I would like to facilitate a discussion by posting your comments to this blog. An undisclosed person who is very close to me made the following statement in a letter:
I don't know why God allows Children to suffer...I would like to find an answer to that for myself. But I don't believe all suffering serves a greater purpose.
So I would very much like to hear from you all regarding this question: does all suffering serve a greater purpose?
Please be conscience of the fact that you are posting to a public website. Please know that I am going to explore this question as well (I have no predetermined answer) and hope to respond to the person who wrote this to me. Your input, insight, and thoughts are much appreciated.
Michael
7 comments:
Jesus made the greatest sacrafice for us by suffering & ultimately giving His life for our sin. If we never experienced extreme sorrow, how would we know what great joy was? What would we have to look forward to in Heaven, if life on Earth had no pains & no sufferings.
God has a plan in everything that he does. Maybe it's to strengthen the unity of His people, maybe it's to weed out the week, maybe it's a calling for believers & non-believers alike to unite for a common cause, for fellowship & a chance to spread His word?
Again, if we never had to experience pain & suffering & lived in a perfect world, there would be no reason to believe in God. Everyone experiences it, not just children!! It's worse for children due to the fact that they are brought into this world not by their own choice. They can't choose to be children of believers. That's a choice made for them by their parents. If everyone believed in & followed the word of God, I believe pain & suffering would decrease dramatically throughout the world.
God's purpose for us in life is to spread His word. What purpose would He have for us if everyone believed in Him?
All suffering serves a greater purpose in that suffering verifies the believer's genuine faith in the Lord. 1 Peter 6-7 (NIV): . . . . though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith -- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire -- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."
I hear a lot of pain in the question posed by the author of the letter Mike quotes. I feel like more concrete things can be said about the author's pain than about the pain of the child or children whose suffering prompted the question.
I would bet a carmel machiatto, which represents a significant portion of my paycheck, that the author is not primarily concerned with the "why" of suffering. When my parents explained why tonsils had to come out, it didn't make my throat hurt any less for the next few days. In the 1950's, several children died in an effort to test new polio vaccines, the later versions of which would go on to save a generation. Is that any consolation to the bereaved?
My guess is that the core concerns of the author could be phrased as follows: "Will suffering ever end? For those who have lost children or are watching them suffer, will our grief ever end? Is God really good?"
These are of course just my guesses about the author's state of mind, but my point is that questions like "why does God let children suffer" don't exist in a vacuum, and shouldn't be answered as if they do. So I say that the most helpful thing would be for people in life of the author of this letter to wait for the right opportunity (and it may be long in coming) to ask the author how the reality of suffering is challenging his/her beliefs about God. May God extend his healing hand to the author.
My friend John B replied to the question in this way:
'Thinking about that one - Jesus's lesson on pruning to make the grapes
even more full of life enters the mix. Critics might answer, "But they
are children."
Partially behind the question is some equation between human
intentionality and God's intentionality, i.e., if He loves us so much
why does he allow suffering, particularly for children. His ways not
our ways doesn't seem to yield a satisfactory answer. But the reason
it's not satisfactory is that we're only looking at this from a human
perspective, perhaps expecting God to not only explain his motives, but
act according to our logic.
There's also the implied logic behind the question that children should
somehow get off without suffering. The Bible tells us a different
message, while hard to handle, it comes back to the fact that as humans
we are inherently in a sinful condition and without His Son and His
redeeming Grace, the suffering we might experience on earth, regardless
of our age, is nothing compared to what we will experience forever
without His Love and Salvation.
Perhaps it's not for us to know why God allows children to suffer; it is
enough to know that he has given us his Son, Who suffered beyond
imagining and more than enough that we might have eternal life if we
believe and accept Him as our Lord and Savior.'
From my Friend Betty:
On the Suffering of Children
Bettye L. Elledge
Who of us hasn’t pondered this question? My first introduction to the question began when my baby brother suffered the crippling effects of polio at age four while I was yet a child of nine. Our family life was changed in an instant; each member suffering from his or her own position in the family. My father and mother’s faith, strength and dedication to the family was most fully manifested in response to the event of this suffering. I learned the deepest compassion for those who suffer, for those who are different. I grew up witnessing the response of church and community to the reality of my world. I came to understand God’s purpose for my life to serve Christ as one who strives to relieve the suffering of others and to bear my own suffering with strength, dignity, and even gratitude.
Does suffering serve a higher purpose? I can only answer “yes” because it has been so in my personal journey with God. I have served Christ throughout my life to relieve and intercede on behalf of suffering children, knowing this is the life for which I have been claimed. I did not choose the life; Christ Jesus, who suffered in my place that I might be assured of the end of all suffering, chose the life for me.
Suffering is the great equalizer in this world among human beings. No one passes through life without suffering. By it we come to know the true nature of God. Our ancestor, the Biblical Job is our ancient witness to the source of suffering, which comes from the presence of evil in this world. His story teaches us how to grow in our relationship and dependence upon the goodness of God. I join him in saying, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” Job 13:15 KJV
God, who is love and all that is lovely, suffers daily, and is present with us in our suffering. Children are the bravest and most faithful witnesses to His presence in suffering. I recommend reading “Journey Through Heartsongs” by Mattie J.T. Stepanek and other writings of this remarkable child whose entire life was filled with suffering. He shows us by his courage, his relationship with God; by his understanding of his personal call to be a peacemaker and author, that we can chose to make of our suffering, a ministry of Christ for others.
Prayer: Thank you Father, for Mattie’s life cut short by his suffering. Thank you for giving his story to us to keep us encouraged as we share the good news of your love and forgiving grace. Thank you for the sacrifice of your son Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, the suffering servant for all who will believe. May our suffering bring glory to you, by the strengthening of our faith and trust in your goodness; may we bring the light of truth which is witness to the power of your Holy Spirit to sustain, comfort and heal, into this world of darkness. Amen.
Romans 11:33 "Oh what a wonder full God we have! How great are his riches and wisdom and knowledge. How IMPOSSIBLE (I repeat, IMPOSSIBLE. Caps are mine)it is for us to understand his DECISIONS and METHODS." (Again, caps are mine).
We are all guilty of thinking that God is just like one of us and when something happens to someone we see on TV, read about in the newspaper, we know or who is close to us, especially little children, we want to shake our finger in His face and say, "Why would you do this to a little child????" We have no right to question God!!! He is the creator!!!! Don't forget, he allowed his only son to die the most painful and humilating death a person ever has or will ever experience!!!
Psalm 115:3 "Our God is in heaven, he does whatever He wants."
Ist Thessalonians 5:18 "No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."
Just because we are believers and we put all our faith in him doesn't mean everything is going to be rosy. We are still sinners, have since birth are now and will be until we get to heaven. That means we will go throught some bad times as well as good times and we must be faithful at all times.
Suffering is used for various things - but for a believer it is part of our sanctification - to be conformed to the image of Christ. Christ suffered and told us that we can be CERTAIN that if He suffered, then we would too.
We should as believers keep in mind Rom. 8:28 of course, Phil. 1:21, and all the rest of the entire Bible for that matter of course that God's ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. God's purpose in all things is to bring Glory to Himself.
Great topic!
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