I have my own ideas on this i just wondered what you all thought!
2006-12-19 04:11:47 · 25 answers · asked by Searching 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Consider the work of God, for who can make that straight which he hath made crooked ? Eccles 7/13
Why does God crook our lot ?
Why do our lives not run smooth and true? Why do the very things that upset us, that hurt us most, happen? Why do we not have what we want? or what we desire? Why do we have to endure pain and hurt ? Why does what we fear come upon us ?
Why is light given to him that is in misery and life unto the bitter in soul ?
Why is light given to a man whose way is hid and whom God hath hedged in ?
Why did Job suffer ? After, would he have rather not ?
Why did Paul receive a thorn in the flesh ? Did he rather have the thorn ?
Are we not all crooked ? Do we believe that ? Do we not really believe the evidence of our eyes, what we see and know every day ?
Do we not believe God when He tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked - who can know it ? when He tells us there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God, that all are gone out of the way and together become unprofitable, that there is none that doeth good, no, not one ?
Do we not really believe our miserable and wretched estate ?
Do we not know that we are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked and that we need eyesalve to annoint our eyes to even see this ?
Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins ? Should we not search and try our ways and turn again unto the Lord ?
Does God not crook our lot to straighten us ?
Are we not to, Come and let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn and he will heal us, he hath smitten and he will bind us up.
After two days will he revive us, in the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight ?
Do we want to live in His sight ?
Should we not say, Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth, therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty,
for he maketh sore and bindeth up, he woundeth and his hands make whole ?
Two more questions.
How much did Christ suffer ? And why ?
2006-12-19 12:26:53 · answer #1 · answered by Jake M 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I am an atheist but that doesn't stop me wondering how religious people answer this question.
I think a person who believed in God and the devil would point to the battle between good and evil to answer the question, saying that suffering is caused by the devil.
Jews and Christians may direct you to the book of Job in which God tests Job through suffering to demonstrate to the devil the awesome power of faith to keep a person sane and whole even when their world falls apart around them.
Pagans and new age religions might direct you to the great cycle of life and death which affects every living thing and ask that you accept that this cycle continues for the greater good.
Others might say that a human cannot see the full picture and that God's purpose is great and so awesome that it defies human understanding.
If you read the 'Red Dwarf' novels it is suggested that we do not understand the meaning of life and death because we are travelling through time in the worng direction.
2006-12-19 12:25:19 · answer #2 · answered by Fluorescent 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Here are a few reasons why God allows suffering:
James 1:2-4
to develop faith
1Corinthians 11:30, James 5:13-15
to expose iniquity and sin
Hebrews 5:8
to learn obedience to God
2Corinthians 12:7
to cultivate humility among mankind
1Peter 4:16
to glorify God
God's desire is not to punish, but to teach.
Discipline is not punitive, but instructive.
2006-12-19 12:21:30 · answer #3 · answered by Bob L 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Okay, this is my opinion, based on what i've read:
God allows suffering and hurt and every other emotion or physical thing that can happen to us because, we are all a part of Him. He is all knowing yes, but he does not have the physical experience of knowing everything, and that is why he created us, we are many parts of Him sent here to experience the physical part of what He already knows, and when we pass we take that knowledge with us and share. This is just the beginning, i didn't wanna talk on and on here, if you wanna talk some more or trade thoughts my sn is wolfluver868
2006-12-19 12:20:32 · answer #4 · answered by Emie86 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I have gone through the same thing two years ago and am still non the wiser....... watching my father suffer and eventually lose his battle with cancer made me doubt there was a god I am still not at peace with any desision all I hope is that my dad has gone to a better place and is suffering no more..... I hope you find your answer
2006-12-19 12:23:19 · answer #5 · answered by Berrylicious 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well as a Wiccan I will answer that the Divine doesn't cause suffering. Humans allow suffering to continue when most of it is within our power to correct. Perhaps when we learn to fix what is wrong within ourselves we can help to fix the world instead of laying the blame on an external Divine being.
Bright Blessings )O(
2006-12-19 12:22:20 · answer #6 · answered by Stephen 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I still wonder as to why he let's people suffer. I lost my 19yr old daughter last year in a car crash which also killed her fiance and their best friend, and for the life of me, I just couldn't get to grips as to why they were killed and the person that caused it walked away with minor injuries, we didn't even get justice for our children in court, he got a £2,000 fine and banned from driving for 3 yrs, someone said to us, that God must hve been awfully short of Angels that day, thats why he took the kids, but that is no comfort to us.
2006-12-19 12:20:02 · answer #7 · answered by angelswings 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jesus suffered extremely on our behalf. And as His followers can we expect be better off than our Savior? Also, suffering and pain builds character. If you have ever bought plants from a green house you know that if you put them out immedeiately into the sun and wind, they die and/or are broken down. If you break them into wind and sun gradually they live. Building Character is like this... it takes experience with suffering to make us better people. as unpleasant as it is.
2006-12-19 12:22:15 · answer #8 · answered by M B 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Suffering leads to strong character. G-d allows everything to happen in this world, because if he intervened directly, there would be adverse consequences far beyond anything we can imagine. That is not to say that He couldn't intervene; just that He is infinitely wiser than us and knows exactly what is appropriate.
2006-12-19 12:21:11 · answer #9 · answered by themountainshaker 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Everyone has to suffer to one extent or another to learn lessons which I believe we agreed to learn before we were born. No one would learn anything in this world if there wasn't suffering in some way, shape or form. Why we have to learn these lessons is another matter - some say it's because when we die we move on to the next spiritual level. I also like to think that this life on earth is hell and when we die we reach heaven.
2006-12-19 12:19:23 · answer #10 · answered by long_luscious_lashes 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