God Suffering Essay, Research Paper
The Mid-Wives “feared God” and so the saved the baby boys. The story shows that if we voice our concerns and obey God then all of our hopelessness and anger will in time be relieved. As we discussed in class, they used civil disobedience. They resisted actively but not violently. They were not ignorant. They stood up to the Pharaoh, but did so without rage and used intelligent answers instead, and for this God rewarded them.
In the Gospel of Mark Jesus handles the situation of Peter’s sick mother-in-law, by simply taking a stand and healing her and thinking of the good it will do rather than the bad name it could possible give him. He took a chance by touching her and healing her. He “actively” took care of the situation, but he handled it in the right manor. He couldn’t bear to see the suffering of the woman, regardless if she was unclean or not. He deals with suffering by healing it in the best way he can.
Another example in the Gospel of Mark is in chapter 8 when Jesus helps all who are hungry. He broke seven loaves of bread and was able to help thousands. He performed a miracle to relieve the suffering of the thousands who did not have an ounce of food in their stomach. He knew that he was the only one able to perform such an act so he took it upon himself to do what was best. And when he did this, not only did he feed the hungry, he gave a newfound faith to his disciples and many more.
To me suffering is something that can either make you a stronger person or tear you up inside to the point where you lose all hope. It must be horrible to be a slave or starving and not know what the point in life is anymore. I can’t imagine living ever day and knowing that the rest of my life I would suffer because of labor, abuse, and even starvation. But then again, many slaves and others who suffer become the strong woman and men and overcome their burdens through faith and hope. I personally can’t say how I would react to it all. In my life now, I believe everything happens for a reason, but I can see how difficult it would be to keep a tight grasp on faith if life was continuous pain and suffering.