Why does God allow so much suffering?

Truthearthdefender

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What I mean is, no one ever specifies what such worship actually entails. It's all vague whenever I hear it talked about.

If you read the Bible you will see this theme... if you cruise Facebook and Instagram posts and listen to Christian music you will hear over and over again "more of you, Lord and less of me." We exist ONLY to worship God. That is the meanimg of life. We have free will so we may choose not to, but the best existence known to man is an existence where Christ is everything and we are part of His Body. To always strive towards a more Christ-centered life is optimal and part of the meaning of what it is to be Christian. To be in heaven and walk with Christ and Love Him completely for all eternity is the best that could ever happen to a Christian next to eing saved which puts us on this path.

We know there will be no pain and suffering and no sex and marriage in heaven. What more do you need to know? Talk to Jesus and wait and see. The Christian life is the only life worth living. I hope this helps...
 
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Truthearthdefender

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If you read the Bible you will see this theme... if you cruise Facebook and Instagram posts and listen to Christian music you will hear over and over again "more of you, Lord and less of me." We exist ONLY to worship God. That is the meanimg of life. We have free will so we may choose not to, but the best existence known to man is an existence where Christ is everything and we are part of His Body. To always strive towards a more Christ-centered life is optimal and part of the meaning of what it is to be Christian. To be in heaven and walk with Christ and Love Him completely for all eternity is the best that could ever happen to a Christian next to eing saved which puts us on this path.

We know there will be no pain and suffering and no sex and marriage in heaven. What more do you need to know? Talk to Jesus and wait and see. The Christian life is the only life worth living. I hope this helps...
As christians and not religious people, we preach the Gospel of Life about our Living God. We do not focus on heaven or hell and we do not come to Christ for fear of hell as punishment or desire of heaven as reward. We come to Jesus because we Love Him back and we want to. Not because we are afraid of punishment or seek reward. Questions are healthy, but a fixarion on heaven and hell and preaching fire and brimstone is a distinctly religious trait to scare people into following a religion.

We come to Christ because we are moved by His Love for us and though we cannot repay Him, we devote our lives to Him because He saved us and nothing else worked.
 
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RDKirk

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God did not curse the world, he declared the consequence of their unbelief and disobedience, which is called the curse that brought thorns and thistles and all natural disasters. This crack slowly spread throughout all creation. But as I said, he anticipated the possibility with the agreement of the Word in the Godhead to incarnate and take the sins of the world upon himself.

The question naturally arises, then, is now that Jesus has taken the sins of the world upon himself, why not stop it all now and bring in the new perfect creation? I don't know. But I do know that God has good reason for everything and we will understand it all in the end..

Two things to add:

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. -- Romans 8


He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. -- Mark 16

This verse of Mark is interesting because the Greek words and grammar actually denote all creation, not just all people in the world.
 
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disciple1

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I am really struggling to answer this question. It can't be just be about free will. Natural disasters, accidents and diseases are the cause of many deaths each day. Dying without having a choice sounds like the opposite of free will to me.
Look at the book of Job.
And who obeys God anyway, it's not about law it's about love, and if you try to obey the law and love, from what I see your still lost.


1 Peter chapter 4 verse 8
Love covers a great many sins.


And the flooding is happening in the bible belt, they have more churches but not more knowledge, maybe God is trying to wake people up.


Matthew chapter 25 verses 31-46
When the Son of Man comes" in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and got visit you? The King will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.They also will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you? He will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.



You can always help people in the flooding.
 
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faroukfarouk

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I am really struggling to answer this question. It can't be just be about free will. Natural disasters, accidents and diseases are the cause of many deaths each day. Dying without having a choice sounds like the opposite of free will to me.
Hi, there; good to see you.

So you think that sinners can tell a holy God how much or how little suffering they ought to go through?

Would it not be better to humble ourselves before the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, where He Himself suffered infinitely more than any of us, so that sinners can know the joy and peace of eternal life? Isaiah 53 and John 3.16 are great passages to consider.
 
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Paul of Eugene OR

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I am really struggling to answer this question. It can't be just be about free will. Natural disasters, accidents and diseases are the cause of many deaths each day. Dying without having a choice sounds like the opposite of free will to me.
Christians have struggled with these issues both intellectually and through living them out since we have been here on earth.

I have three thoughts I use in teaching on this:

a) We can trust the wisdom of God that He knows what He is doing.

b) God through Jesus participates in our suffering, all the way to the cross.

c) Heaven is coming, and all will be made right.

