When God is omniscient and knows our suffering, why do we need to go to him to get relief?
Answer Podcast
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So why do we have to approach God to get relief from suffering? He is omnipotent can’t he relieve us from suffering directly? Yes he can but here we have to understand what the nature of the suffering is. So we see a person who is starving maybe that person is suffering. Yes a person who is not having food is suffering but then look at if the lack of food were the sole cause of suffering then all the people who have food should be happy but all the people who have food happy are the well fed people happy they have their own sets of problems they have stress, they have hypertension they have they have obesity so there are so many problems so the lack of food is a problem but the presence of food is not the solution so suffering ultimately is because we want lasting happiness and we are looking for the lasting in the feeding.
That means say we are lost in a desert and there is always this if we go there we get abundant water but if I go to the mirages I won’t get that the problem is that everything in this world is temporary and we want lasting fulfillment, lasting happiness through the temporary that is like wanting water in a mirage it’s just not going to happen so we may think of specific causes of suffering, oh this person doesn’t have wealth this person doesn’t have intelligence, this person doesn’t have this thing yes they are specific causes of suffering but even if those specific causes were removed other things will cause suffering because there is a very very aspiration to get something lasting to get something lasting in that which is temporary that aspiration itself is bound for frustration so just as the person who is thirsty needs to go to a oasis to get water similarly we need to go to God and God has given us free will so it is only when we choose to direct our attention towards the eternal instead of the temporary so only then we can experience the eternal and find happiness there till we do that till that time even God can’t help us because he doesn’t ever take away our free will so what he does is he gives us counsel so that we can use the free will wisely he doesn’t take away our free will if by one’s own free will the person chooses to chase after mirage instead of going to oasis then no one can help them same way if we keep chasing the temporary instead of seeking the eternal then that very choice sentences us to stop have you had a question? what is the idea of cause and effect? God himself so he opens doors to you guys yeah yeah