God is worthy of praise regardless, Dr Abrahams

LIKE DR Michael Abrahams, I grieve for Shantae Skyers and I also grieve for every other little girl raped and murdered. In his column ‘Where is God when little girls get raped and murdered?’

(The Gleaner, April 22, 2019), Dr Abrahams doesn’t blame God for the death of Shantae Skyers and neither do I. He also claims that he accepts that good and bad things happen to good and bad people, and I concur.

But seemingly contradicting what he claims he accepts, Abrahams asked the question: “If a very competent lifeguard were to stand beside a pool and watch a child drown and not even attempt to save the child, would you praise him?”

Assuming that the lifeguard is not the creator of this world and did not give me life, the short answer to the question is: no. I would not praise that lifeguard.

In the context in which the question was asked, I am convinced that Dr Abrahams is suggesting that God should not be praised for certain decisions He has taken. But it’s most ridiculous to compare a lifeguard, who God created, to God Himself.

Here is something to consider, Dr Abrahams.

A diehard political party supporter supports the decision of their party regardless of what decisions the party takes. They praise their party regardless, simply because of what the party has done for them in the past and what it plans to do in the future. But whatever the party has given them cannot be compared to what God has given me. He has given me life, in more ways than one, and nothing that He does can erase my gratitude, expressed in praise, for that precious gift.

As Christians, we are called to be diehard supporters of God and we praise Him regardless of the

decision He takes. If we accept that God is omniscient and is able to see what’s in the heart of everyone and also see the future, then we should have no difficulty embracing His decisions, regardless of how strange they may seem. But if one does not believe that God is omniscient, then that’s a different matter. It would be pointless arguing with such a person.

NOT MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE THAN GOD

Dr Abrahams has said that he is perplexed by Christians seeing God as love. He seems to forget that how one person sees another is based on one’s own experience. I am certain that there are those who think that Dr Abrahams is a good doctor. And there are those who think he’s not, and it all boils down to the experience those patients had with him. Our experience with God is that He is love. That is our experience. But until one appreciates what God has done for him/her, he/she cannot accept that God is love.

If Dr Abrahams is ungrateful for the precious life that God has given him, maybe he should tell us what more God should do to make him express his gratitude in praise to God.

Believing that God is not worthy of praise, due to an action that He has taken, is to tell God that He is wrong in His judgment. Such a belief would be suggesting that we are more knowledgeable than He is, at least about that particular matter. I am certain that Dr Abrahams is not more knowledgeable than God in any matter. LYNVALLE HAMILTON President, Used Car Dealers Association Member of Duhaney Park Gospel Assembly Church Trescott@cwjamaica.com