| IS GOD ABUSIVE? |
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There is a story going around about a father who allowed his little girl to play in the street. The child was
hit by a car and both her legs were broken. When interviewed by the local media, the father made a
simple statement, “Well, I decided the best way for her to learn not to play in the street was to allow her to
reap the consequences of playing in the street. Now that she has been hit by a car, she knows not to play
in the street again.” The subsequent uproar led many people to vilify the father and he eventually had to
change his name and move his family to another State.
Is this story true? No, not really – and yet, it is.
You see, people believe that God allows bad things to happen to His people – His children – and never
think twice about it. Isn’t that strange?
If an earthly father did what the man in the first paragraph did, they would call social services on him and
take his daughter away from him. They would brand him as an abusive parent.
Yet we believe God, our heavenly Father, is capable of mistreating us without thinking that this is wrong.
We never think that this would actually make God an abusive Father.
We are taught from behind the pulpit and television screen, and through books and tapes, that God allows
bad things to happen to us. We have accepted this false teaching as if it were absolutely true, without
ever doubting it.
Yet a little common sense would help you to see that this could not possibly be true.
The scripture in Romans 2:4 shows God’s heart, “…the goodness of God leads you to repentance.”
Another word for goodness is: kindness which is meant to lead you to a change of heart.
If it is the goodness of God that leads to you to repent, to want to change, to turn your ways around and
begin going God’s way – HOW CAN IT MAKE SENSE TO BELIEVE THAT HE WILL ALLOW BAD THINGS
TO HAPPEN TO YOU TO TEACH YOU A LESSON?
This very teaching is what caused me to walk away from God and church for many years. I grew up in
church all my life. Yet, I could not reconcile serving a God that would allow children to be hurt, raped, or
abused. I could not serve a God that would cause children in poor nations to starve to death.
I was right and wrong. I was right that you could not serve an abusive Father – but I was wrong for allowing
someone to tell me what to think and know about God without checking it out for myself. I let others tell me
Who God was rather than do my own research. Makes me pretty stupid, wouldn’t you say? I was led
around by the nose by false teaching.
I have now studied enough to know the truth and to know where the false teaching comes from. We will
discuss a lot of this in later articles. The main thing I think that happens is that people read the Old
Testament without knowledge and without realizing that most of the people in the OT did not know that
Lucifer (or satan) existed. So they blamed everything on God.
Sure, people served devils in the Old Testament; there were many sorcerers, witches, wizards, child
sacrifices to devils, and such. What most people did not know was there was someone who was
responsible for the evil in this world. They thought everything came down from God, including evil.
Another thing that leads people astray is that they believe the devil is of equal power with God. They think
God is all good and all powerful and the devil is His direct opposite, all evil and all powerful – and that
everything depends on who is more powerful (and they usually believe it is the devil).
They only have it half right – the devil is all evil – but he is not God’s direct opposite and equal in power.
The devil is simply a fallen angel, no more. Just an angel gone bad. The Bible even teaches you that his
power is limited, and that we, as God’s children, have all authority over all his power (Luke 10:19). Sounds
pretty limited to me.
Here is what you can know: people who believe God allows bad things to happen to them are letting you
know one sure thing, they do NOT know God (or His Word/Bible) very well. They know what others have
told them. Yet we can’t judge them; they are walking in all the knowledge (light) they know. They have not
actually learned Who He is and what His heart is as a Father toward us.
We tend to think of God like we think of our earthly dads. If our earthly dad was abusive, we tend to think
God is abusive. If our earthly dad was cold and remote, we think God is a remote, untouchable God. Our
earthly fathers are supposed to represent God in the family; consequently, if our fathers didn’t treat us
well, we translate that to God being the same way.
So few people truly understand God’s goodness; and here is the sad thing – why do we not know and
understand, and live in His goodness? Because we do not spend time with Him, in His Word. We are too
lazy to read and study the Bible, with understanding, for ourselves. We allow someone else to do it for us
– then believe everything said without ever checking to make sure they know what they are talking about.
That sure gets us in trouble!
