Why does suffering take place?

Question

When the Lord loves everyone and everything, why does suffering take place? Why are innocent people and animals forced to endure torture and abuse and neglect? Are there any scripture verses that can provide a reason behind all of this? I've always wondered how such a heavenly, loving God can allow so much suffering to take place.

Answer 1

Suffering exists because of sin....if until sin entered the world it was perfect as God created it. But for those who love Him, all things will work together for good. (Romans 8:28) God does help those who call on Him and seek him with all their heart. (Deuteronomy 4:29) Sometimes God's answers aren't fast enough for us and we do things on our own and that causes more problems. (Jeremiah 29:11) He's also promised us a hope and a future. We are also told to help where we can.

Answer 2

Because we live in a real world. The real world involve danger and making choices and pain as well as all the good that goes with it. Sometimes i hear people blame God for events such as Katrina. While all the while I wonder why do people build around hurricane alley or places like volcano's. Ive noticed God doesn't kill nearly so many of them when they follow saftey procedures and make wise choices about their surroundings. Perhaps we are expecting God to control for us what he has given us the ability to control.

Answer 3

Suffering is part of the human condition. Since the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden sin and suffering came into the world. It's unavoidable at some point. That's why Jesus came. He came to help us deal with and cope with suffering. He suffered much when he was crucified on the cross. Yet he did it for us. God can relate to suffering because He suffered. He became a man who goes through what we go through. Usually when a person suffers much and turn to God they will love Him much. I'm one example. Other times they get mad at and blame God. Read the account of Adam and Eve in Genesis and the book of Romans. It shows the human condition. Then read the Gosples to see how much Jesus can relate to you.

Answer 4

In the beginning God completely sustained His creation without blemish. That’s why it was perfect. He held every atom together in a perfect state. He kept the planets in their orbits. He kept animals from tripping and breaking their necks. He did not allow people to suffer and die.
Deuteronomy 8:4 gives us a little glimpse of how things might have been in the original creation. “Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.” God is omnipotent and perfectly capable of sustaining and protecting his creation.
When Adam sinned, however, the Lord cursed the universe. In essence there was a change and along with that change God seemingly took away a little bit of his sustaining power and allowed things like suffering and death into His creation. Now He permits bad things to happen—and this is a reminder that sin has consequences and that the world needs a Savior. Romans 8:22 says, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”

God took pleasure in all of His creation ("http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?passage=revelation+4:11&version=NKJV"), but He loved people most of all. He allowed the created universe to deteriorate so we would see the consequences of our sin. If we did not see the consequences of our sin, we would never see that we need salvation from our sin, and we would never accept His offer of mercy for our sin. Most people easily recognize that there is a problem in the world. This can be used to show them that there is one who has overcome this problem of death and suffering—Jesus Christ.

Answer 5

Allah says in the Quran
Surah Al Mulk
Chapter 67 Verse 2
1. Blessed be He in Whose hands is Dominion; and He over all things hath Power;-

2.He Who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving

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Answer 6

For without suffering we cannot understand good or total love or how to fight evil or suffering.We are here to learn on earth and we have to experience both pleasure and pain but not for ever,plus man puts most problems on himself.God supplies us what we need but we screw it up until we learn to fix things

Answer 7

it wasn't God's plan to bring evil and suffering into the world and it's in our hands as humans to bring life, but we don't. What we want though is to live our lives in whatever way we want and then not suffern the concequences of our acts, right?

Answer 8

God is curtailing unnecessary expenditures in the Human Resources department.

Answer 9

Because of the existence of evil, and the fact that some people choose evil rather than good.

Answer 10

God can't help it because he has no control over these events. Only religious people say that he is in control but can't prove it.