If God is good, why doesn’t He just eliminate suffering?
It’s the question I’ve thought about since a kid, wrestled with as a teenager and lived with throughout the pain I was going through when heavily oppressed and depressed.
And while there are no straightforward answers to this question. Let me humbly offer you three perspectives/realities that have helped me through times of difficulty.
No one can ‘agape’ Jesus or God or others unconditionally without the power of the Holy Spirit. We all fall short, we are all sinners needing grace, needing unconditional love to transform us.
Let’s allow the Lord to come and take away that self-doubt by saying gently- its’ true, you can’t – it’s not humanly possible to live or love perfectly. But I have not rejected you – and you can and will continue the journey – not by your own power, but by the Love of God poured out through the Holy Spirit int Your heart.
I remember that moment, my heart was pounding as I submitted a frame print of mine for an auction. I knew it was a print, it was a Christian charity auction and I thought it was compulsory to submit something so that was my submission.
I knew I wanted to draw a deer when I drew this piece. I had a very very challenging day and drawing was what I needed to help me focus on the positive. So I went and research. And this time instead of just picking a reindeer picture and starting there, I decided to find out what the exact kind of deer the bible was referring to. Well, it wasn’t deep research, but I concluded that a reindeer probably wasn’t the deer that was on a high hill.
Come home, though your face is dirty, though you smell like trash
Come home, though you’ve got nothing left
Paperheart Pieces