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Trials and tribulations are to be expected as a Christian. Jesus Himself said that people would have more troubles if they followed Him.

Soul Plague, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me like you put your faith in Christ before because you were told that believing in Christ would make your life happier or better. Please tell me if I'm wrong.

Why does everyone blame God for everything, but then never thank Him when good happens?

God does bring people to bad things, yes, but there is always a reason. I was raped 3 years ago, but I know there must be a reason for it. My grandmother who I was very close to died 3 days before my birthday this year. It was of a heartattack, so I know it was meant to tell all of us to eat healthier. And to appreciate life better. It also happened when my mom, my sister, and I were in a huge fight, and it stopped as soon as that happened.

God obviously isn't bringing to to happiness because you continue to blame Him for all your problems. If you're going to stop being Christian because it hasn't 'benefited' you, then you were never a true Christian. God isn't about benefits. He WILL give us what we deserve, but we have to be patient.

He does things through us. There are reasons for your 'bad' things.

And besides, life isn't about YOU. Stop being so selfish. Life is about Christ and God, and doing their work and praising and worshipping them, and helping others. Stop thinking everything is about YOU.

And just so you know, if I sounded mean or rude, I'm sorry, but people need to understand they're to live for God, not themselves. I love all, and have nothing against non-Christians (Although I do pray for them, I don't tell them they're going to Hell. I invite them to church, but say I won't judge them if they don't), but when you're going to stop being Christian because God hasn't 'benefited' you, that really annoys me.

Ask him to be ur savior.. Pray, talk to him, He does stuff in ur life u dont even notice

yah, i think that the majority of you may just be making things worse...

God made a bet with Lucifer

Job suffered so that God could prove a point/win a bet

wtf

jesus tap dancing christ.......

aside from all these arguments of wasted bashing and crap that doesn't get people anywhere....let me throw some advice in here that might help you better.

Soul Plague, I haven't seen you respond back in this thread yet, which could mean quite a few things, hopefully nothing being bad. what I'm about to post is not to use scripture, but to use christian logic of how a relationship works with god and how suffering works in this world.

The biggest struggle that most Christians have in their life is figuring out their purpose that god has for them, but most of all, dealing with the most painful moments in their life.

Most will sit and tell you that your life could be so much worse. But in reality? That's wrong. One person does not suffer more than another. Suffering is a feeling that is UNWANTED by everyone so in technicality we all suffer equally in our OWN ways. If someone suffers enough to the point to where THEY feel it is like a personal hell for them, then trully they can not suffer any more than they already are. Trust me, I know the irritation especially when people give me that crap illogical of "oh but what about those hungry kids in Africa? are you starving? do you not have a roof over your head" yadda yadda yadda.....gets tiring doesnt it?

God is with you trully and always. I know this because he created you. If he didn't have a purpose for you, then why would you be here to begin with? He gave you a life......this is just the starting reasons. But one of the other biggest issues Christians deal with is when, where, and HOW is God playing his role in helping us through life? This impossible to prove when he steps in and when he doesn't. However, there are verses in the bible that others have kindly already posted that show his stake in your life. I'm sure you've already been told this, but just because you want the pain gone, doesn't mean its going to go away any time soon as you already know. God helps us in his own ways and when he sees fit. This may seem harsh, but think about it. He "foreknew" us before he even created us. He knows your past, present, and future. If he already knows your future, then he knows exactly when to step in. You've fallen from the path and with his knowledge and understanding you the best, he will help you get back on in ways that will benefit you, even if they don't seem beneficial right now.

But since you have not posted IN DETAIL what you're issues are and what has thrown you from the path of loving or going to God I'm going to lay down some lines here.

Suffering is caused by 3 major things:

1) Yourself
2) From people around you
3) From things we can't control (ex: the weather)

Since you haven't really told us what is causing you to suffer, we can only assume one of those three, a mix of those three, or all three together. The only thing you posted at the beginning was something about failed relationships? As members stated, we can't help you pinpoint a solution (assuming there is one) unless you give in detail whats really going on. If public posting is too much for you, I'd be glad to exchange talks over pm's or instant messaging. Whatever you are comfortable with. But we can't always blame our hurt on God when things aren't going our way when we want them to. Life is a craphole sometimes, crap happens, sometimes that we can barely handle, but we just have to try to learn to deal with it.

Oh btw, unless you have a complete understanding of the Book of Job, DON'T READ IT. I know members are trying to be nice in giving you inspiration to read that book, but its just going to make you feel worse ESPECIALLY since your stance with God isn't that greatest right now. Also that book is mainly to guide Christians on what ARE false philosophies and which ones NOT to follow. But many Christians have also made the mistake of taking those false philosophies to heart. one of them being a classic: eye for an eye. this is a false teaching that the book of Job is warning about. This book is NOT too great on helping you feel better. I would highly suggest NOT reading it.

The books I recommend are the Book of Psalms (for a more emotionally based scripture) and the book of Proverbs (for a more rationally based scripture). Trust me on this one. And now I think I'm losing thought on where I'm going with all this. *sighs* Well, if one thing is for sure, even if your opinion of God is very low right now, he will love you regardless. He doesn't force you to love him and we have all fallen off that path before. If you are not ready to go back to God right now, then that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. He won't hate you for getting mad at him, he knows your struggling. Its just a matter of time. You are not alone and I will do my best to advise you if and when you decide to comment back at any time. I wish you the best until then.

God made a bet with Satan, but God in deed already knew beforehand how Job would react to the situation. So the next question to be asked would be, "If God knew how Job would react, then what was the point of allowing Satan to do those things?" The lesson he's teaching is that whether he had made the bet or not, life is full of suffering either great or small. You simply can not escape life without suffering. God did not actively "do" those things to Job. He simply "allowed" Satan to do them. But that's already the set job for Satan, which is to be the the great deceiver, a test of our faith and to knock us off the path. That's what he does and always have done.

Take the holocaust for example. its on subject that most people jump on by saying "how could god ALLOW such a tragedy?" but the blame can not be brought on god because the reason the halaocaust happened was because the actions of MAN. the world is a crap hole because mankind has made it that way. if god jumped in every time we cried and whimpered from stubbing our toe or getting burned by a flame, what would we learn? what happened to Job was horrible and to most, horrific. But we all react to suffering differently.

There's also one last thing to keep in mind, God does not allow to happen to each individual MORE than they can individually handle, even if it seems horrific. Some can tolerate more pain then others. Job clearly in this case was able to handle the situation. I personally wouldn't be able to handle what he went through, but he simply could.

If you believe we have free will, that's fine. I can't argue how people feel. But if I were to bring up scriptures basing this on christian logic, then no we don't have free will. Since I don't know you personally, I don't know your taking on god of if your christian so forgive my responses if they seem off. But there are scriptures stating the nature of God. He knows past present and future. There is no time for him. He is omnipresent and he's omniscient. That is his nature.

I'm not too sure what you meant by a test of will. Then again...oh wait I think I see what your saying. yes, life is a test of faith and also a test of will (choice of action) because we do have the power of choice, just not completely. in the case of the holocaust, that event was determined by the individuals of each and every German and or individual that helped the event to occur. Hitler was merely a catalyst for the event. all he needed was followers to make it happen. thus, god allowed it yes, did he take part in making it happen? no because that would take out our "limited will" of choice of action. was it a test of will or action? there's nothing i can say to prove yes or no. that is entirely up to god. i can't personally sit here and tell you for sure because I'm simply not god. what i can tell you is that, what the bible states, he loves everyone. there is no hate. he's already forgiven the people who caused the event to occur because he has everlasting loving kindness and understanding.