Dear Victoria,
I'm sorry you are suffering with lupus.
Not to compare wounds like the boys on "Jaws," I've been kicked down the hill many times myself and have the chronic diseases of Old Age and Type 1 Diabetes.
The Biblical texts throw all skin diseases into the same bucket, which has become the scary condemning word, "leprosy." Anyway, people witnessed Jesus healing all individuals and at times, healing everyone with all kinds of diseases who were at His rallies.
But I'm not going down the ugly Hurt Road saying, "It's all your fault." That is not true in any illness that befalls us. Only a few times did God take people down that path in Bible history. (And I'm sure we can name them all.)
Notwithstanding, what exactly was going on with the thousands of other ordinary folks? Even without A.I, I'm pretty sure they kept busy, and they probably talked about "meat and potatoes" - the more earthy stuff where there isn't much controversy. Maybe we modern types have way too much time on our hands...
Now, I have a problem with your premise about "everyone" having a different interpretation. It seems to be the foundation of your complaint...
...I don't disagree with you...
Yet, from baseball to politics to whether or not the Earth is flat, to any subject people have opinions about, "everybody seems to have a different interpretation." Informed or uninformed people cannot usually agree on anything. People cannot help themselves from blathering on. So, I don't understand the kerfuffle about Biblical disagreements.
(Ever listened to the song "Sympathy for the Devil"? For "what's confusing {us} is the nature of his game." Again, I'm not going down the Distraction Road discussing Lucifer. The fact is evil exists and everyone is doing harm to everyone else - knowingly or unknowingly.
Life is rough. People often make it rougher.
Some pseudo Christians falsely preach a "name-it-and-claim-it doctrine (and-send-me-seed-money-for-your-healing)". That is certainly evil, but false teachers and false prophets have been around forever.
But we don't have to listen to them. or try to understand their motives.
Alright... Alright... I know... I'm talking too much. It has taken me over 3 hours to compose and edit this response.. Nevertheless check this out:
"For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin." - Hebrews 4:15. Amplified Bible Translation.
There was a time when my wife, being of Catholic upbringing, would
have been thrown into prison for marrying me, and I, being of Protestant upbringing, would have been burned at the stake jist for being me. All this would have been done to us by people who professed to be Christians!
My conclusion, then, is a bit different than yours:
God is not a dick.
People are dicks.
Major dicks.
"Please consider this: You cannot find God by watching people and listening to their blathering.
Don't listen to "what's confusing you."
Listen to your inner voice, the still small voice deep down inside you.
