Quote from Forum Archives on March 25, 2007, 5:28 am

Posted by: bigguyhereagain <bigguyhereagain@...>

"Reason for God"

 

 

Why God Allows Pain

 

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed.

 

As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation.

 

They talked about so many things and various subjects.

 

When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don't believe that God exists."

 

"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.

 "Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God  doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick  people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there  would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving a  God who would allow all of these things."

 

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he  didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and  the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he  saw a man in the street with
long, stringy, dirty hair and an  untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkept.

 

The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he  said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist."

 

"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here,  and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"

 

"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they  did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed  beards, like that man outside."

 

"Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is that people do not come  to me."

 

"Exactly!"- affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too,  DOES exist!
What happens is that people don't go to Him and do not  look for Him.

 

That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

 

 

"John 3:16"

 

A little boy was selling newspapers on the corner,
the people were in and out of the cold.

 

The little boy was so cold that he wasn't trying to sell
many papers.

 

He walked up to a policeman and said,
"Mister, you wouldn't happen to know where a poor boy could
find a warm place to sleep tonight would you ?

 

You see, I sleep in a box up around the corner there and
down the alley and it's awful cold in there for tonight.

 

Sure would be nice to have a warm place to stay."

 

The policeman looked down at the little boy and said, "You
go down the street to that big white house and you knock
on the door. When they come out the door you just say
John 3:16, and they will let you in." !
So h e did. He walked up the steps and knocked on the
door, and a lady answered. He looked up and said,
"John 3:16." The lady said, "Come on in, Son."

 

She took him in and she sat him down in a split bottom
rocker in front of a great big old fireplace, and she went
off. The boy sat there! for a while and thought to himself:
John 3:16 .I don't understand it, but it sure makes
a cold boy warm.

 

Later she came back and asked him "Are you hungry ? "
He said, "Well, just a little. I haven't eaten in a couple of
days, and I guess I could stand a little bit of food,"

 

The lady took him in the kitchen and sat him down to a table
full of wonderful food. He ate and ate until he couldn't eat
any more. Then he thought to himself:
John 3:16 .Boy, I sure don't understand it but it sure
makes a hungry boy full.

She took him upstairs to a bathroom to a huge bathtub
filled with warm water, and he sat there and soaked for a
while. As he soaked, he thought to himself: John 3:16...
I sure don't understand it, but it sure makes a dirty boy
clean. You know, I've not had a bath, a real bath, in my
whole life. The only bath I ever had was when I stood in
front of that big old fire hydrant as they flushed it out.
The lady came in and got him. She took him to a room,
tucked him into a big old feather bed, pulled the covers
up around his neck, kissed him goodnight and turned out
the lights. As he lay in the darkness and looked out the
window at the snow coming down on that cold night,
he thought to himself: John 3:16 .I don't understand it but
it sure makes a tired boy rested.

 

The next morning the lady came back up and took him
down again to that same big table full of food. After he
ate, she took him back to that same big old split bottom
rocker in front of the fireplace and picked up a big old Bible.

 

She sat down in front of him and looked into his young face.
"Do you understand John 3:16 ?" she asked gently. He
replied, "No, Ma'am, I don't. The first time I ever heard it
was last night when the policeman told me to use it,"
She opened the Bible to John 3:16 and began to explain
to him about Jesus. Right there, in front of that big old fireplace,
he gave his heart and life to Jesus. He sat there and thought:

John 3:16 -- don't understand it, but it sure makes a lost boy feel safe.

 

You know, I have to confess I don't understand it either,
how God was willing to send His Son to die for me, and how
Jesus would agree to do such a thing. I don't understand
the agony of the Father and every angel in heaven as
they watched Jesus suffer and die. I don't understand the intense
love for ME that kept Jesus on t he cross till the end.
I don't understand it, but it sure does make life worth living.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life.

 

 

Have a Blessed Day
Dave and Barbara

 

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