Why Does God Allow Christians to Suffer?

The Relevant Christian Magazine ^ | 7/31/14 | Chuck Ness

[OneVike]

Few seem to have good answers for the question:

“Why didn’t God just create us so that we would never have to experience pain, suffering, or sadness?”

After all, God has the power to make the world free of evil, yet He chose instead to make us creatures with free will. Thus, free will was the door left open for the possibility of evil entering our lives.

What is the purpose of pain, suffering, and evil? Why does God allow humans, who were made in His image, to live on a planet where evil abounds? God could have made us perfect without the ability to sin, and we would have never known pain and suffering.

We would be like Chatty Cathy dolls–just pull the string and watch us do and say whatever we were programed. Is that the kind of life you would wish to live? Well, obviously God did not think so either. That’s the short answer to why God created us with free will.

With free will came the possibility that Adam and Eve might disobey God of their own volition and partake of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. Well, thanks to some coaxing from Satan, Eve ate the fruit and offered some to Adam. The first two humans that God created exercised the right of choice that God had given them. Because they didn’t obey God’s command, sin entered the universe and that sin was handed down to every human who was born of man. All of us, believers and non-believers alike, wrestle with the daily struggles of the “Adam and Eve” within us.

Christ died on the cross so that, if we believe in Him, we can have eternal life. However, just because we gave our life to Christ, does not mean we are immunized from the pain and suffering of this world. This is why so many Christians inevitably ask the question, “Why am I suffering God? Why do my loved ones suffer?” What if on the day we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, we were given God’s total and complete protection, so nothing bad ever happened to us again?

“Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face. Job 1:9-11

Can you imagine what would happen if God did put a hedge about us on every side? Would not the people of the world who do not know Christ, say:

“So what, that you love Go. Anybody would love God if He protected them the way He does you. I’m not impressed. Your God doesn’t offer me anything; I live in the real world.”

What if those people, who watched us suffer, saw the way we dealt with the same issues of pain, suffering and disappointment as they deal with, and we showed an example of looking to our Father in heaven with love and gratefulness? His loving mercy allows us to be free enough to learn and grow through our trials and tribulations, like the......

[353FMG]

No mention whatsoever as far as I know.

[AppyPappy]

“how come God does not seem to be hearing their call for help. “

They aren’t asking Him for help. They are ordering Him to help.

[Biggirl]

Wow!

[353FMG]

Perhaps it’s because of the many mosques that pollute Houston’s skyline.

Barack was right — we’re no longer a Christian nation.

We gave up a long time ago when we got accustomed to and dependent on muzzie oil while, we ourselves, have plenty of it. It’s all pre-planned.

[OneVike]

in an answer? Yes

[cloudmountain]

Since The Lord Jesus Christ suffered for us, shouldn’t we as gracefully bear our sufferings for His Namesake, because of what He has done for us? Yes. Living on earth hurts us all to differing degrees.
He never said He came to remove our sufferings on Earth but to call sinners to repentance and to salvation eternally.
He sent The Comforter to aid us in our walk as followers of The Lord Jesus Christ, not to cook our breakfasts and wash our clothes and make our daily lives painfree.
He lets us suffer for His Own reasons. Isn’t that sufficient?

Yes.

[Agamemnon]

Hitler lived to be older than my mother who died of cancer. Go figure. There is no rhyme nor reason as to who suffers or dies. Apparently God only intervenes for some, not all.

Psalm 139: 13 - 16:

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

We are all given the gift of life and time by God.

Every day is a gift.

It is God who determines the number of our days -- from the child who is still born, or even aborted to the centenarian who happens to have lived longer than the octogenarian -- or ever some teen-agers, or perhaps even a new born baby.

While it may make us more comfortable, no drug nor medical procedure can prolong our life.

No disease can take our life before it is our time to go (your mother).

No one who committed suicide ever had the power of themselves to end their life (Hitler).

The moment we die it is our appointed time as God Himself would have it, regardless of how we depart this earth.

This fact in no way minimizes the crime of abortion visited upon a child-victim, or any other form of murder of any victim, be it the murder of ones-self, or murder of another person. The 6th of the 10 commandments of God are very clear on this.

Your mother and Hitler will each have to give an account for themselves on their respective judgment days -- as will we all-- and it will be the only time any of this will ever matter in eternity.

I disagree with your statement entirely.

God very much intervened on behalf of everyone by sending His Son into the world to conquer the death that man's rebellion and sin had imposed upon this world. He intervened at great expense to Himself -- and at no expense to us.

How remarkable and sad it is that there is anyone who would refuse His free, redemptive gift.

God's gift is ours if we'll only place our trust in Him and ask Him.

Giving an account for the gift of days He has given us is something we should all think about today and every day and comport ourselves in a way that keeps this fact in the forefront of our minds at all times.

FReegards!

[cloudmountain]

Attended Mass at a very prominent and rich Houston parish. But nothing was mentioned about the terrifying plight that our Christian brothers and sisters are presently subjected to.
Truly shameful.

You can do two things.
1. Write a letter to your local bishop with cc to every priest and parish in your city.
2. There is a part of the Mass where we pray for our OWN intentions and people MAY offer up their OWN intentions. YOU can be the first to say: "Let us pray for our persecuted Christian brethren in Iraq."

YOU set the example.
YOU raise the standard.

After a while the folks will get the hint and include it in those special prayers.

[Steelfish]

No, its “not get over and keep whining.” That’s silly. The answer is it’s all part of God’s plan. He himself the most innocent of all and the creator of the world went through an agonizing death. His apostles and martyrs did so. Christians were fed to the lions. That’s the short answer. No need to teach Bible classes. Its all there in basic Catholic teaching. This is nothing new. We have 2000 years of instruction on this point.

[xone]

Chuck et al, Job 38.

[ballplayer]

Do you feel you are somehow more worthy than Gods Son Jesus?
We as Christians are called to suffer as Jesus did,with all our strength and dignity that we can muster.

[freedomtrail]

Went to mass this morning.
Our Pastor spoke about the ME during his sermon.
Asked us all to pray for our fellow Christians.
He even referred to ISIS by name twice.

[OneVike]

Amen Agamemnon, Amen

[ravenwolf]

The only suffering Christians go through that others do not is their suffering for their belief in Christ.

So I think Steelfish had the right answer for that part.

As for every thing else I believe Agamemnon had the only answer there is, if we do not believe that we have nothing.

[OneVike]

My answer to steelfish was not that I disagreed, but it came off cold.

Many Christians who do suffer are not as well studied in the scriptures, or they are new Christians and truly need an answer they can feel good about.

So in the article it brings one through steps along with Scriptural references to help them understand and where to look in the scriptures for answers.

Sometimes those who are better at studying the Word can be less than caring in their response to those who are not.

I fall prey to that often, that is I too often give short curt responses to those who need more than a short reply.

[ravenwolf]

My answer to steelfish was not that I disagreed, but it came off cold.

---

You`re right.

[Kartographer]

The show has changed since it started (they changed writting staff twice) it is and Alien Invasivion (The outer space kind, not like the one we are under going now!) story and it was very conservative during the first year. They don’t write stuff like this any more and mores the pitty.

[353FMG]

Good pastor, good parish.

[xzins]

Few seem to have good answers for the question:

“Why didn’t God just create us so that we would never have to experience pain, suffering, or sadness?”

After all, God has the power to make the world free of evil, yet He chose instead to make us creatures with free will. Thus, free will was the door left open for the possibility of evil entering our lives.

What is the purpose of pain, suffering, and evil? Why does God allow humans, who were made in His image, to live on a planet where evil abounds? God could have made us perfect without the ability to sin, and we would have never known pain and suffering.

We would be like Chatty Cathy dolls–just pull the string and watch us do and say whatever we were programed. Is that the kind of life you would wish to live? Well, obviously God did not think so either. That’s the short answer to why God created us with free will.

With free will came the possibility that Adam and Eve might disobey God of their own volition and partake of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. Well, thanks to some coaxing from Satan, Eve ate the fruit and offered some to Adam. The first two humans that God created exercised the right of choice that God had given them. Because they didn’t obey God’s command, sin entered the universe and that sin was handed down to every human who was born of man. All of us, believers and non-believers alike, wrestle with the daily struggles of the “Adam and Eve” within us.

Christ died on the cross so that, if we believe in Him, we can have eternal life. However, just because we gave our life to Christ, does not mean we are immunized from the pain and suffering of this world. This is why so many Christians inevitably ask the question, “Why am I suffering God? Why do my loved ones suffer?” What if on the day we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, we were given God’s total and complete protection, so nothing bad ever happened to us again?

“Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face. Job 1:9-11

Can you imagine what would happen if God did put a hedge about us on every side? Would not the people of the world who do not know Christ, say:

“So what, that you love Go. Anybody would love God if He protected them the way He does you. I’m not impressed. Your God doesn’t offer me anything; I live in the real world.”

What if those people, who watched us suffer, saw the way we dealt with the same issues of pain, suffering and disappointment as they deal with, and we showed an example of looking to our Father in heaven with love and gratefulness? His loving mercy allows us to be free enough to learn and grow through our trials and tribulations, like the apostles.

Apostles were once flogged and ordered not to speak in the name of Jesus. When they were released, they considered it worthy to be able to suffer for the name of Christ ( Acts 5:40-42). We are told by Christ in Matthew 5:11-12 that when people persecute us and falsely say all kinds of evil against us because of Him, that we should, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven will be great.” James tells us that we should consider it all joy when we encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces endurance (James 1:2-4). These and other passages describe rejoicing, not in spite of the suffering, but because of it. Remember what Paul says about not losing heart over the fact that our flesh is decaying with age and infirmities:

“because our trials will renew our spirit daily…………for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal,” 2 Cor 4:16-18.

A few short paragraphs later, Paul described the many trials and tribulations he went through. He endured imprisonments, beatings with whips and rods, he was stoned, not once but three times, and left for dead. Three times he was shipwrecked; threatened by robbers, Gentiles and Jews; attacked by wild animals; bitten by a poisonous snake; left cold, hungry, and thirsty; and suffered many other hardships for the Gospel of Christ (2 Cor 11:23-27). Paul finished well.

People observed Paul’s faith in God as persistent, consistent, and profound. Paul was the greatest and most successful evangelical missionary preacher the world had ever seen. It was his suffering along with that of the other apostles that eventually changed an empire. Tertullian said that,“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”

It is through times of struggle and hardships that we can shine the brightest and reach more of the lost if we react to our pain and suffering like Christ.

Use the comfort you get from God in your suffering as training so you might comfort others. Teach those who don’t know the Lord to lean on Him in their suffering by leaning on Him in yours. Show them how you love and trust Him. We must willingly approach our infirmities and hardships, knowing that we hold a greater prize before us after this life than this world can ever offer. That is what we have to teach the world. So ask not why you suffer, but praise God for the chance to shine and be an example as our Lord was for us.

 

[xzins]

Assuming free will as a reason for negative events in our life assumes that God did not plan for things to be at this point at this time. That assumes a lot of allowing bad things to happen and could be argued to mean that God has not been directing things.

Is it possible for us to argue that God BOTH God allows events and directs events? Or,Is it necessary to conclude that He does one or the other?