THE OLDEST QUESTION

Sometimes when you see all the madness of the world and all the hurting people and then strange senseless death happen to good people you cannot but help wonder, "why does God continue to allow suffering?". It is the oldest and deepest question from the dawn of time and will continue until the Second Coming of Christ.

Now I do not want to lead you astray and have you think I have a complete answer or an answer that will satisfy everyone or you who are reading this article at this moment. But I will give some thoughts I hope will give some comfort and insight from the Holy Bible, great thinkers, and my own reasoning.

First off we all live in a sin fallen world. (Romans 8:18-22) Even the prophet Habakkuk questioned the Lord about suffering. (Habakkuk 1:2-4) Job had his frustration with God and wanted answers. (Job 23:1-9) My reasoning tells me God has an answer to why He is allowing suffering here on earth and my mind is not strong enough to understand His answer so by shear faith I believe in the goodness and wisdom of God.

Even the very Messiah Jesus struggled with death (John 11:33-35) and suffering in this world (Luke 22:39-44 / Matthew 26:36-39) to the point an angel had to minister to him. All throughout the Holy Scriptures men and women struggled with this ancient question of why God allows suffering. I do not believe God minds us questioning Him and wrestling with such a weighty issue for He wants to interact with us. The best way I know how to deal with suffering is prayer and I pray even when I have no human words. (Romans 8:26-27)

I like the following quotes about suffering:
I have suffered too much in this world not to hope for another.
Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.
Helen Keller (1888-1968) American deaf and blind author

God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering.

Saint Augustine (354 AD -430) Theologian

Some of the smallest of acts can bring great comfort to the suffering. We do not have to understand God's wisdom for allowing suffering to be a force of overcoming suffering.

Let us aspire to be of great comfort to the suffering and dying even though we do not have all the answers to this fallen state of humanity; for in the end it may be us who are to be God's answer to suffering.

Comments

POISONING THE FRUITS OF THE HOLY BIBLE

The Holy Bible has many beautiful truths within its pages and the most wonderful story in the world of how a loving and gracious God came from Heaven to Earth to save us from sin and ourselves. What I have seen that saddens my heart is when men and women distort the Bible's precious truths. Sometimes they play mental gymnastics with a rubicon of verses to put together their own view of a topic and make the Bible appear to support their side. Both the liberal and conservative Christians do it and even those who are not even believers play this game. People who want all answers to life and faith but only from the Bible are some of the most toxic and unhappy people I know. Where is their Christlike love? Jesus dealt with this kind of mindset in his mortal time on earth and they were called Pharisees. We must be willing to take the Bible as it is written and what the writers led by the Holy Spirit meant. We must be authentic and transparent. Some things in the Bible are uncomfo...

CATHOLIC TENDENCIES

Ever since I was introduced to the Catholic Church I have been fascinated by this body of the Christian faith. One thing that has stuck with me that I admire is the unashamed strength to stand up for what they believe and back it up with The Three Pillars of the Church. Now for those who do not know The Three Pillars, they are number one, Sacred Scripture which comprises the Old Testament and New Testament in a total of seventy-three books. Next is the Apostolic Tradition which is the Living Tradition and the liturgies. Thirdly, The Living Magisterium which is the teaching authority of the Pope in Communion with the Bishops. So what brought this topic up for me is listening to a podcast by Fr. Mike Schmitz denouncing the opening in France of the Olympics when blasphemy was committed by mocking The Last Supper of Jesus Christ. I know some of you are thinking this is already old news. At the time, so many wrote and talked about it that I felt it would be overkill if I wrote about i...

TRAVELING WITH ROMA TO ROME

Throughout my years with Roma, I have dragged her through so many different church doors to either preach or play music for, or simply to explore. She has been a really good sport about it all. But last month she came to me and told me from the heart that before she dies she wants to be Catholic. Channeling my inner Baptist long-windedness I will share with you a very tender and private story of faith. Roma grew up going to St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church. She went to school there and worshipped there too. When she came of age she wanted to be Catholic and her mother would not allow it. She was heartbroken. She eventually went to the Episcopal Church as a compromise. But in our intimate talks recently she shared deep down she wants to be Catholic before she dies. This has been a lifelong buried desire of hers. I love her and so I have been working on seeing if I can make this happen for her through my contacts that I have. I would naturally join with her so she is not...

Rewired for the Journey

Search This Blog