God causes pain and suffering?

Question

Christians: I have an answer to the question that I am about to ask, I just want to see your opinions.

We as Christians wonder why God allows pain and suffering to people. The common answer is because He is testing to see if we are strong enough to stay true.

If God really knew all then why does He need to test us? Shouldn't He already know whether or not we are tough enough? I mean He does see in our hearts and He knows us therefore what is the point of testing when He knows?

Could there be another answer? What is it?

Sorry for not using the correct terms.

Allows pain and suffering

Answer 1

Very interesting question! I thought about the same thing, and you got me wondering about the answer to this question! I had given it some thought. I decided to look at it, from God's perspective, althought this will be hard to do, because no one can completely understand Him, cause His wisdom is too great for us to completely understand Him. There is a way! God, can only give us His understanding, thur the Holy Spirt. Its this spirit, helps guide us, and allows us to think like God, and know Him. Without the Holy Spirit, we will never know . .based on our own understanding.

I believe, this is why God tests us:
Its okay, if you don't understand everything about God, because I don't quite understand it, myself. No one ever will! Only God can reveal His wisdom to us, Christians . when we truly want to know Him, more and more. In order to do so, we must always keep seeking His truth (wisdom) thru the Holy Spirit, by reading His word in the Bible, praying to Him, and thru fellowship with other Christians.

God is not the cause for suffering and pain, Satan the devil is. Satan causes all the evilness in this world, today.

God has already planned our destiny, according to His plan (LIFE), but the truth is . .we don't know this . .because of Satan being present on earth and always trying to deceive us. We are not truly holy, as God . .only can be like Him, thru His power. That is how God created us.

When God banished Satan, God sent him to earth, along with Adam and Eve, his living creations . .because all of them went against God's first, and far most important commandment: You shall love the LORD, your God will all your heart, all your mind, all your strength . ." Because both Satan, and His living creations disobeyed this law, God punished them, and was going to put them to death, by one strick of His hand. But, Satan did not want to die, and begged God to send him to earth, because God has no where else to put him . so God did. God did this, because He is a merciful and loving god.

So, God gave Satan permission to do what he wanted there, (on earth), because God allowed him to entered and live there. God basically, gave him permission to rule earth, as his kingdom. . .because God certainly will not allow him to live and try to rule His Kingdom. Because Satan is evil, evil can not exist and live in a holy place, so Satan was banished forever, for good. But, when Satan begged him to put him on earth, Satan thought he can get His living creations to go against Him, because Satan, sadly . .still thinks he is smarter and more powerful than God. But, God knows, and He knew exactly what He was doing, lol. God knows Satan will never win, because he can't. No one can be God, for there is only one, true God.
But, although God put Satan on earth (due to Satan begging for mercy ..haha, imagine that!) God realized He had no control over His living creations, in the beginning. He let it happen for some time, until He no longer could take it. He wiped them out, with the Flood, but kept Moses and his family unit, because God found favor in him. Later on, God already had planned to find a way to save His people, (meaning all His living creations, not just Christians . .when I say His . because God made us all, and we all really belong to Him), thru the sacirfice and death of Jesus Christ on the cross. God already made His promise. He said He will keep them. He proves to people, He is true to His word, by doing what He said He'd do.

I believe there is a reason behind why God is testing His people, His living creations: If God wanted to, He can wipe out Satan and his demons, right now ..as we speak. But, God won't, because He does want to kill His living creations that He made. He loves us too much to see us die, with Satan. But since God has no control over Satan's kingdom (that is earth), Satan is allowed to do whatever he wants, because God said so. God promised him this, and He must keep it. But, God does has control over us, humans . .because we are His creations. He can control us, only thru the soul (our hearts), because that is the only way He can reach us and help us, down on earth. God is holy, and only can exist in a holy kingdom . .His Kingdom. So, He can not live with us, down on earth . .because of Satan evil ruling. As you know, God suffered and was persecuted on earth, as a man ..as Jesus Christ, because He will not be accepted in a unholy place, because he is truly holy. And, it would not make any sense for Him, to either . .why would a holy God like Him, want to live and try to live with Satan and unholy people? Doesn't make any sense.

