Why is there suffering? How could a loving God allow suffering? I will offer my supposition, as such it will contain speculation and conjecture. So I do not present it as the gospel truth only as a plausible answer to a difficult question.
Everyday we see pain and suffering and it becomes difficult to understand why God would allow it when he has the power to stop it. But our perspectives here on earth are very limited. In many ways we are like a fly on the Mona Lisa. All the fly see's is a big blotch of paint. Only when we step back do we see the complete picture, and the master piece that it is. In order to see the big picture we have to start at the very beginning.
In heaven everything is perfect, there is no sickness or death or suffering. How then did Satan convince one third of the angels to rebel against God? They already had paradise what more could he offer? I imagine he began to ask them questions we also ask ourselves, questions such as why is sin bad? Does God really know what's best for us? Do we really need God at all? Ultimately one third of the angels rebelled against God and followed Satan. As a result they were banished from heaven. For the first time they began to understand the consequences of having freewill and turning against God. Another example was soon to follow.
Sometime later God created earth and mankind and it was also perfect. There was no suffering, sickness, or poverty. Adam and eve had everything, the only stipulation was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God was giving them a choice, they could follow Him or they could follow themselves. Once again Satan deceived Eve and she ate from the tree, and later Adam also. In doing so they rebelled against God and were cut off from Him. Once God is rejected then you lose everything good that comes from God also. At this point sin, sickness, death, and suffering entered into the whole world. We have seen there have been rebellions against God from Satan to Adam and Eve, and even up until the final rebellion in Revelation and the problems it creates. Notice after the final Revelation 20 there are no more rebellions.
My supposition is this, God is permitting evil and suffering, for a limited time, for a greater good and as a object lesson to answer those age old questions. The analogy I would use is child birth, it precedes great suffering but once the baby is born there is only joy. So in the end we will understand why sin is bad, that God knows best and we really do need Him. And finally it will put an end to rebellions and the suffering that it brings and we can live in peace and harmony with Him for eternity.
In the beginning everything was perfect and we are promised it will be perfect again. We are currently living in the intern period while it is being perfected. And as difficult as life is sometimes it's only a spec in eternity, but those lessons we learn in this life will last forever.
Everyday we see pain and suffering and it becomes difficult to understand why God would allow it when he has the power to stop it. But our perspectives here on earth are very limited. In many ways we are like a fly on the Mona Lisa. All the fly see's is a big blotch of paint. Only when we step back do we see the complete picture, and the master piece that it is. In order to see the big picture we have to start at the very beginning.
In heaven everything is perfect, there is no sickness or death or suffering. How then did Satan convince one third of the angels to rebel against God? They already had paradise what more could he offer? I imagine he began to ask them questions we also ask ourselves, questions such as why is sin bad? Does God really know what's best for us? Do we really need God at all? Ultimately one third of the angels rebelled against God and followed Satan. As a result they were banished from heaven. For the first time they began to understand the consequences of having freewill and turning against God. Another example was soon to follow.
Sometime later God created earth and mankind and it was also perfect. There was no suffering, sickness, or poverty. Adam and eve had everything, the only stipulation was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God was giving them a choice, they could follow Him or they could follow themselves. Once again Satan deceived Eve and she ate from the tree, and later Adam also. In doing so they rebelled against God and were cut off from Him. Once God is rejected then you lose everything good that comes from God also. At this point sin, sickness, death, and suffering entered into the whole world. We have seen there have been rebellions against God from Satan to Adam and Eve, and even up until the final rebellion in Revelation and the problems it creates. Notice after the final Revelation 20 there are no more rebellions.
My supposition is this, God is permitting evil and suffering, for a limited time, for a greater good and as a object lesson to answer those age old questions. The analogy I would use is child birth, it precedes great suffering but once the baby is born there is only joy. So in the end we will understand why sin is bad, that God knows best and we really do need Him. And finally it will put an end to rebellions and the suffering that it brings and we can live in peace and harmony with Him for eternity.
In the beginning everything was perfect and we are promised it will be perfect again. We are currently living in the intern period while it is being perfected. And as difficult as life is sometimes it's only a spec in eternity, but those lessons we learn in this life will last forever.
