God's Plan For Your Life

[Miles]

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"God has plans. From the very beginning when He created this world, He had a plan. For day and night, heavens and earth, land and sea, sun and moon, birds and fish, animals and humans, He has always had a plan. And just four verses into His Word, we see that He likes His plan. He calls it good. Indeed, near the end of creation, He calls His plan very good. (Genesis 1).

His plan is good because of the purpose it will serve. It is good because of the hope it will give. It is good because of the lives it will save. But really, it is good simply because of the God who calls it so. Creation had only to be created for it to be called good.

But still, God has plans. He has them for you. He knew the span of your life before you were formed in your mother’s womb. He knows the hairs on your head, the thoughts in your mind, and the hours that you will live on this earth. He would not leave such attention to detail merely to chance. God has plans for you, and they are good.
source




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So, why would god plan to have your three-month old baby die of SIDS, or suffocation, or an atrioventricular septal defect, or . . . ?

Why would he plan that you die in an automobile accident at the age of eight?

Why would he plan that you starve for your entire life, eating insects while sitting in a dirt floor hut in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

Why would he plan that your sister never attain an IQ over 55?


If these are god's plans then he must be some kind of ubersadist. But if none of this is the result of his plan, why did he let them occur? Why bother making plans in the first place? Are his plans really that ineffectual, but, in fact, worthless?


OR, are god's plans only for people like Wally Cleaver and the "Beaver," and all the other good folk of Mayfield?



Inquiring minds would like to know.


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[Tcg]

After all, if we read the Bible, when He created, everything was good. It seems to me that all those difficulties came after God was rejected.

It's odd that simple humans rejecting God could bring his plans to a screeching halt. The Bible presents God as sovereign. This concept presents him as a slave to human desire.


Tcg

[Purple Knight]

So, why would god plan to have your three-month old baby die of SIDS, or suffocation, or an atrioventricular septal defect, or . . . ?

Why would he plan that your sister never attain an IQ over 55?

The only reason I can think of for this one is that people are supposed to be grateful for their functioning bodies. I admit this is pretty shaky, though. This is probably the most cutting item on the list for the simple reason that there are plenty more things we can be grateful for, such as not getting hit by a car, or not being struck by lightning, or not having our legs chopped off by Leggy the Psycho.

As far as congenital defects and ability differences, I don't see a good reason for these to exist. Where I don't have the ability (sports) I suffer, and where I do have the ability (extreme intelligence) I still suffer. I don't think professional athletes really have it all that great either, since half of them are probably on drugs that will tear their bodies apart and lead to problems later in life. I would wish for everyone to have extreme intelligence so nobody is easily deceived and the problems of life and society are more easily solved.

I was put through the, "You should be grateful for that," rigamarole a lot when I was young and I hated it. Believe it or not my family pulled this despite being not very religious. From where I sit, that's asking me to be grateful God made everybody else stupid, so, what, I could feel great about myself? Make fun of other people? That small selfish pleasure for one or a few people is surely worth the fact that the entire world sucks because people aren't smart enough to figure out that everyone is lying to them.

Why would he plan that you die in an automobile accident at the age of eight?

That was probably the only way the drunk driver would clean up his act.

Why would he plan that you starve for your entire life, eating insects while sitting in a dirt floor hut in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

To provide the opportunity for people to raise themselves up out of that perhaps? I don't know how they're going to, but there must be a way, since some people don't live in dirt floor huts eating bugs.

[JehovahsWitness]

God has a purpose for mankind which will and can never fail.

In the mean time people are undergoing incredible suffering and untimely deaths.

That is correct.

So what is he waiting for before he ends all the suffering, just a bit more suffering and early deaths? Isn't thousands of years of unbearable misery and heartbreak enough?

Why does God allow suffering?
viewtopic.php?p=908722#p908722







JW




RELATED POSTS


Is there a difference between purposing something to happen and allowing it to happen?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 43#p967743

What is the difference between a plan and a purpose?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 91#p836491

Go to other posts related to...

LIFE, HUMAN SUFFERING and ...THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

[Miles]

God has a purpose for mankind which will and can never fail.

In the mean time people are undergoing incredible suffering and untimely deaths.

That is correct.

So what is he waiting for before he ends all the suffering, just a bit more suffering and early deaths? Isn't thousands of years of unbearable misery and heartbreak enough?

Why does God allow suffering?
viewtopic.php?p=908722#p908722

From your linked repsonse:

"FarWanderer wrote:
Why does God allow suffering?

ANSWER God has allowed suffering to settle some essential issues raised in the Garden of Eden by Satan, a rebellious angel and our first parents Adam and Eve who he (Satan) influenced.

Because, what? God is incapable of resolving issues created by Satan's rebellion without taking it out on humans? Of course. God isn't that powerful.

This had to be done for the long term stability of the universe and ultimately to avoid more suffering in the future.

So just when is this future to begin, the year 4,666 perhaps? Meanwhile . . . . . . . . . . suffering and heart break continues to plague humanity because that's what god wants. Praise be to god.

Like a parent that allows his child to undergo a very painful operation for its long term good, God's allowance of human suffering should not be taken for indifference but rather an essential stage in assuring the stability and happiness of all intelligent creatures in the universe.

