It is really a question that most people have but just shove under the carpet because they feel if they question God they aren't being good christians. God isn't an idiot...he knows that we don't understand these things and I believe that he is ok with it. Just as when Lyris and Ollie don't understand some decisions you make. I mean, for real...why won't he help a cute little kid who is crying out to him...I guess that is what faith is...believing what he says even though we can't always see it. Perhaps our image of his love is distorted...like we are dysfunctional so we can't feel/see his love even though he is giving it.

I think that while we suffer, Gods suffers with us. But I could be wrong!
Dan

for me it's the difference between temporal and eternal. lyric has been healed as of today. someday all the pain will go away. in the immediate time, all sorts of bad things are going on, but given eternity that stuff will be sorted out and the pain and tears will give way to joy and strength.

(i know this doesn't necassarily help you, I'm just sharing how I deal with it.)

While I said earlier that no answer brings me comfort, I also want to say that I'm not looking for comfort from you who are reading and posting. I'd just love to hear how each person deals with the issue.

For instance, the above three posts are all different, and all of great worth. I find it amazing that there are so many people and each one of us must find our own way through life's thorny path. None of us can really answer the question for anyone but ourselves, but I love to hear how each person finds his or her answer.

It is helpful to know that there are people in this world who actually want to be here, even with all of the suffering. It's a foreign concept to me, but my therapist insists that the majority of people actually enjoy being alive.

When my kids are sick I find myself saying, "I'm here, I'm right here, I'm not going to leave you." And this, I suppose, is the answer we sometimes get from Jesus. He promises not to leave us alone and I believe he does suffer with us. Don't you suffer with Lyric? And if you really think about it, isn't that amazing? God, maker of the universe, suffering with you?

There is no magic pill for a pain-free life (even if it does look like a few people have popped that one.) Jesus gaurantees us the opposite actually. And just imagine if we never suffered or if we could always, immediately pray our troubles away. Who would we be? Christians can be a pretty proud and self-righteous lot as it is. If we never suffered or we had a magic cure, we'd be inhuman and insufferable.

Christians used to be comfortable with the idea of suffering. But some crazy idea seems to have taken hold in 20th and 21st century American Christians -- we think it can be avoided. It can't be. That reality can be truly terrifying, but I think it's better to know the truth than believe a lie.

How do I deal with it when I'm experiencing it? In my best moments I tell myself that God's ways and thoughts are superior to my own and that he knows what's in my best interests better than I do. In those good moments I trust that the pain is a tool to make me more like him. As Christians we like to say we want to be like Jesus, but none of us want to suffer, so what's it gonna be? Paul wanted to have fellowship with Jesus' sufferings, can any of us say we want to?

Coming from someone who has recently undergone a very painful knee surgery that has produced suffering not only for me but my family as well, I can tell you that in the midst of suffering, it's hard. It's so easy to focus on the suffering and think about how great life would be without it. Seriously, being someone who has been relegated to sitting on the couch or crutching around, it's easy to wonder "WHY ME". While all my friends can walk without a care in the world, I can only sit and ponder.

Why doesn't Jesus heal my knee? Would it not make life better for Rebekah and my kids? Would it not show the world the healing power of Jesus? I know it's sad to say, but over the course of the injury, I've had no faith that Jesus could actually heal it -- the pain, swelling, and screws through my knee seem so much more real than any healing power.

I know there is a place for pain in my life. I know God uses suffering. But when you are in it, it's hard to see the point. It really is. I understand Lyric and Darby and their frustrations. In the moment, it' hard to rejoice. But maybe down the road, things will become clearer and I'll see God with me in all this.

One good thing is that it's made Rebekah's and my marriage stronger. So maybe that's the only good thing. That would be worth it. Or maybe I could have just gone out with her on a date instead of having to destroy my knee :)

hey all -- that last comment was posted by me.

Also, I wanted to say that I really agree with Jason's post. But while you are enduring suffering or pain, especially when it seems pointless, it's really hard.

I used to have a lot of problems with this, and a lot of anger at God over his seeming indifference. But what has made sense to me started with Genesis 1:26:

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth."

They will rule. I came to realize that God gave us the earth, that it belongs to us and that He doesn't want to violate our sovereignty over the earth - he doesn't want to take back the gift that he gave us. I see our suffering primarily as a result of how humanity has screwed up the world, not as being authored by God. If God intervenes, he has to walk this line between caring for us and respecting our sovereignty. Thus I view his intervening as an unexpected/undeserved grace. I don't know the formula to get him to act, but I know that it involves our laying down our sovereignty before him & inviting him to act. However, praying to him isn't a guarantee that we will get what we want when we want, because there are the overlapping lines of sovereignty of other people to deal with.

I don't like that Jesus suffered, either. But God looked at the choices: eternal death for all humanity, or temporary suffering and death for a perfect sacrifice. That was the choice - if He wanted to be close to us, nothing else would do. You're right, it wasn't fair. I don't think I would have made that choice; it angers me that the righteous one had to suffer for such as us.

None of which will probably help a child in the middle of the night. But she did, eventually, get well, for which I am glad.

It's a foreign concept to me, but my therapist insists that the majority of people actually enjoy being alive.

I understand your bewilderment at this concept. I've often had a lot of difficulty with it myself.