Why would a loving God allow terrible things to happen?
At first glance this reason is going to sound cruel, but please read the entire thought before you dismiss it. God allows terrible things to happen because He loves us. Yes, I said He allows terrible things to happen because he loves us.
One of the ways that He demonstrates His love is by giving us the freedom to make choices.
Every day we live our life with the ability to do good (right) or the ability to do wrong (evil). When we choose to do good, does that mean that we will never experience terrible thing? No! Other people around us also have the ability to choose and their choices can and often do effect our lives.
What if we choose to do wrong?
Will we experience terrible things? Initially that may be the case, but more often than not that terrible thing or suffering will catch up to us down the road. We can never quite escape the consequences of our choices.
But what about those times when no one made a choice; something just happened?
It is at those times that we, as fallen beings, are experiencing the consequences of sin. And those consequences came from the first man and woman having a choice.
Yes, God loves us and shows us that love by giving each and every one of us the ability to choose.
It is for that very reason that He allows terrible things to happen and for suffering to occur. The good news is that He not only gave us the ability to choose, but He also offered us freedom from sin. He loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. That is an even greater demonstration of God's love for us!
Jesus Christ was perfect and yet He suffered more than any of us ever could or will. Why? Because He was sinless and never did anything to deserve the consequences of sin. (That is why He could pay the price for our sin.) Have you made the choice to accept God's free gift? If not, what is holding you back? If you have accepted His free gift, keep in mind Jesus' sufferings while you are going through your season of trial, tribulation, and suffering. Know that God has made a way for you to escape so that you may be able to bear it (I Corinthians 10:13).
2 comments:
It's interesting that you discuss "Why" this week as Rich and I just talked about this - only we discussed it in the context of a co-worker of his who struggled with infertility for years only to be blessed with a beautiful baby boy and then lose him to SIDS four months later. I can certainly accept that there are consequences to the actions and choices that I make, but only to the extent that I forget to make a credit card payment so the bank charges me some ridiculous late fee. Forgive me when I don't say this eloquently, but the idea that a baby died and his parents are heartbroken because Eve ate an apple, or somewhere prior in life the baby's parents make a wrong choice - that just seems like crap. I know I am not the most religious person to walk the earth, and I know that there are plenty of examples in the bible of times when God was vengeful, but I just don't see it. If you can explain it better, in a way that I can understand, I am all ears (or eyes).
Anne,
I started to post my reply here, but it was way too long. I will post it as an entry later this week. I just wanted you to know that I am not dismissing your comment.
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