Why Do Bad Things Happen? And Why Are There Sufferings in This World?

 

This is a question I have pondered and asked myself from time to time and does not always have a satisfactory answer… until today.

But now I have a personal understanding of it and have it answered right deep in my heart. I want to remember this learning.

It’s because certain good thing can only happen when bad things happen.

It’s because love can only truly come through when bad things happen.

We may not fully understand why so many bad things and sufferings are happening in this world. But today I understood it and settled it. Thank you God for this glimpse into Your thought and for this understanding that was made personal.

God’s ways are not our ways. His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thought. But it will always be for good, even if at the moment, we can’t see it.

Good things can come out of bad things. God has a purpose for it.

God in His wisdom allow bad things to happen.

So many blessings that come our way. O Lord I thank you.

My God, my God, my real and living God. You have a name. Your name is Jesus. Thank you for answering me ❤️

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” - Romans 8:28

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord.

9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,

    so are my ways higher than your ways

    and my thoughts than your thoughts.” - Isaiah 55:8-9 

“How great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You.” - Psalm 31:19

“我们知道，上帝使万事互相效力，使那些爱上帝，就是上帝按自己的旨意呼召的人得益处。” - 罗马书 8:28

“8 耶和华说：“我的意念并非你们的意念，

我的道路并非你们的道路。

9 正如天高过地，

我的道路也高过你们的道路，

我的意念也高过你们的意念。” - 以赛亚书 55:8-9

“你的恩惠何其大——为敬畏你的人而预备，在世人面前赐给投靠你的人。” - 诗篇 31:19

In Loving Memory of Ah Ma

Today is the day of cremation. It felt like a second death - finality - with the body pushed into the burning furnace. Excruciating, but we should not depend on our feelings. The physical body is reduced to ashes, but God promises eternal life to those who trust in Jesus. In loving memory of Ah Ma, who is now in peace and joy with God in heaven, where there will be no more tears, pain and suffering.

"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his godly ones." - Psalm 116:5

Why did God allow suffering?

Why did God allow suffering? God, I used to be angry with you for the suffering in this world. But now, I no longer.

The greatest love is sometimes not about withholding suffering. The greatest love is going through the suffering with the person, and suffer alongside the person.

The easiest solution is just to remove suffering. No one suffers. No love needs to be shown. Life is easy. When life is easy, it is easy to love. That is self-love. True love is tested in the face of suffering.

Suffering shows the true heart of men. Many of us men fail miserably in the face of suffering, in the test of true love.

In face-to-face with suffering, I come to see my lack of growth and maturity. It shows that I have much to learn. Thank you for the continuing lesson.

God, You don't look the other way. You suffer alongside us. You are in pain, as much as we are in pain. By suffering alongside us, and winning the victory, You showed us the greatest love. Jesus didn't remove the suffering. He went through it courageously and came out victorious. For the love of mankind, He went through the suffering.

Sufferings

We asked God, "God, why all these sufferings that my granny has to go through?"

My granny is panting for breath.
My granny cannot eat as she cannot shallow.
My granny lies in bed.
(But she is mentally alert, and amazing her dementia seemed to have totally disappeared. She is so mentally alert.)

God asked, "My dear child, do you remember, when you were a child down with a cold and a fever, how your mum tender loving love, waking up and staying up with you in the night, sponging you with ice-cubes, made you feel so loved and cared for?"

Me: "Yes God, I remember, and I am doing it for Joshua now. If I haven't been down with cold and fever, I would not have experienced such tender loving parental love."

God: "Similarly, it is a chance for you to show tender loving care to your granny, to clean her, to make her feel comfortable."

Sufferings is a result of the fallen creation. God does not take delight with sufferings, but He sometimes allow it.

Late in the night, I asked my Auntie Siew Hong, how she is able to give up her job and work part-time, to clean my granny her mother-in-law, to stay up in the night to watch and hold my granny, day-after-day, night-after-night.

Auntie Siew Hong said that she couldn't do it by herself. It is by walking with Jesus everyday, that Jesus enables her to do it.

The depth of what human love can show is only tested in the depth of sufferings.

In sufferings, love is glorified.
In sufferings, God is glorified.

I look at my granny.

She looks so loved.

She looks like a baby, like a child bathed in parental love.

She smiles, she is pampered.

She is bathed in love. She is enjoying it. In the evening, when her eight children come to visit her, I could see that she really enjoy the evening. She is mentally so alert (perhaps God has granted her the alertness to enjoy this, as her dementia seemed to have amazingly disappeared), so happy to see her children. All these years, how she long for her children and her grand children to visit her, few came. Now they all come. She is so happy.

In the end, it doesn't seem like she is suffering.

She is enjoying all the love that she is receiving.

She is still panting for breath.
She still cannot eat and cannot swallow.
She is still lying in bed.
Despite that, she is not giving up on life, she is still treasuring it, and living it courageously.
And she seems to be enjoying all these love, all these visits, that she has longed for for years...

Yes God, I understood it now. We have to be thankful for this opportunity, for this time with my granny. Our sufferings have meaning, although we may not have fully grasped it yet. It will in your own time, God. For now, I thank you God that you have answered my question sufficiently.

In sufferings, love is glorified.
In sufferings, God is glorified.

Of course, we should not only gather together during such a crisis. But alas, such is the down side of human nature - we don’t learn in good times. But God worked everything for the good, He used it to pull the family closer together.

There is a lesson to be learned in everything that comes our way. We are learning it the hard way. But we are thankful for this extended time given to my granny, and this extended time given to us.

