When I was 15 my mother passed away. At the time, I was angry with God for taking her. I could not believe any God worth believing in could do such a thing. That was before I wised up.
No one escapes tragedy. Whether it is a personal loss, such as the death of a loved one, or a widespread catastrophe like a tsunami or hurricane, we all suffer. And many of us begin to falter in our faith because we do not understand.
Let's look at that more closely. First, assume for a moment that God exists. If that is true, then it is likely that Satan also exists. And that would suggest a struggle between Good and Evil.
Let us further assume that in any struggle, the strong have a better chance of winning. So, it stands to reason that God would want an army of strong souls, not weak ones. And strength comes from being tempered by fire. Trials and tribulation. Without tragedy and suffering, we could not grow stronger. In addition, suffering tends to weed out those whose faith is weak. A farmer calls it "culling the wheat from the chaff."
When my mother died, I became stronger by having realized that we are all mortal. Her passing helped make me the person I am. Later, losing my first wife and child also strengthened me, and helped forge me into the man who my present wife could love. Had I not suffered that loss, I would never have found my true soul-mate, and the happiness that comes from that.
When you graduate school and move on with life, you often leave behind old friends. But that opens the door for new friends. And you cannot go on to college unless you first leave high school. You cannot become the CEO until first you work in the office pool or production line. Life is not easy - it is not supposed to be. In fact, it is supposed to be hard as Hell. It is supposed to be survival of the fittest.
Yes, suffering is a part of life that we cannot escape. If it does not kill us, it makes us stronger. And that is the reason for it.
An army made up of weaklings cannot win many battles. Think of our time here on Earth as "Boot Camp" - preparing us for surviving battle. Now, think back to some tragedy or loss in your own life and ask yourself whether or not you grew from the experience.
It might also be a good idea to stop and think what it would be like on Earth today if no one ever died of disease, or in battle. Instead of 6 billion people infesting this granite planet, it would be hundreds of billions - far more than the Earth could sustain. We would have become extinct long ago from having laid waste to all of Earth's resources. It is a fact of life that each person must die. And that means each of us must suffer loss.
In the eternal battle between Good and Evil, God needs strong soldiers. And strength comes from tempering the steel in fire.
As a final note, you may want to consider this during the Christmas season that is upon us - no one suffered more than Jesus, and He was the Son of God according to the Testaments! Had he not suffered as He did, the world would probably be far less civilized, ruled by the same barbarism that rules in many non-Christian countries today.
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