When the reason I struggle to believe in God is because I see the innocent suffer, I need to ask myself this question. If there were no God, and therefore no force to hold universal equilibrium, why would I expect that bad would be punished and the good would be rewarded? Without a God with spiritual existence to install within us a moral code, why would we hope for anything but a free-for-all?
Instead, I think the injustice we feel when the innocent suffer attests that we feel that a score is being kept, even if we object to how rewards are being doled out.
And today, as I was reading through Matthew I started seeing lots of lingo about building up rewards in heaven. It says when you do good things that go unseen, the reward is accrued in heaven. And even when you suffer for God, that is accruing up there as well. And when that world begins, we will all be paid all the rewards we are due.
So maybe when we get upset about the good suffering down here on earth, it doesn’t mean we conclude God doesn’t exist. It just suggests that there is a God who sees it, and feels the injustice and has placed that piece of himself in you. And I bet if He feels that like we do He is taking note so He can make things right when this world ends.
There is injustice down here. And it does seem like God isn’t good when good people don’t get what they deserve. So it’s good that the good will get what they deserve. Even if it doesn’t happen until this world ends.
Raw Spoon, 9-19-17
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