God helped us realized that what my granny is going through is an opportunity to show love. In the midst of sufferings, love increased. Bonding tend to take place in the midst of sufferings. It helped the whole extended family to come together and unite the whole family.

Reflection: Why Does God Allow Evil and Suffering in the World (Part 2)

Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

 

"The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did hte weeds come from?'

 

"'An enemy did this,' he replied.

 

"The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'

 

"'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'"

- Matthew 13:24-29

As I mentioned in my previous post, I wanted to be able to explain to J why I believe in God. I wanted to be able to explain to him why there is evil and suffering in this world. I may not have all the right answers, but I want to have thought through and have my own opinion, that would encourage him to search out the answers. I don't want to say, "I don't know, and I don't have an opinion. It doesn't matter. Don't worry about such things," and dismiss it. I wanted to be ready to give an answer that speaks firmly of my conviction (1 Peter 3:15), especially to my own child, the conviction of why I believe in God and why I chose to be a Christian, and why I want to learn to love God. Thus, the search continues and this question has been on my mind. I cried out to God, "Why does He allow evil and suffering in this world?" Last night, there was anguish in my soul as I long to understand and find an answer.

Our God is high above, and we are down on earth. God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His Ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9). Yet, in His compassion and loving-kindness, He answered me directly and clearly this morning, as I opened my Bible to continue my weekly Bible reading from Matthew. There and there, God answered me with the passage from Matthew 13:24-29.

God explains in Matthew 13:24-29 the reason why evil and suffering exists in this world. God did not create evil, but the devil by sowing "weeds", sowing lies, first with Eve, then with Adam, and through Adam and Eve, us and the devil is still sowing weeds and deceit in this day. But if God removes evil (the weeds), He may pull up the good along with them (the wheats). As such, God is patient with us, not wanting anyone of us to perish, that He is putting up with evil in the world (2 Peter 3:9). God endures all these, so that more souls can be saved. To God whose time scale is limitless and infinite, a day is like a thousand year and a thousand year is like a day (2 Peter 3:8).

If God roots out all evil, there will be no one left, as we are all sinful and evil to various degree. Where should he draw the line? He is waiting until the harvest, because He is allowing us to grow and mature as seeds grow and matured into plants with fruits at harvest time. At harvest, which is in His time, He will then separate the good from the bad (the wheats from the weeds).

I should thank God for not pulling out the evil in the world yet, for so many of my loved ones are not saved yet. If He roots out evil now, none of them will have a chance. Thank you for answering me, dear God.

Whenever there is evil (weeds), there will be troubles. Whenever there are troubles, there will be sufferings. But the good news which gives us strength and hope is that God has overcome the world (John 16:33).

Though there are many innocents who suffered unjustly because of evil, God is concerned about saving souls for eternity. He lays down His life for sinners. God knows that the soul of those innocents, although to the extent of losing their lives on earth, are saved for eternity.

Because God is victorious and triumphant, God is able to use the evil that resulted from the devil and from our sinful nature, and turn it for the greater good and purpose, which with our temporal and limited eye-sight and understanding, we may not be able to understand.

In Matthew 13:37-43, God explains the Parable of the Weeds:

Man who sowed good seed = Son of Man
Field = The World
Wheat (good seed) = sons of the kingdom
Weeds (bad seed) = sons of the evil one
Enemy = The devil
Harvest = The end of the age
Harvesters = Angels

Being a human, I don't have 100% full understanding yet, but God's answer in Matthew 13:24-29 has so far provided a sufficient satisfactory answer the reason for evil and suffering to exist in this world, that enable me once more to trust in Him, in His ultimate goodness and triumphant over evil, in His wisdom and in His love. My heart is at ease, thanks be to God.

Why Does God Allow Evil and Suffering in the World (Part 1)

Seeing so much evil and sufferings in this world from the news on TV and in the newspapers, I could not help, but cry out to God, "God, why do you allow evil and suffering?"

How can I explain to J, when he gets older?

Here are some answers that I have found that I am archiving here:

http://www.gotquestions.org/God-allow-evil.html

http://www.josh.org/resources/study-research/answers-to-skeptics-questions/why-does-a-good-god-allow-evil-to-exist/

http://carm.org/why-does-god-allow-evil-and-suffering-world

http://www.christianpost.com/news/how-to-answer-why-would-god-allow-evil-68390/

http://rickwarren.org/devotional/english/why-does-god-allow-evil

http://www.christianbiblereference.org/faq_evil.htm

http://www.rationalchristianity.net/evil.html

http://www.allaboutgod.com/faq/why-did-god-create-evil.htm

http://www.compellingtruth.org/God-allow-evil.html

http://www.alwaysbeready.com/evil-and-suffering

http://www.focusonthefamily.com/faith/becoming_a_christian/is_christ_the_only_way/how_can_god_allow_so_much_evil_and_suffering.aspx

http://www.gci.org/spiritual/trials/evil

https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2012/07/why-does-god-allow-tragedy-and-suffering/

http://www.faithfacts.org/search-for-truth/questions-of-christians/how-can-god-allow-evil-and-suffering

http://www.strangenotions.com/why-does-god-allow-sin-and-suffering/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deepak-chopra/why-does-god-allow-evil_1_b_3132370.html

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/why-does-god-allow-sin-and-suffering

http://mercyonline.net/2013/08/26/from-his-side-blood-and-water-flowed/

http://www.exploregod.com/why-does-god-allow-pain-and-suffering?gclid=Cj0KEQjw8aeiBRCknPXk-u_V_4gBEiQAD2-mgS1zOV8N8i4X6QBmkLCK6j-ipkvl49A4t6Oh8oYYDtsaApZ78P8HAQ