Pain and suffering presents possibly
the biggest obstacle of our earthly life. As believers, we want to be
good, we read the Bible and we long to have a relationship with God.
Then tragedy enters our lives and we grieve when the innocent child
suffers from abuse or a beloved parent suffers greatly from cancer.
We pray for God to save us from suffering and we don't understand why
he doesn't just fix it all. People wonder what is the reason we were put
here on this earth, in this place, with these people in this
circumstance. We must understand that in His infinite wisdom God has
a much higher purpose than we can possibly imagine from our limited
earthly view. C.S. Lewis explains that “God
whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts
in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Norman
Geisler of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, says that "God
is more interested in our holiness than in our happiness. He is more
interested in our character than in our comfort."
One key to understanding why there is
evil and why innocent suffer, is to also remember that we have faith
the size of only a mustard seed. We are to have blind faith in the
God of all creation. We must remember that God already has done
something about evil. He sent His only Son into the world to die for
the world and to defeat evil. This defeat began at Christ’s first
coming through His death and resurrection (Colossians 2:14, Hebrews
2:14, Ephesians 4:7-12). We must remember that the Bible accurately
predicted Christ’s first coming through nearly 100 fulfilled
prophecies, also promises that Christ will come again and will
completely defeat evil. Because of God's great love and sacrifice, we
now have a way to be reconciled with Him through Christ. This does
not mean that we'll no longer suffer in this world but it does mean
that we will spend eternity with God. Revelations 21:4 tells us, He will
wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or
mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed
away.
We know that Christ will return, and
God will then make everything right, by destroying evil for good. We
know that this will happen, until then, we must maintain our
relationship with God, trust in HIs love, and wait for our beautiful
life in Heaven to begin. This world is full of disaster, destruction
and death, but heaven will have none of these. John said: “And I
saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first
earth were passed away. … And God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor
crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things
are passed away” (Revelation 21:1, 4,).
