Have you stopped seeking truth or have you given up and just accepted your faith tradition without question?

[StrawberryJam]

And of bananas you shall eat until the day you die.

Would you please, do yourself a favor before you make yourself look like an evangelical poster?

Actually know that you are using a very very bad “funny” that puts the “joke” on you my friend.

 

[StrawberryJam]

Oh wow, Lynx, somebody hit a button. I used to feel so desperate and I prayed and prayed and absolutely nothing happened. I remember reading about faith in the bible and I thought that God would love me if I showed even the smallest amount of faith, and maybe He would even answer a prayer. He didn’t. I would cry myself to sleep because I honestly didn’t know what to do. It seems that in the bible people would do something like touch Jesus’ robe and He would turn around and say something like “You’re faith is amazing! Your daughter has been healed!” or something like that.

It sounded so good. I kept thinking I could do something like that and I would try, but it didn’t work.

It (and other things) got so bad that I tried to take my life a couple of times. I don’t know what the answer is. My faith is weak. I just feel so bad for you right now. I wonder how many people have felt so discouraged by praying and not receiving even a feeling in return. I’ve been there so many times.

I just wanted you to know I know you weren’t complaining; you were being very honest about something that bothers you. It bothers me, too. I wish I could help but I don’t know how.

You are a Big Soldier in this place.

I think the last two sentences you put out there nailed it for me.

 

[Marc_Anthony]

You know something? I very rarely (I won’t say never) get responses in prayer too. Perhaps some people simply are more spiritually open to responses, as in, they’re better at realizing God was responding.

At any rate, with me, for whatever reason, and I say this not to make anybody upset but only to share how I came to terms with this myself, the lack of answers didn’t bother me. I always assumed that God WAS answering; I just didn’t realize it.

Perhaps what you perceive to be indifference IS God’s answer. Or he has answered and you haven’t realized it.

I hope I’m making nobody here angry. I’m just giving a different perspective on it.

 

[eucharisteo]

Originally Posted by eucharisteo

 

[benedictus2]

Would you please, do yourself a favor before you make yourself look like an evangelical poster?

Actually know that you are using a very very bad “funny” that puts the “joke” on you my friend.

And how is that so? I was just taking eucharisteo’s post to its ludicrous conclusion.

 

[LittleSoldier]

You know something? I very rarely (I won’t say never) get responses in prayer too. Perhaps some people simply are more spiritually open to responses, as in, they’re better at realizing God was responding.

At any rate, with me, for whatever reason, and I say this not to make anybody upset but only to share how I came to terms with this myself, the lack of answers didn’t bother me. I always assumed that God WAS answering; I just didn’t realize it.

Perhaps what you perceive to be indifference IS God’s answer. Or he has answered and you haven’t realized it.

I hope I’m making nobody here angry. I’m just giving a different perspective on it.

All I know is that I have opened myself up as completely as I can and begged God to help me. I have had a time of such despair in my life that goes beyond what most people ever experience. I’m not saying that to complain and I don’t want to go into detail except to say that a person was killed and I came close to being murdered along with the baby I was carrying inside me.

I literally screamed for God. Over and over until I blacked out. If silence and indifference is an answer from God to someone He has created and loves, I have to wonder why He would do such a thing to me and to my unborn child who heard my screams. It felt like we were absolutely alone - just the two of us in an uncaring and very cold world.

Just a thought, just a touch, just something more than what I received.

When I see that someone is suffering, as Lynx obviously is, I have to respond. I know that feeling.

I read such pretty stories like that one about the footprints on the beach and how suddenly there was only one set and that meant God carried me. Those pretty stories mean absolutely nothing to me. To me they are only a way of making money for people who put those words on plaques and such and sell them.

I know what it is like to feel like the tiniest little dot in the universe with a supposed omniscient, omnipotent God who responded to my screams with utter silence. The only conclusion I could come to is that He does not exist or that He does not care.

I’m not saying that I haven’t received responses from God. I know I have; later on in my life it became clear. But when I needed Him the most, where was He? It seemed like a cruel joke He played on me. Honestly. I hate feeling this way about Him because I love Him. Yet I would love to ask Him why He did this to me.

We need to understand that people do feel alone and desperate and open themselves up to allow God to enter. They knock on the door that should be answered and they see no movement of the door and hear no sounds from the other side. It’s so easy for some people. I wish it were that easy for the rest of us.

 

[LittleSoldier]

The Church believes evolution to be the truth? Where does it say that?

God bless,
Ed

And here, ladies and gentlemen, we have someone who quotes an entire post, ignores the part that screams out for answers and asks the same question I have seen him ask and ask and ask ad nauseum, even though he has been provided with answers each time.

For Pete’s sake Ed, do you even read what people write? Do you even care about people who suffer? Or is your entire life wrapped around your hatred of evolution and science? Do you remember the Good Samaritan and the second Great Commandment of Jesus?

