The all powerful God

If God is all powerful and he loves me, so then why do I suffer? Why does he permit bad things to happen to me? This is a great question. The underlying assumption is that if we had all that power, we would use it to control everything, so we wonder why God doesn’t do it that way too. But instead of using his power to control everything directly, making us puppets on strings, he chooses to delegate some control to others during this age.

If you are not a believer then God permits Satan to rule over you as the temporary ruler, called the “prince of this world.” Adam and Eve were made in God’s image and were born into the kingdom of heaven, but then put their faith in Satan, becoming part of the world, the kingdom of darkness instead, receiving a new sin nature. Like Adam and Eve, you are also made in God’s image, but unlike Adam and Eve, you are born into the world not the Garden, into the kingdom of darkness, as a consequence of their sin. In this age, you must put your faith IN JESUS, be born again, to enter into the kingdom of heaven, recieving a new nature. So, if you haven’t heard or you don’t believe, you suffer because Satan is your ruler. And if you receive services from the kingdom of darkness, then you may suffer even more, paying your debt to Satan with your suffering. If instead Satan rewards you with wealth and power in this world for serving him, just like he offered to Jesus in the desert, you will spend eternity apart from God, paying the ultimate price to Satan, unless you turn away. But don’t blame God for your bad choice, turn away and put your hope in God instead.

But if you are a believer, then why does he permit bad things to happen to you? Sometimes you suffer because you permit it. Satan can rule over you, where you let him, where you invite him in, where you give him a foothold, where he has a legitimate claim on you due to your unresolved sin. Usually, he rules over you through lies, false assumptions, bad labels, fear, unforgiveness and self-loathing. You are not immune from Satan’s legitimate claims on your life. God will not go against your will, so he only intervenes if you are in agreement with him, no longer agreeing with Satan. Though you suffer, don’t blame God for your bad choice, turn away and put your hope in God instead.

Another reason sometimes you suffer is that you are not in heaven yet. Why do you expect your life to be easy? No one in the New Testament expected this. Jesus became a curse for a curse, but which curse? He became a curse for the curse of eternal separation from God. He did not remove all the curses from the fall of Adam and Eve yet; the curse of physical death, the curse on the land to produce thorns and thistles, the pain in childbirth, the husband’s rule over his wife, and the enmity with Satan still remain. God’s justice requires there be a consequence to mankind for Adam and Eve’s sin. So, you suffer from the natural consequences, not decreed by God as punishment for your specific personal sin, but resulting from the fall; things like hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, plagues, famines and diseases didn’t happen in the Garden, but they happen naturally like thorns and thistles in the world. Sometimes these events are decreed as punishment through God’s spokesmen, but not always. When the king returns, this kind of suffering will cease on the earth and it will cease for you personally when you go to heaven. You are not immune from the natural consequences of the fall while you walk the earth.You are not in the Garden, you are on the earth. Though you suffer, don’t blame God, but put your hope in him instead, pray and ask him to help you overcome.

You may also suffer because you are a believer. Jesus said they persecuted me, so they will persecute you. You are now part of the kingdom of heaven, making you Satan’s declared enemy, so he wants to destroy you. God’s justice requires enmity as a consequence of the fall and where there is enmity, there is suffering. You are in a war, fighting for the souls of others, so you are not immune from suffering and you will suffer even more if you don’t put on your spiritual armor. Though you suffer at times, God does promise you that whatever you face it will not be more than you can handle, more than you can overcome. You are not immune from injury or death and victory means that you will advance the kingdom of heaven through your life and he will walk with you. Though you suffer, don’t blame God, but put your hope in him instead, pray and ask him to help you overcome.

Sometimes we suffer because of others sin against us. Maybe you think that you are suffering because God is teaching you a lesson by letting them sin against you. God is not the author of sin, Satan is the author, so sin is not God’s lesson plan. But God will help you overcome Satan by resolving the effects of the sin in your life and even turn it so he can use it to advance the kingdom. You are not justified sinning against others to “teach them a lesson” and neither are they. Though you suffer, don’t blame God, but put your hope in him instead, pray and ask him to help you overcome.

You may not agree with how God uses his power, but this is how it is. Maybe if you were God it would be different but you are not God. No one wants to suffer, but as long as you walk the earth, you will experience times of suffering and eventually even experience physical death, but you are able to overcome, able to experience times of joy, blessing and victory as you walk with God and eventually even experience eternal life. If you only obey God to get health, wealth and happiness in this world, then you are not righteous like Job, you love the benefits, treating God as an idol, trying to make  him serve you, but not loving the creator himself with all you heart and soul and strength. Be careful, maybe you will  “curse God and die” like Job’s wife instead. Though you suffer, don’t blame God, but put your hope in him instead, pray and ask him to help you overcome.