The Lie: A Loving God Would Never Allow Pain

Today's Cafe Chat Topic: "What is a lie that you have believed in the past (or even currently), and why do you think you believed that lie? Find a verse in God’s Word to combat the lie."


Lie: If God really loved us then He wouldn't allow bad things to happen to us.

Before I found my way back to God, I used to say this a lot. Today, as I come in contact with non-believers, I often cringe as I hear this same statement roll off their tongues - usually in the context of defending a lack of faith and a refusal to accept an almighty God and His ways.

As humans, with a limited understanding of the ways of God, we can so easily fall into the trap of wanting to equate His love with happiness and jump to the conclusion that because God loves us, He must want us happy, with all our needs, wants and desires met and without any pain, trouble or suffering. In turn, we begin to focus on the bad stuff of life and determine that God must not love or care about us or worst yet, that He doesn't exist at all. I know this is why I personally believed the lie.

Theologically, the problem of pain (as my man CS Lewis called it) and the lie that a loving God would never allow it is much bigger than I could ever hope to address here in this post, so I'm just going to allow God's word to speak for itself on this one. I know I was supposed to find one scripture to combat the lie, but I have a few and just couldn't limit it to one *sigh*:

Yes, He loves us:

“Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.” (Psalm 36:5)

“How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.” (Psalm 36:7)

“Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:26)

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

“... And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,...” (Ephesians 3:17-18).

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

Even though we suffer:

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 5:3-5)

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4)

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:12-13)

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10)

If you are a Christian – believe that God loves you and will use the trials, suffering and pain of this life to grow you up in Him and for Him.

If you are not a Christian - believe that God loves you and will use the trials, suffering and pain of this life to call you to Him. Won't you answer that call?

Maybe That's What Heaven's For....

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9)

For better or for worse, I've been thinking back and reflecting a lot these past several weeks (blasted Beth Moore homework!). And so, in keeping with the current tone in my life - I'm posting a beautiful song from the earliest moments of my journey back to God...

It's a song I listened to A LOT as I began to realize that this "quiet ache" inside was one that only God could provide an answer for... I pray it touches you as much as it has me....






Reaching - Carolyn Arends


There's a time I can recall
Four years old and three feet tall

Trying to touch the stars
and the cookie jar
And both were out of reach

And later on in my high school
It seemed to me a little cruel
How the right words to say
always seemed to stay
Just out of reach

Well I should not have thought it strange
That growing causes growing pains
'Cause the more we learn
the more we know
We don't know anything

But still it seems a tragic fate
Living with this quiet ache
The constant strain for what remains
Just out of reach

We are reaching for the future
We are reaching for the past
and no matter what we have
we reach for more
We are desperate to discover
What is just beyond our grasp

But maybe that's what heaven is for

There are times I can't forget
Dressed up in my Sunday best
Trying not to squirm and to maybe learn
A bit of what the preacher preached
And later lying in the dark
I felt a stirring in my heart
And though I longed to see
what could not be seen
I still believed

I guess I shouldn't think it odd
Until we see the face of God
The yearning deep within us tells us
There's more to come
So when we taste of the divine
It leaves us hungry every time
For one more taste of what awaits
When heaven's gates are reached

We are reaching for the future
We are reaching for the past
and no matter what we have
we reach for more
We are desperate to discover
What is just beyond our grasp
And maybe that's what heaven is for

I believe that's what heaven is for

There's a time I can recall
Four years old and three feet tall
Trying to touch the stars
and the cookie jar
And both were out of reach

It's a Different Cloud, but the Same Old Rain.

Today's stormy sky is in perfect harmony with my mood. I took these shots as I was driving around town this morning listening to depressing music and pondering the very meaning of this murkiness that so often stirs up within me. As I was driving, the rain came down, the volume on the music went up and I grew more and more restless.

Intrusive memories are having their way with me again; shame, guilt and hurt are following up closely behind. Nothing about this is of God, or maybe it is – I just don't know. I just know that this morning, God's sky spoke volumes to me - I couldn't help but to notice the metaphor to my own life - here I am, hanging out below this heavy darkness and getting poured on, when all the while, off in the distance, there is clear weather and beautiful white puffy clouds to play under.

What on earth am I doing here and how do I get from here to there? And more so, how do I stay there once I make it? I'm so drained – so tired of finding myself here. It's a different cloud, but the same old rain.

Lord, your servant is weary and weather beaten.... Lead me out from beneath this darkness. Show me the way back to you. Lead me to your shelter, where I may dwell and find rest in your shadow. Oh, Lord, You are amazing. I praise you for all You have already done, though I deserved none of it and I trust You to bring me through.... In Jesus' holy name, Amen.

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High

will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
He is my God, and I trust him. (Psalm 91:1-2)

God Bless all Creatures... Big and Small

He Carried Me

For the past few weeks the homework in my Beth Moore, Believing God study has been to look back throughout my whole life in an attempt to see God's hand in it all. Pretty neat, huh? But here's the thing, self reflection is not always a good thing for someone like me. I tend to hyper reflect if I'm not kept in check and can easily end up heavy hearted and muddy minded. Being granted permission to look back in the context of bible study is... well... probably not much healthier for me.

