Pray -Jehovah will save you...or let you die depending on "his will." Please Explain?

by Witness 007 24 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • Scully
    Scully

    God has certainly provided a head on our shoulders and other abilities to provide for ourselves with effort. But when such fails at times, much of our assistance seems to come from godly associates who see our plight and offer assistance.

    I used to believe that and was someone who was wholeheartedly and cheerfully generous with JWs in need, until my family was actually in need. It was then that the Elder™ my husband was working for decided to give the job to someone else in the congregation. Then it was "Well, I hope you don't expect the congregation to help you financially." A new Sister™ also confided in me that while she were studying with the Witnesses, rides to meetings were never a problem (the person was a single mom on welfare, had no car), but no sooner she was baptized, and she was told to make her own way to the meeting. Her comment was laced with bitter sarcasm: "Yeah, sure, you say you'd die for me, but you can't even bloody well be arsed to give me a ride to the Kingdom Hall."

    This truly is a provision from God and we can be thankful. We look after orphans and widows in their tribulations, and when we see someone in need, we don't just say - go keep warm and well-fed.

    Speaking from personal experience, that is complete and utter bull$h!t. That's what the Organization trumpets, and they expect any negative experience to be regarded as an "isolated incident" and "not representative of our brotherhood as a whole". The ones who looked after me and my family "in our tribulations" were not Jehovah's Witnesses. They were Muslims, and Hindus, and Christians (even Catholics, imagine that!!) and atheists, and Jews, and Rastafarians, and secular humanists, and homosexuals - our belief system did not make a difference as to whether they showed kindness and love to us. It was downright embarrassing how the Witnesses let us down, and Worldly People™ did not - it was then that I was thoroughly ashamed of being a JW. IMO, the JWs seemed to really enjoy watching our suffering, and felt entitled to add to the problems rather than offer even a smidgen of emotional support.

  • JustHuman14
    JustHuman14

    It is all matter of coinsidence dude...I can give you hundreds of true stories from people that survived the genocide by the Turks in my country and also others that they were killed. It is all a matter of luck...

  • xelder
    xelder

    Scully-

    I'm sorry to hear of your difficulties. The fact that little help came from the JW's is no surprise to me. I didn't say that JW's are good for that kind of help. I was talking about all good people who prove what they are by their actions.

  • WTWizard
    WTWizard

    It's all a scam. You pray to Jehovah. He either will or will not do what you want--and, either way you are supposed to give Him praise and thanks anyways. You are supposed to pray for His will to take place--why even bother praying in the first place if that's what you are supposed to pray for?

  • Scully
    Scully

    xelder

    FWIW, we have had no "difficulties" since we left the JWs, never to return. While we've had some bumps in the road, things couldn't be better, and I attribute that to (a) our own hard work and (b) not relying on "Jehovah". "Jehovah's" answer to any prayer that I had always seemed to be "NO". Conclusion: "Jehovah" is an @$$hole.

  • dissed
    dissed

    Mere coincidence is my take. The praying stuff and thinking that its God's will, is a carry-over from their previous religion for many of the JW's.

    A God's will vs co-incidence experience:

    I met an ex-Mormon lady at the Flea market. She was very angry with the Mormons and quit. I asked her how she became a Mormon?

    She was praying to God to show her the truth. Just then two missionaries came to the door. She told them about her prayer and they responded, "they knew. The Lord told them to come to her door." Sound familiar?

    Later the missionay told her, "the Lord had told him they were to marry and so sexual relations now would be okay." But I guess that's another story....

  • leavingwt
    leavingwt

    ANYTHING can be explained by faith.

    ANYTHING.

    Animals can talk, light can travel faster than 186,000 miles per second, virgins can give birth. . . .the list goes on.

    Those dead people? No worry. God will sort it all out, with "perfect" justice.

    (Add Cognitive Dissonance, where needed.)

  • undercover
    undercover
    ...the Soldiers walked passed and did not see them etc, etc. However, other brothers prayed and still got executed by Gillotine so...why does Gods will allow such things? Isn't this just random chance put down as God's will?

    As it was explained when I was a kid...

    None of us would be persecuted beyond what we could bear. Apparently some brothers were not afraid of early death as were other brothers. Others (apparently German JWs during the Nazi regime were in this group) were better equiped to deal with pain than others.

    It's all BS, but that's how they sold it. I remember as a kid being terrified of being tortured. They would read the experiences of how some JWs in other lands were tortured or executed and it gave me nightmares. I knew I could not withstand what those people did. Fucking cult...to instill such fear in children.

    Of course this raises a question that most JWs never thought to ask... if we weren't going to be tested beyond what we could bear, why did we need to be prepared for anything then? Jehovah would know and would take care of it...

  • creativhoney
    creativhoney

    No you all have the simple logic wrong. God and Satan work shifts. - but sometimes God goes on holiday for a couple of weeks or works from home but he checks in via webcam or makes a call to the office. - thats where the miracles in the face of disater come in. - I realised this the other day when my friend had a crap day from hell and it culminated in her parents finding out about one part of it, and they said it must have been Jehovah. - I figured it wasnt his shift for the rest of the day.

  • jonathanconway
    jonathanconway
    Isn't this just random chance put down as God's will?

    Amazing how quickly biblical interpretation can bog you down.

    I'm a programmer, so let me sum it up in an if statement:

    If "Believer" encounters a "Misfortune" Then

    It's a test or attack from the Devil, but God will avenge in his due time.

    Else

    If "Believer" encounters "Good Fortune" Then

    It's a blessing from God, and a sign of his approval

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