Why Does God Allow Suffering?

And they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks:
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah 2:3

I ducked below the dashboard of my car to avoid the tree that seemed to be hurtling toward the windshield.

As I took that last turn, all I could see ahead of me was trees starkly revealed in the harsh light of the headlights of my car. I hadn’t been drinking, although I was at a party and my reputation at this time was one of a hard partier. I wasn’t feeling well, so I had only about half of one beer and a few sips of a second. Then I left early — 11:30 P.M. was Way early for me.

As I headed home, a slow poke was going about 40 or so ahead of me in a 50 mile an hour zone. I pulled up to within a few feet of his bumper — drafting him, then slungshot around his car, jumping ahead. Of course, as soon as I did this, the blue lights of a patrol car came on behind me. They say I was going at least 65 when I hit the trees. I thought it was closer to 85.

I died twice that night. Once in the ambulance and once at the hospital. At the hospital I had a NDE — near-death experience.

I was a glowing white light racing through an infinite darkness. I looked about and realized how fast I was traveling. Ahead of me was a bright light. It seemed to be like the lights of a distant city seen on the horizon. I realized it was heaven. As I approached the half way point to this distant white light, I began to slow. I reached the half way point and stopped. I wondered, “What’s going on, why have I stopped?” I thought, “Uh, oh, maybe I haven’t been so good, maybe someone made a mistake and I’m supposed to be going in the other direction.”

I looked ahead to the bright light, to heaven and noticed a smaller bright light separate and begin to come toward me. As this smaller bright light approached I discovered it was much bigger than I. It stopped before me and as it did I understood that it wanted me to return, that my time hadn’t come yet.

I said “No”. I was very comfortable, more comfortable and more at peace than I had ever felt before. I wanted to continue into the white light on the distant horizon where I knew I would find unconditional love and total acceptance. I tried to move ahead, to go around the light before me that was blocking my path, but I could not. I could not move at all. Again the light said I must return. I replied that there was no way I was going back, that that body was battered and bruised. It would experience excruciating physical pain from the injuries sustained in the car wreck and, I knew, it would experience excruciating emotional pain that it might not survive in the years ahead.

So I refused to return, asking instead to be allowed to continue into the white light. But the being before me said no, that I must return, that my work was not yet done, and with that I found myself hovering over my battered, bruised body and a split second later, I was within.

I could say that things were different. In some ways they were. In many ways, things remained much as they had always been. My injuries required months of recovery. As I recovered, I thought about the meaning of our existence and why all of us are here.

Famines, natural disasters, plane crashes, wars in the Mideast kill thousands, warlords in east Africa kill thousands more. A young couple on a date are gunned down in a drive by shooting in Boston. Both die. A gunman opens fire at a shopping mall killing 5. A troubled student with an assault rifle kills 32 other students before taking his own life.

We all know the list could go on and on. And it does. Perhaps you know of a situation from your own community, church or neighborhood. Perhaps you know of a tragedy from your own life. Most of us do. These all seem to be senseless, meaningless human tragedies.

From a natural disaster in New Orleans to a tsunami in Indonesia that kills over 100,000, the question “Why does God allow this?” has been repeated over and over again throughout the existence of humanity upon this earth.

Why does God allow suffering? Why does a loving, benevolent Father allow these senseless acts of violence? Why would a loving God permit thousands to die in a hurricane, earthquake or flood? Why is God permitting all these things to occur?

My accident occurred on midnight, July 31, 1987, and before I get to the answer, I need to tell you a little bit about myself. It’s necessary because I need to tell you about a spiritual quest, my years of research, the conversations I have had with God and the startling answer He gave me. But it was only when I was really, really ready that He presented the answer. And the answer has less to do with God or with me than it does with you.

Why Does God Allow Suffering?

My name is Perry Jones, I grew up in a small town in Central New England. It was when I was 12 years old. I was at Vacation Bible School. And something happened.

It was the last day of Bible School and it was baptism day. A mass baptism was being held for all the students at the Bible School. The day was sunny, warm and bright. The sky was a warm blue. Birds chirped from the trees surrounding the private residence where the Bible School was being held. I can still recall how vivid green the grass seemed to be. I didn’t really want to be baptized. I didn’t feel I was ready. But peer pressure from my mom, the teachers at the Bible School and other students made me find a place in line.

My turn came. I stepped up the ladder and descended into the cool water of the pool. In the next moment, I was plunged backward under the surface of the water as a blessing was pronounced over me.

