Delsie Mortel Vicente April 19, 2019

Source: Faith Based Care Giving in A Secular World Issue No. 4

Summary of the Issue:

“Why me, of all people why did it happen to me?” “Didn’t God love me?” “Is God not the most powerful,
All-knowing, All-present King of all the Universe? then why can’t He help me? Why didn’t He spared me?”
These are questions and thoughts of people who suffered a loss or a tragedy, questions that I believe all
of us have ask in some point in our lives as God seem unresponsive or non-existent in our personal battles
and external events that affected us. One of the popular answers to these questions is “God is teaching
you something” and that when disaster strikes they should pray for learning and discernment. However,
this kind of statement does not support the fact that God is love, if God has planned all tragedies,
accidents, abuse, physical assault and death it just goes to say that the God we believe in is a sadistic God
not the God of love. Others call this process discipline or punishment however, random
suffering/punishment should not be viewed as sent by God to refine our character. Why did I say random?
because most of the sufferings and trials we have are made out of decisions and choices we made on our
own and believe me these are decisions that we don’t even ask God for counsel, that’s why when things
go wrong we blame God as if it was God who did it but it was us in the first place.

I used to think before that everything was indeed part of the refining fire and that God planned
it to perfect my character. Now I know that kind of thinking shows a twisted morphed idea of the
real character of God. I was blind until I realized through bible studies and bible seminars that
everything boils down to choices. Apart from the fact that the Lord is indeed the Lord of love,
this issue reinforced the idea that God wants us to be the decider and that in every decision we
make we must consult Him, however, how about the issue of tragedies, accidents, abuse and
assault? is that a choice you and I make? Of course not, no human in their right frame of mind
would choose to be hit by a vehicle, choose to be abuse or be a victim of homicide and murder.
But why does this happen? All the sufferings and pain in this world is traced back to the choice
our great great mother and father made in the garden of Eden. When they decided to eat the
fruit of the tree of good and evil they and the children they bore (including us) collectively choose
Satan as the ruler and what does Satan want? a miserable unhappy painful life. Thus, as long as
were here, we will always be a casualty in the war between good and evil.

With this belief reinforced by the fact that the Lord I serve and believe in is the God of love, I will
not be afraid to share it to my patients especially when they ask the question of “Why me? or
what is the meaning of this? Did God abandon me?”. It is my duty to be an instrument of healing
and as the same time be a messenger of hope and promise to a patient lying in the deathbed.
This issue reinforced my belief and at the same time encourage me to continue studying the bible
and memorizing verses in it because in it one can find life amidst the imminent physical death.