I got an e-mail today from a friend, which overall was pretty good. It was a story explaining why God allows pain and suffering. It was a conversation between a man and his barber. The barber does not think God exists because there is too much pain and suffering in the world, saying if God really did exist, there would be none of that. The man found a way to explain it. He found a homeless man with long scraggily hair and said to the barber, oh barbers don’t exist, because if they did, this man would not look this way. He then used that to prove God existed and said we have pain and suffering because we don’t turn to God or go to Him, just as the man has scraggily hair because he doesn’t go to a barber. While I agree with this in general, I cannot fully agree. Yes, pain entered the world when Adam and Eve sinned, we ruined the prefect relationship with God. However, you know, sometimes God allows pain and suffering even for those who turn to Him and are following Him. We all have “scraggily hair” moments, even as Christ-followers! Pain and suffering happens sometimes only to allow us to grow our faith and nurture our relationship with Him. Yes, other times it is a consequence of our actions or disobedience, but not always. Sometimes, people who become Christians think there life will automatically be easier and free of pain, then they get angry at God down the road when their life is not going as they thought it would. We need to remember as Christ-followers, our lives are not automatically easier and free of pain, we are not even promised that, we just have the confidence, and promise, in knowing we don’t have to go at it alone.
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