Between the mass shootings that have occurred in the past couple months, the multiple natural disasters that have destroyed people's lives, wrestling with the problem of evil and the effectiveness of prayer in one of my classes, and some personal situations that have been going on, lately I have been struggling with fully trusting God and understanding where He is in the midst of these sufferings. And while in my head I know my personal theology of God does not claim that God has caused these acts of evil or has chosen to overlook them, my heart still has so many questions. I am grateful that He has given us complete freedom because with freedom comes true, unadulterated love, but in the wake of a mass murder it's hard not to wonder if freedom is really worth so much suffering. So, after feeling a little distant from God lately, this morning I decided to just go searching for ways that I could begin to trust Him again and so I turned to the Bible. The first passage I decided to turn to was Psalm 13. Here the writer, like me, is questioning God (the Psalms lately have become the songs of my heart mostly for that reason. They're full of real, human emotion and authentic, they don't hide anything from God). At the end of Psalm 13 though, after questioning where God is, the writer talks about God's unfailing love and goodness which, most beautifully displayed though Jesus Christ, is what keeps drawing me back to Him again and again. Because despite what's going on around me, the one thing that remains is God's reckless love for all of us and I find comfort in knowing that we worship a God who has personally experienced suffering so that we aren't alone in our suffering; He is there with us. And so, going back to my struggle of questioning whether prayer does anything, all I can say is this: maybe God does respond through prayer and yet maybe there are just some things we pray for that God can't do. I don't really know if praying to God to intervene and stop evil here on earth works but what I do know is that God is with us and never leaves us and through prayer we can tap into some of His goodness so that we can be the light in the darkness all around us.
This possibly could just have been a lot of ramblings however this morning was a much needed time with God and so I thought I would share some of my reflections from it.
"God has not promised sun without rain, joy without sorrow, peace without pain. But God has promised strength for the day, rest for the labor, light for the way, grace for the trials, help from above, unfailing sympathy, undying love." -Annie Johnson Flint
More verses on trusting God that I turned to this morning that were helpful in reconnecting me to Him and his unfailing love: Psalm 13, Psalm 112, John 12:44-46, Romans 15:13, Ephesians 3:14-19
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Junior year. What!?
Originally written September 2016- left in drafts until September 2017
I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is that I am very inconsistent with writing a blog. The good news is that it is mostly because I am too busy enjoying college life that I forget to blog. But alas here I am in my junior year of college still trying to figure out where the time has gone. Spring Arbor has come to mean so much to me from the friends I've met, the soccer program, my professors, my classes, and just the overall community.
This year began for me way back in the beginning of August for soccer preseason. After a day of fitness testing we boarded a plane for Costa Rica. We spent a week there at a kids summer camp where we worked a couple days doing maintenance things around the camp and then the last couple days kids actually came and we were able to help out with them. A couple days while we were there were spent doing touristy things. One day we went to a secluded beach where we had to fight off monkeys in order to keep our food. It was a black sand beach with views of the mountain right in front of us. The water felt like bath water it was so warm. The next day we went zig zagging up through the mountains and into the jungle to a zip line course. The views were amazing zipping on top of trees in the middle of a jungle. The last zip was the longest one that was probably close to 400 yards long. It was also superman style so we were on our stomachs and our hands were out in front of us. There was a little valley below us with a river at the bottom. It was definitely one of the coolest experiences I have ever had.
School officially started in the first week of September. My classes this year are great. I am so interested in each one. I am taking a course called God and Evil which is about how if God is all good and all powerful, then why does evil still exist in the world. Another class I am taking is called Revelation and Eschatology: the study of end times. That kinda speaks for itself and so I am interested to find out more about that. Then I am taking a philosophy course called Ethics. It will bring real life situations and force us to think ethically about certain circumstances. On top of that I am learning a new language: Greek! Specifically New Testament Greek which is slightly different than what is spoken today in Greece but this will allow us to read the New Testament in its original language. My professors are great and I actually enjoy going to class each day. I'm excited to see what else this year will bring.
I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is that I am very inconsistent with writing a blog. The good news is that it is mostly because I am too busy enjoying college life that I forget to blog. But alas here I am in my junior year of college still trying to figure out where the time has gone. Spring Arbor has come to mean so much to me from the friends I've met, the soccer program, my professors, my classes, and just the overall community.
This year began for me way back in the beginning of August for soccer preseason. After a day of fitness testing we boarded a plane for Costa Rica. We spent a week there at a kids summer camp where we worked a couple days doing maintenance things around the camp and then the last couple days kids actually came and we were able to help out with them. A couple days while we were there were spent doing touristy things. One day we went to a secluded beach where we had to fight off monkeys in order to keep our food. It was a black sand beach with views of the mountain right in front of us. The water felt like bath water it was so warm. The next day we went zig zagging up through the mountains and into the jungle to a zip line course. The views were amazing zipping on top of trees in the middle of a jungle. The last zip was the longest one that was probably close to 400 yards long. It was also superman style so we were on our stomachs and our hands were out in front of us. There was a little valley below us with a river at the bottom. It was definitely one of the coolest experiences I have ever had.
School officially started in the first week of September. My classes this year are great. I am so interested in each one. I am taking a course called God and Evil which is about how if God is all good and all powerful, then why does evil still exist in the world. Another class I am taking is called Revelation and Eschatology: the study of end times. That kinda speaks for itself and so I am interested to find out more about that. Then I am taking a philosophy course called Ethics. It will bring real life situations and force us to think ethically about certain circumstances. On top of that I am learning a new language: Greek! Specifically New Testament Greek which is slightly different than what is spoken today in Greece but this will allow us to read the New Testament in its original language. My professors are great and I actually enjoy going to class each day. I'm excited to see what else this year will bring.
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