Can you help me with this thought?????

Question

They say if you follow the path of righteousness, you will feel no pain, no worries, all will be taken care of......I have a hard time with this and things like Katrina, or Cancer....Then they say he has a plan for us all and it was just their time to be with Jesus......OHHHH Bullsh*t!!!! But...., THEN......, I want to be on that path, to have a relationship with The Omnipresent...GOD....so, my educated, brain and spiritual heart and battling.

I guess some would say that is Good and Evil battling in me????

"They"...people (christians) who PUSH Jesus and God on to so one......

I was sitting across from a lady last night at a Bible study, and she said..."Oh, I give it all over to Jesus. He will take care of me."-----------My first thought was what, is he paying your bills?

As I thought about it more, Jesus and God...are responsible for so much pain....why trust to let them handle it? They are handling the world too swiftly right now, how is he gonna handle your bills???

Answer 1

I have been raised as southern baptist my entire life, but my first year of college, my intelligence began battling my spirituality. I had a hard time putting my spirituality into perspective with my education, but I have always had a really supportive mother that helped me through and I began to form my own ideals.

I have decided that religion and spirituality are 2 different things and that education totally seperate from both of these.

You educate you mind with all sorts of things daily, but how do you feed your spirit? Your spirit is fed through faith. You cannot mix your education with your spirituality because they are 2 different things.

I do not know every bible verse by heart. I have not even read the entire New Testament, but I can tell you that the path of righteousness never attempted to promise no pain and suffering. The path of righteousness is pain and suffering that is why the path is narrow and traveled by few. You have to realize that your human educated mind is trying to put into perspective things that human minds will never understand. Spirituality is not about understanding how and why...Spirituality is about have faith when you have no idea. That is what faith is.

Faith is not looking at Hurricane Katrina (by the way I live in southeast Louisiana) and Cancer patients and saying I cannot put this into my spiritual perspective... Faith is saying these things are example of trials and tribulations that all people will face in their lifetime. They are opportunities to show what kind of spirit you have.

My business partner lost everything she owned in Hurrican Katrina, but when she talks about the storm, she doesn't talk about what she lost. She talks about what she gained. She says, "The Lord stripped of material things to help remember how unimportant they are."

My mother was diagnosed with cancer 3 years, but she did not take that as an opportunity to crawl into a corner and die. She was proactive. She prayed and prayed the entire time. After 3 chemo treatments, she was fine, but she will forever live her life with an amazing amount of faith because she hit rock bottom and the only security she had was her faith.

Have you ever heard that the Lord works in mysterious way? He does. He works in ways that are so mysterious that you will never comprehend the reasoning behind it. I myself that decided that. I can read as many religious books that have been written, but I will never understand the innerworkings of God's mind. I would much rather accept my little miracles in his name, and leave all the thinking up to him. It is a great comfort to know that I do not have to have all the answers because he does.

One more anecdote for the road. My business partner has been really suffering with some mistakes that she has made in the past. She has a lot of regrets and guilt that she carries with her everyday. The other day she said that she couldn't believe she had allowed herself to walk so far off the path at times. I told her that as many times that she has felt like she was walking off the path, mysteriously, she is exactly where God had planned for her to be. Look back on your life and realize that all of the trials and tribulations you may have experienced were planned so that you would end up right where you are now...If things had turned out differently perhaps you wouldn't be sitting here questioning the existence of your savior exactly the way that God had planned for you to.

You could continue to investigate and question for a very long time until one day realizing that you could have been walking by faith this entire time. Or, you could just fall on your knees and just talk to your father as the father that he is. He understands how you feel because he understood when I did it.

I told him that I didn't understand everything, but he already knew that, He knew that because he created me as someone that would question everything. He knew that I would never be the kind of person to take someone's word for it. That is why it meant 10 times more when I relinquished my grip of my life and said let me try to walk by faith for a while.

And, you know what?... It is a lot less stressful to know that even though Hurricane Katrinas and Cancer Victims will come and go...I am in the exact place that God had planned for me...And if I die tomorrow or lose my house...It is because that is what God wanted and he has purpose whether I understand it or not...

