Why is God making the unfolding story so complicated?

[Steeno7]

I find that a rather harsh retort.

Yep.

 

[Angel 5]

Yep.

And yet you call yourself Christian?
I thought this part of the site was for Newbies questioning? Not to be belittled by a sarcastic retort.
How sad.

 

[Tigger45]

And yet you call yourself Christian?
I thought this part of the site was for Newbies questioning? Not to be belittled by a sarcastic retort.
How sad.

You're exactly right and sorry about that. But you did rebut your position very well.

>Here is the official guidelines and purpose for this sub-forum>

For New Christians This forum is for new Christians to ask questions and be encouraged by other Christians. Here you can post your questions and talk about issues relating to new believers.

 

[sickntired771]

I think the fact that God allows suffering to go on is a very valid point for both the believer and non-believer. It's a very tough fact to wrestle with even if you feel Christ is redeemer who came for our sins, there is still immense suffering in the world and why God allows it is a perfectly fair question on our parts.

 

[ToBeBlessed]

Can I ask what those who believe that God should not let suffering go on, what do you think God should do?

Wipe out the planet?

 

[Angel 5]

Can I ask what those who believe that God should not let suffering go on, what do you think God should do?

Wipe out the planet?

Yes.... I see what you are saying. But surely He has the power over the elements ( as in when natural disasters happen)?
I'm really just thinking this through and thank you for the chance to do so.

 

[grandvizier1006]

Sickntired, I know how you feel. Many times I have wondered why God doesn't just kill us all. Sometimes I kind of wish God would come down to Earth and alter His laws. Something like, "If my people are overwhelmed by the sinfulness of the world then they can leave it". Basically, I've had thoughts of "Why don't I just kill myself? I hate the world and all of its stupid idiots. I don't want to live in a world where I can't be a Christian."

But the thing is, God loves us all so much that He is willing to let us live in sin. We are like prodigal sons, given the opportunity to go waste time in the world, and then God might send someone or something in our lives to make us realize that we have been wasting our time.

For me, really feeling God's love ended those suicidal thoughts for me. I could live in the world and be a Christian, I realized, no matter how hard I kept thinking it would be.

 

[Bible2]

Angel 5 said in post 17:

But it's like He made us for His amusement? Seeing us struggle and fail?

It's more like He made us for the same reason we make babies, even though we know they're going to sometimes struggle to walk and fall.

 

[Bible2]

ToBeBlessed said in post 25:

Can I ask what those who believe that God should not let suffering go on, what do you think God should do?

Wipe out the planet?

He will do that eventually.

For "the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation . . ." (2 Peter 3:10-15).

 

[Bible2]

sickntired771 said in post 24:

I think the fact that God allows suffering to go on is a very valid point for both the believer and non-believer.

That's right.

Also, Satan can be the one who causes people to suffer (Luke 13:16). Jesus came to counteract Satan's work in the world (John 10:10). Jesus miraculously healed multitudes of people (Matthew 12:15b) oppressed by Satan (Acts 10:38). And Jesus still miraculously heals some people today, either directly by his Spiritual power, or through Christians who have been given the Spiritual gift of miraculous healing (1 Corinthians 12:9).

Also, Christians, with their hope of eternal life (Titus 1:2), can look beyond any temporal suffering which they may be undergoing (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Revelation 2:10-11; 1 Peter 4:12-13). God can permit some Christians to suffer in order to help them to remain humble before him and others (2 Corinthians 12:7). Also, suffering can strengthen Christians spiritually (Romans 5:3-5). It can help them to stop putting any hope in that which is merely mortal and temporal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, John 12:25, Matthew 10:37-39). Also, when God allows Christians to suffer, he provides them with his comfort to help them through their suffering (2 Corinthians 1:3-7).

People shouldn't say (as is sometimes said) that it is evil for God to allow human suffering. For the only way to eradicate any possibility of human suffering would be to eradicate any possibility of humans committing sin (John 5:14). And the only way to eradicate any possibility of humans committing sin would be to eradicate their free will. It is better for humans to have free will and for there to be the possibility of suffering, than for humans to be robots with no free will, and for there to be no possibility of suffering. By becoming a human in Jesus Christ, and suffering and dying for human sins, God has made a way for believers to retain their free will, and yet escape suffering in hell forever for their sins (John 3:36, Revelation 14:10-11). For as the human/divine Son of God, Jesus' suffering satisfied God the Father's justice (Isaiah 53:11: KJV), which requires an infinite amount of human suffering for sin (Matthew 25:41,46).

Also, suffering is like gravity, in that while it can cause people problems, who would want to live without it? For example, someone could say that God was cruel to create gravity because it sometimes causes old people to fall down and break their hips. But who would want to get rid of gravity and float off into space? It is the same way with suffering. Someone could say that God was cruel to create the possibility of suffering. But if God made it impossible for people to suffer, what could happen to them? For example, imagine that a man went on a camping trip, built a campfire, and laid down in his sleeping bag near the fire and fell asleep. While he was sleeping, he turned over at one point in such a way that his hand went into the fire. But because of his ability to suffer, he immediately woke up and pulled his hand out of the fire, keeping it from getting badly burned. But if he had had no ability to suffer, then he would have stayed asleep with his hand in the fire, and woken up in the morning with no hand: It would have been burned clean off.

So suffering can be a good thing when it causes people to draw back from something which will harm them. God sometimes brings suffering to those he loves as a way of chastening them and getting them to repent from a sin (Revelation 3:19, Hebrews 12:5-11). For God knows how much harm their sin will cause them (Galatians 6:8, Hebrews 10:26-29), while on their own they could be completely oblivious to the danger (Proverbs 14:12).

 

[Angel 5]

It's more like He made us for the same reason we make babies, even though we know they're going to sometimes struggle to walk and fall.

You know what..... I'd never thought of it like that. Thanks.

 

[thepromiseofgrace]

God knows what we are doing and intervenes throughout history in a loving and violent fashion but why? Why not just end all the nonsense and bring about his word. What is the point of letting us go on in this crazy fashion?

not sure i see God acting violently.

Some people have not yet come to faith, God has allotted a time for the end, until then God is letting people chose whether to follow or not and will give people every opportunity to chose heaven.