Why God, Why?
“Life sucks.”
Everyone
has heard, felt, or said this at one time or another.
We all know someone who’s got sick, divorced, fired, robbed,
dumped, or injured. People, pets, and comfortable
circumstances repeatedly leave us before we’re ready to let them go. We’ve witnessed an epidemic of people
treating each other badly on TV and in films.
We experience hatred, anger, cruelty, and dishonesty almost every day.
Given all we encounter on a regular basis, it would seem
life truly does “suck.”
But things are rarely what they seem.
Because of the limits of human vision and our circumscribed
understanding and finite comprehension of God’s grand plan, we often
misunderstand and misinterpret God’s motives, and pervert His purposes.
The reason our spiritual growth seems so stunted, is we are
stubborn when it comes to giving God his due.
To understand God and our place in the cosmos, we must first learn to
fully and completely accept that God is
perfection. Being perfect in every way,
God never has made nor ever will make a mistake.
We must therefore disabuse ourselves of the
religion-promulgated concept of God as an unstable, wrath seeking, vengeful
being set on whipping the children of his creation into submission via His
cruel punishing hand. The true living
God finds such mythological nonsense offensive.
God is perfect and therefore beyond such petty human characteristics and
pedestrian emotional outbursts.
Yet even so, we humans have a nasty habit of qualifying the
events we witness as good or bad, positive or negative, right or wrong, thereby
second guessing God’s wisdom, the full breadth and extent of which we cannot possibly
discern or comprehend. To God, these
things occurring here are merely events
bearing no qualitative label. Each event
is a necessary step carefully designed for our continued evolution on our
gradual cosmic march toward spiritual perfection.
We live in a dimension of contrast whereby one element is
defined by the other. For example, how
can we know heat without cold, dark without light, slow without fast, big
without small, or the countless other dualities which frame our perceptions?
In terms of our personal evolution and growth:
- If courage is a desirable human trait, then man must exist in an environment where he is forced to grapple with hardships and react to disappointment.
- If altruism is a positive goal, then we need to encounter situations of social inequality which provide us an opportunity to be of service.
- If having hope is desirable, then must human-kind be forever confronted with insecurities and recurrent uncertainty.
- If unselfishness is desirable, then must man live with the incessant clamoring of his self for recognition and honor.
- How could man choose righteousness if there were no potential for evil to differentiate the good by contrast?
If you are one of the many who feel as though life simply
isn’t fair, there are two things you can do make a difference right now.
The first involves having absolute faith that God is ALWAYS
looking out for your best interests, and to express never ending gratitude for
His grace.
If you were to stop and truly consider the perfection
surrounding you – the inexplicable and amazingly fortuitous coordination of
seeming unrelated occurrences that shape your life and the character of this
planet – you would be forced to conclude that life on Earth (aka Urantia) is not a
disjointed and haphazard assemblage of random events, but a carefully
coordinated tapestry of evolution designed to bring we mortal beings into
spiritual unity with our generous and loving Creator.
Truly, ALL that transpires here on Earth, and
throughout the rest of the billions of worlds in the seven master universes, is
occurring just as it is supposed to. And
this includes disease, floods, wars, global warming, the election of certain
officials, social and political upheaval, and yes, death – even of
children and beloved pets. It’s all part
of the plan. It’s all good. God makes no mistakes, because with God, there
is no such thing as an error.
For that
reason, EVERYTHING which happens in your day is a gift with a purpose, even if
it might not seem so at the time.
It’s like when your mom made you eat spinach. It looked and tasted gross, but she knew it
would help you become a healthy and strong adult. So are the experiences and challenges God
sends forth for your spiritual development and growth. What God asks isn’t always easy, but it is
His will that must be done for you to continue to evolve.
Jesus (aka Christ Michael) said, “Which of you who is a father, if his son asks unwisely, would hesitate
to give in accordance with parental wisdom rather than in the terms of the son’s
faulty petition? If the child needs a
loaf, will you give him a stone just because he unwisely asks for it? If your son needs a fish, will you give him a
water snake just because it may chance to come up in the net with the fish and
the child foolishly asks for the serpent?
If you, then being mortal and finite, know how to answer prayer and give
good and appropriate gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly
Father give the spirit and many additional blessings to those who ask him?”
So go through your day with words of thanks on your lips for
God’s greatness. Thank Him for the food
which sustains you and staves off your hunger, for the blue sky, the sunshine, the
air you breathe, the shoes on your feet, the smile of a stranger, the roof over
your head, the well-being of your children, the income that provides for your
daily needs, the people in your life you consider family and friends. If you truly pay attention, there are countless
things to feel grateful for every minute of every day, including just feeling
good. By thus turning your attention to
God and allowing God’s grace to fill your heart, no room is left for doubt,
self-pity, or sadness.
And here’s the BIG one: Even learn to give thanks for the
things you think you don't want.
Remember, if it came to you, it’s something God knows you need. This is perhaps the most difficult concept
for mankind, in our limited, circumscribed understanding of creation, to
grasp. By getting angry, resentful, or
resisting what God sends us, we are second guessing His genius, subverting His
plan, and rejecting His love and presence in our lives.
Going back to the spinach example, just because you don’t
like it doesn’t mean it isn’t good for you. By rejecting God’s gifts, we
are spitting the spinach back into the eye of the Creator of all things. Learn to embrace and accept EVERYTHING,
without judgment or qualification, and in doing so, forge a strong and lasting
bond with God.
Second, learn to meditate.
Meditation isn’t some new age mumbo-jumbo practiced by robe wearing
monks on a mountaintop the media has made it out to be. Meditation is basically a quieting of the
mind and a stilling of those ever-present thoughts which ricochet around our
heads all day long.
Taking conscious control of your mind is crucial to your
personal happiness and success. This is
why top performers in all fields of endeavor practice creative visualization. Whatever you can see yourself doing in your
mind, you can do on the field, stage, job, etc.
Even when practiced only 10 to 20 minutes per day, meditation stops your
mind from creating, thus providing God an opportunity to implant His thoughts
and ideas into your consciousness, bringing you closer to Him and He to
you.
It’s really quite simple, and there are dozens of books,
apps, and classes that offer instruction.
[Headspace is one popular app I myself have tried. This link regarding Transcendental Meditation is also helpful.] Making this God connection is especially useful first thing in the
morning and right before drifting off to sleep at night. (Which is why for generations, parents have
taught their children to say prayers before bed!)
Start and end your day with God, and in the middle feel
grateful. Two simple concepts which will
positively transform your life.
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