Isn’t that more important than your attempt to ratify your mangled ideas of what the theories of evolution state and their relation to Church teaching?

 

[benedictus2]

All I know is that I have opened myself up as completely as I can and begged God to help me. I have had a time of such despair in my life that goes beyond what most people ever experience. I’m not saying that to complain and I don’t want to go into detail except to say that a person was killed and I came close to being murdered along with the baby I was carrying inside me.

I literally screamed for God. Over and over until I blacked out. If silence and indifference is an answer from God to someone He has created and loves, I have to wonder why He would do such a thing to me and to my unborn child who heard my screams. It felt like we were absolutely alone - just the two of us in an uncaring and very cold world.

Just a thought, just a touch, just something more than what I received.

I often think that God gives us enough grace to endure whatever bad things He allows to happen to us. And that is true for you as well for as bad as it all was, you are here, you are engaging people in a discussion and from what little I’ve read of your post you still love God.

I think of Jesus when He agonized in the garden and how alone He must have felt.

What you suffered will seem senseless without Christ. Only Christ makes sense of our suffering.

When I see that someone is suffering, as Lynx obviously is, I have to respond. I know that feeling.

I read such pretty stories like that one about the footprints on the beach and how suddenly there was only one set and that meant God carried me. Those pretty stories mean absolutely nothing to me. To me they are only a way of making money for people who put those words on plaques and such and sell them.

The first time I read Footprints on the Sand I cried. And every time I go through a trial I try to remind myself of this because I know that what this says is true even though ti doesn’t feel like so at the time. And this is what helps me to cling to God and to keep trusting.

I know what it is like to feel like the tiniest little dot in the universe with a supposed omniscient, omnipotent God who responded to my screams with utter silence. The only conclusion I could come to is that He does not exist or that He does not care.

I’m not saying that I haven’t received responses from God. I know I have; later on in my life it became clear. But when I needed Him the most, where was He? It seemed like a cruel joke He played on me. Honestly. I hate feeling this way about Him because I love Him. Yet I would love to ask Him why He did this to me.

If we truly believe that God is God then He does not need to give us any explanation as to why this and that is happening to us.

But if we are faithful, then God does give us the answer, but not in our time but in His time.

I think this is what we need to live with, the poverty of answers. A friend of mine told me that she will be able to accept her child’s illness if God will only explain why. But I thought, God does not owe us any explanation. He is God.

And in the book of Job we see this response. God does not explain. Instead He gives Job a tour of creation. And I think what we need to pray for is to be like Job in humility so that we also can say “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh, blessed be the Lord”.

We also need to remember that there is no situation, no suffering so terrible that God cannot use to mold us into the image of His Son. And in the end that is all that matters, that we be made into the image of His Son.

Perhaps instead of praying for answers or praying for a reason to understand why, we can pray to learn to accept without needing to know why.

I am afraid of suffering and I actually told God so. For a long while I dreaded having to undergo what others I know have gone through and yet at the same time felt rather guilty that it was happening to them and not me.

Then a few years ago my prayer changed. From asking to have not to suffer, it became a plea to never ever lose faith in the face of any suffering that He deems in His wisdom I must endure. For I realized that the important thing is that, that we never ever stop clinging to God.

 

[eucharisteo]

Would you please, do yourself a favor before you make yourself look like an evangelical poster?

Actually know that you are using a very very bad “funny” that puts the “joke” on you my friend.

You don’t like bananas?

 

[LittleSoldier]

I often think that God gives us enough grace to endure whatever bad things He allows to happen to us. And that is true for you as well for as bad as it all was, you are here, you are engaging people in a discussion and from what little I’ve read of your post you still love God.

I think of Jesus when He agonized in the garden and how alone He must have felt.

What you suffered will seem senseless without Christ. Only Christ makes sense of our suffering.

The first time I read Footprints on the Sand I cried. And every time I go through a trial I try to remind myself of this because I know that what this says is true even though ti doesn’t feel like so at the time. And this is what helps me to cling to God and to keep trusting.

If we truly believe that God is God then He does not need to give us any explanation as to why this and that is happening to us.

But if we are faithful, then God does give us the answer, but not in our time but in His time.

I think this is what we need to live with, the poverty of answers. A friend of mine told me that she will be able to accept her child’s illness if God will only explain why. But I thought, God does not owe us any explanation. He is God.

And in the book of Job we see this response. God does not explain. Instead He gives Job a tour of creation. And I think what we need to pray for is to be like Job in humility so that we also can say “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh, blessed be the Lord”.

We also need to remember that there is no situation, no suffering so terrible that God cannot use to mold us into the image of His Son. And in the end that is all that matters, that we be made into the image of His Son.

Perhaps instead of praying for answers or praying for a reason to understand why, we can pray to learn to accept without needing to know why.

