When Bad Things Happen...

This is the story of Ashley. Watch and listen as she shares how she dealt with her own pain and suffering....

This past Sunday night, we ran into a fork in the road. For many people, the thought of pain, suffering, and evil doesn't mash up real well with a loving and all powerful God. It is at this point, that many people give up on God. The question I want to challenge you this week to wrestle with is why is this topic a deal buster for so many people when it comes to believing and trusting God?

Here are a few things that I have come up with...

1. We misunderstand God's character.
Read Psalm 115:1. God's ultimate desire is His glory and honor. On the flipside, our ultimate goal should be to live lives that honor Him and bring Him glory because in this worship of God is where we will find our greatest delight and purpose. Sometimes God allows pain and suffering to come into our lives to reveal our need for Him.

2. Our definition of LOVE is wrong.
How do you know that God loves you? Seriously...how would you define that? I think for alot of us, myself included, we often tie our idea of love and the feeling of comfort together. But what if God's love is less about comfort, and more about creating us and preparing us to become better followers of Him and better witnesses for Him. How do you define love?

3. We equate pain and suffering as bad things.
Oftentimes God will use the negative stuff of our lives to stretch and mold us into stronger followers of Him. Look at the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50. How did God use this story for good? How have you seen God use evil, suffering, and pain for good?

4. We live in a fallen world.
Read Genesis 3. As a result of our sin and this fallen world we live in, we will have pain, suffering, and evil. As long as we are apart from God, we will have pain and suffering. This gives me hope...because I know Jesus came to die...to take away our sin...to make a way for us to be with Him...so that one day, we will be with Him (Revelation 21:1-4).

So how do you deal with pain and suffering? Read Romans 8:19-28. Do you truly believe that God has a plan for your life...that God can take pain and suffering and use it for our ultimate good...to bring us to a place where we see Him and rely on Him more...?

Use these questions, passages of scripture, and thoughts to help you dig deeper into this understanding of pain and suffering during this up coming week.