When God doesn't make sense

[desolateangel83]

I just mentioned to lifeflowson that lately my faith has been slipping. It started with another anxiety relapse this weekend. I read the scriptures over and over again, and I hummed "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" every chance I could. Nothing could take the worry away. Then I got to thinking about these past seven years of being a Christian. "Was it all

Comments

[pastorlenny]

Paul was kind of emo, so I'm not totally sure that's a bad thing. :)

Have you gone out for a cup of coffee lately with any of the guys at your church? Have you had lunch with your pastor lately?

[desolateangel83]

Yeah, my fiance suggested I should talk to my pastor. My pastor and I are cool, but since I pussy foot so much I'm like "Well, what if he's too busy?" and all that stuff.

[pastorlenny]

He may be too busy to see you today or this week. But if he is too busy to speak to you at all, then he is not your pastor. If that is the case, either he should direct you to a someone else on the pastoral staff or you should find a congregation where the leadership actually cares.

It may be that you will actually be doing your pastor a huge favor by asking him for some of his time, because you are giving him an opportunity to do that which he was called by God to do. If he is like me, he will welcome this and be encouraged by it. If people don't ask their pastors for time, the pastor's time winds up being spent exclusively in church government and administration. This is really not what the scriptural office entails.

That your fiance gave you such good advice is a good sign!

:)

[efriden]

Whenever I feel like this I come back to the words of S:t Peter in the Gospel of John 6:69-70: "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."

"Where can I go but to the Lord?"

[antiquegirl]

I think of that scripture from time to time myself.

[catholic_heart]

You Swedes and your silly : instead of . Sorry, couldn't resist. But your advice is spot on, as usual.

[efriden]

Uh... I didn't get the joke. Please explain!

//Erik the (slow) viking

[sarafinapekkala]

Sometimes it helps me to talk to God honestly about how I'm feeling. You might also want to consider whether you're feeling this way because of other things in your life. I know with me for example, I tend to get random atheist impulses when I'm really tempted to do something I know I shouldn't do; I come up with lofty arguments, but at rock bottom, I just want to justify doing whatever-it-is. Now, instead of having a full-blown crisis of faith every single time, my first step is to figure out what I secretly want to do so I can confront *that* instead of dragging a lot of other stuff into it. I'm *not* saying that this is necessarily your problem, but think about whether or not these relapses coincide with something else in your life.

Hope I'm being clear :/

[ex_physician553]

>"Then I got to thinking about these past seven years of being a Christian. "Was it all worth it?"<

Trying to measure whether or not "it is all worth it" while we are living here on earth is a no-win exercise... the born-again believer finds the ultimate reward for following Christ not in this world, but in the next.

True, there are benefits to following Christ that we experience in this world (avoiding sinful behaviors that further damage our lives), but if one is only a Christian for the benefits it brings in *this* life, one is really missing the bigger picture...

[catholic_heart]

Very well stated.

[chaeri]

If God knows we're not perfect, why did He give us so many rules?

he didn't - that's the beauty of the Good News. Jesus gave two commandments which summed up the law: "love the lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself."

the "as" in the last one is key: would you be holding a grudge against a friend for every little thing they did that annoyed you? why are you doing so against yourself?

there are no rules in christianity, and thats what scares a lot people. to find out how to love your neighbor or God in a particular situation means that you need to have a relationship with God. its prayer, using your own understanding of the Bible, and believing that God will lead you right. if you go wide of his will (and you will) you can just accept his forgiveness, repent, and try again.

[catholic_heart]

I don't think I can agree with this. Jesus said these were the two greatest commandments, not the only ones. They are the greatest because if followed perfectly, they will lead us to naturally follow the others. But this doesn't invalidate God's law. "I did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it." Jesus didn't give any new commandments when he said those two. They are from the Old Testament. He simply said they were the greatest.

[chaeri]

he said those summed up the other commandments, actually. he fulfilled the law - he made it so that people are under grace and not law. they are now free to love God and their neighbor without being tied to minute xyz do it this way bothers.

[xrobnx]

Yes, but these 2 form all the others. Look at the ten Commandments. Half are about loving God, the other half are about loving your fellow man.