Why All People Suffer

I enjoyed this site and love to look more at suffering as we all want to gain as much for souls, our own and others, as is possible. My first question is: It was noted that evil is the absence of good which makes sense as hell is the absence of God, Who is truly the One Good. However, where does Satan and the bad angels fall into this...as they do exist and are always trying to give us desolation? How do we know that God is allowing suffering, which is sometimes in your mind with negative thinking, and not the devil trying to make you feel hopeless and lead you to despair...doubting God? When you have children leave their catholic faith and it breaks your heart, how is God using this to bring the greater good? How is one to look at this situation?

Suffering is uncomfortable and we are all always trying to get rid of it Most of us realize that to fix something it is necessary to know what is wrong and that leads us to ask plaintively, "why me, Lord?" The purpose of this thread is to help others see the reason for their suffering.

God teaches us his will for us through the four tasks of suffering. He teaches us to be virtuous by making the alternatives uncomfortable and obvious through easy to understand feedback loops. If we eat things that are not good for us we get sick. If we drink too much, we have a hangover the next morning. If we treat someone badly, they suffer and we see it and feel badly ourselves and over-time we learn to be just. The important thing to note here is that we can learn from each other and don't need to repeat the suffering incidents that the sufferer has witnessed to. Society has often looked at those who suffer as being cursed for some unknown or undesired sin or as whiners when they complain about it. But the simple fact remains that God highlights truth and the road to righteousness by making the alternative paths uncomfortable for the one suffering. That person now is the messenger of what he experienced and his accounts can give pause to people about to make the same mistake, the goal of this thread is to outline for each other what we learn through our suffering. This will not only remind us of God's love for us, it will also help us find our way toward sharing in the diviine nature. Keep in mind, it it not easy to discern your own messages of suffering. Feel free to identify the situation and ask for help. It is anticipated that someone will have experienced something like what happened to you and will be able to help you discern the message based on their own life experience. If you are not comfortable sharing you own concerns, you can still learn about the providence of god from the witnesses of those that suffer. I will start off by explaining what advanced dementia on the part of my mother and two grandfathers was that life on earth was never meant to be permanent or perfect; that is reserved for those who are perfected on earth. the fact that the end of life is often so painful teaches us that we need God when there is no where else to go for relief