Ten Reasons to believe
In A God Who Allows
Suffering...
1. Suffering Comes With
The Freedom To Choose.
Loving parents
long to protect
their children
from unnecessary pain.
But wise parents know
the danger in
over-protection.
They know
that the freedom
to chose is at the heart
of what it means
to be human,
and that a world
without choice
would be worse than
a world without pain.
Worse yet
would be a world
populated by people
who could make
wrong choices without
feeling any pain.
No one
is more dangerous
than the liar,
thief, or killer
who doesn't feel the harm
he is doing to himself
and to others.
~Gen. 2:15-17~
2. Pain Can Warn Us Of Danger.
We hate pain,
especially
in those we love.
Yet without discomfort,
the sick wouldn't
go to the Doctor.
Worn-out bodies
would get no rest.
Criminals wouldn't
fear the law.
Children would
laugh at correction.
Without pangs
of conscience,
the daily dissatisfaction
of boredom,
or the empty longing
for signifigance,
People who are made
to find satisfaction
in an Eternal Father
would settle
for far less.
The example of Solomon
lured by pleasure and
taught by his pain,
shows us that even
the wisest among us
tend to drift from good
and from God
until arrested by
the resulting pain
of their own
shortsighted choices.
~Eccl. 1-12; Ps. 78:34-35;
Rom. 3:10-18~
3. Suffering Reveals What Is
In Our Hearts.
Suffering
often occurs
at the hand of others.
But it has a way
of revealing what
is in our own hearts
Capacities for love,
mercy, anger,
envy, and pride
can lie dormant
until awakened.
Strength and
weaknesses of heart
is found not
when everything
is going our way
but when flames
of suffering and
temptation
test the mettle
of our character.
As gold and silver
are refined by fire,
and as coal needs time
and pressure to
become a diamond,
The human heart
is revealed
and developed
by enduring
the pressure
and heat of time
and circumstance.
Strength of character
is shown not
when all is well
with our world
but in the presence
of human pain
and suffering.
~Job 42:1-17; Rom 5:3-5;
James 1:2-5; 1 Peter1:6-8~
4. Suffering Takes Us To
The Edge Of Eternity.
If death
is the end
of everything,
then a life filled
with suffering
isn't fair.
But if the end
of this life
brings us to the
threshold of eternity,
then the most
fortunate people
in the universe
are those who
discover,through
suffering,
that this life is
not all we have
to live for.
Those who
find themselves
and their eternal God
through suffering
have not wasted
their pain.
They have let
their poverty,
grief, and hunger
drive them to
the Lord of Eternity.
They are the ones
who will discover
to their own unending joy
why Jesus said,
"Blessed
are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven"
~Matt. 5:1-12; Rom. 8:18-19~
5. Pain Loosens Our Grip
On This Life.
In time,
our work and our opinions
are sought less and less.
Our bodies become
increasingly worse
for the wear.
Gradually
they succumb
to inevitable
obsolescence.
Joints
stiffen and ache.
Eyes grow dim.
Digestion slows.
Sleep becomes difficult.
Problems loom
larger and larger
while options narrow.
Yet, if death
is not the end
but the threshold
of a new day,
then the curse
of old age
is also a blessing.
Each new pain
makes this world
less inviting
and the next
more appealing.
In its own way,
pain, paves the way
for a graceful
departure.
~Eccl. 12:1-4~
6. Suffering Gives Opportunity
To Trust God.
The most famous
sufferer of all time
was a man named Job.
According to the Bible,
Job lost
his family to war,
his wealth
to wind and fire,
and his health
to painful boils.
Through it all,
God never told Job
why it was happening.
As Job endured the
accusations of his friends,
heaven seemed silent.
When God finally did speak,
He did not reveal
that His archenemy
Satan had challenged
Job's motives
for serving God.
Neither
did the Lord apologize
for allowing Satan
to test Job's devotion
to God.
Instead,
God talked about
mountain goats giving birth,
young lions on the hunt,
and ravens in the nest.
He sited the
behavior of the ostrich
the strength of the ox,
and the stride
of the horse.
He cited the wonders
of the heavens,
The marvels of the sea,
and the cycle
of the seasons.
Job was left to conclude
that if God had the power
and wisdom to create
this physical universe;
There was reason
to trust the same God
in times of suffering.
