Without suffering, we couldn’t learn solidarity, compassion, forgiveness, mercy, and grace.
-These are the attributes of God revealed by His own suffering by becoming human and innocently dying at the hands of evil. These attributes we are to have in the Kingdom, but can only come from suffering, which only happens in this life. Everybody grows from different kinds/amounts of suffering.
Patience, perseverance, and longsuffering: the hard work put in for the future hope, also produce character growth.
Other times we suffer to open our eyes to those around us. Often we become smug, or comfortable in our bubbles, and we are blind to the sufferings of the world until we are thrown in the midst of it.
Or to bring us to repentance. Sin can stunt our growth.
There are times when the suffering hurts so bad that we don’t care about the above (compassion, forgiveness, and things learned from it). That is ok and understandable, and an expected feeling especially in the midst of suffering.
My deepest qualms are when innocent children are hurt or killed.
There are many thoughts on this in my head, but we will never know the whys and hows until we can ask God ourselves. We must trust that God is who He says He is (just and righteous) and that we may never know some things on this side of heaven.
Some of those thoughts:
-not every child can be saved. If so, at what age is the cut-off point? Then, are children invincible? What kinds of sufferings would be included/excluded? Like, would they not suffer the effects of touching a hot stove or licking an icy pole? Would they not carry compassion into their adult life after being bullied as a child? Where is the line drawn? Fighting parents might not think twice about divorce. So many examples…
-Would a cut-off point show that older children/adults don’t carry as much value?
-We could say: well, children should at least be immune to cancer. Indeed, they are immune to some diseases that only adults get. And adults are immune to some disease that only children get. Of course, humanity has introduced many new diseases and illnesses thanks to lifestyle, chemicals, and processed foods. Will radioactivity effect a pregnant woman but not her unborn child? Often, many diseases (specifically auto immune ones) have the genetic propensity to develop (are passed in genes) but are not activated unless the child/adult comes under a stressor, as if to purposefully point to the effects of sin, in a way, whether it’s the sin of the person, or of another person against them, or of society.
-would adults not curb their decision making if it had no negative effect on their children (like stop taking drugs/addiction, not put their child in harm’s way, be more inclined to neglect or abuse if it had no negative effect on the child?)
-we don’t know how many times that child/person was saved before. A man I admired died of heart disease, thanks to his bad habits. He’s had many stents and heart attacks, but the final one killed him. Some asked, why didn’t God save him? But, of course, he was an adult and the answer is obvious. But some situations seem outright unfair.
-Isaiah 57 seems to say that sometimes an early death is an act of mercy as if to avoid a horrible outcome in the future or that person possibly rejecting God later. I am not sure of this, since there are many arguments for and against this.
These are all just my thoughts. In no way do I have answers. I see some horrific suffering of children in my career and such occurrences seem like they can never be justified in any way.
The one thing I know for sure: God is righteous and just. The more you get to know God by studying him (especially in the Old Testament), the easier this is to believe. But He is not obligated to care for those who are not His, yet He is willing to if that person is prayed for. In fact, I’m sure He does regardless, to a point, and we will never know. He does hold back humanity’s propensity for evil, meaning, the amount of evil in this world is controlled, which makes me fear what the loss of His presence could look like (which is what hell will be).
Another thing: we will never know if He or His angels are comforting those dying. Near death experiences don’t quite tell us because they aren’t actually meant to die, but people in those experiences often say they don’t feel the pain, but then you watch an old person dying and they see things like the other side, angels, and loved ones. Or maybe this is just for those who are God’s children.
The fact that God instilled in animals (and humans) the adrenaline and other chemicals that stunt the level of pain in the midst of being eaten gives me hope. That He even thought of that, is merciful.