Does God control everything that happens in our life? Is He in charge when a person gets cancer? Or when a natural disaster strikes? Often we hear comments from religious leaders that lead us to believe He is. In Good God, Lucas Miles looks to the scripture to argue that God is not the cause of the bad things. God has given us free will and sometimes our choices or the choices of others cause the bad things.
This book is a thought provoker and helps one come to terms with God being the loving Father we so want Him to be and the bad things that happen in life. The timing of this book for me was perfect. A good friend's two-year-old went in for surgery last week and while I was dealing with the emotions of having this sweet young boy have to have surgery to fix an issue with aspirating that he has had since birth it made me question why. I will admit I did ask why would God give such an issue to a young boy. This book says not to think of God having that control. He has given it up so we could have free will. It helped me turn to God in prayer and ask for healing for our young friend and his family. It comforted me to know He was present with them at the hospital and now at home as the recovery continues. And of course when I was most worried I got the text message that the boy had turned the corner and was going to come home. God answered my prayers, and I do know God is good.
Miles goes so far in this book to tell the reader to question the traditional religious leaders as to why they are blaming God. This blame makes God unapproachable. They preach in a loving God but then blame Him when a bad thing occurs. With comments like "We do not understand God's ways but it will be for the best," we are setting ourselves up to be afraid of God and blaming Him. This book talks about having God to blame also allows for us to not take responsibility for our actions. Something I feel is lacking in our society quite a bit.
Overall I have to say I have really enjoyed reading this thought provoking book and do recommend it to anyone who wants to see what the scriptures say about God and how loving He is.
