Quote:
Originally Posted by Michlow
To be fair, I don't believe that I know everything, or understand everything about God. I believe He exists, and I do believe that it's impossible for a mere human being to ever truly understand Him. However, thus far in my journey, I find the idea of a genocidal God irreconcilable with a God of love.
(I also find it ironic that most Christians condemn the Oral Roberts types for saying that 9/11 or Hurricaine Katrina was God punishing us for some type of sin or other. But these same Christians have no problem believing that God acted that way in the past!)
And I do, in my own way, have faith in God. Of course, my faith lies more in the direction in believing that it's OK for me to make mistakes. That it's OK to be wrong, and not to know everything. That every single decision and action that I do in the course of living my life does not have dire eternal consequences for myself and everyone around me.
I'm sorry, I just couldn't live under that kind of pressure!
I also have faith that everything DOESN'T happen for a reason. I don't think God allows people to get sick, and children to die, and other horrible things to teach them, or humble them. I don't think it's all part of his master plan.
And lastly I have faith that God understands my doubts, my questions, my skepticism, and that he not only forgives me of it, but actually loves me because of it. And maybe it's not the optimal that I keep Him at arm's length, but I think he understands, even better than I do, why I do so.
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All fine and dandy, whether I agree or not.
However, keep in mind that there is a devil, and his work primarily is done in our minds and thoughts. And if God is real, rhetorically speaking, it does not matter who we think He is or is not, He is what He is. "I Am that I Am." And that means he is right and we cannot hope to begin to challenge that any more than an ant could justly and sensibly challenge a human being. So, the good thing you believe there is a God. At this point, it matters not whose version is correct. The point I think is that you exert faith towards Him and in all sincerity, with no search for loopholes, ask and believe for Him to confirm the path for you rather than concoct your own path.
Personally, and this is only my opinion, I think you focused on the negatives too much, and robbed yourself of the positives about the Biblical God. But I would offer you to try the route of actually believing and praying in faith for God to direct you, and in His name ask forgiveness for anything wrong in your life whether it has as dire consequences as some might have stated or not, and then command any works of the devil towards you to cease while God goes to work.