Why is there so much pain?
( My view on why and what our focus should be.)
Let me start with some Bible Verses for your personal time with God. These are related to *Suffering and *Mercy.
Why do people have to suffer?
Why is there so much pain in the world?
Where is God when all these things are going wrong?
My simple answer is this.............So we can be Christ to others....
However for the sake of the topics, i will go one step further to attempt to explain....
These are questions I hear on an almost daily basis any more... People want to know how a
loving God allows us to suffer … And though, I can't see into the mind of God, I can see that his
word – the bible- has the answers we are looking for.
So the last time I was asked- Why do people have to suffer?,I searched my heart in prayer and the holy spirit reminded me of what I had read in Genesis.... So this is my attempt to share what is in the heart of my understanding of how God works all things for good.. My prayer is that it will offer comfort and a level of understanding of God's word, His gift to guide us...
18 Bible Verses about Suffering.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Praise be tot he God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
1 Peter 5:10
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
Romans 8:18
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Psalm 34:19
The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.
2 Corinthians 4:17
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
Romans 8:35
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
1 Peter 4:1
Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.
1 Peter 3:14
But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.”
Galatians 6:2
Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Philippians 1:29
For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.
Isaiah 53:4
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
Philippians 3:10
I want to know Christ-yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.
Isaiah 53:3
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Matthew 10:39
Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
Deuteronomy 8:3
He humbled you , causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live by bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Matthew10:38
Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
1 Corinthians 13:3
If I give all my possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Matthew 27:28-29
They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, the king of the Jews!” they said.
Bible verses about Mercy:
Hebrews 4:16
Numbers 6:24-26
Matthew 9:13
Psalm 51:1-2
Ephesians 2:4-5
and Psalm 103:8 NIV
…..The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in Love.
I have included this writing for you .. it is my own personal perspective on why things are the way they are.. I am sure there are many other views and I am open to discuss them on my facebook page: Justifying Grace Christian Ministries...
Enjoy.
Let's start with Genesis... In the beginning, God........
This is the most profound fundamental statement in the whole collection of writings that make up the Bible.. It brings us back to the reality that Nothing belongs to us. Nothing we have is ours. We are His.
That being said, we are also created in his image.. Now for some, that means we look like God. But for me- I believe it means that we are made to look like he imagined us to. We are created by him , in the way He wants us each to look. Once again reminding us that we are His creation.
But why the suffering? In order to explain what I believe the reason is, I need to state some facts.
Fact 1: We messed up from the beginning and have the punishment of our ancestors.
Fact 2: Though we sin, we are given the gift of forgiveness through Christs death as Our sins were placed upon him as the propitiation for our sins.. Therefore we can be pure and sinless before God on that last day- if we remain in HIM.
Fact 3: We need to turn to God in our struggles and pains and along this temporary journey of life on earth, because it is the relationship with Him that overflows the love we offer to others. Love, Life, and Joys are gifts from God. To look at the good things, while dealing with the not so good. Just like God wanted Adam to choose obedience and not sin, He wants the same for us today.. Lets choose wisely – eternity depends on it.
The following attempts to explain these points mentioned above:
When God created Adam and Eve, He created them so that he can have a relationship with them.
I whole bible is full of examples of God's miracles, God speaking directly to his people, Talking to the early followers through Moses, The Ten Commandments, and many more examples , ( The Bible is an amazing collection of experiences).
So there are a few examples,,, I would go further to say that God gave us the free will to choose Him.
You see, the people in early Bible history didn't have the gift of the Holy Spirit, or Christ to follow, They had a one on one relationship with God.... But... Some chose – not to believe.... and Some were selected by God -to believe.
Adam and Eve had that kind of daily relationship with God. They spoke with Him daily, and lived in the Garden of Eden that God created for them. They wanted for nothing,(Genesis 1:28) and until the curse, they never had pain that we read of and they would live forever with this relationship with God.. But there it is... There was a condition.. and Man knew it. –( IF..) IF they would obey God's command to not give in to temptation, but to obey God in ALL THINGS... They were to Not eat of the tree of life. Satan's temptation was there and so were the consequences. Adam and Eve knew that God told them not to eat of that tree.. But they disobeyed God.
Here enters temptation.....The will of Adam and Eve to be in a loving committed relationship with God the Father- was challenged...And they gave in. The apple was bit. So too, our lives today are about choices we make each and every moment. Do we do what is right and good all the time? We try to.
God knows we fail and stumble along the way- Its how we reach out to him when we fail that makes all the difference.... God didn't stop loving Adam and Eve because of their sin. But sin had to be punnished. God allowed Amam and Eve to know right from wrong, so that we too can know and choose to follow Him who created us. We learned from their lessons as well. Apparently the story was told along creation, so they must have told their children too. God wanted them to know Love and Joys of parenthood, and though their lives were full of struggle and hard work, God still kept his promises to them.. They did in fact subdue the earth, and we are here to prove it.
So what happened next is a series of consequences..
God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over the birds and fish and every living thing that moves on the earth. God gave every green plant for food, He gave rivers and blessings all around.. But He told Adam, ( Genesis1:16) You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. Pain existed now. Here is one example:( in pain Eve brought forth children).
