Category: Scriptural

The question of why a loving, all-powerful God permits suffering is one of the most profound and challenging questions we face. Why does God allow good people to suffer? Does suffering have a purpose? If God is good, why doesn’t He stop it? These questions strike at the heart of faith and human experience.

As Proverbs 28:5 says, “Evil people do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully.” While we may not grasp everything, what matters is how we respond to what we do know. Here are key truths to consider:

1. God’s Original Plan and Human Free Will

   God is sovereign, and His original plan for humanity was not suffering but a loving relationship with Him as our Father. He created us with free will, a gift that allows us to choose love and obedience. However, humanity’s disobedience introduced sin into the world, and with it came suffering—not as punishment, but as a consequence of turning away from God’s perfect design. Romans 5:12 explains, “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin.” Yet, amazingly, God works all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28), transforming even suffering into something redemptive for believers.

2. Suffering Aligns Us with God’s Eternal Purpose

   In this fallen world, suffering serves a purpose in God’s plan. He uses it to shape us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ, preparing us for eternity. While our perspective is limited to this brief life, God’s purposes are eternal. As 2 Corinthians 4:17 reminds us, “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Suffering, though painful, is temporary for those who know Him, and it refines us for an everlasting future with God.

3. God Entered Our Suffering  

   God is not distant from our pain. In Jesus Christ, He became human, endured suffering, and bore the ultimate agony on the cross to pay the price for our redemption from sin. This act of love shows that God cares deeply about our suffering. While faith in Christ does not eliminate suffering in this life, it assures us that God is with us in it, working out His purposes. His grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9), and suffering will end when we enter eternity with Him.

4. The Question of God’s Justice  

   At the very heart of these questions lies a deeper one: Is God just? We may not understand everything, but God calls us to trust His sovereignty rather than to have all the answers. If God did not exist, suffering would still exist—but it would lack meaning or hope. With God, suffering becomes purposeful, bearable, and temporal. As believers, we trust that He is weaving a story of redemption, even through our pain.

5. Suffering’s Dual Impact 

   Suffering can draw us closer to God or push us away. It tests and refines our faith. To those enduring suffering, hold fast. You are not alone! Many face trials, but God promises to work all things for good, for those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Trust Him, even when the path is unclear. As Psalm 34:18 assures us, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

A Call to Trust

If you’re grappling with suffering, lean into God’s promises. Believe in Jesus Christ, who offers salvation from sin, shame, and the eternal consequences of suffering. His grace sustains us now, and His victory guarantees that one day, suffering will cease. Trust Him, for He is faithful, and He is preparing you for an eternity of joy in His presence.

Depicting four dimensions (width, length, height, and depth) visually is challenging since humans typically perceive only three spatial dimensions, with time often considered the fourth. Interestingly time is a dimension mentioned in the 4 dimensions in this passage from Ephesians 3:17-19. “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth,and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.” God’s love is vast, spanning every dimension of existence—wide, long, high, and deep. It invites all to respond through faith in Jesus.

Width: For All People

God’s love embraces everyone—regardless of race, creed, wealth, or status. John 3:16 declares, “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Romans 10:12–13 adds, “The same Lord richly blesses all who call on Him, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Yet, as Matthew 7:13–14 warns, the gate is narrow, and few choose it.

Length: A Lifetime to Choose

God grants each person time to accept His love, but life is fleeting. 2 Corinthians 6:2 urges, “Now is the day of salvation.”Hebrews 9:27 reminds us, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” Do not delay, for tomorrow is not promised (Proverbs 29:1).

Height: The Ultimate Sacrifice

God’s love shines brightest in Jesus’ sacrifice. John 15:13 states, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” This pure love, rooted in God Himself (1 John 4:8), redeems us from wrath. There is no greater love! Rejecting it means rejecting eternal life.

Depth: Reaching Every Soul

No one is beyond God’s love, except by their own rejection. No matter how low one has stooped to! His love reaches any depth. John 14:6 proclaims Jesus as “the way, the truth, and the life.” Romans 8:38–39 assures, “Neither death nor life, nor anything in creation, will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” This deep love transforms, as 1 John 4:19 says, “We love because He first loved us.”

Respond Today

God’s boundless love calls for a response. Trust Jesus, know Him through His Word, and be known by God (1 Corinthians 8:3). May His love guide and transform you.

Today is your day, tomorrow may be too late!

Integral to God’s children (His people).

 2 Chronicles 7:14-15. My people who are called by My name if they humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.

Humility opens the door to answered prayer – it is conditional and not entitled. The other requisites are praying (talking with God), seeking Him (obedience), and turning away from sin (repentance).

True humility is all about God and not about you

• Agree with who He is. (Putting God in His rightful place in my life)
• Agree with what that means. (Think of areas in my life)
• Agree with His will, so… (To be conformed. Read his word to know His will)
• Exercise your choice. (My will aligned)
• Have the mind of Christ. Philippians 2: 5-8 (example to follow)
• Yeshua (Jesus) is our perfect example. Choose to be humble !

The English dictionary alludes to the church being a physical place or building where Christians meet for prayer or worship or any spiritual act. The Biblical definition is far from it. The word “church” occurs more than a hundred times in the new Testament and derives from the Greek word “ekklesia” and can mean a congregation or assembly but the literal translation is “to call out” or “summon forth”. It is clearly not a building. It is a group of people united in mind and spirit of Jesus. So it’s people and not the building. In other words, it can happen in any place and at any time. No physical constraints or boundaries. It is however meant for 3 important things:

To connect: With God and His people.

To convey: The message from God – His Word.

To carry: Each other and serve each other. This extends to reaching out to our community. So note, it starts within first and then out.

The literal meaning and what it became, encapsulates everything. Jesus or Yeshua means saviour and Christ means messiah or the “anointed one”. So “Yeshua” stands for the role and “Messiah” stands for the authority. Both are vital. Role and authority. Anyone can claim roles but without authority, it is empty and worthless. This authority was given by the ultimate authority – God the creator of this universe. There can be no higher authority. So it does matter, what Jesus said, and did, while He was in human form on this Earth almost 2000 years ago. His coming divided our history on this planet. Things that happened before Christ (BC) and after Him (AC).