Wednesday, January 04, 2006

'Whatever the hell did God do for us?"

I went to bed last night with the news of the miners being found alive. I woke up to the news of all of them but one were dead. I cannot imagine the horrible emotional rollercoaster those families went through last night.

I read this quote this morning and must admit I was neither shocked nor offended.

"Whatever the hell did God do for us?"

This was spoken by one of the family members after the church pastor told him to calm down. You can read the entire story here.

It raised more than one question in my mind:

Why do we forget Calvary so quickly?

Would I react the same way if had been my loved one?

Is life about God doing for us or us doing for God? Or both?

How do you say "calm down" to a person who for 3 hours was celebrating a miracle and then found out that it was false?

Why do I believe the lie of my enemy and live life like this world is really my home?


We all want God to do something more us at different times in our lives. I long for the day when I can trust He loves me no matter what His answer is.

5 comments:

jenny biz said...

So sad for these families. I have asked all of those same questions myself. It all comes down to faith - most simple of words and most difficult of concepts. I lay in bed many of nights asking (somtimes in anger and sometimes as a giggle), "What in the world are you doing?"
And we keep journeying...

Matt McBryde said...

Yeah, that is such a tough story.
I think true character is shown in the midst of a tragedy, not in the aftermath. Man, what a nightmare...

p.s. I like the new blog layout!
M@

Danny Sims said...

I think it's pretty honest. It's like a Psalm or a Lament, as in Lamentations. It's close to, "My God, My God, whay have You forsaken Me."

I haven't read the story, and maybe this guy has no belief at all, but believers sometimes say these kind of things. I have. God can handle it.

Hey... You were quoted at the funeral. We need to do that lunch someday too.

Keith Brenton said...

Most of the book of Lamentations is a paraphrase of "Whatever the hell did God do for us?"

The rest of it foreshadows the day when God will wipe away every tear fro m our eyes.

Lament is a kind of worship, too. It's certainly not atheism. It recognizes that God is able to help in ways no one else can. And it shrieks the question "Why doesn't He?"

I think God expects lament in our lives ... to carve more deeply into our selves so that He can fill us with Himself when we're ready.

Lucy Stern said...

What did God do for those miners? They did not suffer, the just went to sleep and did not wake up. Did what happened bring the community together? We never see the good that comes from things like this. Yes, it would have been great if they had all survived, but they didn't. God had his reasons and we don't know what they are. We just have to trust in God and know that something good will come from this.

So quickly we forget that he suffered the sins of the whole world for us. I suppose, in frustration, you might say something without thinking about what you are saying. Hopefully that man didn't really mean it.

Jenny is right, we must have faith in the Lord.