would losing a loved one suddenly cause you to lose your faith/beliefs?

Question

if you lose a loved one senselessly, suddenly in an accident, tragically (freak or act of nature) or when you are grieving, the friends of the same faith gave your no help.......

would you lose your faith in your God?(religious)
or in yourself? (atheist) & in life in general?
OR would you bounce back & be more fervent.

Answer 1

I sure hope that I will keep true to my faith, but I cannot say. My mom died nine years ago, but that was before I was a Christian, and all did feel hopeless.

I dunno and hopefully I won't have to find out.

Answer 2

I have lost people due to senseless accident and just by natural death as well. I never lost my faith in GOD or my religion. If it wasn't for that, I would have nothing else. It is the only thing to hold on to. Don't ever depend on friends.They don't, won't, can't, & have no clue as to what helping is. I had one friend tell me while I was grieving that I was only allowed one "pity party" a week. Can you imagine?? Two months after my spouses death. I've had other friends, church friends, tell me it's time to get on with my life! I really don't care what others think anymore. What people go through in their lives is within themself and no one else can imagine it or have the right to judge what another should or should not do. While one person is busy bouncing back, another is suffering with sadness. Not just because of loss and grief, but because of other mitigating circumstances in their lives that happened all in the same time frame. "S--t" happens, understand that. No one intentionally feels sorry for themselves, but each of us has their own personal reasons and feelings to deal with. Only "GOD" can help with these issues. So why would an intelligent person with a background of committment to their religion give it up when it is needed the most? Sounds like misconception only........

Answer 3

I lost my eldest son 5 yrs ago suddenly. He died of a heart failure in school. My wife and I had no clue it would happen as he was perfectly healthy.

Initial period was traumatic for us. Some Christian 'friends' did more harm by trying to say 'comforting things' to us but ended up making us more angry and discouraged. They were like Job's friends; judgemental , insensitive and stupid.

Eventually we went trough the crisis with the support of just one of two really good Christian brothers and sisters who just cried with us, gave practical help, don't talk so much and were very sensible and sensitive.

Our faith was initially shaken but eventually we bounced back.
We still did not have an answer why God took our son home so suddenly.

When we can't see the reason why God allowed certain things (trials ) to come our way , we must learn to trust the heart of God.

I believe no one can try to give a clever or convincing answer why we lost our first son. You can quote all the scriptures about trials etc, etc. Like I said, it will only put me off more. As if I do not know these verses exist ? I've taught the Bible many years and counselled ppl using the Bible before.

My wife and I can now testify that truly trials strenghten us and our characters were moulded as a result.

God is more interested in our character than in our comfort. Tht's what my pastor frequently reminds us and I believe he's right.

Am I more fervent ? Yes, after my recovery. Everytime I share my story, ppl are very encouraged and they cry 'coz they feel the pain I went through.

My advice to all readers and answerers out there is :

Don't be too quick to jump to conclusions when someone goes thru a crisis like death of loved ones or terminal sickness or disease.

Don't do the typical thing many Christians love to do: throw Bible verses at the person and say stupid , hurting things like; "did you sin, did you backslide, God is chastising you and all those irritating comments." I went thru it and I know how it feels like.

The best thing you can do for someone who lost a loved one suddenly is just be there, cry with the person and say nothing. I really mean nothing. Just try to feel with your heart how your friend feels . Offer practical help. That's all you need to do . No need to show off your Bible knowledge or verse memory skills.

Praise God I'm now stronger in faith and I am able to more effectively comfort others who have lost their loved ones .

Answer 4

A person that is grounded and rooted in God will encounter this situation better with compassion. Now some do lose the faith and stop believing in God and that when a saint should step in and assure them of keeping the faith. All of us are destined to die someday and death is a part of life. It does hurts when a close love one or friends dies but hang on cause God is in control. A strong christian person will definitely not lose the faith and continue in their religion.

Answer 5

I think when the pain of losing one who is so dear to you becomes so great, it is common and rational to question all you know. God, yourself, doctors and medicine, etc. Inevitably though life must return to order and then you can begin to place everything back to it's position of importance in your life. I can tell you that to almost die is a really big factor in my renewed love of God. I have one grandson on the way and two young (5 & 7) children that I hope will benefit from God granting me a stay of execution. At least I will make everyday I have left on this planet one that contains something special for all of them. How could I do any less?

Answer 6

I would never lose faith in the Lord. I know that even if I didn't understand why God let something happen, He has a reason for everything. God is in control and has a plan. Nothing, even the death of my parents would cause me to lose faith.

Answer 7

I would not at all lose my faith because a loved one died. How silly is that? The bible tells us, absent from the body, present with the Lord. It hurts yes, it takes time to heal yes and God is there to comfort us. When my dad passed away, who was a great man of God, you cant imagine the peace we had during this time. I miss my dad terribly but i know he is waiting for the Lord to raise him up on the last day, and i will see him again!

Answer 8

I would grieve, I would be very upset, I would even be a little depressed. However, I would never lose a sense of self over something like that.

My loved ones would get downright pissed if they knew I was throwing away my life and what I believe (don't believe actually) because of something that couldn't be helped.

I would continue to live my life the way that they should have been able to do themselves.

Answer 9

well, it depends on the loss. i, too, have been through a lot of deaths in the past 3 years, but i wouldn't say that they made me lose my faith or my beliefs. i think a better way of expressing my experience is to say that those losses made me question my faith. for example, my brother committed suicide almost two years ago, and after he died, i found myself questioning God - how could He let something like this happen to my brother? why couldn't He let us see what my brother needed? through the questioning, i found my faith becoming stronger.

it's okay to be sad and to greive and to question. the important thing is that you remember who you are, and what impact that person or those people had on your life, and to remember the impact that they had on your life, and that they continue to have on your life.

Answer 10

I`m an Agnostic. If there is a loving God why did he take my husband so suddenly? He was a wonderful man who worked hard for me and our five children all his life. It`s not fair when there are so many cruel heartless people in the best of health!

Answer 11

No. Death is a natural part of my beliefs. No matter how devastated I was, I would know I must go on - it does not help the dead if those left behind stop living too, and it doesn't change anything.