Oh, His Goodness!

I think one of the hardest things to deal with is knowing that God could change things if He wanted to, but didn't...Isn't that such a paradox? God is in control and is good, but allows things to happen to us that hurt and grieve us...My pastor posed the question to the congregation one Wednesday night, "What do you think causes people to get to the point where they blame God and almost become angry at Him?" I seriously thought about this because I think I might have been there, and my honest answer was "Why wouldn't we blame Him...He is in control!" I mean, I've been taught that my entire life and I've always had that attitude of "whatever happens, happens because that's the way God wanted it". Somehow, that ideology doesn't cut it when "whatever happens" hurts so deeply and is so hard to understand. So, I confessed all of these unsettling thoughts to M and he told me something that I can't seem to get out of my mind...The main point of what he said is this: Part of God being God is His ability to say "No". If He had no other option then to answer "Yes" at all times, wouldn't it sort of take away from His "Godness"? And if He could never say "No" to what we ask for then He wouldn't really be in control...WE would be...If we are searching for the kind of god who always gives us what we want then maybe what we should really be looking for is a genie.

Thank God, He has more than just one option. Thank God, He is God!!