By Brenda GrovesThe Post Newspaper Contributing Writer
When I was a very young child, we lived in a house right off of a busy highway. Because of this, my parents kept an especially close eye on me and I remember receiving at least one switching when I disobeyed them and wandered to close to the road.
But when my mother went to work across the street at a new supermarket, they decided it would be better to teach me how to cross the road.
So at around the age of six, I recall my mom working with me daily giving careful instructions and warnings. In a short time, I gained the wisdom of how to cross safely. We still respected the busy highway but lost our fear of it.
Now over the years we lived there we had a couple of family pets lose their lives on that road, but my mother didn’t waste those sad times; instead, she used them as examples of how dangerous roadways could be. It was graphic, but one I could understand and wouldn’t forget. It was wisdom with understanding.
One day, our Australian shepherd got nicked by a car resulting in a broken leg. “Penny” mended but from then on, she would try to keep me from approaching the road by putting her body sideways in front of me, blocking my path. I remember walking around her and she would get right back in front of me again (Smart dog!!).
But getting to the road proved a very slow process, especially when there was a school bus full of people waiting on me to board, so one of my sisters would have to hold Penny’s collar until I got on the bus.
So recently, I was talking with someone who had been suffering with a terrible sickness, but she believed that God was allowing her to go through this in order to teach her something.
Even though she hoped and prayed that God would heal her, she was willing to accept this sickness as “her lot” in life as some part of God’s plan.
I was also raised under this same sovereignty of God religious teaching. So, when I was diagnosed with MS back in 2007 it left me passive, after all, if God allowed this to happen to me then there must be a reason for it, or so I believed at the time.
Back then I believed that as the Supreme Being, God controlled everything that happens to us in this life and that nothing could happen apart from God’s will.
But I began reading the Bible for myself and gained wisdom with understanding and over a very short period of time I was able to receive complete healing from Jesus (One sickness is not more difficult to heal than another. But wrong teachings can be deadly.)!!
And yes, I agree that God is Supreme, ALL powerful, Creator of the universe, and in that sense, as Ruler over all, He is Sovereign. But as Ruler, He chose to give freewill to men. The ability to choose, what we believe, who we will serve and although there are lessons to be learned through hardships and tragedies, God is NOT the author of them.
You know, in order to teach me the dangers of the road, my parents did not shove me into a line of traffic. They used restraint and discipline when I was younger and eventually, through instruction, the right way to cross the road without being injured.
The Lord tells us plainly who is the author of evil in John 10:10. “It is the “thief (Satan) who comes only to steal, kill and destroy, I (Jesus) came that you may have life and life abundant.” How much plainer can you get then that.
And yes, if we survive an illness, tragedy, or suffer with a great attitude in faith of God’s love and kindness, it can be an encouragement to us. God will use that to help others who are going through the same thing. But how much more glory does God receive when we can begin to walk in health, prosperity, emotional well-being, wholeness. I’m not trying to make anyone feel bad here if they are not experiencing this, but it is also shifting the blame to God and make excuses.
The Lord is a Person also and I do not want to grieve the Holy Spirit either by rejecting the goodness of God and misrepresent Him. We are called into the ministry of reconciliation! And I believe the sovereignty of God’s message, the way that it has been taught causes alienation.
I suffered through many addictions and strongholds and — praise Jesus — He has set me free from all of them (Although I am still a work in progress in many other areas, loving others more, receiving God’s best, etc..).
God has used my testimony to help others get set free, BUT God did not MAKE me pick up that first cigarette or any other vice.
In truth, I knew the things I was doing were wrong and God sent many people across my path to try to stop me. But Satan also used people to influence me or sway/trick/ entice/lie to keep me stumbling in the dark.
And I now believe that if I had been introduced to the correct teaching at an earlier age – the true nature of God, love, mercy, grace, kindness, instead of a strict angry God who was causing or allowing all these calamities.
I might had made different choices. I could not relate to religion (how to do church) when true relationship is what I wanted, needed, sought after in my soul.
Many people think that God will allow or cause us to go through things to bring us closer to Him, and when our dog got hit by that car she hobbled as fast as she could back to our house for safety and hid under the porch.
But my parents didn’t make Penny run out into the line of traffic. We loved that dog and I recall my parents trying to teach her from a young pup to stay away from it. So, it wasn’t their will for her to get hurt, BUT, Penny did learn a valuable lesson as she limped after me to try to warn me of the danger.
The word of God is full of wisdom/instruction/examples of how to grow close to God, His true nature and how to avoid falling prey to the true author behind the bad things that happen in our life- Satan- who wishes to remain unseen. I also believe he is the one behind the sovereignty of God teaching so we will fall easy prey to him, “who goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.”
Passivity allows the devil access into our lives. It is a faith killer.
Many people are hurt and offended at God and have hardened their hearts believing that He is the one taking their loved ones or causing/allowing divorces, rape, murder, famine, horrific storms, pandemics, and on and on (We would put a person in jail if we could prove they were involved in most of these things but we blame God for this all the time).
The results are the opposite of what God’s will is, “submit to God, resist the the devil and he will flee from you.” We become passive instead of resisting/refusing to submit to the will of Satan who is out to destroy us and try to keep us from our receiving all the good things that God has planned for us.
Jesus NEVER refused to heal anyone 
;or leave them half-healed in the New Testament, under the new covenant. Jesus is the “express image of God.” You see Jesus, you see God!!
I don’t have to understand everything, but this I know: God is for us, not against us!
Contact Brenda Groves at: bkgroves1996@yahoo.com
