Why Does God Allow Suffering

I don't know.

I thought about posting the above sentence as my entire post (because it's partly true) but that would not give adequate credit to God.

I belive the Bible to be true and therefore take the contents of the Bible as fact. If you don't believe the Bible to be truthful, it's an uphill battle for me to show you that God is good but that he also allows suffering i.e. if God is truly good, why does he allow bad things to happen to good people? But like Kevin McCallister and TV dinners, I'll give it a whirl.

One chapter I've found helpful is 2 Corinthians, chapter 1. In this letter from Paul, he says he suffered to:

(a) comfort those in any affliction - it's nice to be sympathetic towards or receive sympathy from somone is in a similar situation. Personal experience can often be very healing in times of anguish, hence support groups, etc.

(b) learn to lean on God and not trust in ourselves - this one is huge. I've heard a lot of testimonies from people being completely broken and humbled and dropping to their knees and crying out to God for help. Sometimes it takes being broken to realize we are not in control. I have a friend who is a chaplain for the Phoenix Suns and the KC Royals. He told me the NBA and MLB players are a lot more receptive to hearing the Word than the minor league players. I thought this was odd but then he said minor league players still think it's all about them and once they get to the big leagues, they'll have everything they've ever wanted. But the big league guys have achieved the ultimate prize and still have a void, their is still something missing - they learn it's not all about them. Pride can be more dangerous than a swimming pool full of sharks with laser beams attached to thier heads.



(c) to give thanks - I often don't thank God for my trials: "thanks for allowing life to be terrible for the past few weeks, I feel stronger..." But the truth is, I grow stronger from the trials and tests I encounter. Although it's usually not fun and I often fail to see the bigger picture at the time of my tribulation, I wouldn't be who I am today without the challenges and difficult decisions I've made in my life.

Let's not forget we are all greatly flawed - as Level 42 said in Something About You "we're only human afterall". Please be assured, God does not condone evil deeds. We heap sufferings upon ourselves, and the sufferings we don't bring upon ourselves happen for a reason, although we may not like that reason. Life can be long. It may be years or decades before we see any reason or good from our pain. I don't have all the answers, I'm just a flawed person like you who has been humbled on many occassions, and I can tell you I know God is good.