With the suffering or loss of a loved one or our own suffering in this human existence, even those who are not in what would be considered a close relationship with Christ will find them self praying to God asking why these things occur. “Why oh Lord, did you bring this upon me?”; “why did you allow this suffering?”; “why do you ignore my prayers?”; why did you not intercede for me?"
It is most common for us to blame our Lord for these pains and sufferings, whether of our lost loved ones or illnesses, but most often we do this without realizing God’s will and our suffering are conflicts in themselves.
Throughout the Old Testament many times we see cases of God’s wrath against the people of Israel or in punishment to those of a nation or society so corrupted that as a whole they have turned their back on Him. We have seen His punishment on those individuals who He selected as His prophetic representatives after placing them in a position of authority over His people as guides and messengers but who have sinned against him in some way that earned them His judgment, such as David and Bathsheba. For these things perhaps we assume God to be responsible for bringing each of us to some form of suffering or loss. But we should realize God’s direct wrath has been directed against whole fallen societies, or His chosen representatives who fall to sin while entrusted to lead a people, not individuals. That we face at our final Judgment. We as individuals are given the freedom to choose to amend our life just as we are given the free will to disregard Him. Let us reconsider God’s original intent for us.
Our Heavenly Father did not intend nor does He take pleasure in the losses or sufferings during our life. He intended us to choose to live in Paradise. If our choices in life bring on suffering, it is by our own choosing we face the results. His compassion is for us not against us. It should be a deep awareness that we never forget He sent His only begotten Son to live and die undergoing the same experiences we endure, the loss of loved ones we morn and the sufferings we endure including death. Jesus felt all the same emotions we feel. He wept over the death of loved ones such as Lazarus and the sins that he saw of man kind as in the Garden before His passion to name a few sorrows. He suffered the pain of horrid torture, humiliation, and death as an innocent man convicted illicitly, without cause and condemned to death by the race He had chosen and loved as His own family, brothers and sisters. But can we imagine suffering as He did by the hands of those we love and would die for? Do we imagine suffering as He did and by our loved ones?
Everything He experienced through suffering and loss He did to know and share with us the lives we live and the experiences we endure. He accepted this experience for us to know our journey our pains our weaknesses and our temptations, to offer us the direction of how we should live our lives as intended so that we one day may regain what our first parents gave away, and so that every man may be saved through His life, passion, death and resurrection, even though at our own hands and by our sins.
God gave us a free will to choose personally what He offered or what we chose to pursue. Adam and Eve would not have suffered, but for the sake of pride they chose to seek a knowledge they had no need of. They defied His direction knowing the warning God gave them. The results of that disregard we experience throughout our lives, but again, we suffer them because of the heritage of our free will and the misuse of that freedom. This is where loss and suffering comes from, not the desire of God, but the choices of man. So why does God allow these things? Because neither the choice of Adam and Eve, nor our own poor choices, does He ever take away our free will. Love without free will to choose Him or walk away in self indulging pursuits is manipulation and control, not true love by choice.
Whether we are suffering or victimized or have lost a loved one, when we pray, He hears us. Can He intercede? Of course He can. At times we may see that intersession. But if He were to intercede routinely in the affects of the chosen life we elected disregarding His direction, less would be learned or realized from our suffering and losses and less appreciation, empathy, love and compassion would be given toward others who should be dear to us not by familial relationships, but as Children equally of God. The degradation of our bodies with age, the illnesses we suffer, the pains of loss, are all experiences that should guide us to a greater appreciation not only for what we once had offered to us and lost at our own choosing, but provide us direction to regain what is offered to us Eternally.
Illness and death are part of that natural human imperfection we inherited from the choices of our first parents. We continue to exercise our free will yet many times in defiance of God’s direction, but we are always given the same freedom to amend our life through His mercy and compassion for us. Jesus suffered more than we could ever imagine by His submission to us. Our suffering then gives us the opportunity to offer our pain for Him, even though we did not take it on by our own personal choice in most cases. This is what the saying “offer it up to God” truly means. “Lord God, though I suffer with this loss or illness, allow me while I suffer to offer this pain to you as you offered your passion for me.” We certainly can pray for God’s intercession and do receive it at times but it is reasonable to consider which would be the greater good to come from it. Also, God’s intercession is not usually so obvious that without awareness we would recognize it. But praying for the guidance that would lead us to relief of our suffering whether by a medical doctor or natural healing is more appropriate than asking for an obvious miraculous recovery. For one reason it could become a test of God. Wouldn't it be conceivable we may also become expectant of Him to intercede in all cases which could lead to greater resentment and separation on our part if we do not receive miraculous interventions in our future crises? It is by our nature we have taken on suffering and by our nature through man’s God entrusted gifts He can provide us relief if for the overall good. But even illness leading to death is eminent at some point.
Finally, those of use who suffer the loss of a loved one, child parent or otherwise, prematurely and by the hands of another person, must not be deceived into believing such happenings are God’s desire nor should He be “blamed” for such evil. Acts of evil that are brought on by man are again man’s expression of free will to choose what is good or what is evil or satanic. God does not take that freedom away from any man but such is a self condemnation for the one who performs such evil. Justice is then to the Lord’s judgment. Acts of evil victimizing another person either resulting in suffering, permanent injury or death are just that and not by the hand or will of God. But such acts of victimization are not left without the greater good being served by the will of God. We do not often realize the affects of such evil acts but many lives are affected by the victimization of one which can have a salvific affect on those exposed to such losses. Although God can intervene in the results of the evil act, He does not remove the free will of man to attempt or commit the act. God’s intervention is not something to be tested and is not always known. We are made to the image and likeness of God but have degraded ourselves through free will from the very beginning. Our lives are not punishment; they are a gift to share in the love of God and regain what we lost in the beginning. God always hears our prayers, knows the beauty He has waiting for us in our second eternal life, and provides what is the best for all of us in the future we can not see.
