Why does God permit evil and suffering?†is a childish and naive question, but one which I hear quite often. And the strange thing is that I hear this question not from children but from adults who consider themselves to be Christians: “Why do the innocent suffer? Why are children born blind. Why does a promising life crumble in its prime? Why is there social injustice?â€
Arriving in the United States for the first time, I could not understand why my friends deliberately exposed their healthy baby to a neighbor’s child, who was suffering with chicken pox. After a while I understood. After two to three days of being infected, a child recovers from chicken pox and has no trace of the disease. My friends did this to the disease, so it would not overtake their child in older age. Chicken pox is a much more serious disease in adults, often lingering for more than one month and sometimes causing death. Deliberately exposing a child to chicken pox is the same as giving him common vaccinations, which we do to our children at birth.
In a good, pious family a mother died, leaving her husband and three children. The father was lost in his grief. Arriving at the cemetery, his mind dimmed, he almost ran into the open pit in which the coffin was to be lowered. When the funeral was finally over, and having recovered somewhat, he started to drive the children home. Within five minutes, he turned the car around and drove back to the cemetery. His children, trying to comfort him, tried to persuade him to turn around, but he turned to them and quietly said, “Do not worry. I forgot something. I’ll be all right.†Back in the cemetery, he went alone to the grave. A few minutes later he returned to the glances of inquiring children, and said, “I forgot to thank God for taking your mother before me. Can you imagine what she would need to bear if I died before her?†In other words, he would not want to subject his wife to the testing and grief he suffered himself.
In the United States, many small towns do not have hospitals and doctors. One young man who graduated from medical school decided to go to a small town in Nebraska, where he founded a private practice. He knew full well that he would earn much less money than he would if he opened a practice in a big city. At the same time, he knew that the city needed a doctor. Arriving in town, he opened a small clinic. He and his wife, a nurse, began helping people. For his work, he charged very little, and for those who were short on money he did not take anything.
The doctor quickly became very popular in this small town. The people loved and highly respected him. When election time came, he was asked to run for mayor of the city. He did not refuse and of course was chosen. On the same day he was supposed to go to the city administration to take the oath, he suddenly became blind. It was a terrible misfortune for the entire city and a terrible grief for his wife. The doctor was transported to the hospital, located 60 miles away, but they were unable to identify a cause for his blindness. The young doctor did not lose heart and consoled his crying wife with the words “So must the Lord.â€
Several weeks passed and the young doctor sat at home, while his wife went to work to assist the sick. When she needed more knowledge, she called home to her husband. In one of those days he was in the kitchen when the phone rang. He knew it was his wife calling, and he hurried to the phone. He was still not settled into the house and got his foot caught on a table leg. He fell, hit his head on the table, and lost consciousness. His wife, alarmed that he did not answer the phone, rushed home and found her beloved husband on the floor in a puddle of blood. At that time the helicopter was summoned from the nearest hospital, and the young man received all the necessary examinations and was taken into the operating room. His wife waited, and the hours seemed to last an eternity; she walked down the hallway near the operating room, fearfully awaiting the outcome. Finally the door opened, the surgeon came out and went to her. "By doing the operation, we found a tumor in his brain, which was pressing on a nerve that controls vision. We removed the tumor,†he said. “The wound was minor, and, most importantly, your husband's vision is restored. He softly added that if her husband had not gone blind and had the accident, the tumor would have gone unnoticed and he would have died within a month.â€
In The Mysterious Stranger, Mark Twain tells the story of how, during the Middle Ages, an angel came to a small village in Austria. He quickly made friends with a group of local children, as they were his peers. The guys just loved him and accepted him into their circle. They played together and went into the woods to the river, which flows near the village. One clear sunny day, they went swimming. Among this group of boys was very nice, beautiful, and loving little ten-year-old girl whom everyone loved. She also went swimming this day and drowned. Running, the grieving parents and the whole village gathered at the scene. The villagers began to interrogate the angel. "How could you allow this? You're an angel! You could prevent the death of our friend ". The angel replied as follows: "I went through it a millions lives of her choice and the best was one in which she grew up, went to the city, where she became a “walkâ€, contracted a terrible disease and tormented by the pain and shame, lain 20 years in a filthy hovel and died. It was the best version of her life.â€
Now imagine that you did not know the ending of these stories. What would you say? Why does God allow pain and suffering? Consider the following two points: First, suppose that a man wants to harm you, your children, relatives, and friends, and you do not know what to do. Turn to the Lord, that He may avenge you. You can pray until the end of the century, knock you’re yours head against a wall or floor, but all your attempts will be doomed to failure. The Lord will hear you and cry with you, but he simply cannot help you with your request. The Lord cannot give what is not in his nature. In the Lord, in His own nature, there is no evil, violence, revenge, deceit, lies, or, any vices. He cannot give you what He does not have.
Second, every time you experience evil or sorrow, rejoice. "But I tell you: Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for those who persecute you." That is why we should not be surprised of our share of hard times. When it comes to trouble--illness, financial hardship, disappointment, we immediately ask Why? And because God puts us in such circumstances, we require more strength of will, courage , and patience. Whenever we fall, He again puts us on our feet. Whenever we fall ill (remember the first story about vaccinations), we become stronger. God makes us go forward, to climb to a higher level. The Lord knows the price of our own efforts. We will never be come close to perfection. The Lord wants to transform us into such creatures that would stand up to any test. He will turn the weakest, the most unworthy of us, into a god or a goddess, a dazzling, radiant creature with such energy that it is difficult to imagine. This will be a long and sometimes painful process, but it is our destiny, our choice.
“It may be difficult for an egg to turn into a bird, but it is much more difficult to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are now like an egg, but we cannot indefinitely remain just an egg, an ordinary, decent egg. Either we hatch out of it, or it will deteriorateâ€.
