God never sends suffering. Never. It is never “God’s will” that we should suffer. God would like us not to suffer. But since the world brings suffering, and since God refuses to use His almighty power and treat us as foolish children, He aligns Himself with us, goes into Auschwitz with us, is devastated by 9/11 with us, and draws us with Him through it all into fulfillment. This is a high price to pay for our human freedom, but it is worth it. To be mere automatons for whom God arranges the world to cause us no suffering would mean we never have a self. We could not make choices. — Sister Wendy Beckett

God understands suffering. He has been through it himself. A little over 2,000 years ago, He sent His Son to Earth to suffer and die for our sins. This I believe. Those of us who are Christian may celebrate it on different days (the Orthodox Church observes Pascha next Sunday), but that matters less than the meaning of the day and the acceptance of the sacrifice.

Everything that goes wrong on this world is the result of abusing the free will God gave us. He could stop it. He chooses not to because the fruit of the winnowing through free will is rare and precious. When we sin He feels hurt. When we feel pain, He feels pain. But He is looking for those that can transcend that hurt and pain, and can do the right thing even when no one is looking.

God is a free-will absolutist. Something to think about in an age where many think mere free speech is too dangerous to permit.