My mother works with a woman who has recently had many horrible things happen in her life. Her apartment was burned down, her sister was murdered, and now her dad has been diagnosed with cancer. Since all this happened she has been questioning God and now she is saying there is no God. She has literally turned from Him and has lost her faith. How do you talk to someone that you believe to be a Christian who has turned from their faith because of horrible things that have happened to them or their loved ones?
It’s natural for your mother’s friend to be angry, but she should be angry with the one who caused her pain. The fact of the matter is that this world is an evil place where bad things happen without cause and without warning because due to man’s sin Satan is now in control here (1 John 5:19).
No one deserves to go through what’s happened to this woman, and everyone should be praying for her. But she needs to know that God is not the one responsible for this. Blaming Him or even attributing these things to Him is not Scriptural.
It also plays into the enemy’s hand, because it keeps her from seeking the comfort she needs and that only God can provide. That means she will feel bad that much longer.
You can take heart in knowing that if she’s a true believer she can never be lost, even if she turns away because of these things, because the Lord will chase her down and bring her back (John 6:37-40).
Her salvation has been guaranteed from the moment she first believed (Ephesians 1:13-14) and there’s nothing she or anyone else can do to change that. As soon as she turns back to Him she’ll find He’s been there all along, waiting to comfort her (James 4:8).