“I’ve been through so much anguish. Therefore I’ve got no reason to believe that there is a deity who loves me. If he existed, this wouldn’t happen to me.”
“I don’t believe in God because I hate the way Christians treat me.”
“Church has never accepted me for what I am. If this is what your God teaches, then I’m not willing to believe this God.”
This is what most ex-believers have to say on asked about their disbelief towards God. It is absolutely distasteful and disheartening when an ex-believers say these words. With much apprehension, I decided to make this post. “If your disbelief in God is because of the way the church treats you, your faith was in a building. Not in God.” If disbelief in God is because you’ve suffered a while now, remember that pain and suffering are inevitable. Never did Christ ever tell us that we are not going to suffer. Instead Jesus said they are coming. Unlike some other religious leaders who wrote off pain and suffering as just being illusions, Jesus was honest. He told us the truth. He said in John 16:33, “You will have suffering in this world.” He did not say you might – he said it is going to happen. He warned us about suffering. But, he can save us from this suffering. The world is infected with pain and suffering. But to give a bold statement that God doesn’t exist is just like looking at the sky in the middle of the night and saying that the sun doesn’t exist. First Corinthians 13:12 says, “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” The authenticity of the word is unquestionable.
Hanging onto the concept of suffering, it is imperative to talk about the biographical account of poetess/hymn-writer Annie Johnson Flint (1866- 1932). Hers is a story of both heartbreak and triumph. Born on Christmas Eve in the small town of Vineland, New Jersey, she was welcomed by Eldon and Jean Johnson as their greatest earthly gift. Three years later, little Annie would lose her mother, who died as she gave birth to Annie’s baby sister. Mr. Johnson, who himself was suffering from an incurable disease, willed the children to the Flint family who would bring them up in the Baptist faith. Latter part of her life i.e. a few years before she passed away, hers was a suffering which was so pathetic that no human can ever bear. Not one single day did she wake up without feeling the intensity of the pain. Her verses provided a solace for her in the long hours of suffering. Picture if you can the hopelessness of Annie’s position when she finally received the verdict of the doctors from the Clifton Springs Sanitarium — that henceforth she would be a helpless invalid. Her own parents had been taken from her in childhood, and her foster parents had both passed away. Her one sister was very frail and struggling to meet her own situation bravely. In later years, she always stated that her poems were born of the needs of others and not from her own need; but one knows full well that she never could have written as she did for the comfort and help of thousands of others if she had not had the background of facing those very crises in her own life. She could have given up her faith in God. There was no reason for her to draw breath. The marvelous thing is that Annie’s faith never faltered, and that she was at all times able to say, “Thy will be done.”
Therefore we conclude with one of Annie Johnson Flint’s most popular songs which is based on three Bible promises “He giveth more grace.” (James 4:6); “He increaseth strength.” (Isaiah 40:29); “Mercy unto you, and peace, and love be multiplied.” (Jude 2)
- He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.
- When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
- Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.
- His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
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