A Teflon Non Stick God

I stumbled across a Facebook status update this morning that made me smile. It went thus; "Church on a bike this morning. Creator God in the beauty of all he has made. Fabulous."

Reading between the lines, I’m guessing that the poster had seen lots of lovely things during the ride; perhaps a dreamy sky, some intoxicating landscape, children playing? I don’t know, I wasn’t there, but it was the underlying motivation behind the status update that got me thinking.

This person had seen something lovely. It made them think of God. I wonder then, what that same person thinks when they see something that is a bit on the unsavoury side? Perhaps other natural phenomena such as a dog turd? or images on television of a child stricken by a parasite that eats its way through the eyeball causing terrible suffering. The actual parasite I refer to is loa loa filariasis, caused by the nematode worm, and it only really does its business in the eyes of the stricken child; in fact it cannot do so anywhere else. Would my intoxicated Christian cyclist be so quick to give glory to the same Creator God, whom presumably created this wee beastie, and gave it the required skill set to perform its magic inside the eyes of children in sub Saharan Africa?

Confession; there was a time when a majestic sunset, or a summer glade or a frozen winterscape would have prompted similar thanks from yours truly. Much of the world is beautiful, and I’m often given reason to draw breath or shake my head in wonder. I’m not seeking to mock this person either; rather I just want to illustrate an inconsistency. When the world is at its best, when the sun shines, when that rebate comes through, when our child passes that exam then praise the Lord. Yet when sun turns the landscape to dust,or the inland revenue demand a chunk of money back, or a loved one suffers we seek to lay the blame elsewhere? I’m unclear why some of us do this so easily? It seems to me that their God can do no wrong? They appear to worship a non-stick God, a Teflon God, like those clever saucepans we can buy?