Posts Tagged ‘suffering’
Is God telling Americans to straighten up?
Question: There are so many terrible things going on in the world today. I have a friend that is saying God is trying to warn us as Americans that we need to straighten up in this country or God will turn His back on us. What are your views on that? Thank you. Answer: Every…
Read MoreIs the reason my life is going downhill because of my sexual sins with my girlfriend?
Question: My girlfriend and I have been sexually active for some time now. We sought out advice from our pastor, who suggested we separate to refocus and rededicate our lives to Christ so that if and when reunited we would be better equipped to fight off temptation. We didn’t follow that advice. Instead, we fled.…
Read MoreDoes God hate me?
Question: Hello sir, I’ve often thought of this but would like some clarity if that is OK. I have been looking at the advice you give others online, and you give really good and useful advice! I guess my question is, why does God make me suffer? Does he hate me or something? I know…
Read MoreThings have been getting really hard for me. I need to change my life
Question: Good morning, I just had some things to get off my chest. I have been laid off for about seven months now, and it feels like I am just losing everything slowly: first my job, then my house, my unemployment. It’s like everything is going downhill for me. I have been married for under…
Read MoreI don’t know if my feelings were genuine when I received Christ
Question: You may not know me, but I have seen what you wrote and you seem wise. I ask that you give me a genuine answer. Here goes pouring out my heart’s doubts: I am not sure that I have received Christ. I don’t know if my feeling was genuine and God was touching me,…
Read MoreI haven’t been good. I came down with diabetes. I had sex when I was drunk. Why did this have to happen?
Question: I am 19 and have been through a lot in my life. When I was two my parents were divorced. Between the ages of around 5 to 12, I was allergic to corn. My family had been very close to God and at that time I grew up in the church and wanted to…
Read MoreTwo Trips and Suffering
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/TwoTripsAndSufferings.mp3 by Scott Smelser
Read MoreWhen Strength Is a Disadvantage
by Gary Henry “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses,…
Read MoreIs God punishing me?
Question: I have gotten very ill with a blood disease, and it doesn’t seem to be getting better. Please pray for me to reunite with God, but I actually think that He has left me to die. It really does look like leprosy. I didn’t mean to say what I did, but there has been…
Read MoreWe haven’t done anything really bad, so why are our lives so difficult?
Question: Hi there, I hope you are doing fine. I am only 19. I’m married, my husband is 20. Neither of us has done anything really really bad in our lives, but yet we are suffering like we are the worse people on earth. Of course, we have sinned, but this is just ridiculous. I…
Read MoreWill God heal my brother?
Question: Hello, My brother is going through cancer right now, and the doctors say he is not getting better. I have accepted Jesus into my heart, and I want to trust Him that He will heal my brother, but my mom, who is also a Christian, wants me to face the reality that the Lord…
Read MoreI’m tired of living with this medical condition
Question: What’s the purpose of my life when I’m suffering from a socially isolating and debilitating medical condition? I kid you not, I’m so sick and tired of reading platitudes; I’m tired of begging, pleading, imploring God for help. What’s the point of living, if you can’t function as a whole person? What’s the point…
Read MoreDid my sins cause my pain? If I stop, will my disease go away?
Question: Dear preacher, I am 25 years old. For the past six years, I have been walking with severe heel pain in both legs. I have consulted many doctors, and I have taken many pain killers, steroids, and anti-inflammatory medications but I am unable to walk properly. I was once a district volleyball player, but…
Read MoreWhat would you say to a young teenager who “sometimes feels weak” because he lost his mother?
