Once upon a time, there was a father and his son who lived in the countryside. When the son came of age, the father delegated to him responsibility for a field of crops and for a flock of sheep. It was now up to the son to cultivate the field and to care for the flock all by himself. If he deemed it to be financially feasible, the son could also hire and train others to assist with those responsibilities.
However, the father would not intervene in his son’s field apart from the son’s requests and cooperation. As the mayor of a neighboring city, the father had his own responsibilities and boundaries to respect. He would not overstep his bounds by doing his son’s job for him. The father wanted his son to be responsible for taking care of the field and the flock by himself according to the resources and skills which his father had already imparted to him.
If the son ever needed assistance or extra resources, he could talk with his dad to ask for advice whenever he needed it. The father had a wealth of knowledge and experience in agriculture and business. The father would eagerly and patiently teach the son how to successfully harvest crops, multiply his livestock, and sell them for a profit.
There came a day when the son took off for a weekend to spend time with his friends in the city. However, in his haste to join his friends, he neglected to hire any workers to take care of the land in his short absence. “Well, it’s only for a couple days…I’m sure it will be fine. I haven’t spent a weekend of fun with my friends for such a long time! What’s the worst that could happen? I think it will be fine,” reasoned the son.
That very weekend, when the flock was left alone and unprotected in the son’s absence, a pack of wolves came out from the forest. This pack killed a large number of the flock, scattering the remaining few into the wilderness. When the son returned to the countryside after the weekend with his friends, he was horrified to discover that his flock had been destroyed.
Ashamed, the son talked to his dad about his situation. Initially, he was worried that his dad would be mad at him. With his flock of sheep gone, the son’s finances would be severely crippled for a while. The son was relieved that his dad was not mad at him. The father’s love for his son did not change, even though the son messed up by making some foolish choices.
However, the son realized that there were still negative consequences for his behavior. He had to experience tight finances and poverty for a season because his negligence allowed the “beasts of the forest” to destroy his property.
Questions for reflection:
- Was it the father’s will for the wolves to destroy his son’s flock and finances?
- Was the father “in control” of the situation?
- Does this mean that the father was neither sufficiently good nor powerful, since he “failed” to prevent calamity from happening in his son’s life?
- Why didn’t the father prevent the wild beasts from coming in to destroy the flock?
- Does this mean that the father wanted the wolves to kill the livestock and to destroy the son’s finances?
- Should the son be mad at the father for not preventing the wild beasts from killing his flock and destroying his financial assets?
- Would it make sense for the son to ask his father, “Why did this happen? How could you allow the pack of wolves to destroy my flock by not stopping them?”
- Or rather, in light of how his father had delegated full responsibility of the flock to his son, is it the foolish, negligent son who bears full responsibility for what happened?
Questions for deeper reflection:
- How can an all-powerful and all-loving God allow evil in the world?
- Is God responsible for poverty, lack, death, disease, addictions, cruelty, starvation, injustice, etc.?
- Or is it human negligence that allows for such evil and suffering to manifest?
- Is it God who allows evil and suffering in the world?
- Or is it mankind who allows evil and suffering in the world through human negligence and indifference to God’s wisdom and instructions?
- Is it God’s will for humans to experience sickness, poverty, loss, lack, etc?
- Or do humans experience all those things because we fail to listen to God’s instructions and to rely on His expertise when it comes to our lives?
- Would God be overstepping His bounds if he were to prevent all evil and suffering that we invite through our own negligence?
- How can we better listen to God and cooperate with Him so that we may experience more success in our lives, relationships, health, and finances?
For more information on beginning a personal relationship with God, so that you can better listen to Him and cooperate with Him, see “Would You Like to Gain Citizenship in Heaven?”