SO – what happened? Adam had a relationship with God. And all He could ever want.. But He had no knowledge of good and evil because God made man to have a relationship with God. God cannot be where evil is.( Isaiah 59:2) “But your iniquities have separated you from your God, your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
So are we doomed for all time? This is where Jesus comes in.
Because we are now separated from God because of our sins ( Adam and Eve's sins- we are their children and so we get the curse passed down to us)..How is it now possible for us to praise God, and have a relationship with him that Our loving -giving -Father wants for us?
God wants to know us and for us to know him, He wants his children to experience JOY and LOVE and...
But man sinned and made God look away.. It is our sins that keep us from God..
But God in His Everlasting Eternal Love for us-- tries again....He continues to give the descendants of Adam and Eve opportunities to get it right. ( again the bible is an amazing collection of events) .
So years pass on and God in His amazing Love- gives us one more chance- the one thing that will allow us to live with him again one day …
He sent his only son...
Jesus came to save us....to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all things that keep us from God Jesus is the way,the truth and life..and during his life here on earth, he gave us the opportunity to change and be forgiven. A chance to open our hearts and start over..Even every day...to pray and begin again to have that relationship our hearts desire with God. The only relationship that truly satisfies the heart.
And from it, all other relationships should be branched from.
We got it wrong along the way..........Really wrong......Not just with idol worship, but with religions that were built on fantasy, and on sinful living, sex with animals, sacrificing infants and using them for food, population control,, the list goes on and on about how we get it all wrong... we need to focus on getting it right, teach our children and spread the gospel throughout the world.. A course in Bible history will open your eyes to a lot of things.. christianleadersinstitute.com is where I took mine.
But God wanted us to get it right.. To be right with Him...
He sent Jesus to show us the way.. He taught those who would listen , healed those who were sick, fed those who were hungry, and baptized those who would turn their lives to follow Christ and taught us also to baptize in the name of the father and the son and of the holy spirit.. And in doing so--- cleansed us from sins so that we too could be once again right with God. May we all continue the fight for our relationship with God. Fighting against the temptations and sins of the world – just like our ancestors before us..... God doesn't want sin and pain for us.. He wants a loving- REAL- committed relationship from us with Him. It's what He planned for us all along.. But because of SIN, we have pain, suffering, and separation from God..
He even gave us His Son.....and we nailed him on the cross..
But even that didn't stop God from giving us the chance to know Him...
He wanted more than our works..........He wants our true faith and love.
He gave us his Spirit ( The Counselor) to testify within us what is good so that we know how to follow what is good and not what is bad...FOR THE GLORY OF GOD.
The Holy Spirit lives with us.. A part of GOD HIMSELF- lives in us!
He didn't abandon us! We are the ones who choose this relationship..
God has done his part...over and over ….. and still to this day- offers us a way back
to him.
John 3:16 says it best...KJV..... For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son,that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.
He doesn't look past our pain, He gave us hope for a day without it!
He isn't gone and far off in the heavens, HE IS RIGHT HERE -Living in you and I.
When we do unto others, we do unto God.
When we reject others, we reject God.
He gives us a way to have a relationship with Him again, through Christ.
So in quick summary: ( as I see it)..
We have pain and suffering because we are descendants of Adam and the curse was for all mankind, but in our pain and sufferings- we must depend on God.. Our focus is changed to look for him. He wants us to look for him for love, for forgiveness, for healing, for everything... and we often don't look to him unless things go wrong...........we need to do better.
Sin was the reason for the punishment.
But also: we are to share in the sufferings of our Lord and savior – as we are in him and he is in us.
Our bodies die, but our spirits will soar!
God keeps his word and promises but allows us the opportunity to once again be right with Him.
God is God and his reasons are far beyond what we will understand while here on earth, but one
day we will be called to account for every thing we do while we are here on earth.
When we go before God, will he know you?
Is your name written in the Lambs book of life?
Our human condition is not more important than the condition of our relationship with God.
In our struggles, He is there.. He is there through others.. He is there in our hearts.. He is there in our pain and sufferings.. and He wants good for us..
I believe that the only way to get through any of these things we deal with while we are here on earth, is to have a daily, active, living, constant relationship with God.. Learn his word. Be among believers, and find strength in the faithfulness of Gods work in your own life .. Relationships take work and time and effort..
He once gave us all we ever imagined....and we looked the other way..we often still do.
But although we chose wrongly and are living with the curse of death of our bodies,
those that choose to follow and believe can look forward to a new world, a day where sin and evil are conquered in the great heavenly battle. And through the gift of the prayer – we can again talk with God and ask forgiveness of our sins so that we can be sinless through salvation through Christ and to our Father in Heaven be whiter than snow when we are again with the creator.
Matthew 19:28 .ESV… “Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones,judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
IF we are truly disciples as we are called to be...........these promises of new life and eternal salvation through Christ are ours to keep.
So why the pain? It's the curse of our ancestors, but God gave us a way to again be close to him.
So why the struggles- To grow us to be who God wants us to be , and to look toward him in our times of need and not to other things that offer no eternal promise.
Want to know more? Pray that God leads you and helps you along the way..
Read the book that has the answers, find a bible study group, talk to a pastor, or just sit down and pray before your daily bible time.. The best authority to answer your questions about the Bible, is the author himself... You will hear him speak in your spirit...Will we as believer's really listen? I hope we do.
This has been my view for today.. God Bless and Take Care..
Rev. Lily.