Don't Blame Dad

A friend of mine related a cute story to me involving an exchange between her four year old granddaughter, and the child’s father.  One day the child, her pregnant mother, and her father went to the Dr.’s office to find out the sex of the baby.  Ever since she had been told that a new sibling would be arriving, she was certain it would be a sister. The sonogram tech’s findings were visible on the monitor, and it soon became obvious that the longed for Roberta, was a Robert.  As the announcement was made, the child gasped in horror, turned to her father and said, “Daddy, this is all your fault!” After I stopped laughing, God showed me an analogy.  In this flawed world, things don’t always work out the way we envision.  Relationships fail, jobs are lost,  sickness and disappointments seem to be waiting at every intersection.  It’s human to place blame on others, and ultimately on God.  The age old question, asked by Christians and non-Christians alike is, why does God allow bad things to happen? I’ve struggled with that as well, and have come to the realization that we live in an imperfect world. Perfection only existed in the Garden of Eden, but Adam’s sin put an end to that. While it’s true that Christ’s sacrifice repaired our broken relationship with God, the collateral damage remained.   Let’s say a person decided to end their life by jumping off a building.  On the way down they regretted the decision, called out to God, and landed alive, but were crippled from then on.  In the same way, our world was forever flawed by Adam’s lapse of judgment so long ago, and while Christ‘s sacrifice atoned for the sin, the natural consequences of the “fall” remain.  We can shake a fist at God, or we can take responsibility for our actions, and come to grips with the cold hard fact, we live in that broken world. Thank goodness it’s temporary, and his promise for our future is excellent and eternal.  “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” 2Peter 3:13