Even still, this whole “let's take a really long, hard look” at the past thing has been looming over my head. On one hand I know that I need to. I know that this exercise, if done prayerfully and with the aide of the Holy Spirit can probably help me in so many ways, but on the other hand - I REALLY don't want to. The past hurts, the past makes me angry and I just want to keep on peddling forward.

And so, today I decided to do just that. I peddled forward, quite literally. I took a very looooong bike ride. I went to one of my favorite places to ride – along the river. I listened to music, peddled hard, enjoyed the sunshine and tried not to think about anything but the moment.

But this whole, “let's take a really long, hard look” at the past thing was in the back of my mind. You see, the Beth Moore, Believing God study is ending in two days and I haven't touched my homework since the whole “past issue” came up and that was several weeks ago.

So, I rode and contemplated my fear of doing that blasted homework. I just hate beginning a study that I don't finish. I thought about the main reason why I abandoned this homework assignment – fear. Ever been there?

Here's the thing, it's not that I'm afraid of the past, per se or that I just can't face the hurt, though I'd really rather not. It's that I'm afraid that if I take too deep a look back, I may be provoked to walk away from God, again. Yikes. That hurts to admit and how very unChristian of me, but follow along and I'll try to work this out.

I believed in the Lord when I was very young, but the events and experiences of my younger years caused me to grow cold to Him. I walked away from Him for many, many years because I blamed Him and doubted His love and protection. Point blank, I believed He'd abandoned me. And so, the more I recognize this, the more I realize that looking back and trying to see Him there, active in my past, is dredging up that old disappointment. I'm beginning to ask myself that old immature question again - why did He abandon me?

Okay, I haven't gone off the deep end. I know that He didn't abandon me. I said it was an immature question, right??? I know I shouldn't think those thoughts, but yet they are beginning to come up again.

And so, with this back and forth swirling in my head, I rode and tried to drown it all out with praise music, sunshine and an elevated heart rate (you would not believe the hills I climbed!).

About 45 minutes into my ride, a particularly moving worship song came on and I just had to pull over. There was this intense desire in me to be still, close my eyes, sit along the water's edge and just worship Him. I pulled off and headed for a set of park benches that I've never stopped at before. I dumped my bike and just stood there.

I tried to worship, but my heart was too heavy. I tried to think on Him, but my mind was too busy racing with hurts of the past. I tried not to go there. I didn't want to. That fear of my heart hardening came on strong. I kept trying to chase away that childish voice inside that tries to make me think that God once abandoned me.

Fellow journeyers, what happened next was indeed meant for me - so you may not get it fully, but I hope you get some of it because it was way cool. After struggling for a bit, I walked over to the benches, my heart still heavy and my mind still swirling and there, between the two benches, was a boulder. And on that boulder was a memorial plaque and although it wasn't put there for me, I know that my awesome God led me there this afternoon. Check out what it said:

I have never been a fan of this often quoted poem, but the truth of it hit me so unbelievably hard today. Yes, whenever we look back into our pasts and can only see one set of footprints, it IS then that He carried us.

He carried me, He carried ME.

Friends, He doesn't abandon His children. He promises to never leave us, nor forsake us. I think I'm going to have to trust Him on this. I think I'm going to do my homework.

In His love!

Advice to Younger Self: Believe in Him

This weeks Cafe' Chat Question:

Q: “If you could go back in time to a pivotal point in your young life and give yourself one word/sentence of advice, and know that you would accept the advice, what would it be?”

A: Believe in Jesus Christ.

Believe. That's it. I knew the answer to this one the moment I read the question. No need to mull it over or think about it too deeply. I knew the answer. Even still, I pondered what to post. You see, I wanted to post an answer that was both pithy and original, not one that seemed a bit - oh, how should I say it - canned (given that this is a Christian blog). I wanted people to read it and think, “Oooh, now there's some great advice!”

But, the fact remains that if I could go back to a pivotal point in my life and speak to the younger me, then this is what I would have to say – Believe in Him.

I look back to the younger version of me and I just want to give her something to turn to that is bigger than herself and bigger than the traumas and dramas that infect her life. That girl once believed - when she was very young, but things happened and it all changed and I can't begin to relate just how hopeless her existence came to be. And so, while there are many, many things I would want to tell her, I'd mostly just want to give her back her faith and her hope in Jesus, the Christ.

I would just want her to Believe... again.

Blessings and Peace!

Everyday Ways to Glorify the King - Live Apart from the World

"Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us." (1 Peter 2:12)

Reminder: this whole world lies under the sway and rule of the wicked one. Wherever he is, there is spiritual darkness and a life lived tethered to the condemnation of sin.

Praise God, we are no longer under the authority of the world. Christ Jesus, the Author of eternal salvation, has called us out of that darkness and out of the slavery that is sin. As such, we remain physically present in the world, but spiritually set apart from it. Our bodies lumber here, but our hearts and souls reside with the Christ.

How we live should reflect this truth. The things we say and the actions we take should exemplify Jesus. The people around us should notice that our values, our pleasures, our actions, our motivations, our priorities - all of these things are beyond what the world immerses itself in.

We bring glory to Him when we live and work and play unlike the pagans do, unlike the unbelievers do. We bring glory to Him when we live such good lives that those around us see Him at work in us and not us at play in the world.

Consider your own walk. In what ways are you glorifying the world, rather than the King?