A Conversation about God

And there will no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying. No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Shall be thought accursed. And they shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build, and another inhabit, they shall not plant, and another eat; for as the lifetime of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, and My chosen ones shall wear out the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, and their descendants with them. It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. (NASB) Isaiah 65:19-24

M: Tonight as I was driving home, I saw a beautiful buck on the side of the road that had been hit by a car. Blood was coming out of its nose. Why do these things have to happen?
E: Because of our human greed and stupidity.
M: So it's all the fault of humans?
E: Society has deemed it necessary to have cars and roads, so yes.
M: Why are some things born just to be killed right away? Do you remember those baby rabbits at my old place that were killed by that stray cat? It was so sad. The poor mother rabbit. Why did they even have to be born at all, if they were just going to die? That incident can't really be blamed on humans, can it? Or is it because nature is out of balance due to human actions?
E: It could be, I guess.
M: But why do humans have to be like that? I'm a human, but I don't want those things to happen. I wish I could create a mode of transportation that didn't involve death. Is each and every one of us responsible, or humanity in general? I can understand that bad things happen because we live in a fallen world. I can understand that bad things happen because humans create a lot of our own suffering, as well as cause the suffering of other living things. I can even understand reasons why God would create beings who would die shortly after but who would have a tremendous and profound impact on others. What I don't understand is the seemingly senseless deaths of some creatures.
E: I'm not sure. Does God really care? I believe in God, but I've always questioned how much He cares about our individual lives. Maybe He only cares about the big picture.
M: But of course God cares!
E: Does He?
M: Of course He does. It says in the Bible that God notices when even a sparrow dies; therefore, as we were created in His image, how much more so does he notice us. He sees all. That's why I think you should eat less meat. God knows about the factory farming. He sees what is going on and He is angry when we cause his creatures unnecessary suffering.
E: You think God cares about the animals?
M: Of course He does. People did not even eat animals until after Noah's Ark, after the flood. It also says that in Heaven, there will be no more death. Eventually the wolf and the lamb will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw. God does not desire suffering or death for any of His creatures.
E: If He cares, then why doesn't He show it?
M: You don't think He does?
E: No--I mean, how does He? We don't see Him, it doesn't feel like He's around or that He cares.
M: What are you looking for? Thunder and lightning bolts?
E: Well, sure.
M: But, it doesn't matter. Because even when He did show it, people still refused to believe in Him. When Jesus was doing work on earth, in the flesh, many if not most people still rejected Him.
E: Hm.
M: You had Jesus performing miracles in front of people's eyes, but they still rejected Him. They were so caught up in the fact that the miracle occurred on the Sabbath, that legalism clouded their eyes and they said, "He doesn't fit our view of God, therefore he cannot be God."
E: Hm.
M: You see, God is always showing us He cares. He is always performing miracles. It just in ways that we don't expect, sometimes in ways we're not looking for, and because it doesn't fit our narrow, human framework, we refuse to accept them. God is bigger than our minds, than our own understanding. He is bigger than our rules. He refuses to play by our flawed human rules and tests.
E: Hm.
M: We cannot understand why these seemingly senseless things happen. We can guess, but it is only a shadow of complete understanding. Our minds are not ready to understand yet, because we're still living in the midst of it. And we are spiritual infants compared to eternity, compared to God.
E: Hm.
M: It's like Himal's heart surgeries. He is too little to understand; he cannot understand. All he knows is that these things have happened to him, and are happening, and maybe he even wonders why we as his parents do not put a stop to it. Can't we? Don't we want to? We did not desire for it to be this way. But we let it happen because it is his only chance at life. Without these things happening to him, he would die, although he does not understand that yet.
E: True.
M: We have to believe that all these things that happen will be used for greater good in the end. God will turn everything to good, and for His glory, if only we let Him. We have to believe that we will either learn why someday, or that eventually, the question of why will not even matter in the bigger scheme of things.

Unfortunately, no matter what, some will still be angry at God, although that anger is misdirected. They will ask why God didn't create a wonderful paradise for us all--forgetting that He did, and we as humans (ie, Adam and Eve, as the primordial ones) chose to leave it. Also unfortunately, there are some who will still reject the existence of God because He has somehow failed their test of what God should be. God wants us to believe in Him because He desires only good things for us. He is always inviting us to be a part of something amazing, something that will cause us to outgrow the narrow wooden beams we try to keep housing our belief system in. Although he have to step out of our comfort zone to truly follow God, it is always more than worth it to move into God's expansive mansion.

There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? John 14:2