A Loving God vs Pain & Suffering

[Tzephanyahu]

Shalom All,

Do you run into the same objections of "Why does God allow this or that?" or perhaps "How can a God of love exist when this or that happens?". Well, I think this matter needs to be tackled head on.  Too often the responses some Christians can give, if unprepared, can cause non-believers to run further from God.

Yes, God does allow pain and suffering.  Yes, God is to be feared before loved.  And let's not forget exactly WHO is responsible for much of the suffering in this world - not God, not satan, but us. 

There are three short stories to explain the above principles.  Hopefully they will be of use to you as well should you ever run into this difficult topic.

Please take your time (if you have it) when reading each story as, although they are simple to read, they have been written to be thought on.  faithandtheword.com/book-a/idb/heart/roots/

Love & Shalom

[Tristen]

According to the Biblical premise, God created the universe perfect (including humans). Death and suffering were never part of God's plan. Humans rebelled against God, and thus allowed corruption to enter the universe (including evil, death and suffering). Humans continue to rebel against God and thus continue to allow corruption to increase in the universe. Without human sin, we would not have to deal with evil; no form of corruption would have any place in our universe. Human suffering is therefore the fault of humans, not God.


There are two ways for God to deal with human corruption and eradicate suffering;
1
God could remove our free-will, and therefore our capacity to sin (the source of corruption). This would reduce humanity to puppets, or robots following our programming. Our existence would be pointless.
2
God could immediately apply His perfect justice to the universe. The problem with this solution is that perfect justice doesn't 'grade on the curve'. Everyone who is not a Christian would be immediately held accountable for their sins and suffer eternal banishment from the presence of God (Who is the source of all virtue; goodness, love, peace, rest, comfort, joy, hope etc.).

God promises one day to restore the universe to it's original, corruption-free state (i.e. the latter of the above strategies);

Revelation 21:4
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

For now He is waiting patiently so that as many people as possible can have the opportunity to receive His offer of salvation.

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

[HAZARD]

The following passages reveal that providence is working toward the final end and that there is a special providence for saints that is not enjoyed by sinners (Ps. 34:7-10; 37:1-12, 23-28; Prov. 3:6; Mt. 6:33; Rom. 8:28).

Saints so often take sickness, accidents, financial loss, and other adversities as manifestations of providence, but the fact is that these things are never the direct will of God and are never caused directly by God. They are caused by the evil forces that more or less control the world social order in this period of rebellion against God on the Earth.

The only glory God gets out of these things caused by the devil is in the deliverance of God's people from the satanic forces that cause them. God's will is that saints should take a stand against these evils and cooperate with Him to work out all these things for His glory. Thus, God develops faith and patience in His people and gets the opportunity to demonstrate His power over His enemies. Saints must realize that they are now on enemy territory in a rebellious world. They must also realize that if rebels had no power to take any action in their realm that would affect God's people for their hurt, then God could never take vengeance on them or defeat their common enemy and work out all things for their good and His glory. It is only when saints quit blaming God for everything that happens and instead have faith in Him for their deliverance, that God will be pleased with them. It is only when they recognize the works of Satan that they can take a stand against him and defeat him through the help of God.