“God tolerates the existence of sin for a time because it creates a distinction between those striving to do right (and sometimes failing) and those desiring to be wicked (see Romans 7:13). When we sin, we see the effect of evil on our lives. Hopefully we learn from our mistakes and acknowledge that God’s way is right. We are forced by our sins and the sins of others to acknowledge that God’s laws are the best path for man to take.”<\/p>\n
“It is true that sometimes a child dies despite the best efforts of his parents to protect him from harm. Yet, there are times when innocent children die because their parents neglected to do their duties. For example, why was a child left in a hot automobile? Why was a child allowed to play in a pool without supervision? Negligence isn’t always the case, but sometimes the innocent suffer because those responsible are failing their duties. “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin<\/em>” (James 4:17)”<\/p>\n“Could God prevent all accidental harm? Yes, but how would that help? I’ve seen children who are protect from harming themselves — they think they are impervious to harm. They become wild and careless because nothing ever happens to them. God made the world with laws. Gravity exists. If you fall off a roof, you are going to get hurt. People can’t breathe underwater. If you try, you will drown. God doesn’t make exceptions to His laws except in rare occasions. So why are some of the world’s laws so rough? It is because God understands that we need difficulties to challenge us to improve (James 1:2-4). “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it<\/em>” (Hebrews 12:11). God allows sadness and hardships to come because these provide the training His children need to grow up. He isn’t the source, and He limits what evil can do to a person so that they are not overwhelmed (I Corinthians 13:10), but He doesn’t protect us from our own foolishness or from all harm.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\nGod bless you.<\/p>\n\t
Answer:<\/h2>\n
Of course, it is fine. As per the bottom of every page, all the material on La Vista’s site is free to be reused. I’m glad you found the material useful.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hello, I am in the midst of a time of pain and tragedy for my family having two terminally ill, close family members. I am nursing one and cannot see much of the other terminally ill one. While reading on the Internet someone’s question about ”Why doesn’t God prevent innocent children from being harmed?”…<\/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":[127,182,188],"class_list":["post-46581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-about-this-site","tag-suffering","tag-trials"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":87635,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-advanced-medical-directives-or-living-wills-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":46581,"position":0},"title":"Are Advanced Medical Directives or Living Wills wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In my country, there is an arrangement called \"Advance Medical Directive (AMD)\". \"It is a legal document that you sign in advance to inform the doctor treating you (in the event you become terminally ill and unconscious) that you do not want any extraordinary life-sustaining treatment to be used\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":455,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-unwanted\/","url_meta":{"origin":46581,"position":1},"title":"The Unwanted","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Psalms 10 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How do we deal with those whom others don\u2019t want? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Terri Shiavo made the news and was the focus of attention for numerous months. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Her husband no longer wanted to keep her alive. He claimed that she wouldn\u2019t want to remain in this state. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What I don\u2019t\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47817,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-afraid-ill-be-left-behind-in-the-rapture\/","url_meta":{"origin":46581,"position":2},"title":"I’m afraid I’ll be left behind in the rapture","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello! I am a born-again Christian. I became one about two years ago, and now I am feeling more doubt about my faith. Then I would find myself scared of the rapture and being left behind. I would call my family if I was home alone to see if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19072,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-prove-he-existed-before-but-not-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":46581,"position":3},"title":"Why did God prove He existed before but not now?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My son has come to me asking questions about the church. He is a member of the church but has fallen away. His asking questions is a crack in the door I don't want to miss out on. He's asking why did God allow proof that He existed then,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69453,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-was-ready-to-fight-at-first-but-by-the-end-i-agreed\/","url_meta":{"origin":46581,"position":4},"title":"I was ready to fight at first, but by the end, I agreed","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just wanted to express my appreciation for your response to this question:\u00a0Why doesn't God prevent innocent children from being harmed? I'll admit, I was ready to fight at first, but by the end of the entire response, I felt that you detailed and answered all of my grievances\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28299,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/it-is-encouraging-to-see-a-positive-attitude-toward-the-mentally-ill\/","url_meta":{"origin":46581,"position":5},"title":"It is encouraging to see a positive attitude toward the mentally ill","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I cannot tell you just how encouraging it is to see Christians who have such a positive attitude toward the mentally ill. I am educated, have traveled, been a public speaker, and done all kinds of things, but I am mentally ill, too. It has kind of challenged my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","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\/46581","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=46581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46581\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}