Second source of suffering – Human beings

Although the devil is the main source of our suffering, human beings also cause unnecessary suffering because of their actions. The following causes us to suffer:

- Our bad decisions

Christians mainly suffer because of making bad decisions and doing things without thinking about the possible negative consequences.

If a person commits fornication, they might get a sexually transmitted disease and they might have to live with that disease for the rest of their lives (the Bible says that you shall reap what you sow—Galatians 6:7).

Some women give birth to children with birth defects because of their unhealthy lifestyle. They take drugs or consume a lot of alcohol when they are pregnant. The child suffers because of the decisions of their mothers because of the natural laws of biology. This is why doctors emphasize the significance of maintaining a healthy diet during pregnancy and avoiding harmful habits such as smoking and alcohol consumption.

- Selfishness

Some people suffer because those who have the power to stop wrongful acts done to them do not care and do not help them. God has given us the responsibility of taking care of others. It is our job to help poor people, orphans and widows.

James 1:26-27 says, “26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. 27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

Deuteronomy 26:12 says, “When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled”

Wars happen because we allow them to. If a president decides to start a war with another country and the citizens protest against such an action, then the war will not happen. Citizens are more than the politicians in any country and the citizens voted these evil men into power and do not stop them from causing harm. All the people who have died and suffered because of wars did so because of us and our decisions not to protest against the evil ideas of some politicians.

Having the power to do good, but not exercising it is regarded as a sin and almost every Christian is guilty of this.

James 4:17 says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

There are thousands of people who are dying from starvation in third world countries, while some people in first world countries are suffering from obesity. The starvation of those in the third world countries is because of the lack of compassion and sympathy of those in the first world countries. Instead of eating more, why don’t they give their excess food supplies to the third world countries? Then they blame God for poverty that happens in those countries, but it is because of their lack of action.

One of the primary reasons why God does not listen to the prayers of Christians is because of their selfishness. They do not help others and therefore, it is fair that God does not help them.

Proverbs 21:13 says, “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.”

Hebrews 13:16 says, “But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased (NKJV).

- People deliberately putting themselves in danger

Some parts of the world are prone to earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and other natural disasters, but people still insist on living there instead of relocating. Therefore, they deliberately put themselves in danger.

If somebody deliberately walks through a highway and gets killed by a car, how can God be blamed for it?

If people decide to live near a volcano and it erupts, why is it God’s fault if they die?

These deaths could have been avoided and happened because of their own stubbornness to not move and their foolishness.

God will not do for you what you can do for yourself. The Bible also says that we should not put God to the test, meaning we should never deliberately put ourselves in danger and assume God will help us out of it.

- Some poverty is caused by laziness

Proverbs 10:4 says, “Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth (NIV).

Proverbs 21:25 says, “The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.”

Proverbs 20:13 “Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.”

8.2. Who is responsible for taking care of the earth?

Genesis 1:26 says, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

Genesis 1:28 says, “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

God created everything, but has given the responsibility of taking care of the earth and its inhabitants to humans. Therefore, He cannot be blamed for anything negative that happens. We are to blame for crime, poverty, suffering, early deaths and accidents. God has given other commandments in the Bible, not just the Ten Commandments.

- We should never oppress others

Zechariah 7:10 says, “And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.”

Proverbs 17:5 says, “Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.”

Deuteronomy 15:11 says, “For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.”

- We must execute justice

Deuteronomy 24:17 says, “Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge”

- We must help the poor

Jesus said that those who do not feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give water to the thirsty etc. will not enter heaven.

Matthew 25:31-46 says, “31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”

God said even when we do religious duties like fasting, we need to help the poor.

Isaiah 58:6-8 says, “6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward.”

- One of the reasons why we should not commit murder is because the land is defiled by murder

Numbers 35:33 says, “So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.”

- We must take care of the animals

Proverbs 12:10 says, “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast….”

Proverbs 27:23 says, “Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.”

- God is going to one day destroy those who will destroy the earth

Revelation 11:18 says, “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.”

Question: Does not God intervene in human affairs?

Yes, He does, but mainly when we ask Him or there is no other alternative to solving a problem than through a supernatural intervention. I repeat that God will not do for us what we can do for ourselves.