There is more we can contemplate, perhaps with less certainty.

Are we in a situation analogous to a state of war, where we are behind enemy lines, forced to communicate with difficulty and getting by on smuggled in resources?
 
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toLiJC

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I am really struggling to answer this question. It can't be just be about free will. Natural disasters, accidents and diseases are the cause of many deaths each day. Dying without having a choice sounds like the opposite of free will to me.

mass spiritual lawlessness/wickedness is the cause of all evils, and the true God has nothing to do with it except the fact that He is the main one having to stop it; as for the question why hasn't He yet done that?, i could say He has not been able to stop evil completely and permanently because there have not been enough witnesses against the "darkness" on His side...

Blessings
 
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Hammster

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mass spiritual lawlessness/wickedness is the cause of all evils, and the true God has nothing to do with it except the fact that He is the main one having to stop it; as for the question why hasn't He yet done that?, i could say He has not been able to stop evil completely and permanently because there have not been enough witnesses against the "darkness" on His side...

Blessings
There's something outside of God's control?
 
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NothingIsImpossible

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I'd say do some bible studies because it seems you are either very new to being a christian or just haven't studied anything about free will, death...etc.

With that said your question doesn't make much sense since you said you don't have a choice about death. Um, no one has a choice. Everything dies. Even this planet will die eventually. The son will, your technology will...etc.

We don't know all the answers to everything. But in the end I just say "Who cares!" because why worry about things that we have no control over anyways or we don't understand. We either choose to accept things as they are and trust in the Lord or we choose not to. That simple.
 
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Rescued One

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How do you know suffering is caused by the devil? Suffering seems to be primarily caused by either human greed or nature. Things just happen.

Human greed is evidence that the greedy person is still under Satan's power.
 
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Norbert L

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I am really struggling to answer this question. It can't be just be about free will. Natural disasters, accidents and diseases are the cause of many deaths each day. Dying without having a choice sounds like the opposite of free will to me.
Are you saying, why doesn't God intervene? Mark 4:39-40 I think it's important to recognize the issue you bring up as something that puts pressure on many people's minds, both Christians and non-Christians alike to the existence of a fully personalized God.

The way I see it, there's really only two roads to choose from here. Admit that you don't have sufficient knowledge to make a judgement on this case at this time or blame God, Job 40:8.

Basically here's what I'm saying. Some explanations that come from the scriptures can't be spoon feed to you. It's like someone offering you to plagiarize their hard work and all that ends up happening is parroting that answer which deep down you still will take issue with. So what can be done?

I like to remind myself that running the universe is far above my pay grade, which means there's lifetime worth of material about that topic by the person who does run it. I would say eventually you can figure this thing out, the only caution is it may not be fast enough.
 
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Hammster

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there has unfortunately been evil with many people since the day of the Fall - has the true One been fully able to stop evil for these 5-6 millennia or He Himself is evil?!

Blessings
Then we have no hope.
 
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Halbhh

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I am really struggling to answer this question. It can't be just be about free will. Natural disasters, accidents and diseases are the cause of many deaths each day. Dying without having a choice sounds like the opposite of free will to me.

All will die, sooner or later, but what happens next is the bigger question. The atheist version of that is you are just snuffed out. The real version, God's version, is that Life is available after this body dies.

Those who are innocent, not yet old enough to truly choose to do wrong with understanding (the "law"), will enter Life -- God is just and merciful we know.

"... sin is not charged against anyone's account where there is no law." Romans 5

6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
...11 For God does not show favoritism.
12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) Romans 2

Those who are not innocent, most any adult, can also enter Life, because God is just and merciful to forgive! They need only repent. If they turn to Christ in faith and are then baptized in His name, they can be washed of all sins, born anew! Acts 2

So, the real question is why accept the "second death" (of the soul), the atheist way? Christ's way is better. "Love one another"
 
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toLiJC

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Then we have no hope.

why?!, had Jesus, John the Baptist, the Apostles, Elijah the Prophet, etc. had no hope?!, "hope" is the chance/opportunity to work for overall salvation to abundant and eternal life according to the promises of God - either we hasten that process or God may be late, and if there is not enough (true) faith or rather if there is too much spiritual unrighteousness/lawlessness/wickedness in this world, there is very likely to be apocalypse...

Blessings
 
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