Quote:
Originally Posted by CDSmith
Ever hear the story of the man caught in a flood?
There was a certain pious man who lived by the river. The river began to flood so he prayed to God to save him.
The water level rose and he went upstairs to avoid the water. A boat passed and offered to rescue him. The man refused saying he had prayed to God and he had perfect faith that God would answer his prayer.
The water level rose and the man, still full of faith, clung to the chimney pot on the roof of his house. A helicopter flew down and offered to take him off. He refused. He had his faith in God.
The water arose above his head and he drowned.
When he got to Heaven the pearly gates were shut.
'Why are the gates shut?' he asked, 'I have been a pious man all my life.'
God said they were shut because the man had rejected him.
The man denied it. How had he rejected God. God said, 'I sent you a boat, and you rejected my help. I sent you a helicopter and you rejected my help.'
Maybe in this case the readily available cure = the boat, the doctors = helicopter.
Food for thought.
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People are not taught in the bible that God works in such ways. They are taught about miracles, water turning to wine, dead raising from the grave, blind learning to see again, lepers being cured and about the power of prayer to solve lifes problems.
furthermore, they are taught that God decides who lives and dies, about everything being "the will of God" and so on.
It's not unreasonable for someone who is listening to this their entire life to expect God to cure her diabetes. The traditional view of God and healing doesn't involve insulin shots or antibiotics or long hospital stays.
Once you cross that barrier of accepting that "God works in mysterious ways" and that anything and everything can be explained as "Gods work"... then you have to start questioning the negatives and babies dying in a plane crash and then to questioning your very own beliefs and whether or not God exists.
The bible depicts God working in a very direct and personal way and responding to prayer and performing miracles... even when curing disease or saving "believers" from plagues or whatever.