Many people want to hold God responsible for all of the suffering in the world, and especially their own suffering and the suffering of those they love. That might be possible if the entire world was not in rebellion toward God with the exception of those who have given their lives to Jesus. These people are also struggling with sin, and often do not act in a way that demonstrates their love for the God who is saving them. As you know, the book of Genesis recounts the perfect creation in which God placed Adam and Eve. God gave them only one rule to go by. There is only "one" thing that they should not do. Can you imagine a world that is so perfect that there is only one rule to follow? That was not to eat of the fruit of one particular tree- the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (See Genesis chapters 2 and 3.)
So why did they have to have that one rule? The fruit of that tree was not really the test. The test was whether or not they would choose in their FREE WILL, to do what God had said was best. They could either ignore and disobey Him or obey Him as a demonstration of trusting Him to know what is best thereby showing Him that they loved Him. Well, we know what happened next. Satan comes along looking like a serpent and tempts Eve to eat the fruit anyway. Satan denies the truth of the consequences that God has warned them of, and lies to them. The moment of truth is whether or not they will trust God. Adam is standing right there, because she offers it to him and he takes it too, knowing what God has said. Instead of being a spiritual leader for his wife, he sins against God as well. Now, they have used their own free will to disobey God and bring about the warned consequence-"you shall surely die". In a real sense, mankind had joined Satan's rebellion against God. Though they did not physically die at that very moment, they died spiritually according to the book of Romans which declares that all people without Christ are dead in trespasses against God and sin. Sin is rebellion. Now the result of that rebellion spread to every person. The bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Adam and Eve lived in the glory of God until they fell. God made man in His image to be with Him in fellowship. But now, because of their own free will choice, the world would be filled with the suffering that Satan wanted to bring into it as an enemy of God. It would never have happened without that free will choice.
So why did God have to put that choice there? You cannot truly love someone unless you can choose to love them or to reject them. They only way for Adam and Eve to have a love relationship with the God who made them was for them to have the choice. That is why salvation still involves a choice on the part of the person that is being led by God to salvation through His only Son- Jesus. By one free will choice all mankind came under the power of sin. By one free will choice (repenting of the rebellion of sin in my own life and turning to God through Jesus) I can be restored to God and have the promise of His help in this life and the promise of life eternally with Him in restored to His image.
So why do innocent people suffer? It all comes back to the free will choices of others. God could force everyone to do the right things. That would also mean that you, as an individual, would not have had the ability to do anything you wanted that might have caused another person to be unhappy. God does intervene in some situations. We want Him to intervene in certain situations so that we would get our own way. But, since everyone has either own desire for getting their way, God allows us to suffer the consequences of being in rebellion (just like Satan) against Him. But it will not always be that way.
Every person will be held accountable for how they lived their life. Every person will suffer the penalty for their own sin, with one exception. When Jesus died on the cross, bearing the sin and rebellion of the whole world, He did not do anything to deserve it. Jesus took the wrath of God for sin for everyone in the world. He took the penalty on Himself, as God in the flesh, so that those who would believe in Him for salvation, and forgiveness of sin could be set free from the penalty of sin and death. Jesus died so that we could be restored to the image of God for all of eternity. He lived a perfect life, always choosing to do with His free will, exactly what God the Father wanted Him to do. He was the substitute for us when it came to punishment. When a person receives Christ into their life, to be changed by Him, and to live with Him as their master or Lord, that person is saved from the penalty of sin and death. Their spirit is made alive again with an eternal life that never ends. If they do not choose Him, but choose to live their own way, they suffer the penalty for their own sin for all eternity. What Jesus did is a gift that must be received to benefit the person who surrenders their life to Him
Some might ask whether or not it is fair for people to get away with hurting innocent people, especially children. God has said that it is wrong and that people who do things like that will be punished. But many of those people were also children once that had been abused in some way, too. It doesn't make it okay, but it does show the effect of sin in the world. When Jesus comes to end time as we know it, those who have been saved by choosing to receive Him will no longer suffer from the things that happened to them during their life. They will be set free from that suffering. For those who have rejected Christ as God's payment for their sin will suffer the consequences of their sin for all eternity in a place the book of Revelation calls the Lake of Fire.
It would be a grand mistake to avoid the salvation of God because things in life do not seem to be fair. God is the great equalizer and eternity will see all of our questions answered and our hurts resolved. The best way to get a chance at fairness in your life is to die for your own sin. We deserve to pay the penalty for our rebellion against God and what our sin has done to the world. Do not go for what is fair. Allow the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to be the wonderful gift you receive so that you do not have to take what is fair.
To accept Christ one must be willing to acknowledge to God that they also have chosen to sin against Him. One needs to direct their thoughts toward God (don't worry, He knows when you are talking to Him) and ask for His forgiveness for being in rebellion and sinning against Him. Ask Jesus to come into your heart (inner being) and take away the penalty for your sin. Ask Him to be the one that saves you and gives you eternal life. Thank Him for doing what He has been waiting to do for you for a long time (remember that this was His idea before you were even born). Now make your decision to follow Jesus a public decision. Tell others about what you have done. Jesus calls us to follow Him publically by being baptized. Jesus established the church so we would have a place to go and worship Him and grow in our faith with other believers. Make sure that the place you go to church really believes and teaches the Bible instead of coming up with excuses why we do not have to live like the Bible says anymore. We are in the last days before Christ's return, and there are a lot of false churches out there. Pray, read your Bible, and meet with other believers who live and believe the Bible. God will be with you because you now belong to Him.
"Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit." 1 Peter 3:18 (New Living Translation)
