Designed with Intent
Imagine a mother and a child getting ready for bed. The mother puts on pajamas for the child and asks him to brush his teeth. The child runs away. The mother chases after the child while continuing to ask that the child brush his teeth. The kid yells "No!" and the mother eventually gives up. She kisses him goodnight and retires for the night. This cycle continues for a month - the child refuses to brush his teeth no matter how hard the mother tries to convince him. Eventually, the child develops cavities and experiences toothache. He can no longer eat and is in immense pain. The child, not knowing anything, starts to cry and blames his mother for the pain. He thinks his mother is punishing him for his disobedience and tells his mom that he will brush his teeth if she'll just make the pain go away.
In the story above, was the child experiencing pain because his mother was punishing him for his disobedience? No, the pain was due to the cavities which were the result of his decisions to not brush his teeth. The mother had nothing to do with the pain; if anything, she was chasing after him and trying her best so that the child would avoid the pain. The boy had deviated from the protocols of proper dental hygiene and is now dealing with the consequences.
What if life is the same way? What if God, by divine design, made us to live a life full of joy, peace and love but it is our own sinful deviations from the God’s plan that cause pain and heartache?
These were the questions being answered by Dr. Tim Jennings. Dr. Jennings, a board certified psychiatrist and specialist in Trans-cranial Magnetic Stimulation (drug-free treatment for depression), was flown in to speak at a two-day conference for the young professionals/young families in the NorthEast Tri-state Area. Design with Intent was the name of the conference and Dr. Jennings was showing that God made us with a certain design/purpose and when we deviate from these parameters (by exercising our free will), sin floods in and brings on pain and eventually death. Just like the mother who was begging the child to brush his teeth, God gives us the Bible and nature so that we may see who He is, so that we may live a full life- filled with joy, peace, and love. But like the child, a lot of us choose to deviate from his design and end up in a pool of pain and suffering. We then go and blame God for punishing us when we brought the misfortunes on ourselves.
God truly is love and until we shed ourselves of any false pictures and ideas of Him, we will continue to be deceived by the great deceiver and continue to bring about emotional/physical/mental pain to ourselves.
Check out Dr. Jenning's videos at ComeandReason.com to see who God really is and how he reveals his true character through the Bible and nature.
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18