He wrote: “If this is an example of god’s grace and healing, it means nothing, or it (god), wouldn’t have allowed the injury in the first place.”
Notice his view of “god” – that is little “g” God. I think there’s a strong possibility David is either an atheist or at an agnostic. There also seems to be a hint of anger in David’s statement. I find this to be pretty typical from the few negative responses on my “Just Think” Facebook page regrading these two videos.
Now, at first, I wasn’t going to respond to David, but then I decided I did need to say something. I usually don’t respond to a lot of what I consider to be negative comments or post anymore. My reasoning is that Facebook, and other social media platforms, really don’t allow us to give in-depth answers to attacking comments left by posters. I have tried to answer such critics in the past by writing a long in-depth response, and only then to receive yet another negative comment whereby I felt the need to write even more with an argument going nowhere. That’s why I occasionally write a blog or produce a video like the one above where I can address issues more fully.
Back to David.
My response to his statement of God’s absence of grace or lack of caring went like this: “I'm sorry your philosophical view won't allow you to see the grace of God in the service of others who minister to the hurting. You certainly have a right to question the value of the video, but you have no rights to the credibility of my experience of healing in the work done with Dr. Milanak. The real question raised in your statement is that of God's role in my experience and others like me. Acts of evil lay squarely on the shoulders of mankind in his fall/sin and not on God. I suspect though that you deny the existence of God, and if you're right, the problem is still an issue with mankind. I pray God's grace and peace will be manifested to you. Thank you for watching and at least hearing what I had to say.”
I think it’s interesting that we as human beings often want to attack God’s character by questioning why He doesn’t intervene and stop the evil before it happens, while on the other hand when He has done so as in the past, we criticize Him as some maniacal monster.
What do I mean?
Many atheist and critics of the Bible attack God’s actions in the Old Testament, calling Him a “monster” when He ordered the Israelites to wipe-out certain clans and people groups which included men, women and children. His reasoning was often in response to the abusive practices of these groups, which at times included the sacrificing of children to the god Molech by burning them to death. There were others also who He ordered to be put to death, (even some Israelites because of these same sacrificial practices), or because of their acts of sexual immorality involving women, children, and animals.
What David and others don’t often understand, or better yet acknowledge, is that God has never been the problem, it’s mankind and his sin. Listen, there have been times in my life when I have struggled with this truth, because I personally wanted revenge for what was done to me. I didn’t always like the thought of leaving justice up to God because like Jonah, I know God is gracious and long suffering.
So, we come back to question at hand. Could God have stopped my abusers along with every other abuser throughout history? We could also ask: Could He have stopped Hitler, Stalin, and Mao? Could have stopped the terrorist on 911, or the mass shootings in the last couple of weeks, or last few years?
Of course He could, but that would require an act even more extreme on His Part. It would require God eliminating everyone, all men, women, and children from the annals of history. Again, God isn’t the problem, and eliminating Him from the equation isn’t the answer because it doesn’t change the abuser, mass murdering dictator, or the mentally deranged who shoot random people.
Often, there's question that follows and it is, "Then why couldn’t God take out just those who are evil and leave the rest of us to live a peaceful existence?" What’s interesting about this question is that we never see ourselves as evil, only those who commit the most heinous acts. The truth is we’re all evil, we’re all sinners in need of God’s grace and mercy, and by removing only those we don’t like creates other problems like the domino and ripple effects.
As for David’s question of God’s grace within my trauma, I choose to see Him, God, working in and through the compassion and love of other Christians, like my wife, family, church, and Melissa. Clearly, David missed mine and Melissa’s statement on the providence of God in our first meeting. Had she not been a follower of Christ, there’s no doubt I wouldn’t have returned for a second visit to receive the help I desperately needed.
Lastly, as I’ve told many others, I don’t believe God wastes the pain of His children. I truly believe His intention is to take what Satan has meant for evil and to turn it into something beautiful and redeeming for His glory. For me, I choose to believe God will take my hurt and pain and put it to use for someone else who has experienced something similar, and who is also in need of His healing.
If you haven’t watched, “Resilience: A Testimony of God’s Grace and Healing” parts 1 and 2, please follow the links in the description below.
Blessings, till next time!
Resilience: A Testimony of God's Grace & Healing Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8_d... Resilience: A Testimony of God's Grace & Healing Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKOFn...