Many of you surprise me. I keep thinking I write this blog in relative obscurity, something to do just for the fun of writing, yet I receive comments from people who mention I haven't written in a couple of days or that they agreed with something I said recently (for those of you who disagree, thanks for not saying so!).

Last night, I had to teach a class on why God let's us experience pain. It's a tough class because the question is always out there. Why does God let a 10 year old have cancer? Why does God allow a tsunami wipe out thousands of people? Why does God let a 90+ year old hang on even when quality of life is gone?

Who said God let any of this happen? I find it odd that most people would not want God to control their lives yet they expect Him to control the things they don't like. Why is it that too often, the things we should be thankful for are the things we forget to thank God for but when something bad happens, people turn around and want to know where God is. Why did God let this happen? Why did God do this?

Pain can be good. Pain can provide healing. Pain often turns us to God yet we must be the one to make the choice to accuse Him or seek Him. God will not chase us down. He will not make us come to Him but He will always accept us, He will always open His arms to us, He will always hear us. When God asked Adam and Eve "Where are you?" after they had eaten from the tree they were not supposed to, He knew where they were but He wanted them to want to seek Him. When He asked "Why did you do this?" He didn't want their excuses that someone else made them do it. He wanted them to want to seek Him.

We have to seek God, in good times and bad. He doesn't cause our pain and hurts but He is always there to help us heal.