to me that people expect God to either be a magic genie who grants their every wish, or they expect Him to function as an emergency call service for crises. But what if He's more than that? What if He wants a relationship with us more than anything else? What if the bad things are just bad choices that others (or ourselves) have made, or something He uses to grow us up, so to speak. If God is our Heavenly Father, then He wants what is best for us, and His goal is to bring us to maturity - like an earthly father, only way better.

I once had a friend tell me that Hindus understand suffering far better than Christians. She said that Hindus accept suffering as part of life and use it as a platform for growth, whereas Christians just complain and can't understand why God didn't deliver them from this or that. I'd like to explore that thought more... I think she may be right (much to my shame, as I am a professing Christian).