Very troubling issue for me. For the last year it seems I've been attending wake after wake. The cancer thing bothers me in that it escapes cure & its ugly & we it in all ages people shriveled to bones. What is gained from this? The ultimate struggles of these people. ALS, struggling with my sister-in-law's recent passing? Ugly disease. Gone too soon. What's more I've seen 4 friends in the last 15 years lose their life to this. I'm just so bewildered. My brother is still struggling over this.
God doesn't give people cancer. But what about the blessings he bestows on evil people? It's interesting that the good things are not charged to God's account but the cancer and the car wrecks are always attributed to him.
What you're struggling with, everyone struggles with. It's valid and understandable.
But remember that what caused Adam and Eve to sin was their belief that there was something better than what God had already given them. In spite of their lush environment, the devil came along and told them that God was holding back something. Something that would be even better than what they already had.
They had blessing on top of blessing and could not, as Noah did, "find grace."
Noah looked around and saw God's grace everywhere even in the most sinful time of earth's history. I find the grammar there so instructive.
7 So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
The verb, the action, in verse eight is attributed to Noah, not God. Noah recognized the grace he was already given. This recognition of God's already existing grace and the actions it inspired were what motivated God to provide "grace on top of grace" by rescuing him from the world.
It's really easy to look at the bad things that happen in the world and be disappointed in God. Jesus said that when bad things happen, it's not because God caused them and is punishing people. He does allow these things but it is our job to find God's grace and live our lives accordingly because some day we're going to die, be it through a catastrophe or gently passing in our sleep in our old age.
4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
God blesses us every day that we have breath. Count your blessings. You have more than you know. God's grace, even apart from the gospel, rains on believers and unbelievers alike, every single day.
I pray that you are comforted in these hard times and that you find God's grace in your life every day.