And all the information in this linked response comes from where, the Bible or the fertile imaginations of Jehovah's Witnesses? If the former please cite chapter and verse. If the later, no one's surprised---ya gotta come up with some excuse to please the folk.


Oops, I almost forgot your

Happily very soon God will intervene in human affairs, kill off the wicked and ensure that no one ever has to suffer ever again, repairing all the damage done during these milleniums under human rule and (as the bible promises) , making "all things new ".

The "very soon" that Jesus said would come in short order.

Matthew 16:28
28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

So what's going on here Jesus, liar, liar, pants on fire?

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[JehovahsWitness]

Meanwhile . . . . . . . . . . suffering and heart break continues to plague humanity because that's what god wants.

WANTS OR ALLOWS?

Not in my opinion what he wants but what He has allowed. You might not "want" your child to go through a painful operation, as in: if it could be avoided, you would prefer he did not have to, but a loving parent will allow what he does not "want" for the long term good of his child.



In a similar way, God has allowed human suffering, not because he wants it (as in it brings him pleasure and even if it could be avoided it would be his choice to have that thing happen. ..) but because in his wisdom he sees it is the only viable way to solve the problem mankind was in.





RELATED POSTS

Is there a difference between wanting something and allowing it?
viewtopic.php?p=1045873#p1045873

Is there a difference between purposing something to happen and allowing it to happen?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 43#p967743

What is the difference between a plan and a purpose?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 91#p836491

Go to other posts related to...

LIFE, HUMAN SUFFERING and ...THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

[Miles]

Meanwhile . . . . . . . . . . suffering and heart break continues to plague humanity because that's what god wants.

Not in my opinion what he wants but what He has allowed.

Do you not allow something because all things considered, ultimately that's what you want? Sure it is, unless you're a bit daffy.

You might not want your child to go throught a painful operation, as in if it cojld be avoided, you would prefer he did not have to, but a loving parent will allow what he does not "want" for the long term good of his child.

So why did you agree to go through the operation? Could it be that ultimately that's what you wanted. Of course it is. Playing games with your different wants here, where one want trumps the other, isn't going to get you anywhere.

Have a good day.

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[DrNoGods]

[Replying to Miles in post #11]

If these are god's plans then he must be some kind of ubersadist. But if none of this is the result of his plan, why did he let them occur? Why bother making plans in the first place? Are his plans really that ineffectual, but, in fact, worthless?

An easy answer to all of this is that gods don't actually exist. That eliminates any need to try and interpret their plans (because there are none), or invoke them to explain things we don't understand, or ask why suffering has always existed among humans, etc.

But it seems that a lot of people need to believe in gods for one reason or another (and there are a great number of them to choose from after all ... humans have invented thousands to date). If someone has a genuine belief that their favorite god being (or beings) does, in fact, exist, I suppose they must also try to understand if it has plans and what those plans are if the god being is actively executing some kind of plan that will impact them in the real world and would require behavior changes of some kind to increase the chances of a good outcome.

The OP information would make worrying about this sort of thing useless though, as the plan is already in motion and wholly decided beforehand. So why worry about any plan ... there'd be nothing you could do about it.

[Miles]

[Replying to Miles in post #11]

If these are god's plans then he must be some kind of ubersadist. But if none of this is the result of his plan, why did he let them occur? Why bother making plans in the first place? Are his plans really that ineffectual, but, in fact, worthless?

An easy answer to all of this is that gods don't actually exist. That eliminates any need to try and interpret their plans (because there are none), or invoke them to explain things we don't understand, or ask why suffering has always existed among humans, etc.

But it seems that a lot of people need to believe in gods for one reason or another (and there are a great number of them to choose from after all ... humans have invented thousands to date). If someone has a genuine belief that their favorite god being (or beings) does, in fact, exist, I suppose they must also try to understand if it has plans and what those plans are if the god being is actively executing some kind of plan that will impact them in the real world and would require behavior changes of some kind to increase the chances of a good outcome.

The OP information would make worrying about this sort of thing useless though, as the plan is already in motion and wholly decided beforehand. So why worry about any plan ... there'd be nothing you could do about it.

Yeah, but you can't talk about the curtains unless you go inside to see them.


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[1213]

After all, if we read the Bible, when He created, everything was good. It seems to me that all those difficulties came after God was rejected.

It's odd that simple humans rejecting God could bring his plans to a screeching halt. The Bible presents God as sovereign. This concept presents him as a slave to human desire.

I think God’s plan was to give two options, easy and hard way. People chose the hard way. I don’t think that means people control God.

[1213]

... why wouldn't I think they're his plans? Or are his plans so easily thwarted that the result is meaningless suffering and distress?...

I don't think they are His plans, because nothing supports that idea. i believe God created everything good. And that good includes the possibility to reject God. I think it is good that God gave us freedom, even though it can lead to suffering.

If God would have wanted to prevent people to be free, I think He could have done it, but I don’t think it would have been good. And when people freely choose evil, I don’t think it can be called thwarting anything, when there was nothing to stop them. It would be like saying “illegal immigrants thwarted the plan to stop them by crossing the border that has no wall or nothing to prevent them”.