Is suffering necessary?
\nIs pain all bad?
\nIs trouble a problem?
\nShould we ask these questions?
\nAre there answers?
\nWhy doesn’t God fix this?
\nCan God fix this?
\nIf I was God, could I?
\nIs that a silly question?
\nIs God running everything?
\nIf I don’t like it (how He’s running things), can I discard God?
\nCan I invent god to suit me?
\nCan I invent answers, and change anything, really?
\nCan I figure it all out?
\nCan eight billion people figure it out eight billion different ways, and everyone be right?
\nOr just you?
\nOr just me?<\/p>\n
OR:<\/p>\n
Can there be answers from outside of us?
\nCan we know these answers?
\nIs there really a God?
\nIs there one God?
\nDoes God have answers?
\nDoes God tell us any answers?
\nHow does God tell us?<\/p>\n
What do we really need to know?<\/p>\n
As human beings, we basically want life to be easy.
\nWe complain if it’s not.
\nWe sacrifice in unbelievable measure to make life easier, later.
\nWe often endure hardship, for that goal.
\nWe actually practice “NO PAIN—NO GAIN.’
\nSome focus on ‘life is no fair,’ and demand that others owe them an easier life.<\/p>\n
I realized recently that ninety percent of my own prayers are asking God to make my life easier.
\nGod can do that, and often God does.
\nThen other times God doesn’t, and I suffer—pain, anguish, brokenness, loss, heartbreak, weakness, fear, devastation, desperation—many things that others suffer.<\/p>\n
I believe in God.
\nI trust in God.
\nI believe God wrote down what we need to know.
\nGod wrote down all the answers we need for this life.
\nAnd God answered questions that no human can answer.
\nGod told us exactly what we need to know, and do, about life after this life.
\nThere is no other source for certainty about life after death.<\/p>\n
We do not suffer from lack of answers—we suffer from lack of READING and BELIEVING the answers God has written down for us.
\n“God loved everyone in the world so much, that He gave His only Son to die and pay for our sins, so that whoever believes in Him does not have to perish in hell, but have eternal life in heaven.”<\/p>\n
So, what about all those unanswered questions and dilemmas partially listed above?
\nSome have answers, some don’t.
\nSince I am not smart enough to satisfy everyone’s grievances, or even my own grievances, I will offer three principles here:
\n“The sufferings of this present life are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us [in the life to come].”
\n“If we have hope for this life only, we are of all people most miserable.”
\n“God comforts us in all our trouble, so that we can comfort others in any trouble with the same comfort.”<\/p>\n
Philosophical facts, universally validated:
\n+People who are searching for an easy life are not the happiest.
\n+People who are struggling often testify to finding greater meaning in life.
\n+Christians who are persecuted say they found a deeper, sweeter relationship with Jesus than without the suffering.
\n+People who are suffering become stronger.<\/p>\n
Bottom line:
\nJESUS
\n“I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life—no one comes to God the Father except through Me.”
\nCome to Jesus, and your most important question is answered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Is suffering necessary? Is pain all bad? Is trouble a problem? Should we ask these questions? Are there answers? Why doesn’t God fix this? Can God fix this? If I was God, could I? Is that a silly question? Is God running everything? If I don’t like it (how He’s running things), can I discard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith_based","category-inspire_lifter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4249"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4249"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4255,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4249\/revisions\/4255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}