As I arose, I felt giddy and lightheaded. I climbed up the ladder and entered the house to change into the dry clothes my mother had sent with me, wisely understanding that, most likely, I would be baptized. As I was changing,

I expected that I would feel different somehow. But I didn’t. I felt the same, except for a sense of lingering lightheadedness that I attributed to the reverse plunge beneath the water. I expected to feel more spiritual somehow. I thought I would see things in a different way, feel things in a different way, different colors, brighter maybe, something, but the world around me was the same.

Walking out of the house I remained confused. Wasn’t I supposed to feel different? Wasn’t I supposed to feel more spiritual? Wasn’t I supposed to have been filled with the Holy Spirit? I began to think that maybe the baptism didn’t “take”.

So I found a quiet place beneath the shade of a tree and I dropped down to my knees to pray. I must admit I don’t remember what I said, or how long I prayed. I do remember that as I prayed, I did suddenly begin to feel that feeling — that differentness I had expected earlier. Something was changing.

I opened my eyes. As I looked around I realized the world about me did seem a little different somehow. Perhaps it was only my imagination, but all the people, all the trees, all the grass and flowers, everything seemed to be a little brighter. As I watched, the brightness increased.

I began to feel a sense of connection with each and every thing. As I continued to gaze about me, I noticed that everything slowly began to glow with an increasing light from within. I felt a tremendous sense of connection, peace, love and completeness. As I kneeled there watching all this unfold, I realized there was a light around me.

I would like to say that from that day onward I was different, more pious, more loving, more kind. That I was a good boy. But that would not be the truth. I was still a 12 year old boy. The constant fights with my little sister did cease, and I never swore, not until I was 25. And I never took the Lord’s name in vain. But I was a 12 year old boy and I did as 12 year old boys do. I played. I got dirty. I caught frogs in the stream. I stuffed my pockets full of “wonders of nature.” And yet, I did feel a little different, if only in a small way.

Years passed. That small, strange feeling of differentness increased. I refrained from the activities that all the other kids my age were doing. Sneaking cigarettes, smoking pot — as we called it back then, drinking, fooling around with the opposite sex, teenage mischief. I didn’t refrain from it all, I had my moments, but all in all, most of all that was passing me by.

I did feel different. I acted different. But I wasn’t happy. I was envious of what I perceived all my classmates were doing. Drinking beer, smoking pot, having girlfriends. I wanted some of that for myself. But I felt I had an obligation to uphold. I felt I had to uphold the sense of righteousness I felt from my baptism.

Honestly, I probably wasn’t feeling anything different from what every other teenager was feeling. All teenagers have these feelings and each one feels as if they alone are experiencing these pains of growing up. But it seems so personal.

So I held myself apart from all those activities, from all that “fun” as I perceived it. I did find ways around that sense of obligation. I talked back to the teachers. I caused mischief in class. I raised questions no one could answer. I was a little crazy and outrageous. But the real activities I wanted to participate in were beyond me, beyond the destiny I felt I had to uphold. Much of my differentness also stemmed from a feeling of inadequacy and a poor sense of self-worth. Maybe I wasn’t so different after all.

I graduated high school and things remained pretty much the same — at first. I got a job. A few months later I bought a car. And then things changed. Fast.

That car was so nice. And so fast. A ’74 Nova, 350 engine, metallic blue with gold sparkles, white vinyl roof, cream pinstripes down the side. Gorgeous car and I got into so much trouble with it.

I began to hang out with a group of unscrupulous, unsavory characters. I began doing all those things I had denied myself for so many years. Smoking cigarettes, smoking pot. Drinking beer, racing through the streets, late night parties, all night parties, girlfriends.

After a year of all this, I still wasn’t happy. Something seemed wrong. I felt frustrated. Now that I was doing all the things I thought would make me happy, why wasn’t I happy, I thought. So I blamed God for my frustration. I believed that God was causing this confusion and that if he just left me alone I could party, have fun and finally be happy without feeling guilty or wrong about it. So one night, at 19 years of age, I called upon God again.

Alone in my room on a cold night, I called out to God. I vented all my frustration and anger. I pleaded with Him to have a normal life. I just wanted to be left alone without “Him” bothering me, condemning me, making me feel guilty. Finally, I quieted down. And from my deepest, innermost being I stated my request, “God, go away, leave me alone.”

