Why God Allows Pain—and What We’re Meant to Do with It
- RHONDA SCIORTINO
- Aug 2
- 4 min read
Who Is God
God can accomplish all the good needed in the world without us. He can do it instantly and far more effectively than we ever could. Yet, He chooses to grant us the honor of working alongside Him. This partnership enables us to grow into the individuals He intended us to be and fulfill our purpose.
God is Love. As the essence and source of all Love, He established a system that respects our dignity, freedom of thought, expression, attitude, and action, allowing us to act and speak freely.
Why God Allows Pain And the Suffering it Causes
God’s system of free will applies equally to those who are good and those who are not, much like the law of gravity affects everyone.
We are not puppets under God's control. We are created in His image, endowed with free will—an extraordinary and terrifying gift.
As a result, some individuals choose to say and do things that harm others.
God is not the cause of the pain we’ve experienced. People exercising their free will did that.
Finding Purpose In Our Pain
The good news is that God offers each of us the chance to find purpose and meaning in our pain by partnering with Him, to do good, be good, and live in His goodness. By accepting His offer, He works with us to turn all our past pain into a force for good for ourselves and others. Thus, the harm we have suffered becomes a source of strength to help many others.
I am so incredibly blessed to have had people throughout my life whose words, actions and attitudes pointed me toward Jesus. The result of their influences in my life was taking the bold step to quit my job, start my business, and make a positive difference in the area in which I had an intimate understanding--child abuse. Often the difference between young people who make good choices and those who don't is that those who make good choices have at least one person in their life who is a positive influence. So while you're being a force for good, please remember to do so with the young people within your influence.
You matter and your story matters
In this course, you will learn how to write your book in days instead of it taking weeks, months or even years. This course will guide you through writing your book from start to publishing, marketing and selling your book.
This podcast will help you find and live your purpose and enjoy the peace and joy that accompanies it. Subscribe now and share this with a friend. Find Your Purpose Now is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Iheartradio, Amazon music, Overcast, Castbox, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, and right here at www.rhonda.org/podcast.
Rhonda Sciortino, author of Succeed Because of What You’ve Been Through and many other books, was abandoned by her parents and abused by others for the first 16 years of her life. She credits a brief stay with a wonderful foster family for teaching her that she was not “an accident of biology,” but that God had a specific plan for her life.
At 27 years old, Rhonda left what she thought would be her “job for life” to open her own risk management organization that protected and defended the good people and organizations that care for children who have been abused. She used the survival skills developed throughout her childhood to grow her business into a nationwide organization that analyzed the ways that children in foster care and caregivers get injured or killed. That information was built into risk avoidance strategies, which helped prevent tragedies.
Rhonda sold her business and now helps others find and live their purpose. Through her speaking, writing, videos, FIND YOUR PURPOSE NOW podcast, and FIND YOUR PURPOSE NOW program, she helps others use the obstacles in their lives as stepping stones to living God’s good purpose. Rhonda believes that using our hard times to glorify God is the fulfillment of Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for the good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.”
Rhonda is the founder of Successful Survivors Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps survivors of trauma to create purposeful lives. She is co-founder of Prevent Child Trafficking Nevada, where she is working to create a prevention model that can be replicated in communities throughout the US. She is the national champion of the Love Is Action Community Initiative, which is a public/private, faith-based community initiative that gives everyone safe and effective ways to help prevent child abuse and trafficking, suicide, homelessness, and other societal ills that harm us all.
For more information on Rhonda, go to www.rhonda.org. For information on Successful Survivors Foundation, go to www.successfulsurvivors.org. To join the fight against the trafficking of children, go to www.preventchildtraffickingnevada.org. To learn about the Love Is Action Community Initiative, go to www.loveisaction.com.
Rhonda calls herself a “fully yielded follower of Christ,” which she defines as someone who says, “YOUR WILL BE DONE,” and really means it. She has embraced why God allows pain and has found purpose and meaning in it.
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