When God created the world, He did not create it so humans would suffer. Suffering results from the sins of humanity. But He loved us so much He sent His only Son Jesus to the cross to die to pay our sin punishment and to raise Him from the dead to create the only way for us to be forgiven, to have a relationship with Him now and forever in heaven, and for His Holy Spirit to come live in us. We who turn from our sins, believe in Jesus as Lord and in His death and resurrection, and truly turn our lives over to God and His will and ways receive Jesus as Lord, avoid going to hell and the lake of fire which is the punishment of our sins, and can look forward to heaven where there won’t be an ounce of suffering not ever.
But while we are on this earth, there is still suffering. Though God will be with us and help and comfort us in our suffering when our suffering is no fault of our own, and while He brings great good in and through us as we go through suffering when our hearts and lives are yielded to Him, there is one kind of suffering that is NOT necessary, that CAN be avoided, that CAN be gotten rid of, and that is in essence OPTIONAL.
Sometimes we cause suffering to God by grieving Him and suffering to others as well as to ourselves. Because of our sin.
Examples? Our rebellion against God. Our disobedience. Our pride, selfishness, worry, addiction, lying, cheating, dishonesty, stealing, harming others, harming ourselves, bitterness, envy, complaining and negativity, not taking care of the bodies God has given us, hating others, pushing away God, pushing away the love of others, and believing in God but being lukewarm and not fully devoted to Him.
More examples? Separating ourselves from Jesus’ followers, resisting God’s will, being willful and selfish, going against God’s plans for us, going against God’s ways, being hateful and hurting people and wrecking relationships, taking matters into our own hands instead of praying, waiting on, hearing, and obeying God, refusing to repent and turn to God and His will for us, and on and on.
When God shows us our sin and the grief and suffering we are causing, we need to repent. We need to turn to God for forgiveness, seek the forgiveness of anyone we have harmed, and go forward doing what is right in God’s eyes.
There may be some suffering that remains as a result of our wrong choices up until the time we turn to the Lord and leave the sin behind, but we have the opportunity going forward to not grieve God further and to not cause further suffering to others and to ourselves.
Is there any sin in your life whereby you are grieving God and causing unnecessary suffering to others and yourself?
Please don’t wait another minute! Please cry out to God for His mercy, turn to, believe in, and follow Jesus Christ as Lord, and learn to not grieve God with sin and to not add any more unnecessary suffering into this world that is so filled with suffering as it already is!
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” 1 John 1:5-10 NKJV
us.” 1 John 1:5-10 NKJV