Blessedx4
April 9th, 2007, 11:25 AM
I decided to do an online search and was surprised at the responses that ame up. Apparently alot of people ask this question. Hopefully this will:
1) give comfort (my first goal)
2) give answers that mabe we didn't think about before
3) help us to help others who are suffering
There were many responses to the question, needless to say
I will probably add more as I run across it and welcome your input :):
Disclaimer: I cannot vouch for these sites, I didn't have time to dig deeply into any of them. I was simply focusing on this question and their answer :):
Why Does God Let Us Suffer?
Most Rev. Michael Sheehan
Archbishop of Santa Fe
Founding Bishop of the Diocese of Lubbock
At a recent diocesan meeting on evangelization, one of the participants noted that people often turned away from God in anger when terrible suffering comes into their lives. What can we do to help them get over their anger with God and return to the church?, he asked.
The question is ages old. How can a good God allow the innocent to suffer? A seemingly healthy young mother is cut down by cancer. A young child dies in an auto accident. An honest, hardworking business man watches his business collapse. A marriage, once considered ideal, ends in divorce; the children angry at both parents and God. How do we make sense out of the suffering these tragedies cause?
The answer to human suffering is not an easy one. Every person will undergo a certain amount of pain in his life. Some more than others. How, then are we to deal with it? Our choices are only two: become bitter and angry, asking, "Why me?" or accept the suffering with faith, courage and dignity.
more......... http://www.heartlandparishes.org/Evangelization_Suffer.htm
Why Would a Loving God Allow Pain and Suffering? (Note this is very long and covers degrees of suffering for example but it's worth reading. At some point many of us may ask the questions posed here)
By Jay Lynch, M.D.
The Problem
If God is all powerful, all good, and all knowing, why does he allow pain and suffering in our lives? Although phrased here in philosophical terms, this is not primarily an intellectual question. In fact, it is rather a question that torments real people as they suffer in their own private anguish and pain. So for those of you sitting here this evening or reading this transcript that are suffering, please recognize, I do not take this lightly. This issue touches us deeply in places where frequently words lose their meaning. In fact, many of my patients have confessed that they thought they knew what they believed, until their comfort zone was shattered. What do I tell these folks?
more.......... http://www.leaderu.com/common/terror/lynch.html
Why does God allow innocent people to suffer?
This is one of the most difficult questions for Christians to answer.
The "problem of pain," as the well-known Christian scholar, C.S. Lewis, once called it, is atheism's most potent weapon against the Christian faith.
All true science and history, if rightly understood, support the fact of God. This evidence is so strong that, as the Bible says: "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God" (Psalm 14:1).
Most atheists, therefore, without any objective evidence on which to base their faith in "no God", must resort finally to philosophical objections. And this problem of suffering is the greatest of these.
more.......... http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t023.html
How Can A Loving God Allow Pain And Suffering?
While there is a lot we cannot know about God, there is a lot that we can know from Scripture. Consider the following points:
God does not have any joy in seeing any person suffer.
God is absolutely just, and there will be no suffering in vain. Every person will see, in the end, that everything is fair, just, and right.
All suffering has a part in working out God's ultimate plan. Not even a sparrow falls to the ground that God doesn't know about. Every hair on your head is numbered. There will be a day when we understand, as God does, the purpose for every bit of suffering and sorrow of every person.
In the light of the glory that shall be revealed in the faithful, all the sufferings of the present are insignificant.
more........ http://www.seekfind.net/Amazing_Facts/How_Can_A_Loving_God_Allow_Pain_And_Suffering.html
Scripture that has given me comfort :):
General Comfort, Psalms 18:2; Psalms 56:3,4
When in sorrow, John 14
When men fail you, Psalm 27
When God seems far away, Psalm 139
When you are lonely and fearful, Psalm 23
When the world seems bigger than God, Psalm 90
If you are depressed, Psalm 27
If your pocketbook is empty, Psalm 37
If you are losing confidence in people, I. Corinthians 13
If people seem unkind, John 15
If discouraged about your work, Psalm 126
1) give comfort (my first goal)
2) give answers that mabe we didn't think about before
3) help us to help others who are suffering
There were many responses to the question, needless to say
I will probably add more as I run across it and welcome your input :):
Disclaimer: I cannot vouch for these sites, I didn't have time to dig deeply into any of them. I was simply focusing on this question and their answer :):
Why Does God Let Us Suffer?
