Why Do Innocent People Suffer?
Friday July 27, 2018
God never intended that we would know evil, let alone experience it. God created humans, placed them in a beautiful garden, gave them freedom to enjoy everything in it, with one warning – they were not to eat “the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person. The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” (Genesis 2:7, 15-17 NLT)
God desired that humans would live in loving relationship with Him and with each other. In His wisdom God gave humans the ability to respond to His love and goodness as they chose. He wanted them to trust His infinite knowledge and, through relationship with Him, receive guidance and direction that would result in a good, pleasing, and perfect life. God knew that the knowledge of good and evil would be too much for humans to deal with and in His kindness wanted to keep them from it. This is similar to a parent wanting the best for their child. A protective parent will tell a child not to touch a hot burner on the stove. In doing so, the parent is seeking to shield the child from the danger the child is not even aware exists. If the child touches the burner they learn the lesson but receive an unnecessary injury in the process.
Because He loved and cared about His creation, God warned humans about the danger of eating the forbidden fruit. Even when they disobeyed, and experienced the painful consequences, God, through Jesus, did what was necessary to restore their relationship with Himself. Are we willing to fully surrender to God’s guidance and direction for our lives or do we want to continue to suffer the painful consequences of our rebellious behaviour?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Today, I choose to turn my will and my life over to Your care and to obey You in all my ways. Please help me! Amen
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