Many people become angry and turn away from God when a loved one dies. They ask, “Why did God allow this to happen?” In essence, they are saying that God could have stopped it but He chose not to. This response is flawed. This thinking stems from religious tradition that has infiltrated the minds of billions of people. It’s the belief that God is in control of everything, no matter what happens.
Is that true? Was God in control of what you ate today? Was He controlling what clothes you chose to wear? Is God really behind the heinous crimes, betrayal, murder and barbaric acts that happen each day throughout the earth? The answer is no—absolutely not.
Yet we commonly hear clergy at funerals make ignorant statements such as, “God chose to take him home” or “God’s ways are higher than our ways” or “God had a reason.” How does this make the family or children feel who stand there grieving their loved one? They will most likely grow up hating or turning away from God because they were told He was responsible for the death of the person they love. These damaging words have produced more atheists than we can imagine.
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Who wants to serve a God who kills little children or a God who inflicts people with disease, which ultimately kills them? The Bible has dozens of verses claiming God is good, so something doesn’t add up. God is good. The devil is bad. In John 10:10 (NKJV), Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
Jesus clearly drew a distinction between what He came to do and what Satan does. Stealing, killing and destruction are not from God. There is a very active spiritual realm, whether you believe it or not. I choose to believe what Jesus said. Jesus refers to Himself as the “good” shepherd, not the bad shepherd.
In Romans 1, the Bible tells us that God gave them up to their evil desires because they rejected Him. It says, “God gave them over to a reprobate mind” (Rom. 1:28b, KJV) and “People became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart[]s [were] darkened” (Rom. 1:21b).
When people reject God, He doesn’t stop them or control what they do. He allows people to do evil because humans have free will and they act on the evil thoughts in their hearts and minds. In Matthew 15:19, Jesus told us that “out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” Psalm 89:34 says, “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.”
If God said it in the Bible, He will do it. Malachi 3:6a says, “For I am the Lord, I change not.” He will not violate His own Word.
God restricts the use of His ultimate power by His own words. He has given us free will and with that, humans have a great deal of responsibility for their lives. God gave us the Bible as our instruction manual for life. However, most people never bother to read it. Most people don’t know how the Bible instructs us to live and therefore remain ignorant of God’s commands, instructions, His warnings and His ways.
In addition, without putting their trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, people cannot understand the Bible. Of those who do read the Bible and understand it, even fewer of those people obey it. Many don’t pray, and don’t walk in love and forgiveness. Many violate spiritual and natural laws God has established, and then they suffer harm. There are many reasons bad things happen to people, but God must allow what we allow. Our ignorance is no excuse.
If God is your Father (which only happens when you put your faith in Jesus Christ) then you know that we are in a spiritual war—as the Scriptures warn us. We are living in a sin-filled, fallen world with an enemy whose goal is to destroy us and our families. While we are here on this earth, we may step on a few land mines and take a few hits. It’s critical we become a child of God, grow in our knowledge of Jesus Christ, understand how much He loves us and learn to obey His instructions. God’s warnings and instruction are for our benefit and protection.
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Bill Wiese is the author of the New York Times best-selling book “23 Minutes in Hell,” the story of his life-changing visit to hell in 1998. Bill has since authored six additional book titles and continues to share his experience around the world. He and his wife, Annette, founded Soul Choice Ministries in late 2006 and have dedicated their lives to reaching the unsaved. For more information about Bill Wiese and Soul Choice Ministries, please visit us at: https://soulchoiceministries.org/
You can find more of Bill’s teachings at: https://www.youtube.com/user/BillWieseTV
Rabbi Kirt Schneider 
Charisma Staff 
Rabbi Eric Tokajer