{"id":19945,"date":"2009-08-20T21:41:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-21T02:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=19945"},"modified":"2020-02-13T22:05:22","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T04:05:22","slug":"if-god-cares-for-us-why-is-there-suffering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-god-cares-for-us-why-is-there-suffering\/","title":{"rendered":"If God cares for us, why is there suffering?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>I was reading a book and stumbled upon the following quote:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born.&#8221; (Isaiah 44:2a, Contemporary English Version)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I\u00a0thought about this. It brings a couple of questions.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>If the above quote is true, then all the babies and everyone born into this world are children of God, nothing is an accident. So then, when women have a miscarriage, is it the will of God for them to have a miscarriage?<\/li>\n<li>Is it the will of God for babies to be born with diseases since God is their creator? If so, is it in punishment for their parents&#8217; sins (this can&#8217;t be since previously it was read that everyone is responsible for their own sins)? So if the former reason is not true, and since we are created in the image of God (does God have any diseases?), then why are babies born with diseases? Sometimes people say that it&#8217;s our punishment for all the evil and sins, but once again, how can this be if everyone is only accountable for their own sins? This would seem to be a contradiction.<\/li>\n<li>Also, if God creates all humans, and since there is already much death due to poverty and hunger, then why would God create humans to be born into poverty-stricken environments, only to die as do many current children in all parts of the world? How is this explained? Would God sacrifice his own children in order to teach others a lesson, in hopes that they turn to him? If so, this would seem cruel to us, but I guess for God it would not because those being sacrificed are already in his reign and are increasing the chances of other people turning to God?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Once again, thank you for taking the time to help me out. It may seem that I am trying to find a reason\u00a0&#8211; a fault in the logic of God, but these are honest questions that are giving me a hard time. Thanks again<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>Your question is a common one and to address it, I would like you to go through some material that I already wrote on the topic. If questions remain, please let me know, but I think if I get your thoughts on the right track a number of issues will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n<p>First, I would like you to go through the outline &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-make-the-handicapped\/\">Does God Make the Handicapped?<\/a>&#8221; Take the time to read all the verses referenced as it is there you will find most of your answers.<\/p>\n<p>Next, I would like you to go through some articles:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-would-you-be-if-_____-never-happened-to-you\/\">Where Would You Be If ___ Never Happened to You?<br \/>\n<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/his-eye-is-on-the-sparrow\/\">His Eye Is On The Sparrow<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Finally, there is a lovely song that I believe captures the answer to questions like yours. While it doesn&#8217;t give the scriptural references and it isn&#8217;t inspired writing, it is scripturally based and is worth meditating upon:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/be-still-my-soul\/\">Be Still, My Soul<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There is more material than these on the web site, but these should get you started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: I was reading a book and stumbled upon the following quote: &#8220;I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born.&#8221; (Isaiah 44:2a, Contemporary English Version) I\u00a0thought about this. It brings a couple of questions. If the above quote is true, then all the babies and everyone born into this&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[90,182],"class_list":["post-19945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-god","tag-suffering"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47265,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-babies-are-not-sinners-then-why-do-some-babies-die\/","url_meta":{"origin":19945,"position":0},"title":"If babies are not sinners, then why do some babies die?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, The Bible says for the wages of sin is death. If you claim that babies are not born sinners why do babies die? Thanks Answer: \"Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21586,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-create-sinners\/","url_meta":{"origin":19945,"position":1},"title":"Does God Create Sinners?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jerral Kay Catholics and Protestants teach that God creates sinners. They say that all babies are born totally depraved, wicked from birth. The Bible does not teach this. Jesus was born totally human, coming from a sinful mother, and according to their doctrine, all humans inherit sin from Adam.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Baby-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19787,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-babies-born-sinners\/","url_meta":{"origin":19945,"position":2},"title":"Are Babies Born Sinners?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 57, No. 5, Feb. 7, 2008. QUESTION: I have a friend that believes that all babies are born into the world as sinners because of Adam's sin. Could you please discuss this for me? ANSWER:\u00a0The idea of the \"original sin\" of Adam being passed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/angry-rabbit-holding-carrot-figurine-300x195.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":50417,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-would-god-allow-me-to-be-born-a-homosexual\/","url_meta":{"origin":19945,"position":3},"title":"Why would God allow me to be born a homosexual?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, Man of God, My question is this: if being gay is a sin, why would our God allow me to be born like that? Secondly, I have been praying to God that if I'm wrong, he must fix me. But until now, nothing. I believe that God said\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33497,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-an-unborn-baby-have-a-soul\/","url_meta":{"origin":19945,"position":4},"title":"Does an unborn baby have a soul?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a coworker who was telling me his girlfriend had a miscarriage, and that's why he doesn't believe in God.\u00a0 I tried to comfort him by telling him that the baby could not have sinned, thus had to be in heaven.\u00a0 He seems like he may be interested\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93492,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-someone-be-born-with-a-sin-that-cannot-be-forgiven\/","url_meta":{"origin":19945,"position":5},"title":"Can someone be born with a sin that cannot be forgiven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, First, I would like to thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I do appreciate your knowledge. I have an interesting question about the topic of \"saveability\" (not an actual word). Does God allow for someone to be born with sin that they cannot be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19945\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}