God ignores me
Despite the harshness of the title.. or similar phrases like (God prefers some people to others / God tortures us / Why, Lord do you leave us like this…. etc.).
Many of us have been repeating such phrases every day or at least we hear them from those around us.... and that's why we are going to discuss in this article how God deals with us... and how to get his ways of communication) as much as our limited - minds can handle) ??.
- First, let us admit that searching the attributes of God or trying to approach his wisdom, is a very difficult issue to understand or realize.
- The idea that God ignores me might mean that God has changed his way in treating me which contradicts with a fundamental attribute of God that is God can never undergo any change (he is unchangeable and faithful) ….. (…. with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning..) (James 1: 17 NKJV) However, there is a very important principle that applies to what we might sometimes feel about God's abandonment of us: that God's ways of communication differ from one to another (according to his\her current personal situation….).
- - God always deals with the consequences of human choices (in respect of the freewill of man).
+ + Here I want you, dear reader, to pause for a few moments and ask yourself (Do you want to reap something other than what you have already sowed??) isn't (whatever a man sows, that he will also reap..) (Galatians 6: 7 NKJV).
Let's move to a very important point (of course we all know that God is sovereign and almighty which means he has an absolute power).
- Such well - known fact might lead us to encounter multiple questions like:
+ Why does God not do so and so? And why did not God interfere in that particular time?? and many other similar questions.
To answer these kinds of questions that we might be wandering about, we are going to discuss together the nature of God's absolute power:
The concept of God's absolute power implies his capacity to sovereignly do whatever he wants but only in harmony with:
His will, His goodness, His righteousness and His perfect love (all God's attributes)... therefore, God does nothing against his perfect righteousness…. God is not capable of committing Sin nor does he avenge people before His appointed time. (The vengeance of God is fundamentally different than the vengeance of man).
+ + Some of the points that could help us limitedly understand the nature of God's sovereign power:
1. God is Almighty, but He would not interfere in every matter in accordance with our temporary personal desires. (God is not subjected to our temporary emotional reactions as God has a perspective that goes beyond time and space).
2. God is Almighty, but He does not compel a person to do a particular thing, nor does He avert him from doing a particular thing regardless of the consequences that might happen either useful or harmful... because if man is compelled to behave in a particular way... how would be he held accountable by God??.
... The act that originates from man's free will is what God considers for a reward or condemnation.
- Example: Sovereign God in his divine wisdom allowed Diocletian to torture our martyrs and didn’t stop him (to give him every chance to repent... and He has used the blood of martyrs to bless the Church and He graciously bestowed on martyrs the eternal glory).
3. God is Almighty, but he acts according to His ways and the appointed time in accordance with his perfect will for us rather than to act in accordance with our timeframe and desire.
4. God is Almighty, but he does not act irrationally nor does He act against his nature or the order he ordained for the universe….. It is illogical to ask God to make everyone's illogical dreams and wishes come true.
5. God is always Almighty within the scope of all that is logical, rational, and within the framework of His order and His perfect will….. In miracles, God does not violate or completely abolish the laws of nature, but He intervenes in a way to manipulate those laws and the course of events to create new outcomes.
+ And even miraculous intervention is done in the narrowest extent and exclusively for the salvation of His creatures and not for showing off.
6. God is Almighty, but He does not do what is counter - intuitive or contrary to common sense.
... God's absolute power means that God is doing only what is rational and goes well with the logic He has already created (relative impossibility).
7. There are no standardized or clear human measures that we can use to judge God's infinite ability.
8. Our limited vision does not provide us with a comprehensive view of God's absolute abilities... God is not accountable to us or responsible to teach us His divine intent and wisdom behind every action he executes.
God's absolute power is not measured by the results or the means that we see from a relative perspective. God's power cannot be judged by whether the results / means are being satisfactory to us or not.
+ Some incidents which had happened to us couldn’t cannot be understood or welcomed then. However, we might be able later to recognize its favorable outcome.
- Let us seek to get more close to our Lord... and as closer we get to him we realize more his perfect love for us... God who gave us Salvation will not spare us anything but (What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this) (John 13: 7 NKJV).
Fr philopater Magdy.
St. ,Mark church – El nozha.
