(Parts taken from this tract are bracketed and in red)
What about natural disasters and
genetic disorders that produce a tremendous amount of pain
and suffering? Do these come with the freedom to choose?
Pain as a signal can be useful; but continuous, torturous
pain by people suffering from
illnesses, unnecessarily, is an indication that there is no merciful God.
Also animals suffer from the likes of carnivores which God must have created.
The way people suffered before medical science provided us with pain killers and
healing is glorified in this tract. This kind of explanation seemed appropriate
centuries
ago because there was no other choice.
(Strength and weakness of heart
is found not when everything is going our way but when
flames of suffering and temptation test the mettle of our character. As
gold and silver are
refined by fire, and as coal needs time and pressure to become a diamond, the human heart
is revealed and developed by enduring the pressure and heat of time and circumstance.
Strength of character is shown not when all is well with our world but in the
presence
of human pain and suffering )
This implies that using medicine for relieving
pain and suffering is a sin. These medicines prevent
pain and suffering, therefore prevent the testing and showing strength of character.
This section of the tract says pain and suffering are good for you.
(... But if the end of this life
brings us to the threshold of eternity, then the most fortunate
people in the universe are those who discover, through suffering, that this life is not
all
we have to live for. Those who find themselves and their eternal God through suffering
have not wasted their pain. They have let their poverty, grief, and hunger drive
them to
the Lord of eternity. They are the ones who will discover to their own unending
joy why
Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven")
So morphine at the end of life to relieve
suffering is sinful. If you use pain killers and
tranquilizers you would not feel the effect of pain, therefore you would not have
the drive to the Lord of eternity.
(... Each new pain
makes this world less inviting and the next life more appealing.
In its own way, pain paves the way for a graceful departure )
This means dying is better with no pain killers,
in case it makes you feel this world
is more appealing then the next.
(The most famous
sufferer of all time was a man named Job. According to the Bible,
Job lost his family to "a mighty wind," his wealth to war and fire, and his
health to
painful boils. Through it all, God never told Job why it was happening.
As Job endured
the accusations of his friends, heaven remained silent. When God finally
did speak,
He did not reveal that His archenemy Satan had challenged Job's motives for serving God.
Neither did the Lord apologize for allowing Satan to test Job's devotion to God.
Instead,
God talked about mountain goats giving birth, young lions on the hunt, and ravens in
the nest. He cited the behavior of the ostrich, the strength of the ox, and the stride of
the horse. He cited the wonders of the heavens, the marvels of the sea, and the
cycle
of the seasons. Job was left to conclude that if God had the power and
wisdom to
create this physical universe, there was reason to trust that same God in times of
suffering)
Not a God I could trust. The above shows that this God doesn't really care if you
(as Job) suffer, as long as you glorify God and his works. Only man through
scientific medical effort can help a man that suffers.
(... No one has paid more dearly for the allowance of sin into the world...)
Not so! Many have suffered more dearly.
Torture over many months in prison camps
is worse! Example the Nazis Holocaust. Jesus suffered for less than a day on the
cross.
What about the suffering Jesus promised for all
the billions of unbelievers that will
suffer agony for eternity? In comparison Jesus suffered for less than a day on the
cross.
(The apostle Paul pleaded with
the Lord to take away an unidentified source of suffering.
But the Lord declined saying, "My grace is sufficient for you, for
My strength is made
perfect in weakness." )
How inhumane! If someone can easily relieve
suffering and refuses to do so, is a
monster from any perspective.
(... Paul learned that he would
rather be with Christ in suffering than without Christ in
good health and pleasant circumstances...)
Sick! As long as this idea
isn't foisted on others and doesn't hurt anyone else, let
them believe this and suffer. Actually I feel sorry for these believers of the
statement
in the above brackets
(...Natural disasters and times
of crisis have a way of bringing us together.
Hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, riots, illnesses, and accidents all have a way of bringing
us to our senses. Suddenly we remember our own mortality and that people
are more important than things.)
This is the human way of coping with the terrors created by the this Creator God.
(We remember that we do need one another and that, above all, we need God)
We do indeed need other people, but not this God
that is the cause of the natural disasters,
and also natural diseases and genetic problems.
(... we discover God's comfort in
our own suffering, our capacity to help others is
increased. This is what the apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote, "Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all
comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, ...)
Instead of being a comforter afterwards, why
doesn't this Biblical God prevent these
natural disasters from occurring in the first place. The answer this tract producers
would probably give is, "for the Glory of God".
( When everything in us screams
at the heavens for allowing suffering, we have reason
to look at the eternal outcome and joy of Jesus who in His own suffering
on an
executioner's cross cried, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?")
Jesus found out he was not God.
(... Think about His slashed
back, His bloodied forehead, His nail-ripped hands and feet,
His pierced side, His agony in the Garden, and His pathetic cry of abandonment...)
Not as bad as millions of people that have been tortured and executed in His name!
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