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Your Question:
Why does God allow good people to suffer?
Answer:
As a pastor and a man of faith, I've grappled with this question many times. Why does God allow good people to suffer? It's a question that has puzzled philosophers and theologians for centuries. According to the passage, God's reason for permitting suffering is not that the suffering individuals will be benefited, but rather that he wishes to actualize a very good world, one with the great good of incarnation, atonement, and redemption. The Book of Job offers a profound insight into this question. God's answer may seem like a dodge at first glance, but it's actually a complete and satisfying explanation. It shows just how limited we humans are in our understanding of God's ways. God's people often struggle to see the bigger picture, but He is gracious and loving enough to make our suffering count. He will use our suffering for our good, even if we don't see it at the time. Ultimately, the weight of glory that we will experience in heaven is so great that it's beyond comparison with the suffering we endure in this life. To know God, the locus of infinite goodness and love, is an incomparable good, the fulfillment of human existence. This means that no matter what we suffer, no matter how awful our pain, we can still truly say, "God is good to me!"
Sources:
warranted christian belief
alvin plantinga
jesus on trial
david limbaugh
raising passionate jesus followers
phil diane comer
on guard
william lane craig
old testament theology
waltke
depression
edward welch
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