I believe God is allowing Satan to play with us, like chess pieces on a chess board, is because if God destroys Satan, He will have to destroy us, too. Why? Because God already made His promise to His people (and to Satan, who already knew God's plan, but still thinks he can win . .haha) about how His plan will end. He will destroy Satan, along with everything else he rules and owns. God has the power to destroy Satan, but He would have to also destroy the earth, and everyone who he is deceiving, because God made that promise! And God keeps His promises. Because Satan has deceived so, so many people . .God had to find a way to save us, thru sacrifcing Jesus Christ on the cross. God allowing all this suffering and pain, on earth, not because He likes seeing it, (in fact, He feels pain and suffers right along with us, too because He is a loving and merciful God, a good, loving God.), but because God does not want to kill us, right now . .because He'd have to kill almost everyone He made, and that will make Him sad. Also, that will make God a liar, if He did not keep His promise. And, God is not evil, like Satan. Thus, God is being patient with both Satan, and the living creations that he has and is still deceiving.

I really do believe God knew His own angels will go against Him . .or it was going to happen, because He knows all things . .even the future. He released Satan, because He can not have him live in heaven, with Him, anymore. Satan disobeyed the most important commandment, and so did Adam and Eve. They all deserved death, but God was merciful . .because He is a loving God. God is allowing Satan to live and rule because God as allowed Satan to do so, because Satan begged him to put him there, lol. Imagine, Satan begging God to put him on earth, to spare his life, lol. God still loves His living creations (humans) that He made, and wants them to live. But, He can not destroy Satan just yet, because of mankind, His living creations. God wants us, as many of His living creations to live, because He is a loving and merciful God.

So, God is being patient . .very, very patient with all of us, because He loves us that much that He is willing to suffer along with us, so that we may have the chance to change and live; choosing to have eternal life with Him. God wants to spare all of our lives, because He created us to really love and serve him (made us to fullfill His plan), not the other way around!

The answer is: God made a promise, and He must keep it . .like He said. He is setting us the perfect example, of WHO HE REALLY IS AND IS ALL ABOUT, or else, if God didn't, He would be no better than Satan, and/ or us. That is why I believe He is doing it this way.

Angela

Answer 2

I know I can get a good score on the GED. So does that mean I don't have to take it? Hmm...

This is a rather illogical question argument you are making. But perhaps the problem is your proposed reason. I, for one, don't believe that pain and suffering are means to test us. Pain exists because our bodies require pain in order to be able to recognize bad things and avoid them. It is simple biology; a necessity for material existence. Most unnecessary suffering, on the other hand, exists because WE let it. God gave us the ability and power to be like he is. As a whole, humanity has failed to succeed in relieving the suffering that exists. If he gave us the ability to not to do this, then how is that God's fault?

If God stepped in and took away all pain and suffering without making us figure it out ourselves, he would be taking away our free will. We would become like robots, with no ability to decide for ourselves. Unfortunately, having free will means having the ability to make bad decisions. But do you REALLY want it any other way? It is likely one of those "be careful what you ask for" situations. Instead of focusing on why God has put us here, perhaps we can best direct our effort into making "here" a better place. We can do it... and it doesn't even matter "why" God did it.

Answer 3

I do not believe God causes pain and suffering; although, I do believe He allows it to happen (in spite of prayers for relief, etc.).

So, why does He allow suffering/pain to continue? For some greater good, which we may never fully understand.

Some pain and suffering occurs as part of natural law, it is a natural process which God does not interfere with necessarily.

Some pain and suffering occurs at the hands of other people. Since God equipped each of us with free will, there are people (as you know) who exercise the choice to harm others.

