Christian post! Any threadcrappers, please find something else to do. I'm not talking to you.
I also firmly believe that God gave man "free will." That said, I believe that God interferes with that at times. And I believe that I don't know why He interferes in certain situations, and not others.
Specifics will remain a mystery, but the general reasons are clearly stated in the Bible. God has a plan for us beyond keeping our physical hearts beating and our faces smiling. More on that later.
I also believe that Satan has no real power. Only the power of temptation, which in and of itself is no real power without one giving into a temptation. So, no, I do not blame Satan for anything.
You think Satan has no real power? I wonder how much of the Bible you've read. The devil's power is mentioned in 1Chronicles 21:1, Job 1 and 2, many places in the Gospels, Acts 5:3, 1Thessalonians 2:18, much of Revelation, and other places besides. God's power constrains him so that he is not allowed to do everything he pleases, and certainly he has help and cooperation from demons and men, but the things he does are still done, and they are many. He is called "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2) and "the God of this world (or age)" (2Corinthians 4:4). He "walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1Peter 5:8) and "deceives the whole world" (Revelation 12:9) Does this sound like no real power to you? Check your Bible.
To a wider audience- It seems a great number of people believe that, if God exists, his purpose and goal is to keep us alive, perfectly healthy and happy, and rich with material goods. They think God created us so that he could have lesser beings to serve. They think that what he really wants is to wait on us hand and foot, catering to us without judging or correcting us. Thus, when they don't get those things, they look not in the mirror, but to heaven. If God really exists, why did he let Grandma die? If God loves me, why can't I have a bigger house? I'm not any worse than anybody else I know- why doesn't God get me a promotion? Why did God let my heart stop and keep me in the hospital all this time?
The answers to these questions are all in the Bible. So many people want to call themselves Christians but rarely bother to pray or study. And some people honestly and diligently seek the truth but are blinded to it. Sin has consequences. Sometimes the consequences land on us, sometimes they land on other people. There are reasons for this. One important thing to remember is that not every single word in the Bible is addressed directly to every single person in the world, especially the second half of the New Testament.
Christians are not here to be conformed to this world. We're here to learn to walk just as Jesus walked. God tests and purifies our hearts as a furnace purifies metals. A true Christian should rejoice in trials, since they represent opportunity to improve ourselves and draw closer to God. A true Christian should not be surprised if the world hates them, since they are not of this world. (This entire paragraph is paraphrased quotes from the Bible.)
God doesn't promise us that we will never have difficulties- in fact, quite the opposite. If he didn't allow us to encounter trials and evil, he wouldn't be much of a parent. Consider your own children. Do you keep them in a cage so a car can't hit them? Do you sanitize every surface they will ever touch? Do you do all their homework for them so they will never suffer the consequences of a mistake? Do you give them everything they ask for, regardless of whether it's good for them or how they ask for it? Do you take them to the gym but lift all the weights for them so they can feel strong but not have to get sore or tired? Do you never get angry with them for ignoring your words of wisdom and doing foolish, selfish, hurtful, prideful things that will only make them unhappy in the end?
Of course not. And neither will God do everything for us so that we develop no strength, no Godly love, no wisdom, no patience, no self-knowledge, no righteous character. If he did, we would be powerless to resist sin and to make the right choices necessary to be happy and live in harmony with him and others.
What this young man experienced was a trial. There are different kinds of trials from different sources (not all are from God), and none of us know why it happened specifically, nor what the end result will be. But we can know generally why such things take place if we pray and study, and if God is gracious and opens our eyes.
If anyone wants more specific examples of how what I'm saying is out of the Bible, feel free to ask.
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