Psalm 8:4-6 says, “4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:”

8.3. Why your suffering could be a blessing to others?

There are some people whose success will be a burden instead of a blessing to others.

Proverbs 26:2 says, “As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.”

Proverbs 26:2 means that everything happens for a reason. Bad things happen for a reason and sometimes the reason is not because of the devil.

When you hear testimonies about those who come from poor backgrounds, you realize that a lot of poor people are evil. This is evidenced by the fact that there is a lot of crime in poor areas. Poor people commit sexual assaults and also steal from poor people. There is no correlation between poverty and rape, but the most sexual assaults happen in these types of neighborhoods. In African countries, poor people have a bad reputation for practicing voodoo and witchcraft, including those who claim to be Christian.

Psalm 37:25 says, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”

God takes care of the righteous, but there are Christians who are wicked.

Many people who are suffering talk about their problems, but they do not talk about how they treated others when they were blessed.

Example 1

I once had neighbors from "hell". They seemed to be angry with the world, and they wanted everyone to suffer.
They would play loud music during the night and on the weekend, make a mess outside and whatever they had in the yard got blown by the wind and got into other people’s yards.
Even their children bullied other children to the point that the other children were afraid to play outside. They used their children to do wrong things, including scratching people’s cars and throwing things in people’s yards etc. Adults feel helpless when their neighbor's child does something wrong, because the only thing that they can do is complain to their parents, who like their mischief. They cannot discipline them or spank them because they will get arrested.
When the pandemic came and there were lockdowns, the man lost his job and they had to move back to the house of his in-laws. Their misfortune and suffering were a blessing to all of us.

Example 2

I have a relative who would boast about how she treated her employees when she was a manager. She would overwork them and treat them harshly and joyfully boast about it. She said, “You should not be friendly with your employees, or they will walk all over you. You should be slightly cruel to them so that they know their place.”
She did not last in the position as a manager for a long time and has not been able to find work for the past 20 years. Therefore, she is suffering, but her suffering has resulted in the happiness of her former employees, who hopefully have a kinder and fairer boss.

There are narcissists and mean people in this world who become worse when they have power over others.

God blesses us to be a blessing to others. Very few people use their wealth to help others. They would rather use their money to purchase more expensive items and boast about it on social media. It is a good thing that such people, including Christians, lose their jobs so that the company that fired them employs a person who will use their wealth to help others, especially the poor, such as orphans.

Some Christians get angry and frustrated when they lose their job and they complain about how God has failed them. But they do not mention the fact that they were terrible employees who did the bare minimum when their bosses were not watching, would arrive late at work and did not do their work with diligence. Remember that although our managers and supervisors cannot see that we are wasting time playing games and being on social media during work hours, God does see this and being a bad employee is offensive to Him.

Colossians 3:23-24 says,“23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”

Ephesians 6:5-6 says, “5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; 6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart”

People do not tell you the whole story; they talk about their suffering, but not how they behaved when they were blessed. Some people are reaping what they have been sowing.

Some Christians are not aware that bad things are happening to them because of their actions. Some assume that they have been bewitched and need to pray more against witchcraft. Some believe that it could be a test of their faith. Some Christians believe that they are just getting more demonic attacks and should start fasting.

Sometimes their assumptions are true, but before having such assumptions, consider the following:

• When did the blessings stop?

• What were you doing when you had the blessings?

• Did you use your blessings to help others other than your family, or did you also help the less fortunate who were not related to you, like orphans?

• When God blessed you, how did you treat others? Did you treat them the same way you did before receiving your blessing, or did you start acting meaner? Did you start feeling more pride?

• Did you boast about your blessings and put other Christians down for not being as blessed as you?

8.4. Why does God not always restore people’s health and often ignore prayers for healing?

Most diseases are preventable and patients can heal without God's intervention. This explains why atheists receive healing without the need for prayers.

God has given us herbs to get healed. For example:

• Aloe vera - When applied to the skin, it can help soothe rashes, burns, itches, and irritations. It can also be used to treat cold sores, keep your hair and head moist, and lower inflammation.

• Anise - Can help your body digest food, get rid of gas, and ease the symptoms of coughs and colds.

