Why does He allow it?

[AnnaBanana]

This is such a common question that I hear.. and sometimes to be honest I am stumped at how to explain.

Why does God allow things to happen?

Now I’m speaking about someone who is a believer of Christ-

Why, if someone who has anxiety and depression cries out to the Lord for healing, does he not heal? Why keep that person in anguish and pain? I understand that we deserve absolutely NOTHING and God does not “owe” us anything. But... why not heal one of His children who are begging for His healing and comfort?

Or.. why does God allow people to get sick?
Why does God not heal those who are terminally ill? Why does God not heal a person who is fighting an awful addiction?

Are these valid questions?

 

[Scott Bushey]

They are valid questions and they run into many a doctrine;

Refining. Sanctification. Sometimes, to assist the peeling away of the flesh of this life. Like a surgical scalpel. Job is a great example; a Godly man-righteous, yet, burdened. Chosen especially for just this trial.

 

[jwithnell]

Perhaps it helps to turn the question around? Given that we live in a fallen world and have sinned against a holy God, why has he extended our lives by even a single day? Why do we get to live in any comfort at all? Why do we have the church to feed, guide and protect us? Every good gift is from above, it is the mercy of God.

 

[AnnaBanana]

Perhaps it helps to turn the question around? Given that we live in a fallen world and have sinned against a holy God, why has he extended our lives by even a single day? Why do we get to live in any comfort at all? Why do we have the church to feed, guide and protect us? Every good gift is from above, it is the mercy of God.

Thank you for responding so quickly.

Would you say that the things I have listed above should be considered a “good gift” from the Lord? This is an honest question, not trying to be sarcastic.

 

[Joshua]

For His own glory, to the elect's good, or the reprobate's hardening. From Hebrews 12:

For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.​

 

[Alan D. Strange]

Would you say that the things I have listed above should be considered a “good gift” from the Lord? This is an honest question, not trying to be sarcastic.

Proximately, no: evil is evil and it's neither loving nor true (never mind just) to whitewash pain and suffering (which is in the world due to sin); it is wrong to call good "evil" and to call evil "good."

Ultimately, yes: Our God is so great and so good that not only cannot evil defeat Him but He uses evil to bring about the greatest good--witness the death of our Lord, the greatest evil ever, in which we see the death of death and victory snatched from the jaws of defeat (Gen. 50:20; Romans 8:28). He loves us so much that He turns all proximate evil into ultimate good.

If the cross of Christ can be ultimately seen as good, excruciating as it was for our gracious Lord in His Incarnation, then all of our suffering, proximately evil though it may be, is, truly, ultimately for our good...and His glory.

Peace,
Alan

 

[jwithnell]

Proximately, no: evil is evil and it's neither loving nor true (never mind just) to whitewash pain and suffering (which is in the world due to sin); it is wrong to call good "evil" and to call evil "good."

Ultimately, yes: Our God is so great and so good that not only cannot evil defeat Him but He uses evil to bring about the greatest good--witness the death of our Lord, the greatest evil ever, in which we see the death of death and victory snatched from the jaws of defeat (Gen. 50:20; Romans 8:28). He loves us so much that He turns all proximate evil into ultimate good.

If the cross of Christ can be ultimately seen as good, excruciating as it was for our gracious Lord in His Incarnation, then all of our suffering, proximately evil though it may be, is, truly, ultimately for our good...and His glory.

Peace,
Alan

Beautifully explained!

And yes, Anna, I saw your response as fully honest. The difficult times in life hurt so very badly and we would be brutish to say, just take it, everything is good. I find the Psalms so very helpful because we see every emotion fully experienced by believers even then they're harassed, hunted, deeply sad, and yes, joyful, thankful, and everything pleasant. God never leaves his own.

 

[Ryan&Amber2013]

Honestly, as I have learned, this can be very dangerous territory to dwell on. The questions are limitless, and from what I have learned, no matter how hard you search, you will always have to come back to simple child-like faith as being sufficient. I am by nature one who ponders things, asks questions, and doesn't easily settle for something that I can't justify by reason and my understanding of what is good and loving. Therefore, the questions you have posed I have thought much through, along with many more, and there was some serious wrestling that went on inside of me for quite a long time. I am one who has gone through much suffering, and my view of what is loving, good, and rational, has clashed in so many ways with the life I have been sovereignly dealt.

But I have learned that there is no better, logical, or worthy belief system apart from Christianity. No matter what one believes apart from the Bible, it is clearly flawed, broken, senseless in many ways, and never worth entertaining. The Bible is the only belief system truly worth embracing.

