1 John 4:8
God is LOVE
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
John 3:16
God LOVES the World
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Mark 15:33-39
Jesus Dies on the Cross
33 Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
35 Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, “Look, He is calling for Elijah!” 36 Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”
37 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.
38 Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last,[g] he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”
God is LOVE...And even though God is LOVE, He allowed His Son to have much pain on the cross, and then die on the cross...
I believe God controls all things...Two things in my life that make me question God are pain and death...Pain and death have this thing about them...They make me want to question God (more)...Why does God allow pain, and why does He allow death?...Maybe I deserve to suffer with pain, but why does a young child have to?...A young child has not done anything to have his pain...Why is there death, and why does there have to be death?...These two things of pain and death, bring up thoughts of questioning God?...So, if God controls all things, why is there pain and death?...If He wanted to, He could stop both of these things today, and right here and right now...
God gives us free will, completely free to choose...I wonder if free will can exist without pain and death?...
When I think about pain and death, I consider these to be bad times...So my thoughts on these subjects are when I am in bad times...But God is both here in the bad times and the good times...Another question I must ask is, if there was no pain or death would that alleviate all the doubts I have about God?...Or would something else creep into my doubt thoughts?...C. S. Lewis said in his book The Problem of Pain, “We can ignore even pleasure...But pain insists upon being attended to...God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”...
So if one believes what Lewis is saying, he is almost saying we as mankind need pain...We need it, because God wants our attention...And maybe I might add death to this quote, because in all the deaths I have observed, I always think of God...He did get my attention...I have many questions for Him on both pain and death...So, I do hear His megaphone...So maybe I don't want His attention as much in the good times...It is like I want Him in my sufferings and pains and need Him to help me through my questions of death...So am I listening and believing in Him less, when I am feeling my best...Am I just using Him for my emergencies and my problems...I do believe I am listening and talking and praying to Him, more and more and more, when pain and a friend or family death are hovering around me...
Around, I see, from life's toughest questions I put Him front and center...And when pain and death arise, and I want those I love around the most...Love helps me share my grief and I know that over time things will be better and get better...Love seems to give one more strength to get through these things...So love helps...And we know that God is LOVE, so Him being around gives me hope...Pain and death happened to His Son, so we know as a Father He felt and experienced pain and death...
God gave us His Son to show us He LOVES the world...He LOVES us and gives us hope in the hardest and toughest times of our lives...I look in times of trouble for the One who has Complete Understanding of these things...And spite of pain and death and the doubts that surround them, it is God who I look to and think about first...He is the One Thing I cling to in my trying times...And God did not exempt His Only Son from these things...And although I know I don't get complete answers to my questions, Him being there with LOVE and allowing my questions helps me...