Suffering is real. How can we make sense of it? What can we learn from it? Can we overcome it?

People have different ideas about what is wrong with our world. Obviously economic injustice, political factors, racism, religious hatred and greed are factors in the existence of suffering. But they are not the only ones. They all point to a far more insidious source - one which is in fact not at all far from our human hearts.

Suffering and pain tell us that something is wrong. If it wan't for the fact that we suffer and experience pain, we might become totally detached and say that "all is well".  While some might try to push that philosophy even today, reality has a way of intruding on us. We will never be able to totally escape from pain even by means of drugs, or suicide. The reason for this is that there is an afterlife. This world is only a test to see who will ultimately choose to love and worship the only One worthy of our total love and affection - God himself.

Is God really Good? - This is the big question. At first glance it might seem impossible to answer this in the affirmative. Many people alternate between hating God and denying his existence. Some, seeing the evil in religion - including the Christian religion as it is practiced - see an answer in erasing from our consciousness the belief in God.

The real reason for suffering is that God respects us enough to let our actions have real consequences. He gives men the possibility to actually have a huge say in their own eternal destiny, as well as their destiny on earth. God is looking for people to share His goodness eternally with. He is looking for a real love relationship. That would be impossible if we had no real choice in the matter. These real choices do have big effects. All we do is reverberating throughout eternity and has more consequences than we could possibly imagine. Bad choices hurt people - including yourself. Bad choices invite the involvement of evil spirits, which keep people in bondage to things which bring no lasting satisfaction and often outright misery and unhappiness.

Hugh Ross' answer to this question in summary

Have you Been Hurt? If you are suffering, prayer can make a big difference, if it is offered IN FAITH by someone who is REAL with God. I'm

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