"WHY IS THERE SUFFERING?"

I did not write the following article. I copied it from a bulletin board I used to go to. I am sorry I cannot remember which bulletin board and when I copied it. I also do not know the original name of the writer. I found the article to be very interesting and thought I might share it with you.

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Study the soil for a moment. It naturally produces weeds. No one plants them; no one waters them. They even stubbornly push through cracks of a dry sidewalk. Millions of useless weeds sprout like there’s no tomorrow, strangling our crops and ruining our lawns. Pull them out by the roots, and there will be more tomorrow. They are nothing but a curse!
Consider how much of the earth is uninhabitable. There are millions of square miles of barren deserts in Africa and other parts of the world. Most of Australia is nothing but miles and miles of useless desolate land. Not only that, but the earth is constantly shaken with massive earthquakes. Its shores are lashed with hurricanes; tornadoes rip through creation with incredible fury; devastating floods soak the land; and terrible droughts parch the soil. Sharks, tigers, lions, snakes, spiders, and disease-carrying mosquitoes attack humanity and suck its life’s blood.

The earth’s inhabitants are afflicted with disease, pain, suffering, and death. Think of how many people are plagued with cancer, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, emphysema, Parkinson’s, and a number of other debilitating illnesses. Consider all the children with leukemia, or people born with crippling diseases or without the mental capability to even feed themselves. All these things should convince thinking minds that something is radically wrong. Did God blow it when He created humanity? What sort of tyrant must our Creator be if this was His master plan?

Sadly, many use the issue of suffering as an excuse to reject any thought of God, when its existence is the very reason we should accept Him. Suffering stands as terrible testimony to the truth of the explanation given by the Word of God. But how can we know that the Bible is true? Simply by studying the prophecies of Matthew 24, Luke 21, and 2 Timothy 3. A few minutes of openhearted inspection will convince any honest skeptic that this is no ordinary book. It is the supernatural testament of our Creator about why there is suffering...and what we can do about it.

The Bible tells us that God cursed the earth because of Adam’s transgression. Weeds are a curse. So is disease. Sin and suffering cannot be separated. The Scriptures inform us that we live in a fallen creation. In the beginning, God created man perfect, and he lived in a perfect world without suffering. It was heaven on earth. When sin came into the world, death and misery came with it. Those who understand the message of Holy Scripture eagerly await a new heaven and a new earth "wherein dwells righteous-ness." In that coming Kingdom there will be no more pain, suffering, disease, or death. We are told that no eye has ever seen, nor has any ear heard, neither has any man’s mind ever imagined the wonderful things that God has in store for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Think for a moment what it would be like if food grew with the fervor of weeds. Consider how wonderful it would be if the deserts became incredibly fertile, if creation stopped devouring humanity. Imagine if the weather worked for us instead of against us, if disease completely disappeared, if pain was a thing of the past, if death was no more.

The dilemma is that we are like a child whose insatiable appetite for chocolate has caused his face to break out with ugly sores. He looks in the mirror and sees a sight that makes him depressed. But instead of giving up his beloved chocolate, he consoles himself by stuffing more into his mouth. Yet, the source of his pleasure is actually the cause of his suffering. The whole face of the earth is nothing but ugly sores of suffering. Everywhere we look we see unspeakable pain. But instead of believing God’s explanation and asking Him to forgive us and change our appetite, we run deeper into sin’s sweet embrace. There we find solace in its temporal pleasures, thus intensifying our pain, both in this life and in the life to come.

Dan~~~>hopes it answers someones question
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My View:

It is hard for us to see the overall picture. We just see our own little lives and wonder why God doesn’t do something about it. But it is a much larger issue than just us. It is the sin issue in the world. I believe that as we go on in this world the sin issue is getting bigger and bigger and there will be more and more suffering as a result of it. We can already see it happening in things like the Sunami (sp??) aides, earthquakes, etc. The individuals involved must be asking the same kinds of questions that we are asking. "Why is God doing this, or why does God allow such and such to happen?" The fact is that God isn’t doing it. He pronounced a curse on the earth because of sin at the beginning and the more mankind sins, the greater the suffering and affliction. It is like our sin opens a door for the enemy to work. The more sin on the earth the more the door is open for the enemy.

Yet, God in his soverignity still reaches down and loves the individuals (His children) and grants them peace in their trials and helps them to get through things. He will not allow more than we are able to handle. He is still soverign and still in charge but the natural events must still take place so the whole plan of the earth can be fulfilled. This is not to say that ‘your’ sin caused any of this. It is the general sin of the whole world. It is like a little baby that has something terribly wrong with it. It isn’t their sin that causes it but sin in general in the world.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours?
Hope you have a suffering free day.