Hi,
If G‑d cares so much about the human race, why do we struggle so hard just in order to survive?
Life shouldn’t be so difficult!
Answer:
You are grappling with issues with which the greatest human minds over thousands of years of history have grappled.
Indeed, many struggle mightily in life. Life brings all manner of challenges. Things happen, circumstances change. We think we know how things will be, but then we are given a totally unexpected situation. There is much in life we can’t control. And, much as we’d like to insist on knowing why, we will never have an answer to that. Only G‑d knows. No one else can speak for Him.
Faith
We want our questions answered: Why is there evil in the world? Why do good men and women suffer? Why do children die of hunger or disease? Why are there earthquakes and tsunamis and tornadoes that destroy human lives?
Why?
Could anyone really venture an answer? And would that someone then be equivalent to G‑d? And were we to be given answers to satisfy the human mind, would we then judge G‑d, be on par with Him?
I wish I had answers.
But if I did, what would be the nature of faith?
Faith is a most basic component of human living, of our psyche, of our ability to cope with all that happens around us. And could there be a concept of faith if we had hard evidence of G‑d’s dominion in our lives?
What We Control
We don’t have control over circumstances in our lives, but we do have full control over our responses to any given circumstance. G‑d gave us the free will to control our own actions and responses.
How to respond to life’s difficulties? Well, now, that’s a question any one of us can indeed answer.
See How Do You Get Faith? from our selection on the Jewish take on Faith.
Bronya Shaffer
for The Judaism Website—Chabad.org
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