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.
I read a book by Larry Crabb recently that was quite different from the other's that I've read by him before. This book was called "Shattered Dreams - God's Unexpected Pathway to Joy", and I think it was different because it was something that Dr. Crabb had personally experienced and very intimately touched him. The book was much easier to follow, in my opinion, than the others I had read by him.
Most people believe that joy and happiness are the same thing. If we have material things to make us comfortable such as a big house, a new car, a great job than we'll have joy. Maybe having a loving husband or wife and obedient children is what's necessary. But while those things might make us happy, they don't necessarily lead to joy.
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!".
Sometimes God will let us experience pain and suffering so that we don't become too satisfied with our current lifestyle. He also realizes that we can get very busy trying to maintain that "happy" lifestyle, and that will also limit the joy we will find by having relationship with Him. What happens when we experience this pain? Most of us will do whatever we can to get rid of it.
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. - 16463
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.
I read a book by Larry Crabb recently that was quite different from the other's that I've read by him before. This book was called "Shattered Dreams - God's Unexpected Pathway to Joy", and I think it was different because it was something that Dr. Crabb had personally experienced and very intimately touched him. The book was much easier to follow, in my opinion, than the others I had read by him.
Most people believe that joy and happiness are the same thing. If we have material things to make us comfortable such as a big house, a new car, a great job than we'll have joy. Maybe having a loving husband or wife and obedient children is what's necessary. But while those things might make us happy, they don't necessarily lead to joy.
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!".
Sometimes God will let us experience pain and suffering so that we don't become too satisfied with our current lifestyle. He also realizes that we can get very busy trying to maintain that "happy" lifestyle, and that will also limit the joy we will find by having relationship with Him. What happens when we experience this pain? Most of us will do whatever we can to get rid of it.
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. - 16463
About the Author:
Matt Hellstrom is a husband and father of five wonderful adopted children. Here are some tips for effective parenting skills that Matt and Julie have learned in the last 15 years. You can also read his opinion about why bad things happen to good people.
