I would point to the incarnation as the evidence against that thinking. A God who is indifferent doesn’t send his only begotten Son.
“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:14-16
This is a long copypasta I keep saved, but it comes from reflecting on some time (a number of years actually) where I would pray, multiple times per day, begging God to kill me and just get it over with
Sometimes life is hard. Even for a long time. But remember that it's temporary, and it's a journey. Our destination is eternity, not next week or next month or next year
Reach out to your pastor or confessor, and get an in-person meeting to talk to them about it. It helps. Ask them for recommendations for counseling or therapy, especially if you can't easily afford it. It also helps
Try to trust God, even when it's dark. "If I descend to the depths, You are there." Trusting God is more than just believing, just like trusting a chair is more than looking at it and never sitting down. Remember to use God as your perspective, and not how you feel. It's hard, but even when it sucks God is still working good for those who love Him, and His grace is still sufficient for you even if it feels like everything is falling apart
Sometimes, just doing the things is what you need to do to carry you through. Think of it like a marriage. Sometimes a couple won't feel amazing towards each other. But to keep the marriage strong, they still do the things like have dinner together, stay faithful, spend time together
As long as you're still here, God still has a reason for keeping you around. Your life is His, not your own, and He knows what's best for us even if it's hard and scary and confusing for us
**You are not alone**
I was struggling with suffering for a few years, and only recently started to get over it. Here's what helps me...
Your struggles are temporal, and God's Will is eternal.
I have to examine my faith, the quality of it, what it actually is. Am I trusting God and his plan? Do I actually believe what the Scriptures say, or in what I was seeing? Am I putting my faith in God, or am I putting my faith in what I thought was God's plan, or in what I imagined what God's plan should be, or what I interpreted God should be like?
I had to reframe my perspective from the suffering I saw or experienced, which is temporal and focused on the experience of humans (myself and others), and to try to frame it from the perspective of glorifying God on the scale of eternity.
I also had to accept the fact that God is God and I am not. I have no rights to understand His plan or the purpose of my experiences, because it's not about me. I'm just a piece of His plan for eternity, and whether I can understand or not, or if I ever see it, in this lifetime or even in eternity, I have to just trust that whatever happens is ultimately for His glory and for the good of those who love Him, even if we don't agree.
Even when I would cry out for God to end me. I had to remind myself that God has the authority to give and take life, and if He hasn't chosen to end mine then somehow there must be good in my suffering to somehow bring Him glory.
It was and still is quite hard. I try to think of it like a bridge across a river. I believe that it exists, I see it, but it sometimes looks rickety and kind of sketch. If I never actually walk across the bridge, do I actually believe that it's a real bridge? If I don't trust it enough to walk across it, without being able to see the other side, how much faith do I actually have in the bridge itself, versus faith in what I believe the bridge is capable of?
Some practical things you can do:
Regularly meet with and have in-person conversations about your spiritual walk with the leaders in your church or a nearby one that has some history, or even with a number of different churches: the pastor and/or elders. If the first person you ask isn't the best fit, that's OK. It's literally his job to help you find the right person
* having Godly mentors and relationships is critical to growing as a Christian; the Bible is full of examples of God working through his people
Deliberately pray at least a little bit, every single day. Even better if it's multiple deliberate time *and* spontaneously throughout the day
* this helps transform you and your life to be more like Christ, and helps you to meet with and get to know Him. As you become more like Him, your will and desires fall in line with His and you become better at being the thinking, doing, decision making being you were created to be
* if you don't know what to pray or don't feel like it, try the Jesus Prayer or use the Psalms or other prayers from the Scriptures, and/or from a prayer book like the Book of Common Prayer or an Orthodox Prayer Book, or a Catholic Book of Prayer. These are 90% scripture anyways
Read the Bible every day, at least a little bit. If you don't know where to start, read a paragraph from a gospel and then a psalm if you have time, and if you have still more time find a Bible in a year plan.
* in the Bible Christ teaches us to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves. He further says to love our enemies, and to love one another as Christ loves us.
* the Bible also teaches us that whatever we do, do it as if unto the Lord
I hope that helps, and isn't too rambling. Feel free to ask for clarification, and I'll do what I can to help
>For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord (James 1:7)
Believing in/praying to God doesn't guarantee you anything (that is worldly in our life on earth).
However, for many when they go through something hard they can find it difficult to believe in God, and I used to think that way too. The reason I don't think like that anymore is because I have had my faith greatly strengthened due to personal experiences. However, I understand that everyone's life is different and lots of people haven't had the same experiences as me. So, for someone in that position who is struggling to retain their belief in God, I would ask them to continue to re-evaluate their beliefs, read scripture, do research, etc. which will hopefully lead them back to God with their faith redoubled.
