My son's friend just got diagnosed with cancer and he's asking me why God would let that happen. I gave him the Sunday school answer about how God has a plan but even as I said it I knew that wasn't going to cut it for him. He's 11 and he deserves a real answer. How do you guys handle these conversations? How do you teach faith when bad things happen to good people especially kids?
My pastor gave me a good framework - God doesn't cause suffering but He's present in it. That actually resonated more with me than the old 'mysterious ways' explanation and my kids understood it.
This is such a tough one. I told my daughter that sometimes bad things happen to good people and it's not about God punishing anyone. We also talked about how doctors and nurses are like God's helpers trying to fix things. She seemed to get that better than the punishment angle.
Honestly I just told my son the truth in age appropriate terms - life isn't always fair and bad things happen. But then we focused on how his friend is brave and how we can support him. Kids can handle more honesty than we think.
Man I'm sorry you're dealing with this. When my kid asked similar stuff I said that God gives us the ability to be there for people who are suffering, which helped shift the focus from 'why is this happening' to 'what can we do about it.' Maybe your son could draw a picture or write a card for his friend?
Sign in to join the conversation.
This is really about your own faith too, isn't it? I realized I couldn't explain something I'm still struggling with myself. Found it helpful to be honest with my kids about that - that even as a parent I don't have all the answers but we can figure it out together.