This is part 2 of what will be a 5 part series, dealing with doubt. As was the case with the last article I posted, this article is a little out of the ordinary, as compared to what I normally write. I explained in part 1 of the series that typically I focus on discipleship, that is helping people who are already Christians to walk more closely with God and serve Him in their daily lives. Occasionally, I focus on evangelism, which is helping to bring people into a relationship with God through a relationship with His Son, Jesus the Christ. Rarely do I try to change the minds of people who do not believe in the existence of God. However, in this article, I feel compelled to do so. This is what I am focusing on in parts 1 through 3 of this series. Parts 4 and 5 will focus on dealing with doubt in the life of someone who already is a Christian. I am speaking in general terms, concerning the audience of the parts of this series. Both Christians and non-Christians may find all 5 parts of this series helpful.
As I said in the first article of this series, in my experience, people say that the concept of God doesn’t make any sense, for two main reasons. One of those reasons is that an all-powerful being just speaking the universe and humanity into existence out of nothing simply makes no sense. I dealt with that in part 1 of this series. The other reason that people tend to doubt the existence of God is the question of why, if He exists, does God let bad things happen to good people. It is this subject that I would like to now discuss in part 2 of this series, and also later in part 3.
So, why does God let bad things happen to good people? That is a really good question. I am not going to pretend that I have a comprehensive, universal, one size fits all answer to it. I do have some thoughts about it though.
I would like to start with my own experience. Am I a good person? I am certainly nowhere near perfect and I have made some huge mistakes but, by the standards that most people apply, I think I am a pretty good person. Have bad things happened to me? Certainly worse things than anything I have experienced happen to people every day but, according to most people’s standards, yes, I have been through some pretty rough times.
I was born very prematurely and weighed about 2 pounds at birth. My initial chances at survival were not good. I did survive but I was almost completely blind. Later, through a series of 11 painful eye surgeries and related complications, I lost all of my vision, including even light perception, and had to endure more than a decade of 24/7 physical pain. I was mainstreamed in the public school system and, though I eventually did very well, I faced a lot of academic and social struggles because of my blindness. After I finished school, at times, I faced a lot of employment discrimination, despite having a college degree in my chosen field and a lot of practical experience, along with a very good academic record and excellent work history. Many things in my life have not been enjoyable.
Through all of this, I regularly went to church, paid my taxes, never was unfaithful to my spouse, did my part in taking care of the household, was a very active parent to my children, and worked very hard to provide for my family, despite all the blindness related challenges. I have always done my best to live well. I have been a Christian for 36 years (saved at age 11). I believe in the only Son of The Living God and have accepted Him and submitted to Him as my Lord and Savior. However, in many ways, my life has been hard. If God exists and if I love Him and He loves me, why has He let it be so?
Let’s start by looking at this from the perspective of a parent.
I said that I was mainstreamed in the public school system. Mainstreaming, what is now called inclusion, is when a disabled child is placed in a normal classroom environment with their non-disabled peers. I started school in 1982, when very few severely visually impaired children were mainstreamed. There were those who tried to talk my parents into sending me to a school for the blind. Ultimately, my parents decided that I would be better off going to a regular school. They basically reasoned that life is not designed for a blind person and so I may as well start out learning in a school environment that also was not designed for a blind person. They felt that this would better equip me to deal with life after school. There are valid arguments both for and against this perspective. Personally, I am glad that I was mainstreamed and, after a rocky start, things turned out well.
Did my parents have the power to send me to a school for the blind? Yes, of course. Would this have made things easier? In many ways, probably so, at least initially. In a school for the blind, I would have had specially trained teachers who taught only blind children and I would have had easy access to blindness assistive technology, like talking computers, all over the campus. In the public school system, I had to figure out the best way to do things as I went along because the teaching techniques, the classroom, and the campus were not designed for people like me and the other children were not used to dealing with people like me. At a school for the blind, this would not have been the case, and at the time, this would have made things easier, especially in the early years.
I graduated high-school with high honors and went on to college. As far as I know, there are no special colleges for the blind. In college, as previously, I had to figure out the best way to do things as I went along because the teaching techniques, the classrooms, and the campus were not designed for people like me and the other students were not used to dealing with people like me. The college environment was not designed for me, just as the school environment earlier had not been and just as the work environment later would not be. However, dealing with these situations wasn’t too bad because I already had a great deal of experience dealing with such things, in my early school years.
I think my parents made a wise choice here. They certainly could have sent me to a school for the blind and some people thought they should have. However, though this would have been the easiest thing for me, and probably them too, in the short term, I do not believe it would have been for the best in the long term. What is easiest is not always best. I also know it hurt them to see me endure much of what I went through but they felt it best to endure it, for them and for me, for the greater long term good.
