Life in this world can be a sad and shattering experience. Disease, death, divorce, robbery, rape, starvation, torture, war, flood, earthquake... life can deal out some terrible blows. Truly, "All creation groans"
There's a popular misconception that being a good Christian insures you against harm and suffering
Jesus once cured a man blind from birth. People asked Jesus, "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?"
If a mother drinks herself stupid day after day, she can hardly ask God, "Why am I and my children suffering?" If a man cheats on his good wife, he can hardly ask God, "Why has my wife left me?" But if a bus runs over a little boy, it's a very bad idea that God made it happen to punish
God's attitude to punishing sin is clear when we remember why he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah
Job suffered, but he was tested not punished
If life has dealt you a bad blow, you can find sweet refuge and comfort, in Jesus Christ, not bitter rebuke and condemnation. Jesus gets rid of confusion, despair, and guilt from your heart. In times of distress, we may say, "I can't stand it any more! I can't keep believing in the right
From God's perspective (and he is ever watching over us) the safety of our souls is paramount. Saving us from suffering in this world is not God's main aim. That does not mean he is insensitive or cruel to mortals. He cares, and helps. But he sees beyond our present sufferings to our transcending future glory and immortality
To that very end, God even allowed His Son to suffer. Yet he turned that suffering into wondrous victory, freeing us from sin so that we could inherit that future glory and immortality