Trusting and Suffering

A recent article on Greg Boyd's website, Reknew, inspired these thoughts and a confession:

This is a difficult reality to internalize but helpful when one 'gets it'...I don't like to get too deep into trying to explain evil in the world or why there is suffering even among those who trust God deeply with their safety and well-being. But what I do believe to be true is that God is good. All the time. God does not promise that we will never face trials or have bad things come our way --The world is too complex with spiritual issues and the cacophony of human voices demanding their independence -- but He does promise that he will never leave us in the midst of trials. I also believe that we ARE protected from many things which we will never know about - or that God can and does greatly reduce the impact of something working against us (depicted in the cartoon - which I found here: https://godguysandgirls.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/291937_10150267924702537_592537536_6576769_1965434917_n.jpg?w=652) Above all, while I  believe God may challenge us in life - such as a teacher or a tough coach might challenge a student - I do not believe those trials include tragedy or illness. Yes, He will work all things for good that happen to us regardless of the source (evil, our own stupidity, etc) but I do not believe he does evil things to us 'for our own good' or to bring him glory. A human would be arrested and treated for a mental illness called Munchhausen's By Proxy for behaving that way....Why then do so many attribute tragedy and illness to the hand of God in light of Christ - the full revelation of God's character? Jesus shows that God readily steps into our suffering with us and either walks us through it or takes it on Himself. If I'm wrong about this then I have decided I do not wish to be right. Nor do I wish to hang with a God who would send someone to molest a child, murder another or give someone cancer in order to make himself shine. I'd rather worship a tree for its life-giving oxygen than glorify a God like that.

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