Why do ‘Innocent’ Babies and Children suffer wars, diseases, and every evil just like ‘evil’ adults?
As I look at refugees hustling through crowds and uneasy places for safety, my eyes easily land on the young kids being pulled along or held by their arms. And it is easy to see the anxiety, agony, and pain of ‘what’s happening, dad, mom?’ on the young children’s face! In wars, children suffer! Isn’t it at this stage that you can easily ask God, ‘but why, why children, Oh God?’
You see, currently, I work in Children’s ward. Everyday, I meet these ‘innocent’ souls, and empathetically experience their pain. Sometimes, you look at a child and the heaviness of the cross or pain God has put on him or her and you are prompted to ask, why did God create him or her in the first place if He wasn’t going to give him or her a break for just a month or a day?
Some are born with terrible medical conditions that for the rest of their lives they will never know anything like pleasure or life free from pain! Children suffer painful medical issues that leave you speechless!
Doesn’t it make you question everything? Why exactly does God do such things? How do they help Him? Even if they meant something or make Him accomplish something, wouldn’t He accomplish the same missions using other means not necessarily pain, moreover on children, babies?
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Why do children suffer? The real reason!
Most Christians, I mean theologians will answer that question with this, ‘FOR GOD’S GLORY’. And they are right; it’s what the Bible says! God does and says everything for His Glory (Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 1:16; Ezekiel 20:9). And yet that isn’t the exact reason God does such things!
Being God, He would still have His glory served in billions other ways and not through the pain of children, of innocent souls who didn’t say or do anything to deserve such! But He doesn’t use any other way, does he?! So, the real reason behind God’s actions and decisions is BEST KNOWN to Him alone!
Wait! I talked about ‘the innocence’ of children, right? Well, according to Bible and theology, there is none who is innocent, not even children (Psalm 53:1-3; Romans 3:10; Romans 3:23; Proverbs 20:9)! So while you see it as injustice or God being unfair when children suffer, to Him, He is serving justice.
Every pain, every agony, every terrible thing that has ever happened or will ever happen to us and our children, we deserve it! Actually, it is terribly wrong to ever regard God as being unfair!
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Can sin be the true reason why Children suffer?
Sadly, the Biblical or theological concept that our suffering or our death is caused by our sin doesn’t solve the puzzle! And just like I have argued above, this is not because we can regard children as sinless. Instead, here is the basic question regarding this position: Why and how did we sin in the first place? Why did God allow and enable it? It takes us to the first question, WHY?
According to the doctrine of God’s sovereign and related God’s attributes, God doesn’t only see our future and what we shall do but also makes that future possible. In other words, He didn’t just see that Adam would sin and therefore prepared Christ for salvation, no, He actually designed that future for Adam. And when the time came, God himself made it possible for Adam and Eve to sin. In a way we cannot explain, God himself doesn’t sin and yet, seemingly, He participates with us along the way, making every stage, every step, and every action of our sinning possible!
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Children suffer: Where is Hope?
So, where is your hope? When shall the puzzle be solved? When shall we experience ‘true justice’ for our babies’ pains, the gross suffering of children? When shall our ‘WHY’ be fully answered?
IN HEAVEN!
And when we reach in heaven that one day, when our bodies and our minds get a deeper sharing of who He is, we will instantly grasp all these mysteries before asking any question!
In heaven, you won’t ask or wonder at anything, but will just be appreciative, and rejoice in every decision and action that God has ever made. Why? Because your understanding and wisdom will have been raised to that of SAINTS, far beyond any human understanding (1 Corinthians 13:12; Revelations 22:4; 2 Corinthians 4:18)! So, yeah, while we may never know everything, we will know a lot more, especially concerning perplexing realities that God allows in us.
So as CHILDREN suffer pain in wars, in diseases, and so many other unmerciful disasters that befall them, and as we empathetically experience such agony with them, all we need to pray for is the strength to carry on, to accept the curse of our world or the will of our God, and the cross of our lives, and go through it to death without negatively questioning His will.
May He strengthen us as we nurse children with pain, with unmerciful medical issues, with difficulties and cruelty of this world, with every bit of this world’s anger or, better put, God’s anger.
May God keep our faith and salvation intact amidst our doubts and questioning of His wisdom! May God help and strengthen parents of all children with pain, all children with agony in this life.
May God strengthen the children too. May He help them to find purpose beyond their physical pains and limitations, and preserve their faith to the day they will themselves meet the one who causes and enables everything, including the most painful days of our lives. AMEN.
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And wait! Didn’t I say we will understand everything once we are in heaven? Well, what if we never step our foot there, shall we also understand our fate? This is for another day, only on request! Lol. Good day friends. Keep it #MiklahLife, Your Life in Fullness, www.miklahlife.com. God bless you. God bless #Afghanistan.