The following questions were asked on an open forum. These are questions that many people struggle with when it comes to the subject of suffering. I pray my answer can be used by the Lord to shed light on the subject and ease some burdens.
"The subject is of these scriptures: Jesus said, 'With God all things are possible' (Matthew 19:26). ... It is the power of God that makes what seems impossible possible. Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37). If this is a literal statement, why doesn’t God heal my paraplegic friend? Why doesn’t God stop the world from its wickedness if he is capable of making all things possible? Why wouldn’t he just let us be able to have our past animals to raise from the dead that we loved so dearly? What does the Holy Spirit tell you about the scripture can we try to prayerfully understand what is being iterated?"
I don't agree that those verses apply to the questions being asked. Matthew 19:26 is a response to Matthew 19:25. The passage reads: "When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:25-26).” I am of the belief that Jesus is saying that it is impossible for a person to save themselves. That salvation is only possible by the grace and mercy of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Similarly, Luke 1:37 is the angel responding to Mary about being pregnant despite being a virgin and Elisabeth being pregnant despite having been unable to conceive. "Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible (Luke 1:34-37 KJV)."
With that being said, obviously, nothing is impossible with God. However, what I believe you are asking is for God to take away all sin and its consequences. Where does it end? In order for people to have the free will to choose to accept the Lord's offer of salvation in Christ, He has to allow people not to choose Him and go the other direction. That doesn't mean He doesn't intervene occasionally and do those things you ask about. However, the criteria He uses to make those decisions are not known to us. Therefore, we have to trust a just and loving God to make the right decision. We will get a new heaven and a new earth. And it appears animals will be a part of that as they were in the Garden of Eden. Perhaps, in His love, our pets will be there waiting for us. But, as for me, I am comfortable knowing that whatever He has in store for us will be acceptable, to say the least.
As for our present suffering, we are told to "glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Romans 5:3-5)." God is interested in saving souls and suffering is a way in which to gather more of them. We are in a spiritual war. The devil creates death. God creates life. Whenever someone comes to faith in the Lord, God scores a victory. Often, it is at the end of suffering where the lost soul meets a loving God. It sucks to watch and go through, but the end is eternal life. I pray that you can find some comfort in this answer. Grace and Peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment