When haters try to take you down
But God has other plans
We see that God sees outcomes
That are different from man’s –
Immediate, unthinkable,
Impossible to fake—
The things that God accomplishes
Are perfect (for His sake!)
when the folks trying to take you down don't realize that God has a greater plan: pic.twitter.com/mD6ryA65rp
— dr.* deray mckesson (@deray) May 31, 2016
So… quit your damn complaining
If you cannot see the good—
God will see the bigger picture;
You may not, although you should.
God is good by definition—
God can never make mistakes
If His long-term plans exclude you,
Then I’m sorry, them’s the breaks.
God could act in half a heartbeat
God could quickly intervene
God could play the silent partner—
Omnipotent, unseen
God could stop the errant bullet;
God could do what others don’t
God could rescue everybody
But… the truth is… no, God won’t.
The damnedest thing is, I really like Deray McKesson. If you don’t follow him on Twitter, you should. So I’m really torn on this. This particular tweet (do click the link, it won’t make much sense without it), though, bothered me. Here we have the assertion that God’s Greater Plan will always come through.
And I have to wonder what God’s greater plan was for so many people. This meme asserts that God provides an invisible chair for someone who has had their chair pulled out from under them. Miraculous! Meanwhile, others are shot. Killed. The people McKesson has been fighting to represent.
Everything about this is complex. It is a problem that spans centuries, and is still relevant today. Religion has been a part of the problem forever… and part of the solution at times.
But damn. If it were this simple… if it were this obvious. If the hypothetical examples were anything like reality, we’d all be believers. I think I said this somewhere before, in verse, but… all the best examples are hypothetical.
Hypothetically, God has the ultimate plan. In reality, you can’t know that until it’s pretty much too late. Which, really, as plans go… sucks.
“Don’t worry, child slave. God has a greater plan. Oh, you are screwed, but it’ll all work out for some other people.”
Bloody Hell!
Isn’t that GIF more-or-less a representation of one of the Temptations of Christ? (Luke 4:9-13 IIRR)?
If it is , then it’s the Devil who’s doing it (and doing it over and over and over, saecula saeculorum…. or at least till I got bored with it.)
Way to go!
I had a similar conversation once with The Boyfriend, who is a believer in a vague sense.
Me: An all-powerful and all-loving god wouldn’t create a world in which children die of fatal birth defects. What possible plan is served by their deaths?
TB: Well, the loss of a child can open up the parents to a greater blessing…
Me: A CHILD HAS TO DIE FOR THIS? Any blessing to one person that requires the death of another is too high a price to pay.
TB:
Me: I understand dead children. And an all-powerful god can dispense blessings wherever he wants without having to kill children to do it. I expect more of a god than this.
TB’s last comment there should be “something about God’s plan being beyond our understanding”. He wasn’t speechless, though I think he should have been.
God really loves black holes.
Numenaster@#4: you gotta be more understanding of god, because: budget cuts.
Can only run flaming sword on wednesdays. Malpractice insurance is killer, Etc. Ya kno?
“God has a greater plan” is what they say when they realize that an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent god probably wouldn’t allow so many tiny coffins, but don’t actually want to admit it, even to themselves.
God has a plan we cannot know
But trust us it exists!
It involves illogic, grief and pain and, hell, that awful cyst.
We know Gods good so don’t you fret
T’will work out in the end,
Forget your torment, hellish nightmare,
Even your best friend!
Yes, don’t you worry, never fear,
If dead you are, well, all be clear,
If not, not you’ll be so soon.
Not much cheer for you now we know
But hey that’s your Gods boon!
This mighty plan you do not know
Just and hope, don’t think!
Coz if you knew Almighty poo,
Thou may just raise a stink!
But, hey, at least, whate’er you face it ain’t so bad you see,
As the fate of the poor dinosaur or Third world kids or, maybe, me!
But God knows best I’m sure, I’m sure, though not sure Xe exists,
Just hope that when you see that plan your not so mighty pissed!