Now, let’s look at this from the perspective of God. Could He have prevented my blindness and all the related hardships? Yes, of course He could have. As I was going through all those things, did He love me? Yes, absolutely and, because He did love me, my struggles hurt Him. So, why did He allow all the hardship, even though He could have made things so much easier? Because, like my parents and my school situation, He knew what was harder in the short term was for the best in the long term.
OK, I know that was a very subjective statement and I’m going to have to work hard to prove it. Actually, by definition, it is impossible to prove something that is subjective but I will do my best to explain my thoughts concerning it. It took me about 40,000 words to explain all of this in my book “Blind Faith” and, in the rest of this article, I need to do it in about 1/100 of that. This won’t be easy but I will try.
Even though my parents let me go through some hard things that they could have prevented, how do I know that they love me? Because they have shown it. My mom worked for hours every day to help me with homework. When doing this came to be beyond her ability, they got me a home tutor. When I got an award at school, my dad always took time out of his busy work schedule to come and he made sure I knew he was there. They bought equipment that I needed at home and, if I needed something at school that wasn’t in the school system’s budget, they bought that too. They took trips to schools and conferences to investigate educational techniques and technology that they thought might be able to help me. They didn’t just make the decision to send me to public school and then throw me in to sink or swim. They were there helping and encouraging me every step of the way.
Even though God let me go through a lot of things that He could have prevented, how do I know he loves me? The same way I know that my parents love me. He has shown it. Like my parents, He didn’t just throw me in to sink or swim. He has helped me every step of the way.
How has He helped me? As an adult, many of my blindness related struggles have been financial. He hasn’t made money pour in but He has taken care of my needs. I asked Him for a braille display, to help in the work He has given me to do. He provided it 30 minutes later from someone who didn’t know I needed it. One month, I was struggling financially and I asked Him to help me. I received a $1,000 check from someone I did not know the next day. I prayed for help because we needed but could-not afford to replace the heat exchanger on our central unit. After I prayed, we found that the heat exchanger was the only thing on the 10 year old unit still under warranty and it was a week from the end of that warranty. We feared that our 340,000 mile vehicle was nearing the end of its useful life and we prayed for God to provide something else. Someone gave us a vehicle. These are just a few examples. I could cite many more but I don’t have the room to talk about everything here.
Could one of these things just have been a coincidence? Sure. What about two of them. Maybe. How about three of them? Very, very unlikely but a possibility. All of them? I don’t think so. Millions of other Christians can offer similar testimony. Was all of this just random chance for all of us? If you think about it, I think you will agree that this would be impossible. If it wasn’t random chance, what was it? I think it was God.
For much more on the subject of miracles vs chance, check out the SDM podcast entitled “Was it God?”. You can find that here
Does God always do what I ask? No, absolutely not. When I was in the middle of that seemingly endless string of eye surgeries and complications, I prayed for God to at least let me keep the vision that I had previously had. He did not. When I was in the midst of all my employment struggles, I prayed for God to let me get the jobs that I had applied for. In most cases, He did not. However, were it not for all those times that God did not grant my requests, I would not be engaged in the Christian ministry that is now my full time job. This is, by far, the most fulfilling and rewarding thing that I have ever done. It doesn’t bring in a whole lot of money but, with God’s help, it is enough. He has taken care of me, as I have explained. I truly believe that, when He did not do as I asked, He was still looking out for my best interests, just as I often don’t give my children what they ask for, when I don’t feel it is in their best interest. What loving parent doesn’t sometimes deny their children their desires, for their own good?
God loves me. Can I prove that? No. Do your parents love you? I bet they do. If you don’t have good parents, you have someone who you know loves you, don’t you? Can you prove that they love you? No, you can’t but you still know, don’t you? How do you know? You know the same way that I know that my parents and my wife love me, the same way that my wife and children know that I love them. That is also the same way that I know that God loves me. Is that entirely objective and logical? No, but it’s the best I can do and its enough for me.
I know that saying that God has taken care of me through all my hardships and that I am actually better off for all my hardships may sound to you as though I am just doing my best to put a positive spin on things and making the best of a bad situation. It may even seem to you as though I am just flat delusional. That is not the case. I wish I could offer proof but I can’t. I don’t have proof to give you. I don’t have proof but I have faith and He has spent my life proving to me that my faith is well founded. His proof to me may not convince you. So, perhaps, consider giving Him the chance to give you your own proof.
In these first two articles, I have done my best to explain some of why I believe that God exists and why I believe He allows suffering. I have not proven it. No one can prove it but I hope that I have at least given you something to think about. I want to give you one more things to think about. He loves you too. If you eventually come to the point that you feel that you may want to have a relationship with Him, please check out the “Most Important Thing” section of the Scott Duck Ministries website. If you still doubt Him and still wonder why He allows suffering, stay tuned for the next article.
