Why does Eternal Love not intervene more regularly?

God created this world, which has been ideal for multiplying the human race (and other species) and for helping people progress towards maturity.

It appears to function according to fixed physical laws but God sometimes intervenes in what we call miracles. Why do these not happen more often? Why does he not intervene to prevent such man-made horrors as the holocaust?

We have previously outlined our understanding of God’s overall plan and his desire for all of his creation to be reconciled to Him and to live an abundant life. Such an eventual end can only be achieved if every person has become fully mature and is willing to live each day by agape love.

We use agape to describe God's type of love. It has many facets, it is kind and forgiving, compassionate, understanding and so much more. When everyone's life displays this type of love, all misunderstandings and errors of judgement can be overcome and good relations maintained.

God wants his children to become fully mature and to have the strength to show agape love in all situations. All humans start out naïve about agape love. Babies are selfish and demanding – initially with no desire to live by agape love. We must each discover how to live by agape love. Just as process is everywhere in nature, so it is with how we grow as humans.

Living mature in agape love is not easy and can only be attained through facing many trials, learning from those experiences and pressing on towards the goal. Often progress can only be achieved through experiencing and overcoming adversity. How can a person show true compassion to another unless they have experienced the same kind of suffering?

The human experience is that good habits and practices are only achieved through trial and error and perseverance. Reading books can expand our knowledge, as can listening to the guidance of others. Sometimes we learn by observing others and by copying their good example, or by seeing the results of bad behaviour and resolving not to do likewise. These lessons are useful, but in the end, it is only when we attempt to put new ideas and behaviours into practice that we acquire them for ourselves, and our lives are transformed.

We are bound to make mistakes. Often these only create minor problems, but occasionally our mistakes have traumatic consequences and can have a devastating impact on a large number of people.

God knows that we must be allowed to make mistakes and suffer their consequences in order to grow and mature in agape love. While this might cause great suffering and even death, God accepts this because He knows that all can be put right in the ages to come.

With this understanding of the bigger picture, we will venture to suggest why God might intervene in certain cases. The comments that follow are our current thoughts and we would be the first to accept that we don’t have all the answers.

We suggest that for a healing or other type of miracle to occur, it must benefit God’s overall plan.

God desires that all of his children recognise Him as a good and loving father. This was one of the principal messages of Jesus. God has used miracles in the past to help us accept this (for example, the exodus from Egypt, the healings that Jesus and the Apostles performed and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead). Some miracles today occur to support a preacher who is declaring the true character of God. We should however be careful of false prophets who use deception to gain a following.

Some miracles are used to extend a person's life or to give them or others close to them a different life. Our understanding is that such miracles will occur when God deems that one or more individuals will be significantly helped on their journey towards maturity as a result of it. The miracle might increase their faith or just give them further opportunities to develop a nature full of agape love. Many near death experiences (which are miracles in my book) can be included in this category.

Many miracles are requested, though, and not fulfilled. As humans we cannot see all the pros and cons of a particular intervention, only God knows the complete picture.

God wants his true character to be known and for his children to eventually live by agape love. The fact that He will never coerce or dictate frequently prevents his direct intervention, but He is always trying to influence situations as He cares for and loves every person.

God mostly influences people through prompts from the Holy Spirit, although many think of these prompts as coming from their conscience. Our conscience should be our guide, but often we choose to ignore these prompts. God can attempt to influence a person directly by such prompts or indirectly by prompting others to intervene or guide in a situation. Again, we must be careful of false promptings, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the prompts of the Holy Spirit and those with less noble intentions.

We believe that God attempted to influence, directly and indirectly, those responsible for the holocaust, but they ignored these prompts. Because God is love and will never force his will on anyone, the holocaust of the mid twentieth century could not be stopped. The same is true for other attempted genocides and man-made tragedies. However, it stands to reason that there may be untold numbers of these kinds of tragedies that have been stopped when humans have listened to the prompts of God's Spirit.

The Spirit of God is constantly inviting humanity to recognise God’s love, to multiply and to grow in the ways of agape love. It was always God’s desire to walk with us in our lives, and for us to experience his love and guidance every day. We are convinced that our lives, and the lives of those around us, can be blessed by God’s love if we are open to his promptings and accept that love is above all things.