I am constantly amazed at how people misunderstand God. I will not be speaking for God, but will provide my limited understanding.
You have heard it said that God is all knowing, all seeing, all powerful, and loving, but people ask why does he allow such bad things to happen? First off no where in the bible does it say that only good things will happen and in fact it says that there will be trouble in the world.
John 16:33 New International Version (NIV)
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
In fact God will punish or allow people to be punished for their sins. Remember that for a season Satan will rule the earth and along with that there will be things that happen that we do not like or are considered by us to be bad. So does that sound harsh? Maybe, but he allowed his chosen people to suffer, but he would also save them whenever they cried out and showed their faith.
I have also heard people say well if that is how God is then I do not want any part of it. All I can say is really! We as people somehow expect the Lord to change to meet our needs instead of us changing to meet His. Somehow people have forgotten that God cannot be in the presence of sin, but we expect him to accept us as we are sin and all.
So what is sin? It means to miss the mark, but more importantly, it is going against God’s will. As an example if God says do not lie and yet you lie, then you have sinned. and according to:
Romans 3:23 New International Version (NIV)
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
So what did God do, he decided to allows us to be saved by sending his son Jesus Christ to die for our sins.
John 3:12-21New International Version (NIV)
12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
So what needs to be done? Well God does not need to change nor does he need to stop the pain and suffering. In fact, people need to change their attitudes towards God and stop thinking that we are the most important thing and instead start to focus on God and believe in Jesus.
Unlike a lot of other religions where you are asked to sacrifice yourself, Jesus has already sacrificed himself so we may live. You just have to believe it and I do not mean pray that simple prayer then go do what you want. I mean really believe it, because when you do, you will be reborn.
I pray that those of you who have read this post will actually hear the words in your heart. Love Christ as he loved you and your life will change. Note I did not say it would get easier, but it will change.