Suffering is Caused by the Actions of Others

All the pain, famine and death caused by wars, crime, and government mismanagement can be traced to the greed, pride and wickedness of man.

If you turn on your television or open a newspaper, you are confronted by the evil actions of people. Violent crimes are becoming common. Murder, rape, beatings, wife abuse, and child abuse are all every day events. Suffering is also caused by the actions of government.

For example, the policies of the government of North Korea has increased the suffering of her people. If this government was less isolationist and was less militant, more humanitarian aid would reach the people.

Suffering because of The Fall of Man

One cause of suffering is the fall of man. God created man perfect and without any fault. God also gave man a very precious gift, free will. God allowed man to decide if he would obey God or disobey Him. To test man, God gave him one law to obey. The first man, Adam, broke that law. This plunged the human race into sin.

Man's sin has infected all of God's creation like a contagious disease. When man broke God's law, suffering entered the world. God told Adam, "Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.'' (Genesis 3:17b)

Most natural disasters can be traced back to this first sin. Paul hints at this. He wrote, "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.'' (Romans 8:22)

Paul pictures all creation suffering because of sin. This world suffers with earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and other disasters because of the corruption caused by man's initial sin.

The Storms of Life

Consider the words of Job 1:13-19, "And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house; and there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: and the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

"While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

"While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

"While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: and, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.''

Job suffered greatly. We will probably never experience the tragedy that he did. However, in each of our lives, we will experience sorrow, suffering and tragedy. The next few post will deal with the cause of suffering.

Every one of us experiences times of distress. It is part of life on this planet. Although some people suffer much more than others, all of us at one time or another will ask, "Why did this happen to me?'' The Bible gives us four main causes for suffering. I will discuss each of these in a separate post.