Why God allows these events to occur rather than intervene? The best answer I can surmise is that He does not force His will onto others; so, people with evil intent are free to do what they choose - ultimately, causing pain and suffering.

I have chronic pain and suffer daily. I've often asked God to heal me.

I do not know why He does not. At this point, I trust that the way I handle the situation (which is not always great) may bring back some greater good that I am not aware of.

Answer 4

God does allow many trials and tribulations to occur to us for reasons that no man truly knows. The general view is like you said to see if we will keep true faith in Him. God knows what is to happen as well as what has already occurred. To tell the truth, this world belongs to the devil right now. Jesus may or may not regain control over this world, depending on how He chooses. The devil; however, causes much pain to people. It's not always God who brings the pain and suffering, yet He will always help pull you through depending on what He sees fit to happen. It's all in God's hands and we know not whether He is testing us or not.

Answer 5

That is the problem with sin it causes Innocent people to suffer If God is truly just, he can not just do away with evil people and leave only the good,He gives each one of us a choice and if we make the wrong choices there are consequences to our actions,and sometimes those consequences involve others.unbelievers put a lot of emphasis on what happens here and now because they do not believe in a after life. but as a Christian i do not see this life as important as the next which is eternal.you all think a lot of bad things happen here now ,but if it were not for Gods intervention in the hearts of people things would be a whole lot worse.

Answer 6

You are right. God need to test us because He knows our hearts. However, we need the testing in order to grow stronger.

How would we know God's grace if we weren't saved from destruction? How would we know God's mercy and loving-kindness if we never suffered the pain of loss?

We are dragged through the fire so that we may become more like God. THAT is the real point of it all.

Answer 7

Here's the answer why God test us...

God tests us so we can experience victory. He walks in faith and believes we will win every test. He is like a proud parent who tells their child to "Go out there and show them what you can do," expecting them to win.

God allows us to enter into faith combat so we can see His deliverance and victory over our adversary. As we are faithful where we are (the test), God will give us a larger sphere of responsibility.

The larger the task ahead -- the bigger the test required now. God does not test us to hurt us or defeat us. He does it because He loves us too much to put us into a position of responsibility which would be too much for us, where we would be put to shame.

In all schooling there is testing to determine whether the material taught has been mastered.

Testing is necessary and beneficial for the one being tested. He may think he is ready to graduate -- that he knows it all. Testing allows him to see what the real situation is. It confronts him with reality.

Answer 8

I understand where you are coming from. God testing us is a way for him to tell us that we need him all the time. We can't get comfortable and just call God whenever we are in trouble or when things are going bad. God wants us to keep him in our hearts at all times and that is why he tests us.

I see what you mean when you say that God should already know our faith, but sometimes he wants to truly test our faith by testing us with tasks or duties that just may seem impossible to see how much faith we truly have in him.

Answer 9

I don't think our pain and suffering is sent or caused by God. Lately in my life there has been much of that. I lay no blame. I believe it is just what our souls have to experience on this life experience. Untold sadness makes one very sensitive to the sadness of others and as a result, softer to the experience of others, kinder, more thankful for the blessings we receive. I miss my precious husband more than words could express, but I am so grateful to have shared his life for 17 and 1/2 years.

Answer 10

sometimes God also allows pain and suffering to change ones heart. see if u were in a great deal of pain and ur suffering u will turn to God u know he's the only one that can help and pain and surffering can also make the unchangable heart change. if some one u loved was to die u would be worried where there soul was going and u would wonder where ur soul wud be goin if u died. so sometime it takes pain and suffering to bring people closer to God.

Answer 11

If I were you I would read Hebrews 12:3-13, 1 Corinthians 11:30-32, Proverbs 15:9-10, and Revelation 2:20-23 and then re-ask your question.

We are disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. Please read the verses before you speak against them or me (1 Timothy 6:20-21).

Alan Ballou
servant of the Lord Jesus
www.thehealingbook.com