Question: Hello, By way of counseling, what would you say to a young teenager who “sometimes feels weak” because he lost his mum? Answer: Life is filled with difficulties. You can either let them overwhelm you or you can overcome them. God allows Satan to bring difficulties into our lives because people can rise to…
Read MoreWhy Is Evil Allowed?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/WhyIsEvilAllowed.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ecclesiastes 8:6-13 I. It has happened again. Incomprehensible horror has struck to kill innocent children. A. But we want to know why? Why did it happen? Why couldn’t it be stopped? B. I’ve seen guns blamed, drugs blamed, psychological problems blamed, schools blamed, and, yes, even God blamed – Psalms 10:1…
Read MoreDoes God care about all the surgeries I’m going through?
Question: I was an evangelical Christian over five years ago. I am still a believer. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs or anything like that. I don’t have a girlfriend. I stopped going to church about two years ago. It was because I had surgery (Palatal Expansion). I was born with…
Read MoreWhen the Good Die Young
Text: I Kings 14:1-18 I. It is a sad occasion when a young person meets with death A. We think about the potential that was suddenly cut short. B. The older people think about the experiences they enjoyed that this person didn’t have an opportunity to experience first hand C. We realize we will miss their companionship, especially…
Read MoreWhy is everyone blessed but me?
Question: I always see people being blessed — everyone except me. I used to be closer to God than I am today. Five years ago I miscarried a child, and I was so discouraged. Before that, I would pray all day but after that happened, I didn’t see any reason to. I dusted myself off…
Read MoreWhy hasn’t God blessed me?
Question: I have nowhere else to turn at this point. I have prayed, but I guess I’m not doing it right. I have changed my ways, but I guess I haven’t changed them enough or the right ones. I have strived diligently to be obedient to the word of God as best I can, yet…
Read MoreDid all pain and suffering result from man eating the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
Question: I realize many things happened when man ate of the tree of knowledge. I think I had said once because of such all pain, suffering, and sickness came into the world. I’m not sure why I had said this other than maybe just something I was convinced was true at the time. Is that…
Read MoreWhy doesn’t God just end the world and stop the corruption?
Question: We know, as a fact, that our God does not want anyone to perish and wants all to come to the knowledge of Him and salvation. We even deduce that he created us out of love, as He is love. At the same time, we expect that most people will not be saved, and…
Read MoreMy life is a misery
Question: I have been living in Africa since I lost my dependable job due to political or governmental changes. I think God has left Africa because of the poverty, destructions, killing, famines, homelessness, and many more which is happening here. Now it seems the whole world is against me because I have reached out to…
Read MoreWhy am I suffering like this?
Question: I’m in my early twenties. I’m suffering from arthritis for several years. I took many treatments, but I’m not able to find a cure. I’m a Christian. One more thing is that I was in a relationship with a girl. I loved her like anything. I have touched her several times and I have…
Read MoreHow can someone with sickle-cell anemia be convinced of God’s love?
Question: Should couples who have sickler children be condemned for being selfish in their love by marrying despite a medical warning about genotype incompatibility? How can a sickler be convinced of God’s love? Answer: A “sickler” is a person who has sickle-cell anemia or carries the trait for sickle-cell anemia. Sickle-cell anemia is a genetic…
Read MoreWill I be handicapped in heaven?
Question: I was born with a handicap. It has since become worse. I have applied for disability but can not seem to receive it. Why was I pick for this? What did I do to deserve this? If I die tomorrow, will I be handicapped in heaven? Who should I take my anger out on?…
Read MoreWhat is the blueness of a wound?
Question: In Proverbs 20:30, it reads, “The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so [do] stripes the inward parts of the belly.” What does blueness mean? Answer: This is the older way of say “bruise.” We still keep the memory of it when we say a person was beaten black and blue. Bruises look ugly and…
Read MoreWhy do people say God sends trials when they are really caused by Satan?
Question: My question is why do people always say when evil things happen, they believe God is using these evil events to strengthen the one who is being maliciously attacked by another, or who has no will or intent in serving or obeying God anymore? Why do Christians always say God uses tragedies and evil…
Read MoreWhy did God force me to live with autism when I don’t want it?
