If God Is Love, Why Does He Let Terrible Things Happen?

In the end the only real question is that of evil and suffering, especially for Christians who claim "God is love". Even my old pastor was cynical about this saying to me once "I sometimes wonder if it is true. He seems to write people off pretty easily".

I'll tell two conflicting stories just to confuse the issue. Years ago I heard an ex-homosexual give a public testimony in the church I attended. He'd come up from Sydney with a group led by (Sir) Fred Nile.

He said at his second (serious) suicide attempt, which would have succeeded, Christ materialised in the far corner of the room. He moved towards the chap in question and somehow merged. The bloke said from that time on he never even had to struggle with the homosexual temptation, had married and had a couple of young sons. His wife and kids were present when he gave the testimony. This was despite being involved in everything going when he was homosexual. He was probably lucky he didn't get AIDS.

So why was this partcular homosexual and suicide candidate delivered by direct divine action whereas 99.9% of such attempts would be allowed to go their own way and most likely die or seriously injure themselves? Who knows?

Then there's the opposite side. I've often said my father appeared in my room the night he died. During the conversation at one point he blurted out "I always was doomed! I didn't really have any choice!" But in the same conversation he said "I was willing!" (to carry on in the cruel, stupid, bad tempered, vindictive way he did).

Now he did suffer to some extent - a child of the depression years; having whooping cough when he was a kid; leaving home at twelve to work on a cattle station; a veteran of World War II in New Guinea fighitng at Milne Bay when he was about 18; and enduring Malarial bouts for some years afterwards. As he said in the same exchange "I never had a chance to see anything like this!" (apparition turning up to apologise) and "It wasn't easy for me either, you know!"

I replied "I knew that by the time I was twelve!!" which seemed to surprise him.

But why the two radically different outcomes if God loves everybody? I don't know the answer either, and I'm not much of a fan of the book of Job.

It sounds like a fairy tale to me, with everybody living happily ever after (except of course for the original hired hands and family who all perished - no recorded restitution for them).

Nature itself doesn't show "love" as it's main premise - the lion kills the lamb, and they don't lie down together either.

And yet in the Nicene Creed we claim it was Christ, the Son of God who epitomises love, "through (whom) all things were made". He's reponsible for the created order including ruthless nature.

The bible says God is angry with men, who stops the truth of the gospel with their injustices.
I believe man is responsible to give attention to what God wants.
If people reject the gospel, and then this world is more messed up, why is God fault.
The bible says God is tender and compassionate with those who fear him and obey his commandments.
You will not ever, feel God has been rude to you in the slightest, he is always is gentle and merciful, the same way he acts this way towards you, he back it up with actions.
If you make him angry though, the bible says, that his ire will last a moment, but his mercy all your life.