Fear Part 2

So can I make a confession? I fear getting the stomach flu, that may sound silly but it seems that every year that stinkin bug goes around I fear getting it. I mean even to the point of sometimes thinking that I have it. Yeah it is pretty dumb.

I am currently reading Lee Strobel's The Case for Faith and found something profound in there. Particularly this statement: "We know that moral character gets formed through hardship, through overcoming obstacles, through enduring despite difficulties. (Page 41) This chapter deals with the question of "If God is so good why is there evil and suffering?" and the followup question of "Did God create evil?" Well the answer is because God loves us. "What???", you say. Ok I admit that is a very simplistic answer, but it is the truth. When God created the world he could have created us to only be good, but instead he gave us the choice to either love Him or not, he gave us free will. Love without choice is not love at all, we aren't robots it is what makes us human. So when God gave us free will, to love Him or to choose to turn away from him He created the possibility for evil. We actualized that potential through our choices (page 37). The penalty for evil is pain and suffering.

So the next question is then "Why doesn't God save us from the pain an suffereing?" As a parent I am faced every day with teachable moments. Many of those moments involve me making a choice of whether I will step in and intervene or not. Often times I cannot intervene to allow my sons to learn on there own, the joy they have because they were able to do it is wonderful! Sometimes that requires me to allow them to experience pain. God allows us to experience pain and suffering as teachable moments to us. There is so much more that can be said. (Read the book it is a great read!)

What I have learned is that for my sons I cannot protect them all the time, instead, I have to prepare them to handle the pain and the suffering as Christian men. We live in a world of evil, thus we pay the penalty. Instead of asking that the Lord would not allow me to get the stomach flu, instead I am now praying that he would give me the strength to handle it. Teachable moment....