Did you ever have people say to you, "If God is good why is there suffering in the world?" Yes, the age old problem of suffering, the one that makes people question whether God could ever be good and let it go on. And you don't have to look far at all today to see suffering. It is all around, it is horrific, it lets no one out of its grasp. I could not even give justice to the answer here but I can say in defense of my God, I know He is good. I know He takes no pleasure in seeing men suffer, I know He has provided a solution to man's suffering.
As I continued in my Psalm study I came across Psalm 5:4 which says:
"For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: Neither shall evil dwell with Thee."
That verse brought me comfort, because it reminds me of God's holiness, God's purity. He does not have any morbid pleasure in seeing men hurting on this earth. If you study other holy books of other religions you may find some rules and injunctions that would seem less than pure. Some religions ask their adherents to make sacrifices, but true Christianity saw the suffering and sacrifice of One Man only, the just One for the unjust.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit
The Psalmist asks if the throne of wickedness can ever be in fellowship with God's throne in Psalm 94:20:
"Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, Have fellowship by You (God)?
Psalm 101:7 emphatically tells us "He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence."
But in Christianity we read of a sinless Lamb offering Himself without spot for us on the cross. It doesn't ask us to wash ourselves ritually or say a number of prayers or bow a certain direction before approaching God. It says "DONE."
Hebrews 10:12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,
Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
It is the evil one, the one who is the father of lies, who has caused the suffering in this world. Men, when they listen to the liar, perpetuate his misery on themselves and others. And so the cycle of suffering continues. God in His holiness can have no fellowship with the evil one.
Do you see how the Pharisees listened to the liar and how satan used them to speak to Jesus when they went so far as to accuse Him of healing a demon possessed, blind and mute man by the power of Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons in Matthew 12: 22-32? That was the final straw. Their accusation was a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which there would be no forgiveness for in verse 32. The Holy Son of God could no more have communion with demons than His Father could.
God in His infinite wisdom sees each person in this world of misery here. And if there be anyone who would cry out to Him in their hour of need He is sure to hear them, no matter where they are, no matter what they have been told before by the liar.
Isa 45:22 "Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I [am] God, and [there is] no other.
If He sees they have a spark of wanting to know Him, He will get the gospel to them. That is why John 7:17 has always been a special verse to me:
{Jesus speaking}"If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority."
We know who the liar is. He has been telling lies ever since the Garden of Eden, when he told Eve in Genesis 3:1, "Has God indeed said...?"
So many, when they behold the carnage before them, that is when they shake their fist heavenward and start the blame game. Of course it must be God's fault. Oh no, think again, please, think again.
Someday, if we choose God's path, we will come to understand with perfect clarity. For today, our part is to trust that our God is good.
1 John 1:5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
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