Of course, I didn’t really expect an answer. I didn’t expect anything to happen. I didn’t expect to feel anything. But I did. With the final word of my request, I felt a withdrawal occurring. I didn’t know exactly what was leaving, but something was, something was pulling back from me, away from me. As that withdrawal was occurring I also received a communication. It was God. Speaking to me. Not in words, but in feeling, in knowledge. It was an affirmation. “Ok, I will leave you.”

There was no sense of anger or sorrow with this affirmation. It was just an affirmation, an acknowledgment and acceptance of my request. And I panicked. Sort of. With God’s affirmation, I decided I didn’t want to burn in hell, so I modified my request. I added, “God, when it is time for me to return, when the Last Days are here, let me know, and I will return.” Again there was that sense of affirmation, of acceptance of my request, and with that last affirmation, God was gone.

More years passed. I stumbled through life. I never found my niche. I had long since given up on my friends and colleagues realizing the path they were on was self-destructive. I had chosen a different path. But it wasn’t any easier.

After my car wreck, I took to reading. I had always loved reading, so it was no great struggle for me to finally have the time to read all the great books I had always wanted to read. And I realized I now had the time to read up on God and spirituality and religion.

I read Greek, Roman and Norse mythology. I obtained a translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. I found and read the Lost Books of the Bible, the Hidden Books of Eden and the books of Enoch. I consulted with the pastor of my church once a week for several months bringing in pages of questions for which I sought answers. I spoke with counselors and therapists trying to understand the twists and turns of my own mind. I attended meetings and seminars and workshops.

When I was well enough, I traveled cross country, searching, researching, digging deep for answers finding some, but finding mostly only more questions.

1989. Again, I was alone in my room at night. Two years had passed since the car wreck. I felt a presence. I received a communication. It was God: “The time has come.” I instantly realized that God was fulfilling my request from over 10 years ago, to let me know when it was time to return to Him.

Immediately, with no hesitation, I put down the book I was reading and opened myself to God. I thanked Him for keeping His promise and for giving me the opportunity to come back home.

Later that year, I realized I had reached a dead end. My research was going nowhere. The answers I had discovered made no sense. The data I had uncovered was inconsistent and inconclusive. I knew I was stuck. I also knew I needed a little help from above in order to move forward. So I called upon God again. It was a short prayer: “God help me. I seek to understand. Lead me to find the truth, the whole truth and not a partial truth as most people understand it,” I prayed, but I realized that with a limited human mind, the concepts of God might be greater than I could handle, so I added, “but only at a rate I can assimilate without going insane.” Not really expecting an answer, I suddenly felt that same feeling. I felt that same affirmation. God was telling me He would lead me into truth that most people are completely unaware of.

Early the next year, I began to write. From the beginning of January to nearly the end of the month I wrote nearly non-stop. The book I wrote is called Hyperspace Calculations. It is a book about quantum physics and the reality we live in and how all things in the universe are connected and tied to each other.

Writing that book was like receiving a direct insight from God, it made me realize a little about how life and the universe works.

Over the next few years I studied comparative religions. I reread my old copy of the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. I found and read a copy of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. I read the Emerald Tablet and uncovered more lost books of the Bible. I found and read the works of Seth. I studied Hawaiian shamanism and Native American religion. I explored churches, faiths and denominations. I studied with counselors and ministers.

I attended conferences. I explored African Dogonism and Shintoism. I looked into Catholicism and the Kabbalah. As I researched all these practices and dogmas, I stumbled upon a discovery. None of these churches, faiths, beliefs, religions or practices had the whole answer. Instead, they each seemed to possess jut a slice of the truth, a separate piece of the whole. It was as if each had a piece of some giant, cosmic, theological jigsaw puzzle and only by assembling all the disparate pieces could a picture begin to form.

Time continued to pass. Pieces began to fall into place. I read “Conversations with God” and another piece fell into place. I studied with Mormon missionaries, 7th Day Adventists and took classes at the Church of Scientology and more pieces fell into place. I read “The Secret Message of Jesus” and “The Bible Code” and additional pieces fell into place. The picture was beginning to make sense. In 2006 a DVD was released. As I watched it, many pieces fell into place at once. “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne seemed to answer many of my remaining questions and I knew I was verging on the fringes of the answer to the question: “Why does God allow suffering?”

Why Does God Allow Suffering?

Why does God allow suffering? I think that intuitively we may already know the answer. At the very least, we have asked the correct question: “Why does God allow suffering?” Why does God permit this to happen? Why is God letting this go on? Those are the correct questions. The wrong question would be, “Why does God Make this happen?” or why is God doing this? or why is God causing these events? These would all be incorrect questions.

