Why Did God Take My Loved One? - Soul Choice Ministries

Many people become angry at God, blame God, and turn away from Him when a loved one dies. They wonder, “Why did God allow this to happen?” In essence, they are saying that God could have stopped it, but He chose not to. This response is flawed.

This thinking stems from religious tradition that has infiltrated the minds of billions of people – Christians and non-Christians alike. It’s the belief that “God is in control of everything” no matter what happens. But is that true?

Was God in control of what you ate today? Was He controlling what clothes you chose to wear? Is God really behind all the heinous crimes, betrayal, murder, and barbaric acts that happen each day throughout the earth? The answer is no – absolutely not.

However, what do you commonly hear from clergy at a funeral service? Sometimes ignorant comments are spoken such as, “God chose to take him home” or “God’s ways are higher than our ways” or “God had a reason.” How does this make the family or children who are standing there crying their eyes out feel?

They will most likely grow up hating or turning away from God. These damaging words have produced more atheists than we can imagine.

Think about it. Who wants to serve a God who kills little children or a God who inflicts people with disease, which ultimately kills them? The Bible has dozens and dozens of verses claiming God is good. Something doesn’t add up.

God is good. The devil is bad. In John 10:10, Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Jesus very clearly drew a distinction between what He came to do and what Satan and demons do. If stealing, killing, and destruction effects your life, it’s not from God. There is a very active spiritual realm whether you believe it or not.

I choose to believe what Jesus said. A few verses later, Jesus refers to Himself as the “Good” Shepherd not the bad Shepherd. A Good Shepherd takes good care of His sheep!

I’ve mentioned this in previous teachings, but let’s briefly recap some of the reasons why evil happens:

1) We live in a fallen, sin-filled world – Rom. 8:2 states there is a Law of sin and death (Rom. 6:23)

2) 2 Corinthians 4:4, Satan is the god of this world.

3) Matthew 7:11, Men are evil and cause harm.

4) Galatians 6:7, Law of sowing and reaping.

5) Deuteronomy 28, there is a curse operating in the earth due to sin

6) Isaiah 24:5, the Earth itself rebels because of sin.

God is ultimately in control of Israel and the earth’s prophetic timeline that He already spoke about throughout the pages of the Bible.

God can influence world leaders and Kings as He said in Prov. 21:1 and Ex. 10:1.

However, God is not in control of everything they do, but He can either influence or remove His influence, so they are given over to do the evil already in their heart.

Remember in Romans 1, the Bible tells us that God gave them up to their evil desires because they rejected Him. It says, God gave them over to a reprobate mind. The scripture says, “People became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

When people reject God and His influence, God doesn’t stop them or control what they do. He allows people to do evil because humans have free will and they act on the evil thoughts in their hearts and minds. In Matt. 15:19, Jesus told us that “out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”

Psalm 89:34 says, “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.”

If God already said it in the Bible, He will do it.

Mal. 3:6 says, “For I am the Lord, I change not.” He will not violate His own word.

God is only sovereign outside of His word. God restricts the use of His ultimate power by His own words.

God has given us free will and with that, humans have a great deal of responsibility for their lives. God gave us the Bible as our instruction manual for life. However, most people never bother to read it. Most people don’t know how the Bible instructs us to live and therefore they remain ignorant of God’s commands, instructions, His warnings, and His ways.

In addition, without putting their trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, people cannot understand the Bible. Then of those who do read the Bible and understand it, even less of those people obey what it says. Many do not pray, don’t know how to pray, and don’t walk in love and forgiveness. Many are ignorant and violate spiritual and natural laws God has established and they suffer harm. There are many reasons bad things happen to people, but God must allow what we allow. Our ignorance is no excuse.

If God is your father (which doesn’t happen until you put your faith in Jesus Christ) then you will remember that we are in a spiritual war – as the scriptures warn us. We are living in a sin-filled, fallen world with an enemy whose goal is to destroy us, and our families.

While we are here on this earth, we may step on a few landmines and take a few hits. Our lack of knowledge can also harm us. That’s why it’s critical we become a child of God, grow in our knowledge of Jesus Christ, understand how much He loves us and learn to obey His instructions. God’s warnings and instruction is for our benefit and protection.

If we never read the Bible, we will remain ignorant and be more vulnerable to lies and harm. It doesn’t mean we will never go through challenges and difficult trials, but when we do, the Lord is there to comfort, guide, strengthen and help us. However, we have the choice to come to Him and ask for His help or to become bitter and angry. The Lord will never turn anyone away.