Love and Suffering

This is an excerpt I came across in the book I’m reading, A Case for Faith by Lee Strobel.

“Would you agree that the difference between us and God is greater then the difference between us and say, a bear?

Okay then imagine a bear in a trap and a hunter who, out of sympathy, wants to liberate him. He tries to win the bear's confidence, but he can't do it, so he has to shoot the bear fill of drugs. The bear, however, thinks this is an attack and that the hunter is trying to kill him. He doesn't realize that this is being done out of compassion.

Then in order to get the bear out of the trap, the hunter has to push him further into the trap to release the tension on the spring. If the bear was semiconscious at that point, he would be even more convinced that the hunter was his enemy who was out to cause him suffering and pain. But the bear would be wrong. He reaches this incorrect conclusion because he's not a human being.

Now, how can anyone be certain that's not an analogy between us and God? I believe God does the same to us sometimes, and we can't comprehend why He does it any more then the bear can understand the motivations of the hunter. As the bear could have trusted the hunter, so can we trust God.”
-Peter Kreeft

I think this is one of my favorite parts of the book. It deals with the issues we all struggle with.... suffering, pain, injustices and the tough question... does the presence of suffering necessarily mean the absence of God? Why does a loving God allow us to suffer?

This is what I have learnt …

Suffering is a result of sin. I've seen suffering firsthand in very real ways. Children born into a third world country dealing with extreme poverty... not by choice or related to anything they’ve done... not to mention everyday realities such as disease, natural disasters, car accidents, broken families, addictions and the list trails on. Is God really standing by and letting this happen?

We are human therefore we have the ability to sin. So why do we have choice? Why did God give us choice which therefore giving us the ability to harm each other? If He loves us, how can He stand by and watch bad things happen to good people?

God made us this way because He loves us. He chose not to make us puppets that followed along blindly. He wants a relationship with us. Love is paramount here. True love can never be forced or demanded. You have to choose to love and it can never fully come from someone who wasn’t able to choose otherwise. Only when you make the decision from your will or desire can it truly be said to be complete and true love. This is why we have choice; why God gave us the ability to choose for ourselves. Sometimes we do good, and sometime we do evil.

With that said, I believe God to be a deity who loves. I know that life is difficult, testing, demanding, and rigorous… and sometimes we can’t explain why a loving God would allow certain injustices to happen. I have complete faith that He loves us and has our best interest in mind. I know that we cannot see the big picture, but He can.

Faith is active; it demands a response.
My thoughts are a meaningful confusion.