Examples

Covid 19 - Dr. Lorna Breen was at the beginning.

Large # of deaths

overwhelming conditions

Dr. Breen contracted it. April 26 took her life

Gabby Patento: 22 yr old boyfriend Brian Launry

Reported missing in 2021 after a nationwide search. Died of strangulation a homicide

Found Brian’s body later with a note.

Sandy Hook - young Boy, Jessie Lewis

26 people died and 20 were 6 and 7 year old

Jessie was 6. Dec 14, 2012

Gun entered. Gun jammed. Jessie told his classmate to run. Jessie did not make it

Jessie mom experience tremendous grief

QUESTION ASKED:

What do you say to someone who asked the question “Why does God allow Us to Suffer.

Fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, other mass shootings, substance abuse, abandonment, murder, rape, incest, discrimination, human trafficking, hatred and evil.

We live in a fallen world

Job 14:1 ESV

“Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.

WORLD VIEW

God is a Deist

God is handing out retributive justice

Job’s friends

John 9:1–3 ESV

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Some believe since there is so much suffering there is no God

Why Does God Allow Us to Suffer?

The answer is in the question - ALLOW

Allow implies the one who is in control to have an indirect responsible

Allow implies the one who is in control is sovereign and has an indirect responsibility

God did not cause the suffering

1. God is Love

1 John 4:8 ESV

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

This means that God understands us and the sacrificial love he made

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

As a loving a benevolent God - He can only do what is in our best interest. As a matter of fact because God is who God is, it is impossible to do anything that’s not in our best interest.

Matthew 7:11 ESV

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

2. God is Omnipotent

Genesis 18:13–14 ESV

The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Jeremiah 32:17 ESV

‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.

God can do anything except that which is contrary to his nature

So God cannot lie, sin, cease to exist because He is eternal

He cannot create a square circle, a one-side triangle, a married bachelor, nothing can exist and not exist at the same time.

3. God is Omniscient

Job 12:13 ESV

“With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding.

Psalm 104:24 ESV

O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

1 John 3:20 ESV

for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

God’s knowledge is perfect and complete

Given this God knows every possible world that could have been created and created this one.

God is love and gave use free-will

God has given us redemption to everyone who wants it

What we say then to those who are suffering

Sorry this is happening to you

Sorry and you’re praying for them

When people are in an emotional state it is not a time for logic

Don’t say that Lauren’s suicide was a sin (Do be like Job’s friends)

Don’t Use Logic