Family,

I am posting this both under "Biblical Questions" and "Prayer Requests" because both prayer and insight will help.

This question/need was sent via E-mail by a sister in Christ. It is obviously a very sensitive and tough question for many believers and unbelievers to ponder. This family needs prayer and could use some insight or encouragement on this question if anyone feels lead. -ST


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I need your help in explaining to my kids how and why God would allow his beloved kids to be beheaded by terrorists. I don't know how to explain it, because I don't understand it myself. The "doesn't interfere with free will" explanation is not computing to them.

One of my 14 year olds said it sounds more like a hidden message of "I don't care enough about you to bother." And that "there's no way He can love us and let us be hurt like that."

My nine year old raised the question "How can He say He loves us so much, and then let us be killed in such an evil way?" And "why are the good guys being killed and the bad guys are winning?"

Please help me answer these...as I don't really know...but I understand why they would ask, and be confused.

Thanks so much for your help.

E-MAIL END
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I have not had time to pray about what comments to make on this as of yet. However I do want to throw out some verses that have come to mind.

For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath. (Deuteronomy 4:31)
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(Romans 9:13-15)
13Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." 14What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15For he says to Moses,
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
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O Sovereign LORD , you are God! Your words are trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. (2 Samuel 7:28)

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But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will show himself holy by his righteousness., (Isaiah 5:16)

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As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.(Ecclesiastes 11:5)

Well Shawn, and how are you all doing? , but since this issue has come up about this sought of hatred/etc. Deut.35/, I think it is best to be direct, so that our ears can hear,

for our children also can know the truth, as they can also fear the Lord to have the widsom that they should, instead of lies, 2 Thesssalonians 1-"12"-14-17.

and a lot of these same kind of situations have happened with or fo-fathers of faith: like the Apostle Paul, and that! was because of the truth of the reason why he suffered to be beheaded.

so this Is what I say! , since I have not suffered like that, and while I still do have a chance in revealing this truth, about what we or our kids may experince, that we all need to:

Deut. 4:9-Israel's experiences at Horeb, Matthew 5:17-"19"-20-Christ on the law.

or just maybe I'M being too old fasion or what!
? . , but because of his/our Lord's eyes/to see, ears/to hear, and words of life are soo straight, and must be accomplished.

http://www.whereisgod.net/time.htm #Scripture

http://www.whereisgod.net/allow.htm

Now! , I must read your post, and get back with you as soon as possible, and I did not mean to be soo direct.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Walter, Jr.,

Shawn, I thought your scripture so appropriate -- "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

One of the hardest things to learn in life is that "life is not fair". Young people who have tremendous potential sometimes die. Many die in the prime of their life, leaving us with the question of "Why?".

The prime issue is one of sovereignty. A God that knows all and sees all makes decisions as to whom He shows His mercy and compassion. Being American, good, or saved is not the determining factor of the length of our days or even how we die. Bad things do happen to good people. What is in the heart and mind of God may never be revealed. What God chooses to do or allows may ultimately effect the salvation of many, as His desire is that all come to a saving faith in Him. This thought can comfort us in the worst situations. These kind of situations give us an opportunity to pray and see God's hand move. But if the outcome is not what we would like it to be, it does not in reality change or effect Who God is, nor should it negatively effect how we think of God, if we have a true picture of God as Creator-King.

Jesus said "in this world, you will have tribulation". A doctrine that says God is only here to bless us, is erroneous in light of the trials of King David or the Apostle Paul. We are here to serve our King in whatever situation He puts us in. It's in times of difficulty that He builds our character. If we find ourselves in pleasant circumstances He is to be praised, and if not, He is still to be praised. Will we serve Him only if good happens? He is searching the earth looking for those who have a heart for Him. He may be testing us – not so He will know if we have faith, but so we can know ourselves the magnitude of our own faith.

If we find ourselves asking "Where was God when ...?" The answer is always "Right there!" in the midst of all the chaos, etc. Our next response would be to ask what we can learn from it.

God loves us enough even to have planned for us before we were born. He knows the very number of hairs on our head! But He also loves us enough to form our character and whatever hardship it may take to cause us to depend upon Him for our strength.

LXE Isaiah 44:24 Thus saith the Lord that redeems thee, and who formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that performs all things: I stretched out the heaven alone, and established the earth.

Sometimes the "bad guys" do win -- but not in the end. So our hope is fixed upon things eternal. In that day, there will be no darkness and no more tears! For in Jesus is our eternal hope and our eternal life.

I don't know if this helps – it is a hard thing to teach the hard lessons in life. Some just have to be experienced.


