Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? – Job 2:10
Whatsoe’er our lot may be,
Calmly in this thought we’ll rest, —
Could we see as Thou dost see,
We should choose it as the best. – Wm. Gaskell
Who is responsible for our lot in life, especially our current lot, is a much discussed and thought about topic. If you want to go deeper, and we do at times, we ask what is God’s role in the evil that men do, why doesn’t he stop it, or does God have a totally hands-off approach in individual lives? Tough questions especially in tough times.
It is said often, that every one makes his own destiny; and this is generally interpreted to mean that we all by our own wise or unwise conduct brings on good or evil on ourselves. Yet, how does one explain hurricanes, plane or car crashes, or Holocausts? Perhaps there is a better way to consider destiny. Whatever we receive from Providence we must accommodate ourselves to it and if we do, we will find good in it, lots of good, no matter how much others may see it as tragedy.
Thomas Carlyle once wrote: Evil, once manfully fronted, ceases to be evil; there is generous battle-hope in place of dead, passive misery; the evil itself has become a kind of good.
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