Question: People say God does not force, but why did God force me to be alive? Even He saw my life before I was born, and God knew that I didn’t want to be alive. Why was I born with autism? It is so hard to have autism. Why can’t I be normal like other…
Read MoreThe Lord is My Help and My Deliverer
Text: Psalm 40 I. Evil exists in this world, and God is concerned about our welfare – Psalm 121 A. With God on our side we have no fear of man – Hebrews 13:5-6 B. Yet many wonder why troubles beset us when the Almighty has promised us protection. II. We often don’t recognize God’s protection A. Perhaps a…
Read MoreIf God doesn’t tempt with evil, then why did He send Saul an evil spirit?
Question: Can you explain what the evil spirit is in I Samuel 16:14 that was from the Lord? I don’t understand what this could be in light of passages such as Romans 2:11, James 1:13, etc. Answer: “Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him”…
Read MoreWhy doesn’t God prevent innocent children from being harmed?
Question: A man was baby sitting the seventeen month old son of his girlfriend when he struck and killed the infant for acting like a girl. The man is charged with first-degree manslaughter after he allegedly hit the boy “several times throughout his body with closed fists.” Apparently, he then grabbed the infant by the…
Read MoreGod didn’t keep my wife from leaving me, so I give up following God
Question: I desired to follow God the best I could. I stopped my wayward ways in the world. I got married. In fact, my now ex-wife became a Christian first and I have to say she was a good wife. I just don’t know what happened. I didn’t see this coming at all. It took…
Read MoreWhat was Paul’s thorn in the flesh?
Question: How are you? Can you help answer this question and elaborate on it? What was Paul’s thorn in the flesh, when Paul says he prayed three times that it may be removed? Answer: “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given…
Read MoreDoes God put negative circumstances in our path?
Question: God bless. Really enjoyed the online article about Overcoming Bitterness by Lawrence Kelley. The analogy of the “sweet wood” of the cross making our bitter souls sweet was excellent. I am going to share that at our next Bible Study. He did, however, contradict the scriptures when he wrote: “He (God) puts us in circumstances…
Read MoreWhere Do You Turn?
by Shane Williams via The Lilbourn Light, Vol. 10, No. 4, August 2009. Where you turn when you’re in trouble reveals your character. What does it tell us about young kids whose trouble turns them toward gangs, guns, or drugs? What do we learn about adults whose problems direct them toward alcohol, adultery, or the…
Read MoreWhat a Friend We Have in Jesus
by Ralph Walker, Jr. Joseph Scriven was born Sept. 10, 1819, at Seapatrick, near Dublin Ireland, into the wealthy family of Capt. John Scriven. Joseph’s hopes to follow his father in the military were dashed due to poor health. In 1835 he entered Trinity College and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1842. During that…
Read MoreA Voice Heard in Ramah
by Doy Moyer There are no words to describe the horrors of the slaughter of school children and teachers. None. We struggle to find some sense in it, some meaning, some greater purpose, but we come up empty-handed. No philosophizing will help. We cannot even imagine that someone would walk into a school — a…
Read MoreSand and Pearls
by Netagene Kirkpatrick, August 18, 2009 If God can take a grain of sand And change it to a pearl – Some tiny lifeless silicone He made when He made the world, Then why don’t you understand the thought That you, a living soul Might change from whatever sad state you’re in, If you’ll let Him…
Read MoreDid the Haitians make a pact with the devil? Did that cause the earthquake?
Question: Do you know what the basis for Pat Robertson’s comments on Haiti and their pact with the devil was based on in terms of the light of Scripture? Is it true they made a pact with the devil? I find his comments to have no scriptural basis at all. I then took it upon…
Read MoreIf God knows someone will become evil, then why would he allow them to be born?
Question: Someone asked me, “If God knows someone will become evil, such as Hitler, then why would He allow them to be created?” I went to Abraham offering up Isaac as a sacrifice and how God said, “for now I know…” Maybe God chooses not to know if we will become evil since we are…
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