In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." - Gospel Of John 16:33
These profound words by Jesus include a warning.
The warning is that being a believer of Christianity does not exclude you from suffering.
One of the most asked questions of religion in general is this: If God is loving, then why does he allow people to suffer so much?
Attempts have been made to answer this dilemma for hundreds of years without satisfactory answers.
Luckily for you the answer lies in this blog post.
The Answer
To learn.
It sounds simple, doesn't it?
If life were all bliss would you learn that you could take with you? Probably not a lot. Very little would sink in.
If life were always blissful then blissfulness would not have as much value. You would have it all the time, so it wouldn't be something amazing to get.
If someone tells you not to put your hand on the stove it is one things. However, if your hand ends up on the stove and you know what is feels like, then Ooomph! You likely will remember much more this way.
As humans we sometimes have to learn things the hard way. Jesus knows this, of course, as the Creator of humans. If you are merely told something it does not stick in your mind the same way. If you live it it can be burned into your being so you don't forget.
The Meaning Of Life Is -
This, by the way, is one of the author's guesses to what the meaning of life is.
The meaning of life is to learn the things we are supposed to learn to improve the quality of eternity with the Creator.
Notice that in this sentence lies the words "to learn."
Remember that Jesus is thinking about eternity and not just the here and now. God, who is much greater than us, has decided that this is the way humans learn best for the long term. Yes, it involves unpleasant things, but suffering comes WITH redemption by doing things God's way.
Note:
An important note is to remember that God is the Creator. This means he knows more about you than you do, as the created being. If God decided that suffering is necessary in your life, then that in itself is an answer to why there is suffering. If God suffered while coming into this world as a human, do you think you will be relieved of it?
Why is there suffering? TO LEARN
You might also be interested in:
Suffering And The Problem Of Evil
Does God Give You More Than You Can Bear?