This is the hardest part about faith. Every religion points to an all powerful, all knowing God, who has a plan that mere mortals cannot understand and should not question. If we believe in a merciful God, then everything happens for the best.
I want to believe in a merciful God. But my little brain simply can't see what good can come out of a mass shooting or what good can come out of a mother starving her 5 year-old so that the poor child weighs 19 lbs. The shooter will face his judgment, the mother may yet have a chance to repent. Those outcome do not bother me. The 14 lives that were taken, and the one that maybe permanently damaged bother me a lot. Was that part of God's plan? Are these deaths and suffering better than the alternative? For the victims or someone else? In the little girl's case, will an eternity in heaven even compensate for 5 years of abuse in the hands of the person who is supposed to love her the most? My small human brain does not have the capacity to understand God's love and His plan, so instead, it is grappling with concepts of justice, fairness, and simple human emotions of sadness and anger.
Humans are given free will. Children cannot exercise their free will. That makes the responsibility of parents and caregivers so much greater. We are the ones to safeguard not only our own souls but also to fill the souls of those in our care with love, happiness and positive emotions. This is what I can control. I choose to believe my free will to prioritize this responsibility matters in the long run. I have to believe that if humans spread our love and our positive attitude, we can prevent those situations where people are senselessly killed or little kids are tortured. God has mercy on us to let our efforts and our love lead to good things.