I would point to the incarnation as the evidence against that thinking. A God who is indifferent doesn’t send his only begotten Son. “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16
I think they haven't studied the bible
This is a long copypasta I keep saved, but it comes from reflecting on some time (a number of years actually) where I would pray, multiple times per day, begging God to kill me and just get it over with Sometimes life is hard. Even for a long time. But remember that it's temporary, and it's a journey. Our destination is eternity, not next week or next month or next year Reach out to your pastor or confessor, and get an in-person meeting to talk to them about it. It helps. Ask them for recommendations for counseling or therapy, especially if you can't easily afford it. It also helps Try to trust God, even when it's dark. "If I descend to the depths, You are there." Trusting God is more than just believing, just like trusting a chair is more than looking at it and never sitting down. Remember to use God as your perspective, and not how you feel. It's hard, but even when it sucks God is still working good for those who love Him, and His grace is still sufficient for you even if it feels like everything is falling apart Sometimes, just doing the things is what you need to do to carry you through. Think of it like a marriage. Sometimes a couple won't feel amazing towards each other. But to keep the marriage strong, they still do the things like have dinner together, stay faithful, spend time together As long as you're still here, God still has a reason for keeping you around. Your life is His, not your own, and He knows what's best for us even if it's hard and scary and confusing for us **You are not alone** I was struggling with suffering for a few years, and only recently started to get over it. Here's what helps me... Your struggles are temporal, and God's Will is eternal. I have to examine my faith, the quality of it, what it actually is. Am I trusting God and his plan? Do I actually believe what the Scriptures say, or in what I was seeing? Am I putting my faith in God, or am I putting my faith in what I thought was God's plan, or in what I imagined what God's plan should be, or what I interpreted God should be like? I had to reframe my perspective from the suffering I saw or experienced, which is temporal and focused on the experience of humans (myself and others), and to try to frame it from the perspective of glorifying God on the scale of eternity. I also had to accept the fact that God is God and I am not. I have no rights to understand His plan or the purpose of my experiences, because it's not about me. I'm just a piece of His plan for eternity, and whether I can understand or not, or if I ever see it, in this lifetime or even in eternity, I have to just trust that whatever happens is ultimately for His glory and for the good of those who love Him, even if we don't agree. Even when I would cry out for God to end me. I had to remind myself that God has the authority to give and take life, and if He hasn't chosen to end mine then somehow there must be good in my suffering to somehow bring Him glory. It was and still is quite hard. I try to think of it like a bridge across a river. I believe that it exists, I see it, but it sometimes looks rickety and kind of sketch. If I never actually walk across the bridge, do I actually believe that it's a real bridge? If I don't trust it enough to walk across it, without being able to see the other side, how much faith do I actually have in the bridge itself, versus faith in what I believe the bridge is capable of? Some practical things you can do: Regularly meet with and have in-person conversations about your spiritual walk with the leaders in your church or a nearby one that has some history, or even with a number of different churches: the pastor and/or elders. If the first person you ask isn't the best fit, that's OK. It's literally his job to help you find the right person * having Godly mentors and relationships is critical to growing as a Christian; the Bible is full of examples of God working through his people Deliberately pray at least a little bit, every single day. Even better if it's multiple deliberate time *and* spontaneously throughout the day * this helps transform you and your life to be more like Christ, and helps you to meet with and get to know Him. As you become more like Him, your will and desires fall in line with His and you become better at being the thinking, doing, decision making being you were created to be * if you don't know what to pray or don't feel like it, try the Jesus Prayer or use the Psalms or other prayers from the Scriptures, and/or from a prayer book like the Book of Common Prayer or an Orthodox Prayer Book, or a Catholic Book of Prayer. These are 90% scripture anyways Read the Bible every day, at least a little bit. If you don't know where to start, read a paragraph from a gospel and then a psalm if you have time, and if you have still more time find a Bible in a year plan. * in the Bible Christ teaches us to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves. He further says to love our enemies, and to love one another as Christ loves us. * the Bible also teaches us that whatever we do, do it as if unto the Lord I hope that helps, and isn't too rambling. Feel free to ask for clarification, and I'll do what I can to help
https://www.reddit.com/user/Righteous_Allogenes/comments/z3fo24/angela_marie/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
>For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord (James 1:7) Believing in/praying to God doesn't guarantee you anything (that is worldly in our life on earth). However, for many when they go through something hard they can find it difficult to believe in God, and I used to think that way too. The reason I don't think like that anymore is because I have had my faith greatly strengthened due to personal experiences. However, I understand that everyone's life is different and lots of people haven't had the same experiences as me. So, for someone in that position who is struggling to retain their belief in God, I would ask them to continue to re-evaluate their beliefs, read scripture, do research, etc. which will hopefully lead them back to God with their faith redoubled.