Monday, August 4, 2008

Add'l. Oberservations on Evil & Suffering


Some pain & suffering may be necessary. Pain can be a learning light- lets you see that something is wrong. Example: lepers can’t feel pain, so can do a lot of damage by picking up hot or sharp items.

This includes not only physical pain – can be psychological, mental, spiritual, emotional.

Pain is written into us to protect our body and our heart.

IF some pain is necessary, where do we draw the line.

Without evil and suffering in the world, we miss out on a lot of valuable things:

A. Compassion B. Sympathy C. Mercy D. sense of justice E. sense of righteousness, etc.

These things would not exist without evil and suffering – there would be no need.

This is NOT the best of possible worlds, but may be the BEST ROUTE to the best of possible worlds. The world to come is the best of possible worlds.

We see appreciation for the means to get to the best of possible worlds – ie: what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.

This is all speculation, but based on God’s Word.

We need to recognize:

1. We should be part of the solution to pain and evil.

2. We contribute to the pain and suffering in the world.

All sin and come short of God’s glory. Therefore we act and react in sinful manner many times.

To have a world with no sin, God would have to take away our free will.

You can’t have free choice AND a world with not sin. There is no security in heaven – our security is in Jesus.

Those who make it a habit to help those who are suffering deal with suffering better themselves.

Helping others in times of disaster turns you from a victim into a rescuer. We are created to help and do for others as well as for self.

We all going to have pain and grief and suffering in our life sometimes. When we suffer well, we inspire others. We should try to handle suffering in a way that honors God, and inspires others.

Don’t grieve as as those who have no hope, but grieve well.

In addition to asking “Why?” we should ask, “Now what (can I do)?”

There comes a point in our grief and suffering when we should ask, “Now what?” “How should I respond?” “What should I do now?”

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