Jesus Rambling Copyright © 2007 Nan C Loyd
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
hit by a car and both her legs were broken. When interviewed by the local media, the father made a
simple statement, “Well, I decided the best way for her to learn not to play in the street was to allow her to
reap the consequences of playing in the street. Now that she has been hit by a car, she knows not to play
in the street again.” The subsequent uproar led many people to vilify the father and he eventually had to
change his name and move his family to another State.
Is this story true? No, not really – and yet, it is.
You see, people believe that God allows bad things to happen to His people – His children – and never
think twice about it. Isn’t that strange?
If an earthly father did what the man in the first paragraph did, they would call social services on him and
take his daughter away from him. They would brand him as an abusive parent.
Yet we believe God, our heavenly Father, is capable of mistreating us without thinking that this is wrong.
We never think that this would actually make God an abusive Father.
We are taught from behind the pulpit and television screen, and through books and tapes, that God allows
bad things to happen to us. We have accepted this false teaching as if it were absolutely true, without
ever doubting it.
Yet a little common sense would help you to see that this could not possibly be true.
The scripture in Romans 2:4 shows God’s heart, “…the goodness of God leads you to repentance.”
Another word for goodness is: kindness which is meant to lead you to a change of heart.
If it is the goodness of God that leads to you to repent, to want to change, to turn your ways around and
begin going God’s way – HOW CAN IT MAKE SENSE TO BELIEVE THAT HE WILL ALLOW BAD THINGS
TO HAPPEN TO YOU TO TEACH YOU A LESSON?
This very teaching is what caused me to walk away from God and church for many years. I grew up in
church all my life. Yet, I could not reconcile serving a God that would allow children to be hurt, raped, or
abused. I could not serve a God that would cause children in poor nations to starve to death.
I was right and wrong. I was right that you could not serve an abusive Father – but I was wrong for allowing
someone to tell me what to think and know about God without checking it out for myself. I let others tell me
Who God was rather than do my own research. Makes me pretty stupid, wouldn’t you say? I was led
around by the nose by false teaching.
I have now studied enough to know the truth and to know where the false teaching comes from. We will
discuss a lot of this in later articles. The main thing I think that happens is that people read the Old
Testament without knowledge and without realizing that most of the people in the OT did not know that
Lucifer (or satan) existed. So they blamed everything on God.
Sure, people served devils in the Old Testament; there were many sorcerers, witches, wizards, child
sacrifices to devils, and such. What most people did not know was there was someone who was
responsible for the evil in this world. They thought everything came down from God, including evil.
Another thing that leads people astray is that they believe the devil is of equal power with God. They think
God is all good and all powerful and the devil is His direct opposite, all evil and all powerful – and that
everything depends on who is more powerful (and they usually believe it is the devil).
They only have it half right – the devil is all evil – but he is not God’s direct opposite and equal in power.
The devil is simply a fallen angel, no more. Just an angel gone bad. The Bible even teaches you that his
power is limited, and that we, as God’s children, have all authority over all his power (Luke 10:19). Sounds
pretty limited to me.
Here is what you can know: people who believe God allows bad things to happen to them are letting you
know one sure thing, they do NOT know God (or His Word/Bible) very well. They know what others have
told them. Yet we can’t judge them; they are walking in all the knowledge (light) they know. They have not
actually learned Who He is and what His heart is as a Father toward us.
We tend to think of God like we think of our earthly dads. If our earthly dad was abusive, we tend to think
God is abusive. If our earthly dad was cold and remote, we think God is a remote, untouchable God. Our
earthly fathers are supposed to represent God in the family; consequently, if our fathers didn’t treat us
well, we translate that to God being the same way.
So few people truly understand God’s goodness; and here is the sad thing – why do we not know and
understand, and live in His goodness? Because we do not spend time with Him, in His Word. We are too
lazy to read and study the Bible, with understanding, for ourselves. We allow someone else to do it for us
– then believe everything said without ever checking to make sure they know what they are talking about.
That sure gets us in trouble!
Jesus Rambling Copyright © 2007 Nan C Loyd
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
