Could it be that Jehovah is punishing me for leaving his religion? (page 2)

Vidiot

Julia Orwell - "Could it be that Jehovah is punishing me for leaving his religion?"

No.

The religion reserves that privilege for themselves.

jgnat

My sympathies as you look for stability. I can relate, both to the fears of being outside of God's favour, and the yawning uncertainty that there will be no safety net if you fall.

All I can wish for you is a glimmer of hope, a new try.

OnTheWayOut

So sorry to read of your troubles. Best wishes to you as you look down the road.

Don't forget that we gave Jehovah a pass on anything bad that happened while we were JW's because it was Satan that was trying to keep us from serving properly. And if someone leaves and good continues to fall upon them, that's Satan making sure they don't come back.

Jeannette

Sometimes bad things happen to good people.

jwfacts

Sorry to hear what is happening on the job front. Good and bad happens to everyone. As OTWO states, a JW will attribute the good to Jehovah, and the bad to Satan. Or occassionally the good to Satan and the bad to Jehovah and call them tests. In reality, it is just life. You may be finding it harder than usual to be in the right emotional place to find the right job, as you are still recovering emotionally from leaving; that is what happened to me. It will take time for you to remove Watchtower superstitions, but they will fade over the next few years.

keyser soze

I used to have those moments when I first left. It helps to think about all the things that are wrong with the JW religion- the blood policy, the shunning, the failed prophecies. If God actually exists, this couldn't possibly be his religion.

It also helps to think about people who have it worse than you, or the ten thousand people who died in the Philippines from a hurricane. Was God punishing them, too? What for?

Fernando

Sorry to hear that you are going through a bad patch.

It can be a challenge at such a time to count ones blessings, yet it is great to be free of the cult and the hypocritical robots that inhabit it, especially with your partner by your side.

Are those who earn a good salary, in a first world country, in the top 1% of earth's population?

At any rate I believe the majority by far are worse off even when our troubles seem huge.

Life and earning a living is hard. Sometimes especially for those earning a good salary.

Sending you positive vibes for a breakthrough and a better future.

Fernando

Separation of Powers

Julia, you already know the answer to that question. If God is not interested in the plight of millions of people living in the sub-saharan, dying of starvation and plague; if he is not interested in the plight of the impoverished and the abuse wreaked on them by the elite; if he is not interested in the millions of innocents that die as a result of warfare and political strife...then he is simply not interested. Your upbringing and indoctrination, as well as mine, has made us believe that God intervenes in our behalf to "bless" us, but have you ever asked...what makes "us" so special? The ORG has taught that "Jehovahs eyes are upon the righteous to do good toward them" as it says in the Old Testament. But, when something goes wrong or our prayers are not answered they say things like, "well, God really doesn't intervene like that anymore" or "the blessings are really "spiritual" blessings, that's all we should expect." It is a copout. It is a sham. If God blesses us for serving him, then we should be blessed.

It is like the Psalmist Asaph who said that he contemplated the veritable "good life" of the unrighteous. He recognized that people not serving God sometimes have it better. More often than not...that is true. People who don't serve God are typically defined one of two ways. A) they are self-reliant, recognizing that whatever they have, whatever they are is dependent solely on themselves... OR 2) they capitalize on those that are not self-reliant and use them as a stepping stone to move ahead in the world.

To think that God blesses me financially or otherwise while a baby is dying of AIDS or some other disease, or a mother of two is lying in a hospital bed and suffering from a brain tumor with no medical insurance, or that father of that new baby boy gets maimed in some industrial accident and has absolutely no one to help his family...is the epitome of arrogance.

This life is up to US.....you and me, as individuals must make our own way. We must contend with the strife. We must count the blessings of happenstance and fate. Take the reins of your life and ride! Make things happen. Live a life that gives to people that don't have and need. BE THE BLESSING in the lives of others.

Good luck on you job quest. Remember...there are literally trillions of dollars moving around inthe world economy...some of it is earmarked for you.

(Sorry if the post seems somewhat cynical...it is reality as I see it.)

SOP

ducatijoe

SHIT happens! We make our own way. Stay positive and keep looking up, it will get better.

LisaRose

That's rough, getting sacked is not fun at all. It just shows you how deep the cult programing is. I am sure on an intellectual level you know it's crap, but the Watchtower did a good job of getting you on a deeper, more primitive, less logical level. In times of stress those fears come out, it's like a delayed bomb going off. Everyone has both good and bad things happen to them. If you are a JW you are conditioned to think that when good things happen, Jehovah is blessing you, when bad things happen, Satan is testing you, or you were not good enough. It's designed to get you scuttling back to the kingdom hall in fear. Don't give in to it.

My life is much better since I left the organization. I am sure that others have had it the other way, there is no reason to it, it's just life. I am sure all JWs no matter how faithful, have good and bad things happen as well.

I hope you find a better job and put those fears to rest.

Could it be that Jehovah is punishing me for leaving his religion?

Share this