Now obviously, I don’t believe that garbage for one second, but that’s the filth that comes from the mouths of church leaders in the pulpit and at funerals. I think we’ve all had to hear this reprehensible and incompetent logic, but the reason why Christians say stuff like this that is so irrational is not that it’s true, but because they are trying to protect a theology. Protecting a theology will make you say stupid things at times. When we believe God is in control of everything by allowing bad things to happen to bring about a good purpose, we literally sacrifice the true nature of the word “Love.” I don’t care what you say, when you imply that God allows atrocities to happen like 20 children being murdered in cold blood when God was able to prevent it, you can say “God is Good” all day. Nobody, deep down, will truly believe that. Even the person saying it, because the label of ‘good’ doesn’t fit the action. That is as foolish as saying “Ted Bundy killed and raped over 40 women. But Ted is still good.” That’s stupid and illogical. That’s why it’s hard for many unbelievers to take us Christians serious, because many of us choose not to think. We want to be told what to believe. We don’t want to know why we believe what we believe, because that takes effort.
The story of the guy shooting himself in the head is true story that hits close to home. I used to teach a house church. I was really wanting to talk on the whole “God is in control” issue, but I was hesitant because of the repercussions. During the meeting my friend shares that his cousin committed suicide. Of course He was extremely bothered by it. When he said all that, I felt it was time to discuss this issue rather than just sweep it under the rug, like we always do when we can’t explain something. I asked this question, “Could that have been prevented?” Silence hit the room. You could have heard a pin drop. Then somebody said, “I don’t think we should talk about that issue.” I said, “Why? It’s a legitimate question that should be answered.” The reality is, everybody, by default, believes that God is in control, so if this topic is not brought up, we will all stay in the mindset believing that God is in control, which is why that person didn’t want us to discuss it.
I’ve heard this something like this countless times in Christian churches. “God allowed the little girl to get hit by the car and killed because her parents were running from God. The purpose of God allowing the death was to sober them up to see they need God.” Honestly, if there were times that I wanted to do the unchristian thing of punching a Christian, it’s mainly when vomit like that gets stated. That stuff right there is “Atheist starter kit” material. That’s how you get people angry at God and make them want to have nothing to do with Him.
When you take this guy who shot himself in the head and say that God allowed him to kill himself so His family would turn to God, there is one major problem with that idea. His mom and dad were already dead. Both from suicides. His mother hung herself from the garage rafters. Need I say more? I could almost hear the pastor say at the Mother’s funeral, “God allowed this horrible tragedy to get her husband and son to see the value of life so they will turn to God. Something good will come from this.” Well, her husband kills himself and so does her son. The whole family is destroyed and the blood line is now over. Nothing good came of it. Satan kills, steals, and destroys a family, entirely, and God gets the blame for it because our theology says He could have prevented it. When we say that God is in control by allowing these things to happen, it’s the same foolishness of a lifeguard who is on duty that sits back, watches, and allows a 3 year old to drown in a pool for some mysterious purpose. Nobody in their right mind would approve of that behavior from a lifeguard because it’s sick and irresponsible with the power and mandate that the lifeguard is given. But when you hold to the idea that God is in control, you have to approve of that type of behavior.
God cannot stop certain tragedies, not because He’s not powerful enough, because He is. He cannot stop them because He set up rules in this system that He created. He will not break those rules. Why? Because of His faithfulness to His word. He cannot break His covenants and promises. When He gave up the dominion and ruler-ship of the earth to Adam, it was Grant Covenant. What makes God different than humans is that He is always faithful to His word. He cannot break His word. Humans break their promises and covenants all the time. When something goes wrong, we want to scrap everything up and start over. That’s not the way God works. Because of His faithfulness, He stays committed even when everything goes wrong. If a human was in God’s position and Adam and Eve sinned, the human would have just started over and broken their commitment because Faithfulness and staying committed is one thing humans are horrible at. That’s why it’s inconceivable for believers to think that God would simply not use His supreme power all the time, even though He could.
Many think God is God and He can break His rules anytime He wants. They apparently don’t know God that well then. He’s not like them. God does want to change this world, but He designed it to be changed when His children give Him the opportunity to do it through their prayer. I’m not just talking about intercession, but also healing the sick, casting out demons and ministering the good news. It’s through God’s children exercising dominion and authority. God was at one time in total control until He granted Adam dominion over the earth and restrained Himself from that control. When we carry God into the dark places in the world, we release Him to take control to make the wrong situation right. So what does this all mean? It means that you determine how the world will look like based on what you do and don't do with what you got. You have God living in you. God told me something a couple years ago. "My gift to humanity was giving them their autonomy (will to choose). There gift to me was them giving it back to me by choosing to walk in my ways, by abiding in my heart, and doing my will."
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