I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance ( to the full, till it overflows ). John 10:10 (AMPC)
Have you ever been told that God loves you, but at the same time, that He sometimes allows bad things to happen to you?
The trouble with the idea that God allows pain into our lives is that it causes us to mistrust Him. After all, what kind of loving father would willingly allow His kids to go through tragedy, even just to teach them something?
If I want to teach my grandkids that fire is dangerous, I’m not going to hold their hands over the flames to do it. That would be considered abusive, yet that’s often how we see God. We think He intentionally orchestrates pain, tragedy and trauma in our lives, but it’s not true! God is the perfect Father. Satan is the one who steals, kills and destroys (John 10:10). God sent Jesus so we could have and enjoy abundant lives!
How can we understand our Father God? One way is to know that God is love, according to 1 John 4:8. So then, when He gives us a description of what love is in 1 Corinthians 13:4–8, He is describing Himself, so we can read it this way:
God is patient. God is kind. He does not envy, does not boast and is not proud. He does not dishonour others, is not self-seeking and is not easily angered. He keeps no record of your wrongs. God does not delight when evil happens to you. He loves it when you begin to understand His truth and you start to realize who you truly are in Christ. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres. He will never fail you!