I am afraid of suffering and I actually told God so. For a long while I dreaded having to undergo what others I know have gone through and yet at the same time felt rather guilty that it was happening to them and not me.

Then a few years ago my prayer changed. From asking to have not to suffer, it became a plea to never ever lose faith in the face of any suffering that He deems in His wisdom I must endure. For I realized that the important thing is that, that we never ever stop clinging to God.

Thank you. I have prayed for wisdom (mainly because I seem to have an abnormally small amount of it) and to accept the crosses that I have been given. I also offer my suffering to God - sometimes I have a specific request (like world peace or stopping abortion) and sometimes I ask Him to do whatever He wants to do with my offering.

It helps a lot to know that I can do this; that what has happened to me is useful in some way.

We’re not allowed to discuss personal revelation and I won’t but I have no doubt that God does send us messages. At the time I wasn’t so sure.

Someone told me once that we could offer past sufferings up to God. Why not? God is timeless. This has helped me a lot, also.

I do love God. I think His suffering in the garden was worse than the torture and the crucifixion. I feel very sad when I think about He wanted it to stop so much and I think part of the reason He wanted it to stop was because He knew how much His mother would suffer.

Yet both Mary and Jesus were blessed and Mary was full of grace. Blessings are always good, but a blessing can involve suffering. Maybe people who suffer are actually blessed more than people who don’t. It’s complicated and I try not to spend too much time on even thinking about this but I am sure that when I die I will enter into Christ (even if I spend what feels like an eternity in Purgatory) and everything will be OK. There is a way to go back home - heaven is our true home and that is where I am going.

Thank you for your comforting words.

 

[benedictus2]

Thank you. I have prayed for wisdom (mainly because I seem to have an abnormally small amount of it) and to accept the crosses that I have been given. I also offer my suffering to God - sometimes I have a specific request (like world peace or stopping abortion) and sometimes I ask Him to do whatever He wants to do with my offering.

It helps a lot to know that I can do this; that what has happened to me is useful in some way.

We’re not allowed to discuss personal revelation and I won’t but I have no doubt that God does send us messages. At the time I wasn’t so sure.

Someone told me once that we could offer past sufferings up to God. Why not? God is timeless. This has helped me a lot, also.

I do love God. I think His suffering in the garden was worse than the torture and the crucifixion. I feel very sad when I think about He wanted it to stop so much and I think part of the reason He wanted it to stop was because He knew how much His mother would suffer.

Yet both Mary and Jesus were blessed and Mary was full of grace. Blessings are always good, but a blessing can involve suffering. Maybe people who suffer are actually blessed more than people who don’t. It’s complicated and I try not to spend too much time on even thinking about this but I am sure that when I die I will enter into Christ (even if I spend what feels like an eternity in Purgatory) and everything will be OK. There is a way to go back home - heaven is our true home and that is where I am going.

Thank you for your comforting words.

Beautiful!

Paul said we make up in our suffering what ever is lacking in Christ’s suffering.

I often think that when we get to Heaven and see how it all pans out - see the good as well as the bad - if given the choice, we will not choose to forgo the bad because of the even greater good that it brought about.

Our salvation was bought at a great cost and it will always be so for those who follow Christ!

Happy Pentecost!

 

[SteveVH]

You know something? I very rarely (I won’t say never) get responses in prayer too. Perhaps some people simply are more spiritually open to responses, as in, they’re better at realizing God was responding.

At any rate, with me, for whatever reason, and I say this not to make anybody upset but only to share how I came to terms with this myself, the lack of answers didn’t bother me. I always assumed that God WAS answering; I just didn’t realize it.

Perhaps what you perceive to be indifference IS God’s answer. Or he has answered and you haven’t realized it.

I hope I’m making nobody here angry. I’m just giving a different perspective on it.

You make a great point. I remember when my second son was about two. He had grabbed a paper clip off of my desk and attempted to stick it in an electrical outlet. I grabbed him before he actually accomplished it. I explained the danger to him and before I practically turned around he had another and was attempting it again. He really wanted to see what would happen. This time I popped him on the butt and he got the message. As a loving father I would not let harm come to him no matter how much he wanted to do it.

My point is that God almost never answers prayer the way we want or expect Him to. He knows that many times our wishes may not be the best thing for us, and as a loving Father, He will never grant something that may harm us in the end. The most important thing I have learned is that I have to decide whether or not I believe that God is a loving Father. If I believe He is, then I must trust Him. I also must decide if what I am asking for is in line with His will. Pray for guidance in this area. You will find that He does answer prayer, just not in the way you would expect. He knows better. Trust Him. Remember, “if you want to make God smile, tell Him your plans”.

 

[benedictus2]

You don’t like bananas?

I’m sure they eat some other fruits so maybe SJam will have no problem with that