Most Rev. Michael Sheehan
Archbishop of Santa Fe
Founding Bishop of the Diocese of Lubbock
At a recent diocesan meeting on evangelization, one of the participants noted that people often turned away from God in anger when terrible suffering comes into their lives. What can we do to help them get over their anger with God and return to the church?, he asked.
The question is ages old. How can a good God allow the innocent to suffer? A seemingly healthy young mother is cut down by cancer. A young child dies in an auto accident. An honest, hardworking business man watches his business collapse. A marriage, once considered ideal, ends in divorce; the children angry at both parents and God. How do we make sense out of the suffering these tragedies cause?
The answer to human suffering is not an easy one. Every person will undergo a certain amount of pain in his life. Some more than others. How, then are we to deal with it? Our choices are only two: become bitter and angry, asking, "Why me?" or accept the suffering with faith, courage and dignity.
more......... http://www.heartlandparishes.org/Evangelization_Suffer.htm
Why Would a Loving God Allow Pain and Suffering? (Note this is very long and covers degrees of suffering for example but it's worth reading. At some point many of us may ask the questions posed here)
By Jay Lynch, M.D.
The Problem
If God is all powerful, all good, and all knowing, why does he allow pain and suffering in our lives? Although phrased here in philosophical terms, this is not primarily an intellectual question. In fact, it is rather a question that torments real people as they suffer in their own private anguish and pain. So for those of you sitting here this evening or reading this transcript that are suffering, please recognize, I do not take this lightly. This issue touches us deeply in places where frequently words lose their meaning. In fact, many of my patients have confessed that they thought they knew what they believed, until their comfort zone was shattered. What do I tell these folks?
more.......... http://www.leaderu.com/common/terror/lynch.html
Why does God allow innocent people to suffer?
This is one of the most difficult questions for Christians to answer.
The "problem of pain," as the well-known Christian scholar, C.S. Lewis, once called it, is atheism's most potent weapon against the Christian faith.
All true science and history, if rightly understood, support the fact of God. This evidence is so strong that, as the Bible says: "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God" (Psalm 14:1).
Most atheists, therefore, without any objective evidence on which to base their faith in "no God", must resort finally to philosophical objections. And this problem of suffering is the greatest of these.
more.......... http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t023.html
How Can A Loving God Allow Pain And Suffering?
While there is a lot we cannot know about God, there is a lot that we can know from Scripture. Consider the following points:
God does not have any joy in seeing any person suffer.
God is absolutely just, and there will be no suffering in vain. Every person will see, in the end, that everything is fair, just, and right.
All suffering has a part in working out God's ultimate plan. Not even a sparrow falls to the ground that God doesn't know about. Every hair on your head is numbered. There will be a day when we understand, as God does, the purpose for every bit of suffering and sorrow of every person.
In the light of the glory that shall be revealed in the faithful, all the sufferings of the present are insignificant.
more........ http://www.seekfind.net/Amazing_Facts/How_Can_A_Loving_God_Allow_Pain_And_Suffering.html
Scripture that has given me comfort :):
General Comfort, Psalms 18:2; Psalms 56:3,4
When in sorrow, John 14
When men fail you, Psalm 27
When God seems far away, Psalm 139
When you are lonely and fearful, Psalm 23
When the world seems bigger than God, Psalm 90
If you are depressed, Psalm 27
If your pocketbook is empty, Psalm 37
If you are losing confidence in people, I. Corinthians 13
If people seem unkind, John 15
If discouraged about your work, Psalm 126