Death and suffering (in theory and practice)

Lately, I feel death and suffering are close to the people and friends around me ... Late last week, a friend of mine said that her grandma has passed away ... Just a few days ago, a good friend of mine had an accident ... quite severe one ...

It made me ponder on the question of death and suffering ...

• Well, in theory I know that God can not be blamed for the suffering that happens in this world .... Who are we to say to God the creator of heaven and earth that He doesn't know what He is doing in this world? God is God and He can do whatever He pleases according to His perfect and good will .... It is probably no coincidence that I have just finished the book of Job where suffering is so imminent in Job's life ... and the book talks about Job's suffering from God's perspective, Job's perspective and his friends' perspective ... How Job question God and how God answer him in the end ...
• In theory, I know that God's ultimate plan is for people to be saved ... it is a good and perfect plan ...
• In theory, I know that God will one day remove all the sufferings in this world
• In theory, I know that suffering happen to both Christians and non-Christians in this fallen world ... What differentiate Christian from non-Christian is Christians trust that God knows what He is doing and Christians also hope of eternal life where God will remove all suffering
• In theory, I know that God understand our pain and suffering because Jesus himself suffered on the cross ... and God does not just understand, but He helps us in our suffering and strengthen our faith in Him as well ...
  
• In theory, I also know that God can use suffering and pain to make us more like Jesus ...

Those things above are all theoretical knowledge until you really experience the PAIN .... You can talk all you want about theological answer, but unless you experience the pain like Jesus did, you can't fully understand about the topic ... I do not deny that knowledge is important regardless of whether you are facing difficulties or not, but that will become REAL when painful thing and life difficulties start to HIT us right on our face ....

With regards to what happen to my friends, I don't know the answer to all their life's problem ... Only God does .... What I know is God demands total surrender and reliance on His promises that one day He will remove all sufferings in this world ....

My prayer is that my friend (and myself) can stay faithful until the end and through everything that is happening now and God's plan is revealed fully in our lives ...