Why did God allow such pain and suffering?

[Keith]

Please do not confuse God with the devil.

[David]

Revelation 21:1-8

The New Heaven and the New Earth

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place[a] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,[b] and God himself will be with them as their God.[c] 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

[david b]

God does not interact with this world. He does not curse people with added trials and tribulations. He does not bless them with aid and with answered prayers.

Events just happen randomly or because people make choices and take actions.

[mesquiteskeetr]

God does not get in our way if we want to kill ourselves. If He forced His way on us how many people do you think would want to serve Him. He gives us the freedom to live according to our own desires as long as we do not hurt anyone else.

Would you follow a tyrant? Could you love an evil King? God loves humans and wants them to follow Him with their hearts attached.

[Megan]

It is not God fault in anything we humans do, God puts the pain and suffering for good, for everybad there is a good, what if that didn't happen in your life and you were going to a wrong direction or your friend was would you have learned not to do the same. I do know it is hard to accept it is not his fault but remember whatever happens happends for us to learn. I did went through somthing like this but it was when i failed something i kept praying for and didn't understand what i did wrong, it was becuase even though i wanted this position sooo bad God put me in a place where i can learn, i had failed a chair test and if i just got in the place i wanted to what would i have learned, i would't be able to learn that the reasons i was lacking, or to have to desire to do better, Hope i helped ill be praying for you too

[Veronika]

I'm sorry, so sorry for your loss.
I'm sure your friends' friend was a very good person and is now in a much better place, where you all will be able to meet him. You need to remain strong and place your faith in God and give those you know that are affected time to heal and understand. You're right: no one should have to endure this, and just keep praying for an answer.
Remember, this is only a temporary separation, and I can only hope your friends will remember this as well. No one here on Earth can provide the right answer as to why God let this happen, or why this was in His plan, but just know that it was, and all will be revealed in time.
I will pray for you, him, and them as well. Don't give up hope!

[xcxcx]

GOD ALLOW THIS BECAUSE THERE IS PLACE CALLED "HELL" AND ALL THE BAD GUYS WILL GO
THERE.NOT ONLY THAT IF YOU DON'T REPENT YOUR SINS HE ALLOWS TO YOU ALL THE
DISASTERS COME TO YOU.ANOTHER THING YOU HAVE TO NOTICE ALL SUFFER AND PAIN WILL BE GOOD FOR YOU BECAUSE GOD IS GOD OF LOVE AN JUSTICE.
HE ALLOW ALL THESE THINGS HAPPENS SO HE CAN MAKE YOU HUMBLE AND HAVE MORE CHANGES TO ENTER HEAVEN

[just me]

The only 'good' that can come from a situation like this is if his friends learn from his lesson, smarten up, and stop abusing alcohol. God and prayer do nothing, they themselves have to listen and learn.

As for the general idea of why does God allow pain and suffering, I am a lot more worried as to why he allows small children to live for their entire lives in pain, before dying at the age of two from a genetic heart defect? Or why children die from cancer ever single day. Your friend killed himself (thus had no-one else to blame but himself), at least we can tell ourselves that some others will be saved through his example.

[Dave D]

I look back on the "Why me?" moments of my life and I now see the periods of greatest growth both as an individual and spiritually. One was similar. To get my Masters Degree I went to the same college that I got my BA. I used to play handball with one of the professors there, so when I returned I wanted to play again, but he was reluctant. I teased and cajoled him until he finally gave in. While we were playing he suffered a heart attack and died right in front of me on the handball court. It took me quite a while not to blame myself and process those feelings. But since that time there was one of my students who felt responsible for the death of his brother in a car accident, a priest who felt responsible for the death of a child in the Philippines, and another student who was contemplating suicide because of a situation at home that I believe I was able to help process their situation. Had I not learned to do so myself I do not think I would have been able to say a useful word to them.

The solution is to keep on praying.

[scrubbag]

It is not God who allows it, it is the humans. No one needs to drink to the point of dying from it. That is their choice, NOT that of God.

If a person stabs himself with a knife in the hand, he will need medical attention, and will suffer for it, maybe even causing some loss to the use of his hand. But that was HIS choice, not God's. So why should God then be blamed for what people choose to do?

God gave us Free Will, to make choices in life, even to allow us choose to drink, but we should do so moderately, and so if we over indulge, if is our fault.

God allows us to become doctors to heal the sick and wounded, and to become farmers and ranchers to feed the hungry. If God was to remove our Will, we would then need God to heal us, and to feed us. And we would NOT be human.

Just something else.

We as selfish humans, want both, we want God to stay out of our lives while we sin, but to be in our lives while we are sick or in danger.

Just like people who hate policemen, and do not want then around, but hey, someone threatens these people and they are the first to holler for the police. they want both. "leave us alone but be here when we need you"

We must accept that that is how it is. Life goes on, Death goes on. Without either, there would be neither.