Why does God allow suffering? Many have and many continue to ask this question — in all its various forms. But in this correct format, the key word is neither “why” nor “God” but “allow”.

Why does God ALLOW? Why does God allow all these things to occur? We have intuitively asked the correct question. We know somehow — at some superconscious or spiritual level perhaps — that God isn’t Doing these things, He is Allowing these things to occur.

To answer why, let’s take a look at the Book of Job in the Bible.

Many scholars and theologians consider Job to be the oldest book of the Bible dating its writing to between 2000 and 1000 BC. For those of you familiar with the story, you know that Job was a righteous man who obeyed the Law of Moses. Job performed the daily sacraments and rituals, performed daily sacrifices and truly worshiped and loved God. In all respects he was a Godly man and God blessed him. Job was well respected by his friends and the community and was wealthy and prosperous with herds of cattle and sheep, mansions, treasure and a big, loving family of 10 children whom Job loved dearly.

To some extent, Job’s children seemed to act similarly to the way rich kids act today. Although the Bible hints that they worked hard, it is clear that they also partied hard. They had great feasts and banquets with lots of drinking. They invited all their friends and neighbors.

Each day Job would offer sacrifices for the sins he feared his children may have committed. From this, we see how much Job loved his children. We also understand that Job was clearly a devoted man of God. And God blessed Job with unheard of wealth and a large healthy family. But in just one day, it was all gone.

God allowed Satan to test Job. All Job’s possessions were stolen or destroyed. His beloved children were killed in a tornado. His mansions burned to the ground. His treasure was gone. All in one day.

Why did God do this? Why did God allow Satan to do this? Job asked 4000 years ago the same question we are asking today, “Why?” Why does God allow this to happen? Why must the innocent suffer? Job asked the correct question, so did you.

Why did God allow Job, a righteous, God-fearing, pious man to suffer such extreme tragedy? Job himself was righteous doing all that the Law of Moses required. He worshiped and respected God from the depths of his soul, with every fiber of his being. Yet God allowed this to happen to him. Why?

In answer to that question, I asked ministers and pastors around the country. I read gospel tracts and theological books. And I received answers. But to me, all the answers I received were essentially the same and all were equally unsatisfying: “I don’t know”, “there is no answer to the mystery of God”, “God’s ways are incomprehensible to man”, “sometimes God just allows suffering” or “sometimes God allows testing to strengthen the faith of those who love Him.” Those weren’t the answers I was seeking. They didn’t answer the question. So, I decided to go direct to the Source. I asked God.

In response I was moved to open my Bible at random. And as the book opened, it opened to the Book of Job and a verse seemed to jump out at me. Job 3:25 King James version. It is a quote from Job himself.

“For that which I greatly feared has come upon me.”

Dimly, a light turned on somewhere in my brain. You may recall that I mentioned that in 2006, the DVD “The Secret” came out and as I watched that DVD, a few more pieces fell into place at once. Job lost all he had not because of any sin he or his children may have committed. It all occurred because Job constantly focused on what might happen: that God would punish him for what he believed his children might be doing. He feared that God would take all his possessions and family. Job didn’t suffer an injustice, Job experienced the Law of Attraction in action.

Job offered sacrifices daily, imagining the worst that could happen. He put great emotion into these visualizations. He Felt the worst that could happen. And, as The Secret says — the universe responded. That which we constantly think about we receive. Job thought about a disaster, possibly for years, and eventually that’s what he received.

Fortunately for Job, God blessed him again after his troubles and he once again raised a good family and received twice as much wealth as he ever had. God showed his Mercy to Job.

But does this answer our question: Why does God allow suffering in the world? Why are there wars and crime? Why are there famines and disease? Why are there earthquakes and tsunamis? Why are there plane crashes and auto wrecks? Why do children die of AIDS?

Why does a young mother lose her only son? Why does a friend get untreatable cancer and die? Why does a young husband die in Iraq leaving a wife and children? Does the story of Job answer our questions?

The story of Job shows us that the Law of Attraction is real. It works. Not only does it work in our own life it affects those around us and the community we live in. Job’s personal disaster affected other people. When Job suffered, they were hurt also. When Job was hit hard by these severe tragedies, Job’s friends and neighbors came to him asking Job what did he do? “Make your amends with God so we can get on with our lives!” Job’s disaster was a community disaster; the focus of Job’s attention affected the entire community. And so it is with us.

