I got a call from a friend telling me that another really good friend’s wife has just been diagnosed with cancer all through her body. It is one of those cases where I have to wonder, “Why?” and “Where is the fairness in this life?” as this lady was tops in my book, just a real genuine good person.<\/p>\n\t
Ultimately the answer is that long ago, mankind makes a wreck of God’s creation by opening the flood gates to sin (Genesis 3). The consequence was that death and destruction entered the world. “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return<\/em>” (Genesis 3:19). God had warned Adam and Eve that this would happen, but they sinned anyway.<\/p>\n Fair? This world won’t ever be fair. It has taken too much damage. “I returned and saw under the sun that — the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all. For man also does not know his time: like fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 9:11-12).<\/p>\n Your despair comes from only seeing this life. “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable<\/em>” (I Corinthians 15:19). This world is destined for destruction and our eye should be fixed on the world that follows (II Peter 3:10-13). “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away”<\/em>” (Revelation 21:3-4).<\/p>\n Knowing that we can be a part of a better world, we do all that we can to be found pleasing in His sight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I got a call from a friend telling me that another really good friend’s wife has just been diagnosed with cancer all through her body. It is one of those cases where I have to wonder, “Why?” and “Where is the fairness in this life?” as this lady was tops in my book, just…<\/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":[885,182,188],"class_list":["post-8071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-illness","tag-suffering","tag-trials"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32382,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-all-pain-and-suffering-result-from-man-eating-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil\/","url_meta":{"origin":8071,"position":0},"title":"Did all pain and suffering result from man eating the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I realize many things happened when man ate of the tree of knowledge.\u00a0 I think I had said once because of such all pain, suffering, and sickness came into the world.\u00a0 I'm not sure why I had said this other than maybe just something I was convinced was true\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":16036,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-hebrews-927-state-what-it-does-and-yet-elijah-and-enoch-did-not-experience-physical-death\/","url_meta":{"origin":8071,"position":1},"title":"Why does Hebrews 9:27 state what it does and yet Elijah and Enoch did not experience physical death?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why does\u00a0Hebrews 9:27 state what it does and yet Elijah and Enoch did not\u00a0experience physical death? Answer: \"And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment\" (Hebrews 9:27). The writer of Hebrews is stating a general principle. Because of Adam's sin, man is\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":91321,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/questions-about-the-body-soul-spirit-and-death\/","url_meta":{"origin":8071,"position":2},"title":"Questions about the body, soul, spirit, and death","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear Jeffrey, I listened to your Bible lesson on the body, spirit, and soul, and it was very helpful. I have some questions and thought I would like to run them by you (my Bible quotes are from KJV): The Body, Soul, and Death Genesis 2:7 breathed into his nostrils\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":51757,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-animals-start-eating-meat-after-the-fall-of-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":8071,"position":3},"title":"Did animals start eating meat after the fall of man?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you for the wonderful and comprehensive website with so much Bible-based information.\u00a0 I'm reading it daily and learning so much. Many thanks. One question comes to mind that I did not find an answer to, although the Bible does mention that the first animals in creation ate the\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":4116,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-people-have-to-die\/","url_meta":{"origin":8071,"position":4},"title":"Why do people have to die?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why do people have to die? When you think about it, it can make people mad at God, or it will drive them away. Why does God let suffering happen? Suffering is hard for people. Answer: To understand why people die, we have to go back to when death\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":15008,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-bible-say-we-will-be-greeted-by-our-loved-ones-after-death\/","url_meta":{"origin":8071,"position":5},"title":"Does the Bible say we will be greeted by our loved ones after death?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 4, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, You, so far, are the only person I trust to tell me the truth of the Bible. I am so confused trying to understand it. But, anyway, when we die does it say in the Bible if we will be greeted in Paradise by our loved ones who\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\/8071","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=8071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8071\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}