Patience

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beauty4everyone

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Lord, we need to wait patiently for things we cannot see clearly right now. We need to continue wearing our masks, staying six feet apart, and washing our hands. We need to appreciate the experiences that we can safely have. We need to believe that this virus will be defeated. Everything we read seems both hopeful and doubtful. We cannot see our future clearly at this moment, but we do know that You are with us. You shine the light that leads us through this dark tunnel time. You walk beside us. You carry us. Help us, Lord, to wait patiently through these days that are unlike any we have ever experienced. Help us to wait graciously. Help us to do it well. Amen.
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B, maybe you’d be the best to try and explain this… to me.

I was raised in a very religious family. I believe but… I don’t
practice (go to church) or have devotion to it now.

It was told to me (taught) “God is a loving God... God loves us.
We are God’s children."

I really struggle with that now.

Wars that kill more innocent than enemy (children too), Millions
of children die from starvation every year around the world.
Innocents. Child abuse is now epidemic even within religious
organizations, Boy Scouts, girls schools, camps, so many. Women
who are good loving mothers are being abused and murdered in
almost countless numbers now.

Evangelical leaders are being exposed for sex scandals, priests
too, many live unreal lavish life styles, Leer Jets, full size jets,
limos, mansions, hair stylists and make up artists. Yet, within
miles of their mega churches people are struggling, homeless,
and are going to sleep at night hungry.

People get hounded for more donations, the basket gets passed
around more than once during service… fools or followers pour
the money in. My family was lucky, we found out my mother was
sending donations to Jerry Falwell’s farce of a church. We stopped
that but the phone calls persisted until we threatened that SOB’s
organization. They knew my mother was a widow, blind but was
capable to live on her own. When we visited her we had to put
anything/everything back exactly where it was. She would sit and
listen to the TV… the religious programs.

Now this COVID19. Here, almost a half a million people…
good people, nurses, front line workers, doctors, good mothers,
good fathers, good sons and daughters, children, young adults
and then sadly… mostly the elderly, disabled, cancer survivors
and kind and loving Grandparents are dead. Unfortunately today,
so many are (were) raising their children’s children. Some have
had to actually adopt them for their safety and well being.

There’s a lot of teaching the Word/Bible going on out there now,
Bible schools, Sunday sermons and a lot of good people praying.

I know when people pray hard for things often the answer is still…
“No”.
Is the power of prayer working?
 
is prayer working? for me, personally, it is. in all aspects, no.
 
I'm new to this sub; I hope it is ok to pipe up.

I saw that Beauty started a new thread responding to Al's closing question, but in Al's post I also heard "how can a loving God allow so much death and suffering?", and "why are some Christian leaders hypocrites and interested only in money?". These are important questions.

Most of Al's examples of unjust or cruel treatment (including war) don't happen because God is causing them, they happen because people want to behave that way. Those are the choices we make. As Pogo said,"We have met the enemy and he is us."

There will still be genes which lead to diseases or disease-causing pathogens; we live in a fallen world.
But - and this is my belief - if we lived according to "love your neighbor as yourself", and did not suffer from the results of war, genocide, slavery, racism, greed, lust, and hatred, there would still be disease and natural disasters but the consequences would be much less severe.

Most of us have a family member or friend whom they would say they love. Try to imagine a world where you have the same level of concern about everyone's welfare as you do about them. Are they well? Do they have enough to eat? Are they being mis-treated or being exposed to toxic chemicals? I think the world would be a much nicer place if we behaved that way.

So why does God allow this if he loves us? Because God has given us the ability to choose our actions; to do right or wrong. If he were forcing us to do good or preventing us from doing wrong, we could not be commended or condemned. We would be like robots. (And God wants to have a relationship with us; you can't have a relationship with a robot.)

As for why Christians sin: it is because everyone sins. Without exception. No one can live perfectly. We can't always follow the dictates of our own conscience. We do things we know we shouldn't do.

That's why we (Christians) put our faith in Jesus Christ. God then sees in us Christ's good behavior. We can't be good enough on our own, and we show God that we want to be forgiven for our wrongs and have a relationship with him, when we come to him through Christ.

Best,
 
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Hi, wmilo, nice to hear from you - All should feel welcome to share questions, observations, their faith, etc. This is everyone's forum.

I had written a very similar response, too.
You explained it very well. Thank you for sharing.
Humans had a wonderful life in Eden, until they exerted free will, disobeyed G-d and had to leave.
The ideal is to use free will for what's good, kind, loving, etc. Much of the world's tribulations would end.
Oh, how I wish it would be so.

"Christian leaders hypocrites."
We're all hypocrites in one way or another. All people sin [transgressions against G-d,] requiring confession, repentance [turning away,] and trying again. Deliberate, wilfulness, to choose and act the darker way, nullifies one's claim to be Christian. If our behaviors show we are not. It doesn't matter what position we hold. [My opinion.] B.
 
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