When we discuss what we should acknowledge about God, we must exclude death. Death is inevitable, and tragically, some die at a very young age. I feel we must exclude this because anyone experiencing such loss in his or her life will have a different perspective of God. Try to convince any parent that the death of their child is the result of a just God. That is difficult.
Some people claim that everything will eventually work out over time, but only if you have strong faith in God. Sometimes things do work out, but I have known too many people who prayed, had tremendous faith, and believed with all their heart. Yet, things still did not work out for them. Others contend that you should not be disappointed if you do not get what you desire, because God will provide you with something even better. For example, you may not receive the promotion you deserve, but fear not because God will direct you to an even better job. While this does indeed happen, it probably does not happen just as often. We must acknowledge that sometimes you just will not receive what you want, may not receive anything better, and that is the end of it. Having one hundred percent faith does not mean you will receive what you want or something better one hundred percent of the time.
Never assume that the wicked will receive their just punishment during their lifetime. True, they might suffer and ultimately die, but so do good people, which is yet another reason to exclude death from this argument. Why doesn’t God inflict rotten people with boils like Job? It would certainly help us recognize them when we go to round them up and put them away. And where are the fire and brimstone of which we read in the Old Testament? We could certainly use such assistance today. True, everyone experiences some tragedy, disappointment, or illness during their lifetime. However, many afflictions like drug addiction and alcohol abuse are generally self-inflicted. They are the consequences of an individual’s actions, and not necessarily a reprimand from God. In addition, I fail to see where God rewards good people any more than rotten people.
I also believe that science will never prove God’s existence nor His non-existence. Proof of God’s existence is indirect and inferred. You can never prove that God does not exist for various reasons; the foremost is that God may simply not want to be found. He might prefer that we believe in Him by faith, and not by evidence. You can question what God’s invisibility reveals about His nature, but that does not mean He does not exist. And frankly, if God did decide to reveal Himself to the world, unless He turned out to be Stephen Hawking, science would deny it anyway.
All things do not come from God, nor is everything that happens God’s will. To believe that it is God’s will when a father rapes his daughter or when children are sold into sexual slavery is simply foolish. Believers will point to Bible verses to support the notion that everything that happens comes from God. However, to believe that God is behind acts of evil changes His fundamental nature. No one could claim that He is a “God of love” if it were true. Some common sense must prevail over Biblical interpretation. Now, it is true that people do rise above horrible situations or tragic beginnings, and sometimes their heartbreaking personal stories inspire others to believe in God. That does not mean that God was necessarily behind that tragedy.
In our world, goodness does not always triumph; quite often, evil gains the upper hand. Perhaps we developed this notion from movies, television, or even historical events like World War 2, where evil was defeated. Ultimately, we believe that God and the forces of good will prevail. In the meantime, I wish God would intervene every so often, and strike down evil, as He did in the Old Testament. If nothing else, it would cut down prison costs.
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