Blessing/Burdens & Gratitude

[KnightIHSV]

I was wondering if someone could help me as I am in a discussion with a work colleague.

He asked me that if every Christian believes that he or she should give thanks to God for their blessings (good health, good parents, good education) which an individual Christian did not earn, then surely they should blame God for their burdens and curses (ie poor health, disability, having grown up in a dysfunctional family) which an individual Christian does not cause.

What my colleague (who is an agnostic) is asking is why give thanks to God for the good things if God is not also blamed for the bad things. Can anyone help here?

Thanks as always.

 

[DavidFilmer]

Is poor health a curse? Isn’t life itself a blessing? Give thanks for your life, and pray for your health. Lots of people in poor health have prospered.

Is a dysfunctional family a curse? Give thanks for the mother and father who brought you into this world, and pray for them. Lots of people from dysfunctional families have prospered.

 

[DavidFilmer]

Or, to look it another way, consider the proverb, “In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” So, the question is: Is the one-eyed man blessed or cursed, in absolute terms (ie, without comparative reference to other men)? The question cannot be answered without such comparison. If the question cannot be answered without arbitrary constraints, then (logically speaking) the question is logically flawed.

Logically speaking, there cannot be any such thing as a “blessing” unless there is a perceived opposite thing as a “curse,” and there cannot be anything such as a “curse” unless there is a perceived opposite thing as a “blessing”.

Thus, nothing perceived as a “curse” can exist without a blessing, and nothing perceived as a “blessing” can exist without a curse.

 

[Bluecat63]

Good morning, KnightIHSV-

Short answer…yes. I think that God is less concerned with us being happy and more concerned with us being holy. Not expecting our lives to be smooth is a more mature and sensible way to live.
The discomfort or pain that God allows (not causes) can certainly be to our benefit and growth. An analogy would be the athlete in training…hard work reaps rewards.

Something that I am working on is not falling into the soft bigotry of low expectations. The fact that you are even having this discussion with your colleague shows he may be looking for some real answers and not a sound byte.

No pressure, though!