Do not blame God for the monsters of adversity that haunt the valley of tears. Blame the serpent. The serpent conjured up the illusion that sugarcoated the sourness of godlessness and induced us to abdicate paradise for the valley of tears. The serpent, not God, caused us to fumble the ball of paradise. Godlessness sucks. The serpent promised us deification in godlessness. The serpent is a liar. He cannot deliver. The extent of God's "fault" is that he does not rescue us more quickly. Instead, God let's us stew for a bit in the sourness of godlessness. Inserting a delay between the gift of life and the gift of paradise accomplishes multiple purposes:
- To prove that the serpent was a liar and that God was telling us the truth - the serpent cannot deify us in godlessness, hence, our experience in godlessness increases God's credibility and reduces the credibility of the serpent,
- Suffering is an engine that pushes us to the exit of godlessness.
- to discover that love provides a buffer between us and suffering
- to stop of from repeating the original sin of Adam and Eve. The prodigal son will never go back to the pig sty and neither will we.
Letting us stew in the sourness of godlessness is harsh but effective medicine. This is why God prescribes it. After taking the medicine, the likelihood that we will repeat the original sin of Adam and Eve is reduced to near zero. When God delivers to us the gift of paradise, we will keep it. We know better.
Life is an infinitesimally thin slice of time when we compare it to the thickness of eternity. Therefore, the brevity of life proves the mercy of God.