Blessings,

Chelki

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chelki,

Someone recently asked me a very similar question & would not accept any of my answers either. There are of course many answers, indeed God is sovergn. We got to have faith in Rom 8:28 that says that no matter what happens God will bring something good out of it. Perhaps the atrocities that are happening are a precursor to God raising up a savior similar to Joshua or Samson. God can do everything for us but chooses not to because he enjoys when we do things for ourselves, Eph 2:10 says that God created us for the purpose of good works. When evil happens it is up to good men (& women) to stand in the gap. We can have faith that every child that dies will go to heaven "Suffer the children to come unto me" but the question of suffering has been here since the beginning & nobody likes the answers. The whole book of Job talks about it. The premise there is that when bad things happen it is a test of the faith of good men. The devil will do whatever God allows him to; to test the reaction of his children. In the dispensation of Jesus we are told to turn the other cheek & to not recompense evil for evil. So some are being tested in the area of revenge. As it was said, "life isn't fair"; but we should not've focused on life, but rather eternal life - "let your affections be on things above, not on things on the earth" It says that we are like the grass that withers & fades away so noone is guaranteed eternal life in the body we have now, but "In a moment in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for behold the trump will sound & and the dead shall be raised incorruptable and we shall be changed." 1 Cor 15:52; "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in christ will rise first: then we wich are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess 4:16-17 & the next verse gives us an instruction: "Wherefore comfort one another with these words" I dont know how much comfort it will be to a child that has no concept oif eternity, but nonetheless; that is what the scriptrrue says, so all we can do is just try & follow his instructions. God's word does not return to him void, but accomplishes the goals that he sent it out to do. And his word is good for us, "profitable for doctrine, reproof, instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thouroughly furnished unto all good works." One of the main issues is the fact that God doesn't want robots: if he wanted to, he could make the very stones stand up & praise him - but instead he asks us to do it & gives us the ability to choose. The unfortunate afteraffect is; that people can choose to not obey him, & therefore do sin upon the world. Everybody sins & nobody is better than anyone else "For all have sinned & fallen short of the glory of God" Rom 3:23, "For there is no man that sinneth not" 1 Kin 8:46 "For whosoever keep the whole law, yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" Jas 2:10 but it is by the grace of God that we are saved. So one answer is that when God allows someone else to be killed we can be grateful that he saved us & that we are not the killers (who are 9 x out of 10 going to hell) also I think that God allows suffering so that the people of God can fix the problem. Like any tool, if it gets no use, it is good for nothing. Like todays message quotes Ezek when he said "I have set the a watchman before the house of Isreal, hear therefore the word at my mouth and give them warning from me" Ezek 3:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God" Rom 10:17 we gotta give people the word so that they can come to a place of faith, the Holy Spirit can lead them to salvation & they can turn from their wicked ways. Look at Saul, renamed Paul; he was famous for killing christians but one day God got a hold of him, God can just as easily get a hold of Osama Ben Ladin or any other war criminal, but it is up to us believers to give them the word. As I said I don't know how much any of this will help a little child cope with suffering in the world; but if the grownups can cope with it & do something about it then perhaps there will be less. Granted, not everyone is in a position to preach the gospel to Osama Ben Ladin or any other war criminal. But someone is & if that person overcomes his fear, and gives him the word of God, even at the cost of his own life, the word of God can accomplish anything.

Shawn,
how about Matthew 5:44-45 "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you that you may be sons of your Father in heaven: FOR HE MAKES HIS SUN RISE ON THE EVIL AND ON THE GOOD, AND SENDS RAIN ON THE JUST AND ON THE UNJUST." He doesn't CAUSE horrible things to happen, but they happen to both good and bad people. He never promised that life (on earth) would be "fair" for ANYONE, but that those who are faithful WILL find rewards in heaven. We just don't always know WHY the bad things happen although they generally have a better purpose behind them. You may also want to study Heekiah's story - how his life was extended and he was given an heir...and what happened as a result(2kings chapters 20,21). Bad things happen, satan is the lord of THIS world but YHVH will reign supreme and satan will be destroyed. Galatians 6:7 states "Do not be deceived, YHVH is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap."
So hold to the faith, and understand that YHVH does not change. He is just and fair and will judge all FAIRLY when the time comes.
kat

Kat is right on. And in the same light, if there was no evil in this world, why would we seek God? God allows evil in this world to let us see how real and how terrible sin is, so we will turn from it.

Children need to know that if Jesus is their Lord, He will protect them, and that "all things work together for the good for them that are called according to His purpose." Those murdered children went to Heaven, and, by the way, beheading is actually a quick and relatively painless way to die.

Stories of saints are replete with testimonies of how the flames didn't burn, the knife didn't hurt when it cut, and Christians who were tortured died quickly or felt little pain. If all we have to fear is death and death in Christ brings a better life with God in Heaven then "death, where is thy sting?"

The scripture says to "fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Mt 10:28

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Slade,