Just try. Step out on a limb. You have nothing to lose and all the world to gain.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you. It was mutually beneficial.

Answer 2

Ok, this is a hard question. Lets break it apart. First where does it say if you follow the path to righteousness you will feel no pain, have no worries? Jesus was the most righteous and he definately felt pain. The apostle Paul was devout, celibate, and spent most of his life praising God and spreading His Word, yet he was beaten, imprisioned, and murdered. Are there things we hate about our world? Yes absolutly, but even through the horror we have to know that God has a plan, that he is in control.

In the OT God delivered the Jews to the Babylonians, then to the Medo Persians, then the Romans. Under the Roman rule the universal language became Greek. Greek is the language of the new testement. If God had not allowed the Greeks control then the gospel could not have been heard and understood by so many. But I bet during that time there were people saying How could a loving God do this? If He is all powerful then why won't he stop this?

God loves us, and He wants us to CHOOSE to love him. Once we choose it he wants us to grow in it, count on him more and more, share with him more and more. 9/11 was horrific. Thousands died, families were devestated, but afterward churches were full. Sometimes God uses terrible things to get our attention, to remind us we have a limited time to choose Him. I believe He has tried numerous times to get our attention with positive things, but we tend to take credit for that to easily. Promotion at work? I worked really hard, put in lots of hours, really wowed the customer. Won the lottery, found $20, got an unexpected discount when you really needed it, WHAT LUCK.

To me there is NO LUCK. There is God and there is the Devil. God gives us what he knows we need to fullfill a great plan it is up to us how we use it. I believe sometimes the Devil gives us what we ask for because he knows it will make us more self focused and less God focused. And God lets him, because He wants us to CHOOSE God.

Here is a link for a webcast of an apologetics class on why bad things happen listen and see what you think
http://www.springbaptist.org/adults/apologetics.htm

Hope I didn't ramble too much. Hope I helped. Feel free to email if you want.

Answer 3

@ Nicholas H: "the answer is simple, when they say " if you follow the path of righteousness, you will feel no pain, no worries, all will be taken care of"....THEY ARE LYING."

what he said is true. don't get me wrong here, I am a Christian and yes, I do believe that Jesus is the way, the righteousness. I also believe what He said in the Bible that everyone who follows Him would not perish but have eternal life. However, it is also true that God never promises easy life and sweetness for the rest of your life when you come to Him. In fact, He did mention in the Bible that when someone has chosen to follow Him and is brave enough to declare it to both the world and satan, the devil would be mad and try to hurt you even more. Yet God promises that He would never allow problems that are bigger than you can handle to come to you. He also promises that whenever we ask, we would be given; i.e. when we are exhausted and too sad to move on and when we need rest, He would be there to give rest, to lend us a hand, to guide us and to give us light. He believes in us and why would we not believe in Him? Sorry if this is too long for some of you, but I can go on and on about things like this. Anyone who would to know more and care enough to get in touch would be more than welcomed. :)

Answer 4

Actually, walking the path sounds very Bhuddist, or Zen, The path to enlightenment is far deeper explored by Eastern mystics than by Bible thumping scare mongers. No comparison. However, there is another path. Your path. You are unique and the universe has validated your existence. After all, here you are. Walk with yourself and let the night sky be your blanket, the earth your pillow. Worship you. There is a lot to us all that we never see because we do not search within all that much. As you get older, it becomes even more difficult as you ease into your psychological comfort zone. Play the edges. Test the envelope. Don't ask somebody else what it means when you ponder the infinite night sky. If you can clear your mind of thought, you will be amazed at what windows will open in your brain. It's not easy, but there are techniques. I do not speak from experience because I am not able to totally clear my mind of thought. But I appreciate the concept. "Good" and "evil" are also constructs, they don't serve a useful purpose in self-analysis. When applied to yourself, "good" means you are renunciate, and "evil" means you feel guilty. Dwell in memory and you will always dwell in the past, or in thoughts about what may happen. Meanwhile, the now moment passes you by.

Learn and have fun.

Answer 5

When tragedies strike, sometimes people will say things like, "God has His plan" and it sometimes sounds insensitive to the pain people are going through. But that is not intentional. They're just trying to say that God truly hasn't abandoned those who have suffered great things. I believe that to be true myself. Jesus knows what pain is and He feels the pain of all who go through trails like the ones you mentioned.

Following the path of righteousness does NOT mean a life without trials. It means God is always there; right by your side. Consider these words from Jesus: "These things I have spoken to you, that in me you will have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

Answer 6

It sounds like you have been listening to some of these holier-than-thou flukes. Look, the meaning of rightiousness, is to try your best to do what is right. thats all it means. Don't figure you are gonna be some perfect christian. There aren't any. ziltch -zero - nada. no perfect people, I don't care how religious they say they are. period.
Okay - about things like Cancer and Katrina - bad things happen; Why blame God because we get Cancer when we process foods and then eat them? When we pour poisons onto our crops and then EAT them? Don't Blame God for the faults of man.
The Bible tells of the health laws, but does anyone listen to them?
nope. People think God says not to eat pork just to be a mean old God? Pork is the first meat a medical doctor will take you off of when you become a cancer patient. I know, I'm one of them.
When you follow Christ, just the opposite of the "no pain, no worries, all will be taken care of -- stuff " happens.
When I started a relationship with God, it was like somebody left the barn door open and all the horses were running me over.
It was unbelievable. The Bible explains that even though we in the flesh may not know what purpose God has for us, Satan sure does, and he's gonna try to trip you up at every turn. count on it. Thats why I often tell people, no its not easier to be Christian, its often much, much harder. But thats okay, because Christ is looking for Christian Soldiers - can-do, strong people who can be counted on to get the job done - regardless of how bad the battleground is, and how severe our injuries are.

Answer 7

Its not good or bad battling you. It is a smart person using common sense about religion. You answer your own question. You can follow a spiritual path without needing the presence of a god in your life. Sounds to good to be true. I am what most don't want to hear. ATHEIST. I follow a path that is the path of proper living based on my own moral values. And connect with myself. I depend on myself and my family. Not depend on some deity to give me happiness when I am dead as I am alive now and what I do in life now matters. What I can do for others matters. What I can do for the world matters.

Yep the religious ones will say it is all predicted in the bible. Mass destruction. Illness blah blah blah. OK same way physcics can predict what you want to hear.

You do what you think is right. Find yourself. Be happy. Don't worry about following every one else. Do what is natural to you. But if you are having a hard time with it as posted you should not be a hypocrit and follow it. Do some research.

Your path is there you will find it.

Answer 8

It takes lots of pain & effort to do something right. At the end, you will get the mental fulfillment or satisfaction

However, you don't really need an effort to doing anything wrong but you will see tha pain & suffering later. (Be it on you or someone else)

Whether or not you feel pain, worry or stress, it is your mindset.

Who you want to be?

What kind of person you want to be?

How to you want to live your life?

Why?

After all, it is your own decision. God or religion is a guide for you. If you interprete it wrongly, then what's the point of getting to know it at the first place? Believe in what is the best for you.

I am sure you can make a wise choice.

Answer 9

In times of grief and pain, people try to cope by finding a reason why bad things happen to them and their loved ones. That's a natural human reaction and being able to cope with a traumatic event isn't that bad even if the explanation doesn't sound that logical to you.

You don't have to use the same coping mechanism as others if logically you can't go along with it. As another person has remarked on this site, you don't have to be religious to be spiritual and you don't have to adopt the "party line" from any organized religion to have a spiritual relationship with the Creator.

So be at peace with yourself and put your faith in what you really believe in, not what the others say.

Answer 10

No one ever said that the path of righteousness was painless, worryless or easy. In fact, that path can be the most difficult to tread. Those who try to be on the straight and narrow are the ones which Satan wants to hurt. It is said that God will never give you more than you can handle, so leaves a lot of room for bad things to happen, you just have to know that you can recover, no matter how bad things may seem at the time.