Loss and Suffering

These past few months I have been thinking a lot about these topics. Why does God allow suffering? Is there a purpose to it?Why do we have to hurt so bad, ect... I also know a lot of other people who are asking or have asked these questions. I certainly don't claim to have all the answers, but I am beginning to wrap my head around a few concepts that are helping me deal. Below is an excerpt from an article that I read recently entitled "For my Good?" by RC Sproul. I came across the article in the Jan 2010 edition of "TABLETALK". It is a relatively short amount of content, but I think he explains things rather succinctly and I really like the way he wrote about the subject. So, here it is...

"...I know enough about what the Bible teaches of God's providence and of His sovereignty to know that sometimes God's sovereign providence involves suffering and affliction for His people. That we are in the care of a sovereign God whose providence is benevolent does not exclude the possibility that He may send us into periods of trials and tribulations that can be excruciatingly painful. Though I trust God's Word that in the midst of such experiences He will give to me the comfort of his presence and the certainty of my final deliverance into glory, in the meantime I know that the way of affliction and pain may be difficult to bear. The comfort that I enjoy from knowing God's providence is mixed at times with the knowledge that His providence may bring me pain. I don't look forward to the experience of pain with giddy anticipation; rather, there are times when it's necessary for me and for others to grit our teeth and to bear the burdens of the day. Again, I have no question of the outcome of such affliction, and yet at the same time, I know that there are afflictions that will test me to the limits of my faith and endurance. That kind of experience and knowledge makes it easy to understand the tension between confidence in God's sovereign providence and our own struggle with anxiety.
Romans 8:28, ...states that "all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose" (NKJV). There's no other text that demonstrates so clearly and magnificently the beauty of God's sovereign providence than that one. The text does not say that everything that happens to us, considered in and of itself, is good; rather; it says that all things that happen are working together for our good. That is the master plan of God's redemptive providence. He brings good out of evil. He brings glory out of suffering. He brings joy out of affliction... The promise of God that all things work together for good to those who love God is something that has to get not only into our minds, but it has to get into our bloodstreams, so that it is a rock-solid principle by which life can be lived."

Well, that was a little longer than I thought it would be...