We hear of tragedies daily. We see them on the news at night. We hear of personal tragedies in gossip at work: “My diet isn’t working, I don’t feel well, the bosses don’t care. I think I’m catching a cold, my son was just arrested, someone robbed the liquor store, a man just shot someone.”

“That which I greatly feared has come upon me.”

We hear these things all day. We think about these things at night. Job shows how one person’s thoughts can adversely affect the whole neighborhood. What happens when many people are having the same thought? What happens when a nation is constantly exposed to negative experiences and events transmitted to us by TV, cable, newspaper, magazines, gossip and the internet? The universe responds.

When a nation dwells on the negative, the world suffers. Planes fall from the sky. Mudslides kill dozens or hundreds thousands of miles away. Wars break out. When the people of a planet think in common, that thought will transpire. If negative, negative events occur. If positive, paradise occurs.

And that is the key.

So let’s answer the question directly. But I can only answer the question with a question, “Why does God allow suffering? The answer is “Why do you?”

Jesus said that you are a god. (John 10:34) Jesus said that his Father called each of us — each human — a god.

If this is true, if what Jesus said is true, what does this mean? It means that the reality we experience is equivalent to the reality we create. It means that as a people and as a world, that what befalls us is equivalent to what we have thought about. For most of us, this isn’t always at a conscious level. We operate by default. We seem unable to control our thoughts because our thought patterns have become habits. They are automatic.

When many people think automatically, the results can be disastrous or wondrous depending on their dominant thoughts. The very world around us will reshape itself to conform to our believed perceptions about how that world should be. When we think hate, there are wars. When we think anger, there are natural disasters. When we think fear, there is crime.

There is a solution to all the evil and troubles in the world. And you are it. YOU are the solution. Jesus said that those who walk the straight and narrow path will receive the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is what Job experienced before — and after — disaster fell upon him.

Abundance, wealth, good solid friends, a big loving family, multiple mansions, businesses and herds of cattle. Ok, so maybe you don’t want herds of cattle, but you probably want all the rest.

Jesus had a secret message. The secret message is this; live your purpose and all these things will be added unto you. What things? The things Job had. Jesus has already promised these to us if we only live our purpose — our mission in life. This mission is also called following the straight and narrow path, following the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. It is why we are here. It is why you are here.

If you have ever felt an emptiness deep within, if it ever seems that the more you get the less satisfied you are, if you are ever unhappy, ill or fearful, then you are not living your purpose. And because of you and the millions and billions of others who are not living their purpose, the world suffers.

Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes. Famines, wars, suicide bombers. Planes will crash, there will be robberies and rapes, all because you are not following the path you were born to follow. These all happen because you are not doing your perfect work. These all occur because you are not fulfilling your mission. But this is not a condemnation.

Imagine a paradise on earth, “where they will beat their swords into plowshares, the lion will lie down with the lamb and the nations will study war no more.” That is possible, but only if you do your part. The first thing you must do is fall in love with the person you see in the mirror each morning. And I mean that literally. You must love yourself first before you can truly love others. In order to truly and fully and unconditionally love yourself, you must first get clear.

Clearing is the process that identifies and removes the negative memories, beliefs, thought patterns and habits that are dictating your life. Removing these by becoming clear provides you with the choice of reaching any goal you desire, living any lifestyle you choose and living and fulfilling your Purpose. Clearing gives you the chance to discover and do your perfect work, to answer your true calling and fulfill your mission in life. That is your purpose. It is why you are here. And not doing it is what causes the evil that manifests in the world.

Another part of the secret message of Jesus is that Jesus never asked us to save someone else. He wants us to save ourselves first. Only by clearing ourselves of the hatred and enmity in our own hearts can the world be saved. The world’s churches, religions and faiths don’t have this wrong as it is that they are simply incomplete.

When you are healed of the pain and suffering you hide within — perhaps even from yourself — not only are you healed, but others around you are healed as well. As others are healed, a community is healed. As a community is healed, a region is healed. As a region heals, a nation heals. As a nation heals, the whole planet heals. And it all begins with you.

Why does God allow suffering in the world? To show you that He loves you and that you must love yourself as He loves you. In doing so, as we all do so, the pain will heal, wars will end, crime will disappear, pollution will dissipate, earthquakes and natural disasters will cease, violence will give way to peace and hate will yield to love.

“Remove the plank from your own eye before trying to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye,” Jesus said. Heal yourself. In doing so, others will heal also.