~Job 1-42~
7. God Suffers With Us In
Our Suffering.
No one
has suffered more
than our Father in heaven.
No one has paid
more dearly for
the allowance of sin
into the world.
No one has
so continuously grieved
over the pain
of a race gone bad.
No one has suffered
like the One who paid
for our sins
in the crucified body
of His own Son.
No one
has suffered more
than the One who,
when He stretched out
His arms and died,
showed us how much
He loved us.
It is this God
who, is drawing us
to Himself,
asks us to trust Him
when we are suffering
and when our own
loved ones cry out
in our presence.
~ 1 Peter 2:21; 3:18; 4:1~
8. God's Comfort Is Greater
Than Our Suffering.
The apostle Paul
pleaded with the Lord
to take away
an unidentified
source of suffering.
But the Lord declined
saying, "My grace is
sufficient for you,
My strength
is made perfect
in your weakness."
"Therefore," said Paul,
"most gladly
I will rather boast
in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ
may rest upon me.
Therefore
I take pleasure
in infirmities,
in reproaches,
in needs,
in persecutions,
in distress,
for Christ's sake.
For when I am weak,
then I am strong"
(2 Cor. 12:9-10).
Paul learned
that he would rather
be with Christ
in suffering than
without Christ
in good health
and pleasant circumstances.
9. In Times Of Crisis, We
Find One Another.
No one would chose
pain and suffering.
But when there is no choice,
there remains some consolation.
Natural disasters
and times of crisis
have a way of
bringing us together.
Hurricanes, fires,
earthquakes, riots,
illnesses, and accidents
all have a way
of bringing us
to our senses.
Suddenly we remember
our own mortality and
that people are more
important than things.
We remember
that we do
need one another and
that, above all,
WE NEED GOD.
Each time we discover
God's comfort
in our own suffering,
our capacity
to help others
is increased.
This is what
the apostle Paul
had in mind
when he wrote,
"Blessed be to God
and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies
and God of all comfort,
who comforts us
in all our tribulation,
that we may be able
to comfort those
who are in any trouble,
with the comfort
with which we ourselves
are comforted by God"
~ 2 Cor. 1:3-4~
10. God Can Turn Suffering
Around For Our Good.
This truth
is best seen
in the many examples
of the Bible.
Through Job's suffering
we see a man,
who not only
came to a deeper
understanding of God
but who also became
a source of encouragement
for people in every
generation to follow.
Through rejection,
betrayal, enslavement,
and wrong imprisonment
of a man named Joseph,
we see someone
who eventually
was able to say
to those
who had hurt him,
"You meant
evil against me;
but God
meant it for good"
~Gen. 50:20~
When everything in us
screams at the heavens
for allowing suffering,
we have reason to look
at the eternal outcome
and joy of Jesus
who in His own suffering
on an executioner's
cross cried,
"My God, My God,
why have You
forsaken Me?"
~Matt. 27:46~
You're Not Alone
If the unfairness
and suffering of life
leaves you unconvinced
that a God in heaven
cares for you,
But consider again
suffering of the One
called by the
prophet Isaiah,
"a Man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief"
~Isaiah 53:3~
Think about
His slashed back,
His bloodied forehead,
His nail ripped
hands and feet,
His pierced side,
His agony in the Garden,
and His pathetic
cry of abandonment.
Consider
Christ's claim
that He was suffering
not for His sins,
but OURS.
To give us the
freedom to choose,
He lets us suffer.
But He Himself bore
the ultimate penalty
and pain for all our sins.
~ 2 Cor 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24~
When you do see
the reason
for His suffering,
keep in mind that
the Bible says
Christ died
to pay the price
for our sins,
and that those
who believe
in their heart that
God has raised Him
from the dead
will be saved.
~ Romans 10:9-10~
The forgiveness
and eternal life
Christ offers
is not a reward
for effort
but a gift to all
who, in light
of the evidence,
put their trust in Him.
This was taken from a RBC Ministries
pamplet called "10 Reasons To Believe
In A God Who Allows Suffering"
Their address is http://www.gospelcom.net/rbc/
This page is dedicated
to my niece Linda.
with much love and affection.
9-30-99/jr Midi: Keeper of the Stars
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