• Basil - Can help with pain, stress, and infections. It also eases pain, keeps blood vessels healthy, boosts the immune system, and fights cancer. The many health benefits of basil come from its essential oils, which are full of vitamins.

• Cayenne - Can help with digestion, stop blood clots, ease migraine, nerve, and joint pain, aid in cleansing, lessen allergy symptoms, and assist with weight loss.

• Chamomile - Can treat allergies, insomnia, anxiety, sadness, arthritis, and digestive problems, among other health problems. Chamomile can also help with skin irritations, toothaches, PMS symptoms, and muscle spasms. It can also reduce swelling and help cuts heal.

• Ginger - Lowers cholesterol, lowers inflammation, boosts the immune system, helps digestion, eases pain, and works as a powerful antioxidant. Ginger root can also help people with diabetes, ease the pain of arthritis, and fight cancer.

• Ginkgo biloba – Can with with sadness and anxiety, can also ease the symptoms of PMS, ease headaches, improve eye health, treat ADHD, and boost libido.

• Ginseng – Can lower blood sugar, treat sexual dysfunction, lower stress, improve brain function, and lower inflammation. Ginseng is also used to help people lose weight.

• And many more

Some people want God to heal them, but at the same time continue to do those things that are causing them to be sick. You cannot keep drinking cyanide every day and keep praying for God to heal you and that you are not affected by the poison. Even if you pray, you will die.

I know of a Christian man who was told he had cancer. The doctor told him that the main cause of this cancer was because he ate fried food every day. The doctor explained that if he would stop this practice and take his medication, then the cancer might be cured, but if he continued eating the fried food, he would die from cancer within less than a year. So what did the man do? He continued to eat the fried food, took the cancer medication, and he and his family prayed and fasted for his healing, and he died from the cancer. His family was angry at God for not listening to their prayer, but God will not stop something that we can fix ourselves. If he had stopped eating the fried foods, he would have lived.

God will not answer a prayer for you to continue to do things that are detrimental to our bodies. Our bodies are not our own; they belong to God. We cannot do whatever we want with them and put whatever we want in our bodies. Whatever we do should be for the glory of God. How does it glorify God to eat fast food that can cause cancer and diabetes? Do not put God to the test by deliberately consuming harmful things and think He will heal you.

Romans 12:1 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

We live in a time whereby information is easy to access online, but people still choose to be ignorant. Every day people die from preventable diseases like cancer and diabetes, but still continue to eat food that causes those diseases. Then we get angry when God does not cure us for deliberately hurting ourselves.

God will not heal all diseases because we can do it ourselves by stopping eating junk food that causes the diseases and starting to eat healthily. By eating and drinking things that are bad for our bodies, we are slowly destroying them, and this displeases God.

1 Corinthians 3:17 says, “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

1 Corinthians 6:13 says, “Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.”

If an atheist can get cured of cancer by taking certain medicines and herbs and by stopping the consumption of those substances that are carcinogenic, then we do not need prayer to cure cancer. We just need to stop doing what is causing the problem and start consuming foods and herbs that will heal us. But the problem is that most Christians do not want to change. They want a quick solution to their problems and they want miracles. God regards it as sinful if we know what the right thing to do is, but we do not do it.

James 4:17 says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

- What are the two ways to commit suicide?

• By killing yourself quickly by shooting yourself, jumping off a tall building, or hanging yourself.

• By killing yourself slowly by poisoning yourself.

Whether you kill yourself quickly or slowly with your teeth, you are committing suicide.

A poison is a substance that causes injury, illness, or death, especially by chemical means according to the dictionary. Some poisons kill you faster than others.

When a person takes cyanide or prescription drugs to end their life. Few Christian become angry at God and blame Him for the person’s death.

However, if a person poisons themselves by drinking and eating food that can cause cancer and diabetes, they will eventually die. It was their choice to kill themselves by choosing to consume carcinogenic foods and sugary foods. Christians pray to God for healing when a person suffers from cancer or diabetes. So they want God to infringe on and violate the person’s free will to kill themselves slowly by consuming carcinogenic substances and force them to live. They become angry that God did not answer their prayer, but it would not be right for God to force people to live. The person knowingly chooses to smoke, eat, and drink unhealthily and knows it would lead to their death, but they do it anyway. They are just reaping what they have sown. Why do Christians get angry when people decide to slowly kill themselves by eating poisonous food? Their family members knew that the food was eventually going to kill them, but they ate it anyway. There is not much difference between consuming cyanide and carcinogenic food because they are both poisons that will result in your death. The only difference is that the carcinogenic food will kill you slower and it tastes better.

