Why does God allow suffering? This is the age-old question of Christians and non-Christians alike, and it's unlikely to be answered to anyone's satisfaction this side of heaven. Even though I'm just an ordinary guy, I'd like to take a stab at it.
I believe I'm like most people. I want to be comfortable, happy and safe. I want to have enough money to pay my bills, to help my kids with college, and to go on a vacation once in a while. I want to be healthy. What's wrong with that? Why wouldn't God want the same things for me? Well, I believe it's because He want much, much more for me!
Larry Crabb has written many highly-acclaimed books including "Finding God", "Inside Out", and "The Marriage Builder". In addition to being a best-selling author, Dr. Crabb is a psychologist and counselor. I've read several of his books. They are all very good, but some of them are kind of hard to follow because they are written at a very deep level.
"Shattered Dreams" is a book by Dr. Crabb that is different than the others. I recently discovered it and found it to be much easier to read than "Finding God", for example. I believe that this is because he experienced what he wrote in this book personally, and that the subject matter was extremely important to him.
In "Shattered Dreams", Dr. Crabb explains that happiness and joy are not the same thing, and although most of us want happiness, God actually knows that this isn't the best for us. We believe that it's important to have plenty of money, good health, a nice car or house, a happy family, and so forth.
God wants us to find joy in a different place - in relationship with Him. If you can achieve that relationship and still have the above-mentioned happiness, that's great! I don't think they are necessarily exclusive of each other. After all, God does want us to have good things. The Bible says "If you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!".
You see, when we achieve that point of supposed happiness, where we have the earthly things that we desire, sometimes we become content with that and don't seek God anymore. Or we might become so involved in hanging onto that happiness that it consumes all of our time, and keeps us from relationship with God. Therefore, God is willing to allow to experience some suffering to build that relationship. How we react to this pain is what determines whether we'll have joy or not. Most of us will do whatever is necessary to minimize the pain.
Dr. Crabb writes in "Shattered Dreams" that we need to feel that pain, which might include mourning and grieving, to encounter God. It's only in the middle of these tribulations, and when we get through them, that we are able to find the true joy that we seek in our heart and that God wants us to have. While it's not any fun to go through this pain, Larry asserts that this is the only way we will experience true joy. This, I believe, is the reason that God allows suffering and why bad things happen to good people.
I believe I'm like most people. I want to be comfortable, happy and safe. I want to have enough money to pay my bills, to help my kids with college, and to go on a vacation once in a while. I want to be healthy. What's wrong with that? Why wouldn't God want the same things for me? Well, I believe it's because He want much, much more for me!
Larry Crabb has written many highly-acclaimed books including "Finding God", "Inside Out", and "The Marriage Builder". In addition to being a best-selling author, Dr. Crabb is a psychologist and counselor. I've read several of his books. They are all very good, but some of them are kind of hard to follow because they are written at a very deep level.
"Shattered Dreams" is a book by Dr. Crabb that is different than the others. I recently discovered it and found it to be much easier to read than "Finding God", for example. I believe that this is because he experienced what he wrote in this book personally, and that the subject matter was extremely important to him.
In "Shattered Dreams", Dr. Crabb explains that happiness and joy are not the same thing, and although most of us want happiness, God actually knows that this isn't the best for us. We believe that it's important to have plenty of money, good health, a nice car or house, a happy family, and so forth.
God wants us to find joy in a different place - in relationship with Him. If you can achieve that relationship and still have the above-mentioned happiness, that's great! I don't think they are necessarily exclusive of each other. After all, God does want us to have good things. The Bible says "If you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!".
You see, when we achieve that point of supposed happiness, where we have the earthly things that we desire, sometimes we become content with that and don't seek God anymore. Or we might become so involved in hanging onto that happiness that it consumes all of our time, and keeps us from relationship with God. Therefore, God is willing to allow to experience some suffering to build that relationship. How we react to this pain is what determines whether we'll have joy or not. Most of us will do whatever is necessary to minimize the pain.
Dr. Crabb writes in "Shattered Dreams" that we need to feel that pain, which might include mourning and grieving, to encounter God. It's only in the middle of these tribulations, and when we get through them, that we are able to find the true joy that we seek in our heart and that God wants us to have. While it's not any fun to go through this pain, Larry asserts that this is the only way we will experience true joy. This, I believe, is the reason that God allows suffering and why bad things happen to good people.
About the Author:
Matt Hellstrom is a husband and dad to five beautiful adopted kids. Here are some tips for effective parenting skills that Matt and Julie have learned in the last 15 years. You can learn his feelings about why bad things happen to good people. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service
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