A friend of mine shared this with me and I felt compelled to share it with you all. It really put things into perspective for me.
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There is another way to look at these drawings.
The first one I see as God's Plan, which is perfect and smooth going.
The second one is the consequences of my not following his guidance. The second one shows me that he never gives up on me and works with my free will choices. Hopefully I pick up on his guidance this time or the terrain will get more treacherous. James 1:2 tells me that pissing and moaning about my consequences does not make it easier. Nor is it helpful.
To me if I thought that second picture was God's Plan it would be sinful to think of heaven.
That's a really interesting perspective. I do feel, however, there are some hardships in life that are not born of our own actions, such as loss, illness, natural disasters, and etc. Consider the example of a man who has done his best to follow God's will, but is diagnosed with some form of cancer. It is not necessarily a consequence of his actions, but something out of his control that produces hardship. His actions following the diagnosis are certainly under his control, but the road ahead will be treacherous nonetheless. Faith in God will most definitely guide him through the circumstances, and he will be able to approach hardship equipped with the armor of God...
"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6:13-17
While I do agree that many of our hardships are consequences of our own actions, I like to think there is a purpose for the hardship. We can learn from our mistakes, as well as help others avoid them or navigate the terrain better than we did. Of all the mistakes I've made in life, they have made me a more resilient man today and have strengthened my connection with God. I have experience now that will, for example, help me teach my children to overcome many of life's challenges with the knowledge that God is in their corner.
We choose the way we look at things. I do not get into right or wrong, for it serves no constructive purpose. We choose a different way of looking at things.
While I do agree that many of our hardships are consequences of our own actions, I like to think there is a purpose for the hardship. We see this differently. You see God sent us the hardship for a purpose. I see that God is there to help us learn from the hardship.
Your perspective brings you, Peace.
My perspective brings you, Peace.
We both get to the same place.