Galatians 6:7 says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

Some “foods” on the shelves at our grocery stores and fast food restaurants are just slow poisons. Despite the amount of warnings that are given to the public about certain substances and their effects, millions still decide to consume them, and then their family members blame God when they die. God does not listen to prayers requesting healing because He is simply honoring the patient's free will to kill themselves. If non-Christians and atheists get healed from cancer without prayer, then it means that prayer was not required, but a change in lifestyle and diet.

8.5. Why does God allow death to happen?

“I had faith and prayed to God, but my loved one still died.”

This is a common statement by Christians who have had death in the family.

Sometimes we go through periods of loss as Christians and do not understand why God allows certain things to happen despite the fact that we are faithful to Him.

Some of us see living long on earth as a sign of being in favor with God and expect not to have the same pain and sorrow as non-Christians.

Many of us see death as a horrible thing that should not happen and do not understand why those who are innocent or who are dedicated to God die sooner than the wicked. We have previously discussed that some deaths are because of a person's choice to poison themselves by consuming unhealthily foods. Now we are going to discuss other reasons why people die.

The main reason for the misunderstanding is that God views life and death differently from us.

- This is God's perspective on life:

• In the New Testament, God is not interested in people living long.

• The main priority is to get people saved (1 Timothy 2:4). Life on earth is temporary and the main goal is to get eternal life (2 Corinthians 4:18).

- This is God's perspective on death:

• Death is temporary and is like a sleep (John 11:11–15).

• Death is not an eternal loss because the person will be raised from the dead again (John 11:25).

• Death is a good thing if it means you will enter heaven. Philippians 1:21 says, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Here are a few reasons why people die, although we have prayed for them to get healed.

1. Some people die because they have fulfilled their purpose on earth.

We read about the apostle Paul, who accepted the fact that he was going to die because he had fulfilled his purpose.

2 Timothy 4:6-7 says, “6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness...”

2. Some people die to be delivered from suffering, trials and future problems.

Isaiah 57:1 says, “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.”

Some Christians cannot handle the upcoming hardships and temptations. God wants everyone to be saved and having too many hardships tempts some Christians to backslide. So out of pity and mercy, He permits some Christians to pass away. And only those who are strong enough to endure hardships will continue to live.

3. God sometimes foresees the potential future damage that some people can do.

Example: King Hezekiah (2 Kings 20).

King Hezekiah was destined to die. However, according to 2 Kings 20:3-6, he lived an additional 15 years because he had a perfect heart, walked in truth and had done what was right in God's eyes.

But what happened because of the extension of Hezekiah’s life?

Only negative things happened because Hezekiah lived longer than he should have.

Hezekiah allowed visitors from Babylon to see all of Israel’s treasures. This led to Babylon capturing the Israelites and taking their possessions (2 Kings 20:15-18).
During the additional 15 years, he had a son named Manasseh. According to 2 Kings 21:2–12, his son was evil and led the people to commit more sin. Manasseh's influence led to God punishing the people of Jerusalem and Judah.

All of the above negative things would not have happened if King Hezekiah had died when he was supposed to.

Some Christians have had sick children who died, although they prayed and fasted so that they could get healed. This has resulted in some Christians hating God and living the Christian faith.

We cannot discern the future. God can assess a person's character and read their thoughts while they are young and can foresee that they will be troublemakers when they get older.

Most children are innocent when they are young, but we cannot tell what kind of adults they are going to be. There are many children who grow up in Christian homes, but become a problem to society when they become adults. Some even become criminals and end up not going to heaven.

What is better for your loved one?

• Is it better for someone to live longer and risk losing eternal life?

• Is it better that someone dies and ends up in heaven?

The longer we live on earth, the more likely it is that we will become trapped in sin and addiction, which will be difficult for us to escape. Some people are raised as Christians, but backslide and get lost. The Bible says that there will be more wickedness towards the end of the world (Matthew 24:12).

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