It seems whenever there arise
instances of human suffering, God is the first one to be blamed for not doing
anything to eradicate it. People experience the atrocities of war, catastrophic
illness, natural disasters, famine, and the like. We become angry at God for
not intervening to stop the suffering or we stop believing in Him altogether
unable to reconcile how a loving and all powerful God could allow His children
to suffer so much.
The truth is that God never
intended humanity to suffer and certainly did not create the circumstances by
which suffering entered the world. We did! God created a perfect world full of
everything we could ever need or want. God’s will for us was, and still is, perfect
happiness and well-being. At the moment mankind strayed from His will, the ingredients for every form of human
suffering entered our world. What do I mean by this? Well let’s take a look at
how different forms of sin attributed to human suffering.
With regard to the suffering
created by war. Think of the sins that would cause us to impose our wills on
the lives of others by force; thinking of others as less human because of race
or ethnicity; to unlawfully take possession of the property of others by force;
This is not God’s doing but the exercise of our free will choice not to love our
neighbor the way God loves us. We act outside of His will! His fault? Not!
What about illnesses such as
cancer? The resources God provided us with initially were pure and good for our
health and well-being. The water and food provided by God was all we required to
nourish and sustain us. It is when man fueled by greed and pride began to alter
God’s perfect providence, not with the pure intention of benefiting mankind,
but intending rather to benefit his bank account. Over time, harmful chemicals were
introduced and other injurious farming techniques served to deplete nutrients
from our food were introduced, many of which were driven by a desire to increase
the profit margin and not the quality of the produce. We began to pollute our
water sources and the food sources within them with the poison chemicals
produced by greedy manufacturers while never giving much thought about the
impact it would have on the health of humankind. Once again greed, power, and
control. How was this God’s fault?
Think of the money, energy, and
resources that have been spent on the proliferation of weapons and methods to
annihilate one another rather than assist one another. How is this God’s fault?
If the money, energy, and resources spent on destroying one another were
applied to helping and loving one another, I dare say that the suffering caused
by war, famine, and illness would be dramatically decreased. I don’t think one
person on earth would ever have to go hungry, thirsty, or without health care
or shelter!
Look at the cultural and
political division of our time. Pride, greed, self-aggrandizement, and corruption
are at the heart of the division we are experiencing, a division in which
nothing can get accomplished to make the world a better place in which to live.
We can tremendously help to
eliminate much human suffering and strife if we put our selfish, prideful
agendas away and begin to work together for the common good. This is what God
wills for mankind. Politicians and leaders of countries, do you hear what I am
saying? Abandon your pride, humble yourself and repent. Ask God to help us work
together for the common good. Ask for wisdom and all the virtue necessary to
lead in a way that brings us together for the good of all mankind! This is God’s
will and He will say yes to those prayers. God’s grace is always available to
us. We only need cooperate with that grace!
“if my people who are called by
my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14
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