If God cares for us, why has this happened to us?

In a world filled with tragedies and pain, this question is deep in the hearts of many. Why? ……… Why God why?
One of the best pieces of writing I have read on this topic was authored by Phil McCallum. Phil tells us that when caught up in this thinking we need a mind shift.
He says that we are getting the wrong view of the situation. God is not against us or punishing us. Rather God has come to rescue us….
Have a read for yourself.
Bob Lipsys
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Phil McCallum http://www.todayspastor.com
“Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?
Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” Judges 6:13-14
Observation
The greatest obstacle to answered prayer can be me. The problem is not with God. He wants to rescue. The problem instead is with my skewed view of reality.
Gideon had a head problem. He had a faultless chain of logic that was totally wrong but made perfect sense. Bad things were happening, therefore he assumed that God was against his people. The difficulty of his logic was that it exonerated Gideon from attempting anything to challenge the status quo. He felt perfectly justified to hide like a fugitive in his own land, choking on chaff dust, because God was against them all.
We too block answers to prayer when we see God as the source of our problems instead of the beginning of our solutions. If we think life’s problems are God’s fault why try to change things?
There is a higher, heavenly perspective that the angel brought into Gideon’s life. This heavenly logic is like a gust of fresh air in a stuffy room. Here’s the new logic: assess your personal strengths and use them and God will use you. The presence of potential in Gideon’s life was proof that God was with him. He later proved himself as a leader, strategist and warrior. Once unpackaged the problem was solved.
Application
Answers to prayer require as much a change in my heart as in God’s heart. We must exchange faulty thinking for fresh perspective. Instead of asking, “What does God have against me” we should instead ask, “What do I have going for me?” The answer to prayer is not external, it is internal. Inside of me God has placed the potential for the answer. I have to change my outlook so God can use what he has given me to change the world around me.
Prayer
Father, give me a clearer and clearer understanding of what you have invested into my life so that you can work through my life. Amen.
by Phil McCallum http://www.todayspastor.com
--------------------------------------------------
Good Word Phil……
“I have to change my outlook
so God can use what he has given me
to change the world around me.”
----------------------------
Blessings are falling
Grab them with both hands- Bob Lipsys