It is most common for us to blame our Lord for these pains and sufferings, whether of our lost loved ones or illnesses, but most often we do this without realizing God’s will and our suffering are conflicts in themselves.
Throughout the Old Testament many times we see cases of God’s wrath against the people of Israel or in punishment to those of a nation or society so corrupted that as a whole they have turned their back on Him. We have seen His punishment on those individuals who He selected as His prophetic representatives after placing them in a position of authority over His people as guides and messengers but who have sinned against him in some way that earned them His judgment, such as David and Bathsheba. For these things perhaps we assume God to be responsible for bringing each of us to some form of suffering or loss. But we should realize God’s direct wrath has been directed against whole fallen societies, or His chosen representatives who fall to sin while entrusted to lead a people, not individuals. That we face at our final Judgment. We as individuals are given the freedom to choose to amend our life just as we are given the free will to disregard Him. Let us reconsider God’s original intent for us.
Our Heavenly Father did not intend nor does He take pleasure in the losses or sufferings during our life. He intended us to choose to live in Paradise. If our choices in life bring on suffering, it is by our own choosing we face the results. His compassion is for us not against us. It should be a deep awareness that we never forget He sent His only begotten Son to live and die undergoing the same experiences we endure, the loss of loved ones we morn and the sufferings we endure including death. Jesus felt all the same emotions we feel. He wept over the death of loved ones such as Lazarus and the sins that he saw of man kind as in the Garden before His passion to name a few sorrows. He suffered the pain of horrid torture, humiliation, and death as an innocent man convicted illicitly, without cause and condemned to death by the race He had chosen and loved as His own family, brothers and sisters. But can we imagine suffering as He did by the hands of those we love and would die for? Do we imagine suffering as He did and by our loved ones?
Everything He experienced through suffering and loss He did to know and share with us the lives we live and the experiences we endure. He accepted this experience for us to know our journey our pains our weaknesses and our temptations, to offer us the direction of how we should live our lives as intended so that we one day may regain what our first parents gave away, and so that every man may be saved through His life, passion, death and resurrection, even though at our own hands and by our sins.
God gave us a free will to choose personally what He offered or what we chose to pursue. Adam and Eve would not have suffered, but for the sake of pride they chose to seek a knowledge they had no need of. They defied His direction knowing the warning God gave them. The results of that disregard we experience throughout our lives, but again, we suffer them because of the heritage of our free will and the misuse of that freedom. This is where loss and suffering comes from, not the desire of God, but the choices of man. So why does God allow these things? Because neither the choice of Adam and Eve, nor our own poor choices, does He ever take away our free will. Love without free will to choose Him or walk away in self indulging pursuits is manipulation and control, not true love by choice.
Whether we are suffering or victimized or have lost a loved one, when we pray, He hears us. Can He intercede? Of course He can. At times we may see that intersession. But if He were to intercede routinely in the affects of the chosen life we elected disregarding His direction, less would be learned or realized from our suffering and losses and less appreciation, empathy, love and compassion would be given toward others who should be dear to us not by familial relationships, but as Children equally of God. The degradation of our bodies with age, the illnesses we suffer, the pains of loss, are all experiences that should guide us to a greater appreciation not only for what we once had offered to us and lost at our own choosing, but provide us direction to regain what is offered to us Eternally.
Illness and death are part of that natural human imperfection we inherited from the choices of our first parents. We continue to exercise our free will yet many times in defiance of God’s direction, but we are always given the same freedom to amend our life through His mercy and compassion for us. Jesus suffered more than we could ever imagine by His submission to us. Our suffering then gives us the opportunity to offer our pain for Him, even though we did not take it on by our own personal choice in most cases. This is what the saying “offer it up to God” truly means. “Lord God, though I suffer with this loss or illness, allow me while I suffer to offer this pain to you as you offered your passion for me.” We certainly can pray for God’s intercession and do receive it at times but it is reasonable to consider which would be the greater good to come from it. Also, God’s intercession is not usually so obvious that without awareness we would recognize it. But praying for the guidance that would lead us to relief of our suffering whether by a medical doctor or natural healing is more appropriate than asking for an obvious miraculous recovery. For one reason it could become a test of God. Wouldn't it be conceivable we may also become expectant of Him to intercede in all cases which could lead to greater resentment and separation on our part if we do not receive miraculous interventions in our future crises? It is by our nature we have taken on suffering and by our nature through man’s God entrusted gifts He can provide us relief if for the overall good. But even illness leading to death is eminent at some point.
Finally, those of use who suffer the loss of a loved one, child parent or otherwise, prematurely and by the hands of another person, must not be deceived into believing such happenings are God’s desire nor should He be “blamed” for such evil. Acts of evil that are brought on by man are again man’s expression of free will to choose what is good or what is evil or satanic. God does not take that freedom away from any man but such is a self condemnation for the one who performs such evil. Justice is then to the Lord’s judgment. Acts of evil victimizing another person either resulting in suffering, permanent injury or death are just that and not by the hand or will of God. But such acts of victimization are not left without the greater good being served by the will of God. We do not often realize the affects of such evil acts but many lives are affected by the victimization of one which can have a salvific affect on those exposed to such losses. Although God can intervene in the results of the evil act, He does not remove the free will of man to attempt or commit the act. God’s intervention is not something to be tested and is not always known. We are made to the image and likeness of God but have degraded ourselves through free will from the very beginning. Our lives are not punishment; they are a gift to share in the love of God and regain what we lost in the beginning. God always hears our prayers, knows the beauty He has waiting for us in our second eternal life, and provides what is the best for all of us in the future we can not see.
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