March of this year, our dog was hit by a car, and in a process of a couple months, needed two surgeries, in that window, our 4-year old randomly started seizing and almost died in the local ER before recovering at the children's hospital about an hour away.
Also in this time frame, we needed to get our roof replaced after some record rainfall left puddles in our house. Just as we came out of all of that, our second dog and a neighbor dog got into a fight and we had to pay for the vet bills for the neighbor's dog.
We then discovered my car was having trouble and had to be repaired. In 5 months not only did we suffer these incidents and a few other ones too, but these incidents came with 5 major financial hits. We went from being debt-free to $20,000 in debt and that is after the almost $10,000 we were able to pay off.
As my husband discussed all of this with a friend, the friend (self-proclaimed fellow Christian) mentioned to my husband that maybe we had some sin in our lives that was causing all of this.
Insert eye roll here. Bad theology rears its ugly head. To set the record straight, that comment is wrong! Negative life happenings is not automatically a result of sin. If you are in question of that, read the book of Job in the Bible. Job's friends accused Job of sin when his world was rocked, but God set them straight. Life is hard.
I'm not saying God never punished someone, and I'm also not saying, natural consequences of our choices isn't a thing, because it is. But just because you go through a hard time, doesn't mean, you have sin in your life. It also doesn’t mean God has forgotten you. God is always with us in the midst of the hard times and the good. You are a human being living in the imperfect world. God does make us a promise in the hard times.
John 16:33 says,
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
We are promised peace in the middle of the mess we call life. As Christians, we know this world is not our home. That eternal home is heaven. Our goal should never be a problem free life. Instead it should be to follow Jesus and to trust him in the midst of whatever storm we have endured. If I'm being honest, some of my biggest blessings and strongest traits were forged out of the hard things I went through in life. A few of them were a result of sin, but God didn't forget about me or abandon me. He let me figure it out and when I came back running, he was there. He guided me and I followed and I was better for it.
Sin is the wrong we do against God, and it does separate us from God. The point of dealing with sin is so that we may be closer to our Creator. Its not just wrong actions but attitudes and when we read the Bible, we see that the religious leaders who acted above the law and spent their time condemning the people, were living in sin.
Each of us as friends should be supportive for those in our lives as they walk through life, waiting to cast judgement when we don't have all the information. We are best at speaking wisdom when its wrapped in love. We also should take time to reflect into our own lives. David is a great example of how we should approach God. He was humble as he asked God to search him and lead him to in the right way (Psalm 139). We all have areas we could improve or change, even in the smallest of ways. Go to God and ask him if there is sin in your life, but not because you are fearful of being zapped, but because life connect to Jesus is the best life!
First of all, I'm sorry you've gone through so many tragedies and unfortunate events in such a short time. THat sucks!
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I agree. We don't live in the Garden of Eden anymore. Crap happens for no good reason sometimes. People just like to make up reasons to feel more in control, as a way to cope with some of the utter nonsense of this world. But please... no one knows the mind of God.
So hang in there, speak truth and be gracious, my friend.