Also, as Dr. Strange pointed out, I think what matters most in this area of life is realizing that God is using the worst of evils to bring about the most good in the life to come, which could not be attained otherwise. If I didn't feel pain, sorrow, shame, darkness, loss, etc., would I truly know the depths of victory, love, healing, light, reunion, etc., that is promised in heaven to come? Think of a beautiful song you love, one that has meaning to you, that moves your emotions, and you can reminisce to. Doesn't that song move you even to tears because of the beauty and depth of the vast experiences you have been through in life? If you only experienced happiness in life, would that song still have such meaning to you? I think of the same thing with life. If I don't experience many things I don't want to experience, will I ever feel and understand the depth of love, beauty, and goodness, that I am capable of?

Simple faith, trusting God in all things, to bring about the greatest good, even when we can't understand and are broken and confused, will give us rest in this area. If we accuse or blame God of injustice, it will do no good. We cannot change His ways, nor should we try. This life is so very short, and I trust that when it is finished, and I step into eternity, every single moment of hurt and pain I've felt in this world, will have been worth it.

Faith.

 

[timfost]

Anna, do you cry out to God more when things are going well or when there is suffering?

Part of the design of the curse is to drive us to the Remedy.

 

[Ask Mr. Religion]

Or.. why does God allow people to get sick?
Why does God not heal those who are terminally ill? Why does God not heal a person who is fighting an awful addiction?

Are these valid questions?

Anna,

You may find these considerations of the teachings from Scripture about pain and suffering worthwhile:

https://www.puritanboard.com/threads/leading-your-family-through-suffering.85156/#post-1062605

 

[AnnaBanana]

Anna, do you cry out to God more when things are going well or when there is suffering?

Part of the design of the curse is to drive us to the Remedy.

Tim, thank you for this response. I would like to believe that when things are going well, I am praising and crying out the Lord just as much as when there is suffering... but,
I have failed tremendously. Of course there IS praise and gratitude when things are going well, but not nearly as much as when things are going, hm, not so well. This is something I am currently working on.

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses! I am thankful to the Lord for this community even if the majority of the time I sit back and observe all the wisdom being shared.

 

[De Jager]

1 Truly God is good to Israel,
even to such as are of a clean heart.
2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone;
my steps had well nigh slipped.
3 For I was envious at the foolish,
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For there are no bands in their death:
but their strength is firm.
5 They are not in trouble as other men;
neither are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain;
violence covereth them as a garment.
7 Their eyes stand out with fatness:
they have more than heart could wish.
8 They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression:
they speak loftily.
9 They set their mouth against the heavens,
and their tongue walketh through the earth.

10 Therefore his people return hither:
and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
11 And they say, How doth God know?
and is there knowledge in the most High?
12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world;
they increase in riches.
13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain,
and washed my hands in innocency.
14 For all the day long have I been plagued,
and chastened every morning.

15 If I say, I will speak thus;
behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.
16 When I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me;
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then understood I their end.
18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places:
thou castedst them down into destruction.
19 How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment!
they are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awaketh;
so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

21 Thus my heart was grieved,
and I was pricked in my reins.
22 So foolish was I, and ignorant:
I was as a beast before thee.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee:
thou hast holden me by my right hand.
24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel,
and afterward receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but thee?
and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
26 My flesh and my heart faileth:
but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish:
thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.
28 But it is good for me to draw near to God:
I have put my trust in the Lord God,
that I may declare all thy works.

 

[Ed Walsh]

This is such a common question that I hear.. and sometimes, to be honest, I am stumped at how to explain.
Why does God allow things to happen?

I am sure this is only 2¢ worth of comment compared to the beautiful things others have said. It's a testimony.
I have been young, and now I am old and looking, and at my trials of today and the hard times behind I don't know whether I have passed through "many dangers, toils, and snares," or just plain, "What a long strange trip its been." But I have learned to never, no never say why. Alan is correct when he said evil is evil. But even evil, yea my own sins fall under the covering of Romans 8:28. It is impossible for anything to be ultimately harmful to me. That is no Pollyanna statement because I have suffered a bit. But never as much as my sins deserve. (Ezra 9:13) God's heart is kind, patient and He loves his children deeply and invariably does always and only his very best for his own. Consider Job. Few if any were ever more faithful to the Lord than Job; few have suffered more than Job. What Does James tell us was God's purpose for Job through it all. Job 5:11b "You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful." And in the end, Job was transformed by his experience.
Job 43:5-6 "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.
Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
Job came to know both the Lord and himself in a beautiful more profound way than he ever dreamed of before.

Ed

 

[chuckd]

They are valid questions and they run into many a doctrine;

Refining. Sanctification. Sometimes, to assist the peeling away of the flesh of this life. Like a surgical scalpel. Job is a great example; a Godly man-righteous, yet, burdened. Chosen especially for just this trial.

