{"id":14336,"date":"2008-03-15T20:48:39","date_gmt":"2008-03-16T01:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=14336"},"modified":"2019-10-27T20:52:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-28T01:52:00","slug":"who-is-god-to-decide-my-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-god-to-decide-my-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is God to decide my life?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>So who is God to decide and what mechanism do I have to protest that He is wrong? Being male is not enough to suggest He is all-knowing. Why put me on this earth with an overwhelming sense that I don&#8217;t belong here. Why keep dragging me back to now when He knows I don&#8217;t want to be here. If He is so inflexible why is He God? Isn&#8217;t this bad? The idea of God is supposed to be good, not bad.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>So who are you to argue with God? Have you created a universe lately? What power do you have? Are you so knowing of what is right and wrong when you cannot accurately state what will happen next week? You don&#8217;t even understand the nature of God, that God is spirit (John 4:24) &#8212; male and female is a physical concept, not a spiritual one (Matthew 22:29-30). God chooses to use male terms to describe Himself, but it doesn&#8217;t mean He is male.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;<em>Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the LORD, And their works are in the dark; They say, &#8220;Who sees us?&#8221; and, &#8220;Who knows us?&#8221; Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, &#8220;He did not make me&#8221;? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, &#8220;He has no understanding&#8221;?<\/em>&#8221; (Isaiah 29:15-16).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>Then I went down to the potter&#8217;s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: &#8220;O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?&#8221; says the LORD. &#8220;Look, as the clay is in the potter&#8217;s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! &#8220;The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, &#8220;if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. &#8220;And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, &#8220;if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it&#8221;<\/em>&#8221; (Jeremiah 18:3-10).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It doesn&#8217;t matter that you decided to not enjoy life; it isn&#8217;t your life in the first place. &#8220;<em>Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die<\/em>&#8221; (Ezekiel 18:4). You were given a gift to be here, but as a spoiled brat, you choose to gripe that the gift isn&#8217;t good enough. How sad to make yourself utterly miserable when life is so beautiful. &#8220;<em>Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful<\/em>&#8221; (Psalm 147:1).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: So who is God to decide and what mechanism do I have to protest that He is wrong? Being male is not enough to suggest He is all-knowing. Why put me on this earth with an overwhelming sense that I don&#8217;t belong here. Why keep dragging me back to now when He knows I&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[165,90,417,182],"class_list":["post-14336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-feminism","tag-god","tag-rebellion","tag-suffering"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37522,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-i-change-my-gender-and-marry-my-best-friend\/","url_meta":{"origin":14336,"position":0},"title":"What if I change my gender and marry my best friend?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I have someone who I love deeply. He is more of a best friend because of how we experience each other. He is like a friend or best friend than a lover, which is a spouse. I want more than anything to get married, have a child, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41064,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-whites-and-blacks-worship-separately-in-south-africa\/","url_meta":{"origin":14336,"position":1},"title":"Why do whites and blacks worship separately in South Africa?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Who was the first black person in the world? Why did God choose to make people of different races? Is a black person a product of a curse? You can give verses to refer to, I would appreciate it. I'm sorry to ask this type of question. Answer: See:\u00a0How\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8851,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-allow-polygamy-under-the-old-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":14336,"position":2},"title":"Why did God allow polygamy under the Old Testament?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Wondering if anyone has any materials on \"multiple marriages\" in the Old Testament? Would like to hear your views on why this was tolerated among God's people. I understand this was not God's choice, however, there is no outcry from the prophets against such. The practice of multiple wives\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39596,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-choose-spouses-for-us-does-the-church-decide-who-we-marry\/","url_meta":{"origin":14336,"position":3},"title":"Does God choose spouses for us? Does the church decide who we marry?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've been wondering, does God really choose spouses for us, or does He show us the person who will marry us? My church leaders are against my boyfriend marrying me because they say I'm not good enough for him. He is now confused and doesn't know whether or not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29064,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/it-is-clear-that-masturbation-is-sinful-why-are-you-saying-it-is-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":14336,"position":4},"title":"It is clear that masturbation is sinful. Why are you saying it is not?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If you truly search the heart and mind of God and the Scriptures it is clear that masturbation is a sin. Sex outside of marriage is a sin. Period. That's how the Word of God defines it. Go a little deeper, please! Just because the Bible does not mention\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28107,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-meaning-of-life-why-are-you-here\/","url_meta":{"origin":14336,"position":5},"title":"The Meaning of Life: Why Are You Here?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Timothy 6:6-21 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What is it that you are looking for out of life? What are you expecting? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So many people never find contentment with their lives because they are expecting things that life cannot deliver. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They decide they can\u2019t be happy with life\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14336\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}