Why Would God Allow Suffering?
by Tim Webb
Why should anyone worship a God who has allowed so much sin and suffering to enter the world, and allows so many bad things to happen?
The answer is…you have a soul! We are souls who just happen to have a decaying body attached to it. The body dies, but the soul lives forever.
Every human on earth has the opportunity for their soul to gain eternal life by believing in God and accepting his son Jesus as their savior, and then genuinely asking him for forgiveness and turning away from their sins. It’s an easy and open invitation. But the Bible, which is God’s word to us, says that the road and gate to heaven are small and narrow, and that most people won’t accept the invitation. God doesn’t send anyone to hell…he simply honors their wishes.
Some like to blame their separation from God on the misgivings of the church. And while the church has had its shortcomings throughout history, it has also done amazing things through God’s grace and Holy Spirit. The church is made up of imperfect humans. You can’t trust your soul to another human. Your relationship with God isn’t about organized religion and hypocritical clergymen. It’s about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Don’t ever let the bad decisions of other human beings keep you from seeking God. Not seeking God because of a hypocritical Christian is like not driving a car because someone ran a stop sign and wrecked.
SEVEN THINGS TO CONSIDER1. Think beyond your temporary existence here on Earth. 2. Understand that God allows Satan to rule this world. The Bible tells us that multiple times in multiple books. As long as Satan is in charge down here, the world will always be a screwed up, chaotic place. God wants us to seek our way out of this world by searching for him and accepting him. 3. God doesn’t make good people or bad people. He just makes people. And every day we wake up with an opportunity to make good decisions or bad decisions. Sometimes people make the wrong choices and bad things result from that. God gives us free will to make our own choices for the sake of love, because love that is forced is no love at all. If we didn’t have a choice then we would be like angelic robots loving by default rather than by our hearts. God wants our love for him to be from heart. The Bible tells us that God loves us even while we are sinners. He doesn't love us because he needs to, rather, he loves us because he wants us. 4. Understand that time is different with God. God has always been and always will be. He has eternity behind him and he has eternity in front of him. God is just and will make it all perfect once again. God may be slow by our standards but he’s never late. 5. God sent his son Jesus as the answer for a broken world. All that’s required of us is to believe in Jesus. That’s it! It’s that simple. Just believe and trust. Through Jesus we can have eternal life. He came to this earth as both human and God. As human, he suffered a very painful and cruel punishment for our sake. Our suffering helps to build faith, character, and perseverance, and teaches us that we can’t do it on our own, and out of that we rise above this world by seeking God. 6. The Devil and other demons were created by God good according to their nature, but they made themselves evil by their own doing and their own choices. As for man, his sin is at the prompting of the Devil. 7. Understand that God looks at death differently than we do. We see death here on Earth as the end. God sees it as the beginning.
The answer is…you have a soul! We are souls who just happen to have a decaying body attached to it. The body dies, but the soul lives forever.
Every human on earth has the opportunity for their soul to gain eternal life by believing in God and accepting his son Jesus as their savior, and then genuinely asking him for forgiveness and turning away from their sins. It’s an easy and open invitation. But the Bible, which is God’s word to us, says that the road and gate to heaven are small and narrow, and that most people won’t accept the invitation. God doesn’t send anyone to hell…he simply honors their wishes.
Some like to blame their separation from God on the misgivings of the church. And while the church has had its shortcomings throughout history, it has also done amazing things through God’s grace and Holy Spirit. The church is made up of imperfect humans. You can’t trust your soul to another human. Your relationship with God isn’t about organized religion and hypocritical clergymen. It’s about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Don’t ever let the bad decisions of other human beings keep you from seeking God. Not seeking God because of a hypocritical Christian is like not driving a car because someone ran a stop sign and wrecked.
SEVEN THINGS TO CONSIDER1. Think beyond your temporary existence here on Earth. 2. Understand that God allows Satan to rule this world. The Bible tells us that multiple times in multiple books. As long as Satan is in charge down here, the world will always be a screwed up, chaotic place. God wants us to seek our way out of this world by searching for him and accepting him. 3. God doesn’t make good people or bad people. He just makes people. And every day we wake up with an opportunity to make good decisions or bad decisions. Sometimes people make the wrong choices and bad things result from that. God gives us free will to make our own choices for the sake of love, because love that is forced is no love at all. If we didn’t have a choice then we would be like angelic robots loving by default rather than by our hearts. God wants our love for him to be from heart. The Bible tells us that God loves us even while we are sinners. He doesn't love us because he needs to, rather, he loves us because he wants us. 4. Understand that time is different with God. God has always been and always will be. He has eternity behind him and he has eternity in front of him. God is just and will make it all perfect once again. God may be slow by our standards but he’s never late. 5. God sent his son Jesus as the answer for a broken world. All that’s required of us is to believe in Jesus. That’s it! It’s that simple. Just believe and trust. Through Jesus we can have eternal life. He came to this earth as both human and God. As human, he suffered a very painful and cruel punishment for our sake. Our suffering helps to build faith, character, and perseverance, and teaches us that we can’t do it on our own, and out of that we rise above this world by seeking God. 6. The Devil and other demons were created by God good according to their nature, but they made themselves evil by their own doing and their own choices. As for man, his sin is at the prompting of the Devil. 7. Understand that God looks at death differently than we do. We see death here on Earth as the end. God sees it as the beginning.