Yes.

Rom. 5:3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

 

[AnnaBanana]

I am sure this is only 2¢ worth of comment compared to the beautiful things others have said. It's a testimony.
I have been young, and now I am old and looking, and at my trials of today and the hard times behind I don't know whether I have passed through "many dangers, toils, and snares," or just plain, "What a long strange trip its been." But I have learned to never, no never say why. Alan is correct when he said evil is evil. But even evil, yea my own sins fall under the covering of Romans 8:28. It is impossible for anything to be ultimately harmful to me. That is no Pollyanna statement because I have suffered a bit. But never as much as my sins deserve. (Ezra 9:13) God's heart is kind, patient and He loves his children deeply and invariably does always and only his very best for his own. Consider Job. Few if any were ever more faithful to the Lord than Job; few have suffered more than Job. What Does James tell us was God's purpose for Job through it all. Job 5:11b "You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful." And in the end, Job was transformed by his experience.
Job 43:5-6 "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.
Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
Job came to know both the Lord and himself in a beautiful more profound way than he ever dreamed of before.

Ed

Mr. Walsh,

Your response has brought me to tears. I want to thank you for all that wrote, especially that last sentence. I will treasure your words!

 

[greenbaggins]

Great responses so far (especially Alan's about the cross, since the cross is where all answers to this question converge). I will add one thing more. For the believer, one of the things we need most in life is to be "weaned" from our love of this world, this age, and instead focus our longing on heaven and the next age. With Gibson's great book on Ecclesiastes, we have to start living life "backwards." All this means is living this life from a heavenly perspective, rather than looking at heaven from an earthly perspective. Many people ridicule heavenly-minded people as "being so heavenly-minded that they are of no earthly good." And maybe there is a danger to avoid (namely, refusing to be about our Father's business). However, in our culture and world here and now, the reverse is far more likely to be true of a person: that they are so earthly-minded as to be of no heavenly good. If you go back and re-read the passage that Chuck quoted from Romans 5, and listen to the time arrow in that passage, what you will see is that one reason for a Christian's suffering is to point him forward, to make him long for the next life more, and to be weaned from his love of this life, this world.

Now, all of this is really only one possible reason for suffering. Job offers another completely different reason. There are more possibilities than these two things, as well. It is difficult and not always advisable to ask the question "why?" of every instance of suffering, since God will not always make it plain to us. We do know that God will bring glory to himself, and bring us to himself, as well. We do know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Many times we are at a loss to explain it ourselves. But then we can rest in the sure and certain knowledge that even if it doesn't make sense to us, it does to God, and He has a perfect plan.

 

[Dachaser]

This is such a common question that I hear.. and sometimes to be honest I am stumped at how to explain.

Why does God allow things to happen?

Now I’m speaking about someone who is a believer of Christ-

Why, if someone who has anxiety and depression cries out to the Lord for healing, does he not heal? Why keep that person in anguish and pain? I understand that we deserve absolutely NOTHING and God does not “owe” us anything. But... why not heal one of His children who are begging for His healing and comfort?

Or.. why does God allow people to get sick?
Why does God not heal those who are terminally ill? Why does God not heal a person who is fighting an awful addiction?

Are these valid questions?

Much of what happens today would be due to this earth being still under the curse of the fall, so have bad weather disasters for example, sinners making poor decisions and acting out in sin acts towards others, and that Satan is allowed to run the world system set up at this present time . God though is still in complete control, and has decided to set all things right and to bring to pass all things when the Second Coming of Christ occurs.

 

[Cedarbay]

"All Things For Good" by Watson, is a beneficial study of what Scott alluded to as doctrine found in suffering.

How greatly God is glorified when the saints promise prayer for the one in an acute or long term trial.

 

[Ed Walsh]

o

Many people ridicule heavenly-minded people as "being so heavenly-minded that they are of no earthly good." And maybe there is a danger to avoid (namely, refusing to be about our Father's business). However, in our culture and world here and now, the reverse is far more likely to be true of a person: that they are so earthly-minded as to be of no heavenly good.

I'm one of the older guys on the PB, 67, and I still work full time. But I am ready to leave on a moments notice. I pray I don't die suddenly, so that I can have some last words, but that's up to my Lord. When people ask me why I spend so much time in study and prayer, (I rise at 3:30 AM every day), I tell them "I am studying for the finals."

Psalms 31:23a
O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful,

But for me I am quick to add David's prayer for his own heart, verses 5&6, as he meditates on those other blessed people—you know, the ones who don't really exist—the undefiled, that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart, and walk in his ways. There is only One that this is true of.

Psalm 119:1-6
1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.​