Sergei Chernyaev. 2006.
Arriving in the United States for the first time, I could not understand why my friends deliberately exposed their healthy baby to a neighbor’s child, who was suffering with chicken pox. After a while I understood. After two to three days of being infected, a child recovers from chicken pox and has no trace of the disease. My friends did this to the disease, so it would not overtake their child in older age. Chicken pox is a much more serious disease in adults, often lingering for more than one month and sometimes causing death. Deliberately exposing a child to chicken pox is the same as giving him common vaccinations, which we do to our children at birth.
In a good, pious family a mother died, leaving her husband and three children. The father was lost in his grief. Arriving at the cemetery, his mind dimmed, he almost ran into the open pit in which the coffin was to be lowered. When the funeral was finally over, and having recovered somewhat, he started to drive the children home. Within five minutes, he turned the car around and drove back to the cemetery. His children, trying to comfort him, tried to persuade him to turn around, but he turned to them and quietly said, “Do not worry. I forgot something. I’ll be all right.†Back in the cemetery, he went alone to the grave. A few minutes later he returned to the glances of inquiring children, and said, “I forgot to thank God for taking your mother before me. Can you imagine what she would need to bear if I died before her?†In other words, he would not want to subject his wife to the testing and grief he suffered himself.
In the United States, many small towns do not have hospitals and doctors. One young man who graduated from medical school decided to go to a small town in Nebraska, where he founded a private practice. He knew full well that he would earn much less money than he would if he opened a practice in a big city. At the same time, he knew that the city needed a doctor. Arriving in town, he opened a small clinic. He and his wife, a nurse, began helping people. For his work, he charged very little, and for those who were short on money he did not take anything.
The doctor quickly became very popular in this small town. The people loved and highly respected him. When election time came, he was asked to run for mayor of the city. He did not refuse and of course was chosen. On the same day he was supposed to go to the city administration to take the oath, he suddenly became blind. It was a terrible misfortune for the entire city and a terrible grief for his wife. The doctor was transported to the hospital, located 60 miles away, but they were unable to identify a cause for his blindness. The young doctor did not lose heart and consoled his crying wife with the words “So must the Lord.â€
Several weeks passed and the young doctor sat at home, while his wife went to work to assist the sick. When she needed more knowledge, she called home to her husband. In one of those days he was in the kitchen when the phone rang. He knew it was his wife calling, and he hurried to the phone. He was still not settled into the house and got his foot caught on a table leg. He fell, hit his head on the table, and lost consciousness. His wife, alarmed that he did not answer the phone, rushed home and found her beloved husband on the floor in a puddle of blood. At that time the helicopter was summoned from the nearest hospital, and the young man received all the necessary examinations and was taken into the operating room. His wife waited, and the hours seemed to last an eternity; she walked down the hallway near the operating room, fearfully awaiting the outcome. Finally the door opened, the surgeon came out and went to her. "By doing the operation, we found a tumor in his brain, which was pressing on a nerve that controls vision. We removed the tumor,†he said. “The wound was minor, and, most importantly, your husband's vision is restored. He softly added that if her husband had not gone blind and had the accident, the tumor would have gone unnoticed and he would have died within a month.â€
In The Mysterious Stranger, Mark Twain tells the story of how, during the Middle Ages, an angel came to a small village in Austria. He quickly made friends with a group of local children, as they were his peers. The guys just loved him and accepted him into their circle. They played together and went into the woods to the river, which flows near the village. One clear sunny day, they went swimming. Among this group of boys was very nice, beautiful, and loving little ten-year-old girl whom everyone loved. She also went swimming this day and drowned. Running, the grieving parents and the whole village gathered at the scene. The villagers began to interrogate the angel. "How could you allow this? You're an angel! You could prevent the death of our friend ". The angel replied as follows: "I went through it a millions lives of her choice and the best was one in which she grew up, went to the city, where she became a “walkâ€, contracted a terrible disease and tormented by the pain and shame, lain 20 years in a filthy hovel and died. It was the best version of her life.â€
Now imagine that you did not know the ending of these stories. What would you say? Why does God allow pain and suffering? Consider the following two points: First, suppose that a man wants to harm you, your children, relatives, and friends, and you do not know what to do. Turn to the Lord, that He may avenge you. You can pray until the end of the century, knock you’re yours head against a wall or floor, but all your attempts will be doomed to failure. The Lord will hear you and cry with you, but he simply cannot help you with your request. The Lord cannot give what is not in his nature. In the Lord, in His own nature, there is no evil, violence, revenge, deceit, lies, or, any vices. He cannot give you what He does not have.
Second, every time you experience evil or sorrow, rejoice. "But I tell you: Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for those who persecute you." That is why we should not be surprised of our share of hard times. When it comes to trouble--illness, financial hardship, disappointment, we immediately ask Why? And because God puts us in such circumstances, we require more strength of will, courage , and patience. Whenever we fall, He again puts us on our feet. Whenever we fall ill (remember the first story about vaccinations), we become stronger. God makes us go forward, to climb to a higher level. The Lord knows the price of our own efforts. We will never be come close to perfection. The Lord wants to transform us into such creatures that would stand up to any test. He will turn the weakest, the most unworthy of us, into a god or a goddess, a dazzling, radiant creature with such energy that it is difficult to imagine. This will be a long and sometimes painful process, but it is our destiny, our choice.
“It may be difficult for an egg to turn into a bird, but it is much more difficult to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are now like an egg, but we cannot indefinitely remain just an egg, an ordinary, decent egg. Either we hatch out of it, or it will deteriorateâ€.
Sergei Chernyaev. 2006.
