How Can God Be Loving and Still Allow Suffering?

Everyone wonders, "If He is love, why doesn't He end suffering?" It can be all too easy to be ignorant about this question and say God doesn't exist or say God isn't loving. But for true believers who receive these questions from people trying to disprove God's love, or worse, His existence, we fall confused when we rely on our flesh and subconsciously allow the enemy to make us question God. Suffering can actually be used for good rather than evil:

• Suffering brings us down to our knees, so we are left seeking out God for help and healing. We then realize how much we need Him, and yet He gives us grace, mercy, hope, everlasting love, and freedom rather than dictating us. Cling to Him and His promises.

• Suffering can help us remember that God is real and loving because He is the only one there for us giving us the peace, hope, love, and healing we need and only He can offer.

• We are not perfect, thus pain is among the various consequences of living in a fallen world and not being faultless. For example, do not be surprised if you get injured in a car accident (and have a lot of bills) as a result of your speeding. You live and you learn, eh?

• Suffering as a result of others' actions such as war, rape, and natural disasters find a vast amount of pain, yet there is often a glimpse of hope. Even the slight glimpse of hope can change everything. For example, you flee your war-torn country and find a better life that makes your family, and you as an individual, stronger, and you meet powerful people in the process who help your family start this new and improved life.

• Suffering can help us relate more to God, after all, the Son suffered for us.

• God did not spare His Son on the topic of suffering, so why should He spare His sinful children?

• Our standard of ending suffering and evil is different than God's. Yes, we regard rape as sinful and evil, but do we also regard lust, greed, selfishness, lies, drunkenness, etc as evil and sinful? Without suffering, I believe earth would actually be perfect and that is just not possible anymore. In order for God to remove suffering, He would have to remove us.

• Suffering on earth helps us long for eternity where it is so perfect that there is no such thing as tears.

Think outside the box and think deeper because there you will find that He can and does work things out for the better. Sometimes, unbeknownst to ourselves, we leave Him no option but to take us through painful experiences to lead us to a healthier life. No, He does not enjoy seeing us suffer, but "God sometimes takes us into troubled waters not to drown us but to cleanse us."