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{"id":2848,"date":"2015-04-21T06:44:32","date_gmt":"2015-04-21T11:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/newwineskins\/?p=2848"},"modified":"2015-04-21T06:44:32","modified_gmt":"2015-04-21T11:44:32","slug":"a-2-year-old-perspective-helps-us-understand-suffering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/newwineskins\/a-2-year-old-perspective-helps-us-understand-suffering\/","title":{"rendered":"A 2-Year-Old Perspective Helps Us Understand Suffering"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"4.21.15\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Last Wednesday I took my daughter Elle to the doctor\u2019s office because she was sick. She had to get a shot while she was there. In that moment, when the needle punctured her skin and I was holding her down, she gave me a look that would just melt your heart. She absolutely couldn\u2019t understand why I would be so mean and cruel to allow the nurse to puncture her body with a needle. She couldn\u2019t understand that I was doing it for her good, to protect her from getting worse and having to go to the hospital. She couldn\u2019t understand that. She just had to trust me that I knew what I was doing.<\/p>\n

In Isaiah 55:9, here\u2019s what the Bible says, \u201cAs the heavens are higher than the earth,\u00a0so are my ways higher than your ways\u00a0\u00a0and my thoughts than your thoughts.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Compared to God\u2019s infinite wisdom and knowledge, we\u2019re the 2-year-old failing to understand why there\u2019s a new lock on the door. We\u2019re the 1-year-old who can\u2019t understand why she just got a shot. Our perspectives are too small compared to God\u2019s.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how we can begin to handle the problem of pain and suffering in the world. We can\u2019t understand it all. We can\u2019t just explain it away. We have to trust that there is a reason, beyond our ability to understand. And we have to trust that God knows what He\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"