Every where you look in the world today, you see poverty, sickness, hunger,
corruption, fear, unhappiness, just plain suffering.
From this many people claim that there cannot be a God, for if there were a
God, he would not allow all this suffering to occur, but God did not bring these
things upon us, humanity has brought them upon itself.
So why Does God Allow Suffering and Catastrophes?
The answer to this question would be, that the suffering and troubles in this
world is man’s fault, not God’s. When God made man in the beginning, there
was no suffering. God made a perfect world and provided for Adam and Eve's every
need. God's only requirement was that they not touch a single tree in the
garden. But once they disobeyed God’s command, they fell into sin, and as a
result, the world became a place of sin and suffering. So you see it is man’s
fault for the conditions the world is in. Yet God promised just the opposite of
these things if humanity would obey him.
For nearly 6,000 years humanity has been living in opposition to God and his
laws, but God has allowed this for a purpose. We have been instilled with free
moral agency, to freely choose between God's laws of love, and Satan's ways. In
this way we can experience the results of both, to make the choice of our own
free will. God wants people to come to him, but only of their own free will.
In living our life in opposition to the world, which is living according to
God's word, we develop within us a more god like character.
God has designated a six thousand year period of time for humanity to accept
either God's way, or Satan's way.
But there is a thousand year period of time coming in which Satan will be
bound, unable to deceive anyone. During this thousand year time frame, peace and
joy will return to all upon the earth, allowing mankind to look back and
compare.
Someday we will look back upon God's plan with understanding, a time when
suffering will no longer exist, unfortunately not every one will be able to
enjoy it, the choice is yours to make, but the time to make it is now. The human
mind cannot imagine the joy we will experience at the completion of God's plan,
1 Corinthians 2:9 "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love him."
God has never abandoned mankind, mankind has abandoned God, and suffering has
been a result of this. God has continually warned of suffering and disaster
coming unless we repent and obey.
Leviticus 26:14-17 "But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will
not do all these commandments; And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if
your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments,
but that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you; I will even
appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall
consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in
vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set my face against
you,"
Isaiah 9:16-17 "For the leaders of this people cause them to
err; and they that are led of them are destroyed. Therefore the Lord shall
have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless
and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth
speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is
stretched out still."
Isaiah 24:4-5 "The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world
languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have
transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting
covenant."
2 Esdras also known as 4 Ezra 7:3-14 "I said, "Speak, my
lord." And he said to me, "There is a sea set in a wide expanse so
that it is broad and vast, but it has an entrance set in a narrow place, so
that it is like a river. If any one, then, wishes to reach the sea, to look
at it or to navigate it, how can he come to the broad part unless he passes
through the narrow part? Another example: There is a city built and set on a
plain, and it is full of all good things; but the entrance to it is narrow
and set in a precipitous place, so that there is fire on the right hand and
deep water on the left; and there is only one path lying between them, that
is, between the fire and the water, so that only one man can walk upon that
path. If now that city is given to a man for an inheritance, how will the
heir receive his inheritance unless he passes through the danger set before
him?" I said, "He cannot, lord." And he said to me, "So
also is Israel's portion. For I made the world for their sake, and when Adam
transgressed my statutes, what had been made was judged. And so the
entrances of this world were made narrow and sorrowful and toilsome; they
are few and evil, full of dangers and involved in great hardships. But the
entrances of the greater world are broad and safe, and really yield the
fruit of immortality. Therefore unless the living pass through the difficult
and vain experiences, they can never receive those things that have been
reserved for them."
2 Esdras also known as 4 Ezra 8:1-3 "He answered me and said,
"The Most High made this world for the sake of many, but the world to
come for the sake of few. But I tell you a parable, Ezra. Just as, when you
ask the earth, it will tell you that it provides very much clay from which
earthenware is made, but only a little dust from which gold comes; so is the
course of the present world. Many have been created, but few shall be
saved."
