5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom

On July 5th, the only animal that ever loved me (and I her) died next to me in my bed.  She was sick for a while, and I had prayed for her healing.  However, your god took her from me peacefully.  I am so angry at your god that I am cursing him with as much anger as I can stand.  He has really hardened my heart against him.  If there is a god, why doesn’t he hear me, and why didn’t he heal my baby?  I may never believe in him again, and this was all his fault.  If he cares so much for us, then why did this happen?  I just can’t pray on his deaf ears anymore.  I can’t explain the anger that I have against him… if there is a him up there.  I have been a believer all of my life, and this is changing my mind to go over to the other side and start over again.  Maybe the worship of a cow or a monkey isn’t such a bad idea.   All of those people can’t be wrong, could they?

Sincerely,
Grieving

Dear Grieving,

We are so sorry for your loss.  Losing a beloved animal is a very difficult loss.  We often have people write into the site after a great trial in their life and ask us, “Why?”.  We wish we could give you a specific answer, but we can’t.  We can tell you that God didn’t bring death into our world – sin did.  In the Garden of Eden, all life was blessed, and everything was perfect (Gen 1:31).  It is only after mankind sinned that death and suffering were introduced (Gen 2:17).  All of creation was affected by sin (Gen 3:17-18).  The devil would have us blame God for our suffering, but he is the one that created all the chaos and hurt (Gen 3:13).

Our hearts go out to you in your time of suffering.  We cannot imagine how you must be feeling (Pr 14:10), but we hope your hurt eventually draws your heart nearer to the Lord for comfort (2 Cor 1:3).  If you are in need of a congregation in your area to edify and encourage you at this time, we would be happy to help you find one (our e-mail is askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org).

5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom

I have a question.  It seems I have been given some dreams that seem to be too real for dreams, life-like.  In one of them, I am facing demonic activity to the point of them wanting to possess me.  I am a man of faith and even fight back in this sleep state.  I start to pray really hard in tongues even in these so-called dreams.  I do fight them off, but they seem to be persistent.  Personally, I do fight them off from the Scripture and also by praying in tongues.  This seems so weird to be doing this while I am so-called “dreaming” these things.  I just want to know if others have had this type of experience.  I have had other visions of certain areas of hell also.  If what I have seen is real, my hardest reality in dealing with this vision is that I cannot do anything to help these souls I have seen in torment, a torment like I know I would not want anyone to face.

I thought about asking my pastor about this, but I hate to say this, I am afraid of being classified as being a little mentally unstable.  I know as a Holy Ghost-filled Apostolic CHRISTIAN, I should know better.

Sincerely,
Labeled As ‘Mentally Unstable’

Dear Labeled As ‘Mentally Unstable’,

The days of dreams and visions have passed.  In the past, God spoke to various people through dreams, visions, and prophecy, but today, He speaks to us through His Son, Jesus Christ (Heb 1:1-2).  Now that we have the complete and perfect Bible – there is no need for God to give people individual dreams or visions (1 Cor 13:9-10).  It is through the Word of God that we learn how to live faithfully (Rom 10:17).  So don’t worry about your dreams, as vivid as they are; they aren't a message from God.  Feel free to read “I Dreamed A Dream” and “Three Cheers For Miracles” for an in-depth look at what the New Testament says about speaking in tongues, dreams, and prophecy.

5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom