[TeamManager]

1. Remember that we live in a fallen world ......maybe atmost 70-80yrs.......justice and restoration will come one day....eternity!

2. Where was God? ...... He was there in the midst of the pain and suffering. He was abused, Crucified and Rejected.......a Man of sorrow.......Where was He?......He KNOWS the pain too.

[reggie_woic]

these guys don't want christian fueled answers, TM.
we have to argue on their turf

[ATLian]

>2. Where was God? ...... He was there in the midst of the pain
>and suffering. He was abused, Crucified and Rejected.......a
>Man of sorrow.......Where was He?......He KNOWS the pain too.

TM,

why didn't he help the suffering victims? When a grown man is raping and murdering a 3-year old girl, instead being a "man of sorrow" and standing around impotently doing nothing, why can't god be a "man of action" and help her out? Why why why? He made the universe in 6 days, so stopping a rape is nothing. He's powerful enough to rip of the rapists balls and put them in the orbits of two distant stars. Why does he watch, do nothing, then (as you claim) say he "knows" the girls pain? It's very unsettling to realize that, as you say, god was there watching every single attrocity that has ever been committed, and in most cases, he just watched and did nothing!

There's a big difference between the suffering Jesus went through and when man suffers. God and Jesus PLANNED for Jesus to suffer. They knew from Day One, gabzillions and quadrillions of years before they made man, that one day they'd send Jesus down to earth and man would torture him to death. In fact that's why I can't say I pity Jesus since he planned it, and it was part of god's perfect plan to save humanity. He could have chosen to snap his finger and cure us of sin, but he chose the savage route.

You definitely can't compare that to someone who drowned in the tsunami, or someone in Milanya's examples who is wiped out by a drunk driver, or raped by a priest she trusts. The victim didn't know it was coming, she didn't plan it, she didn't want it, and unlike Jesus, the victim wasn't back chilling at home with his father 2 hours after their violent death.

[key-pusa]

Thanks all for your responses. I will stress again, this is a rhetoric question. I'm not saying I blame God for bad things (@Kemi), but I'm just wondering why God doesn't do anything to help/stop some things from happening, especially when the "innocent" are involved. Things like raping a 3 year old, what's the poor baby supposed to do? What's she done to deserve that, and why doesn't God do anything to put a stop to it? After all isn't he all powerful? How does he decide who to help and who to leave alone? These questions really bug me. At the same time, I gotta wonder why christians are quick to praise God when good things happen and castigate the devil when bad things happen. Why not praise him and thank him for both the good and bad? Just a thought....

[tamii-g]

Since my days in sunday school,i have always known that the God we worship is a God of all,and that he will never let us suffer,unfortunately i was not told what happens when pple suffer,i do concur with u on that quiz "Where was God?" when all this tragedies are happening especially with defiled kids of the world, my heart cries out to them and i hope one day their pain and suffering will come to an end.

God have mercy on us and deliver us from this pain!!!!!!!!!

[ToothB]

Tragic earthquakes and natural disasters that snuff out the lives of thousands seem to be commonplace. Wars and terrorist attacks dominate the news. Sickness, disease, crime, and accidents rob us of loved ones. For many,evil hits close to home.
When tragedy touches us personally, it is only human to feel frustration, loss, or even anger. 'Why did this have to happen?' you may wonder. 'Why me?' or 'Why now?' Such questions deserve satisfying answers. But to get the right answers, we must go to the right source.
It may be unpleasant to contemplate, but death and suffering are facts of life. Job put it well when he said: "Man, born of woman, is short-lived and glutted with agitation."—Job 14:1.

The Bible promises a new world in which "righteousness is to dwell." (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:3, 4) Before those ideal conditions are realized, however, mankind must go through a time of unprecedented wickedness. "Know this," says the Bible, "in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here."—2 Timothy 3:1.

How long will these difficult times last? Jesus' disciples asked more or less the same question. But Jesus did not give them a specific day or hour when this misery-stricken system of things would end. Instead, Jesus said: "He that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved." (Matthew 24:3, 13) Jesus' words should encourage the afflicted ones to take a long-range view. We must be prepared to endure many unpleasant situations before the end finally comes.

Does it makes sense, then, to be angry with God because he permits suffering? Not when you consider that God has promised to end all suffering. Nor does it make sense to feel that God causes bad things to happen. Many tragic happenings are simply the result of random events. Imagine, for example, that the wind blows a tree down and it injures someone. People will call this an act of God. But the reality is that God did not make that tree fall down. The Bible helps us to appreciate that such things are simply the sad result of "time and unforeseen occurrence."—Ecclesiastes 9:11.

Suffering may also stem from poor judgment as some of my friends have indicated. Suppose a group of youths indulge in alcoholic beverages and then go for a drive. A serious accident results. Who is to blame? God? No, they have reaped the consequences of their poor judgment.—Galatians 6:7.

'But isn't God powerful enough to end suffering now?' you may ask. Some faithful men in Bible times wondered about that. The prophet Habakkuk asked God: "Why is it that you look on those dealing treacherously, that you keep silent when someone wicked swallows up someone more righteous than he is?" However, Habakkuk did not jump to hasty conclusions. He said: "I shall keep watch, to see what he will speak by me." Later, God assured him that at an "appointed time," He would end suffering. (Habakkuk 1:13; 2:1-3) We must therefore be patient, waiting for God to end wickedness at his appointed time.

Avoid jumping to the rash conclusion that God somehow wants us to suffer or that he is personally testing us. It is true that suffering can bring out the best in us and that the Bible says that the trials God allows can refine our faith. (Hebrews 5:8; 1 Peter 1:7) Indeed, many people who undergo trialsome or traumatic experiences do become more patient or compassionate. But we should not conclude that their suffering was God's doing. Such thinking does not take God's love and wisdom into account. The Bible plainly states: "When under trial, let no one say: 'I am being tried by God.' For with evil things God cannot be tried nor does he himself try anyone." On the contrary, from God comes "every good gift and every perfect present"!—James 1:13, 17.

From where, then, does evil come? Remember that God has opposers—principally the "one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth." (Revelation 12:9) God placed our first parents, Adam and Eve, in a trouble-free world. But Satan convinced Eve that she would be better off without God's rulership. (Genesis 3:1-5) Sadly, Eve believed Satan's lies and disobeyed God. Adam joined her in this rebellion. The result? "Death spread to all men," says the Bible.—Romans 5:12.

Rather than immediately squashing this rebellion by destroying Satan and his followers, God saw fit to allow time to pass. What would that accomplish? For one thing, it would allow Satan to be exposed as a liar! It would allow proof to accumulate that independence from God brings nothing but ruin. Is that not exactly what has taken place? "The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one." (1 John 5:19) Furthermore, "man has dominated man to his injury." (Ecclesiastes 8:9) Mankind's religions are a maze of conflicting teachings. Morals have fallen to an all-time low. Human governments have tried every conceivable form of rule. They sign treaties and adopt laws, but the needs of the common people are still unfulfilled. Wars add misery on misery.

Clearly, we need to have God intervene and end wickedness! But this will happen only in God's due time. Until then, right hearted ones should support God's rulership by obeying his laws and principles as found in the Bible. When bad things happen, we can take comfort in the confident hope of life in a trouble-free world.

[teejay]

>these guys don't want christian fueled answers, TM.
>we have to argue on their turf

Reggie, a christian must never loose focus. And TM is just doing that. He is keeping vigil knowing that the opposition is also at work full time. The very fact that you are asking TM to cast his belief aside is a fact that the enemy seeks to make us lose that focus. Adam and Eve cast their belief aside for one minute and they sure were perplexed at the results. Learn from them

That is why he must constantly be reminded of the scriptures(That is our only weapon). This is a spirtual battle one that requires spirtual artilliary. Wish it aside and you became a helpless warrior. The agency of evil is wide and you must expect it to come from any direction. It could be your child, your siblling, your pastor, your prophet, a fellow mashadite ,name it all.

TM make your sojourn bodly, and may the lord always be your shephard.

[teejay]

ATLian you are one person who has Why'd in this site for along time. Now I must also why you.

Why dont you try Jesus and the you will find that satisfaction you are looking for.

[chotadipo]

>ATLian you are one person who has Why'd in this site for
>along time. Now I must also why you.
>
>Why dont you try Jesus and the you will find that satisfaction
>you are looking for.

This must be some sort of Joke, right?

Why Jesus, why not Ganesh, budha, Allah, Mt. Kenya et al?

[chotadipo]

@ToothB,

You have done well to legitimise the trials and tribulations that we as creatures go through by sprinkly biblical verses here and there. What you failed to answer is why it has to be this way? Why does God need eons to prove Satan wrong? Why even does he have to prove Satan wrong to human beings of all creatures?!