Why does God allow suffering?

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

TMS

Senior Member
Mar 21, 2015
3,947
1,270
113
Australia
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Things not seen,....
Sometimes we need to be humble enough to accept that we don't know all things. Humble enough to be taught or to not be taught, and God has hidden things from us for good reasons. I believe that i can ask God questions in the future and He will give me answers that i'm perfectly content with. Sometimes we need to accept that we do not know all and that we can only understand by Gods grace. By faith i believe. All was perfect --- sin entered ---- pain and suffering entered, ---- salvation entered.

We have a choice.....
 

DesertWanderer

Active member
Nov 17, 2019
366
201
43
61
New Mexico, USA
Bad things happen because we asked to be here following satan and to be about ourselves separated from God.

God is only going to allow the people He knows into Heaven, so stop sinning.
I disagree with you on both these points. I would refer you to the book of Job for the first one.

Godly people who are righteous and walk upright can still be afflicted by hardship, pain, and agony. That's what Job went through. Yet his friends wrongly accused him of sinning.

The point is, our behavior could be stellar, and yet, we can go through a period of suffering. And God is the only one who knows why.

To your second point, I would love to stop sinning altogether. I hate my sin; it makes me sick to my stomach.

However, on my own, it isn't going to happen. And the more I try, the more I sin. So, I chose to follow a Savior who washes me every day when I wake up and just before I go to bed. So, I'm constantly being cleansed.

You may not need that, but I do since my thoughts alone are vile and putrid, and my flesh is in constant conflict. On my own, I am rotten to the core.

So, I told the Father when I was 12 that I needed a Savior, and I've needed Him ever since. As much as I would love to be perfect, I just can't get to Heaven on my own.
 

Blik

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2016
7,312
2,428
113
Godly people who are righteous and walk upright can still be afflicted by hardship, pain, and agony. That's what Job went through. Yet his friends wrongly accused him of sinning..
I agree with this point. We live in a world of sin, and as we are told the rain falls on all people the same. God even allows others to harm us rather than take away their freedom to choose their own way.

Yet, God uses whatever happens to us for our good. Job and all Godly people have the strength and spirit of the Lord available to them for help to cope with their suffering.
 

notuptome

Senior Member
May 17, 2013
15,050
2,538
113
God allows suffering to refine us and make us pure and holy in His sight. It is to refine our testimony and glorify God. God is purging the dross from us that we might shine for His glory.

For the cause of Chrisst
Roger
 
Feb 2, 2021
3
5
3
Pain and suffering is minuscule in the flow of time. It is fleeting. God gave us free will, and some of us humans choose to hurt others. Sometimes it’s because that is all they know, or how they were raised. We actually become stronger when we’ve suffered and fought through hard times. When we choose to stay with God, or to find him for the first time when bad things are happening we show our strength, love, and faith in God. When our physical bodies are done and we return to God’s embrace, that is what lasts forever. There will be no more suffering and pain. We will be home. It isn’t that God allows bad things to happen it’s that we have chosen to live in the world.
 
Oct 19, 2020
723
161
43

Read through all of Joe's Threads. It's a complete evolution of his own Theories explained in Scientific Method. I have actually enjoyed the attempt he's made, but I am aware that Joe's mind is more focused upon the finite intricacies of the biomolecular world and its connections with cause/effect to the energy flow [good/evil] and its history of [positive/negative] results.
 
Jan 21, 2021
2,852
318
83
I disagree with you on both these points. I would refer you to the book of Job for the first one.

Godly people who are righteous and walk upright can still be afflicted by hardship, pain, and agony. That's what Job went through. Yet his friends wrongly accused him of sinning.

The point is, our behavior could be stellar, and yet, we can go through a period of suffering. And God is the only one who knows why.

To your second point, I would love to stop sinning altogether. I hate my sin; it makes me sick to my stomach.

However, on my own, it isn't going to happen. And the more I try, the more I sin. So, I chose to follow a Savior who washes me every day when I wake up and just before I go to bed. So, I'm constantly being cleansed.

You may not need that, but I do since my thoughts alone are vile and putrid, and my flesh is in constant conflict. On my own, I am rotten to the core.

So, I told the Father when I was 12 that I needed a Savior, and I've needed Him ever since. As much as I would love to be perfect, I just can't get to Heaven on my own.
Jesus and the Holy Spirit are with us right now. God the Father is the creator. He is who I'm talking about. We have Jesus as our bridge to God.