What is the philosophy behind the trials and tribulations that come to us? | A.R .Panahian

What is the philosophy behind the trials and tribulations that come to us?

In fact, a human being’s restlessness won’t be resolved by not going to Hell. His calmness won’t be complete with just Heaven either. Our soul has been created in such a way that the only answer to our soul is God Himself. That is God’s Love, Kindness, and Grace. We have been created like this.

It is not possible to change this creature, his nature and his structure. What do the Friends of God say when talking to God? They say, “Let’s suppose we can tolerate Hell. How can we tolerate You not being kind to us?” The way the Friends of God talk to God is very different from the way we talk. We say, “We are not concerned about Your Kindness. Just don’t take us to Hell, and we are fine.”

The Friends of God say exactly the opposite. In fact, they want to say, “If You want to take us to Hell, it’s fine. But, we want Your Kindness.” They talk the same way about the world’s problems too, “Blame me, blame me, until You are satisfied.” (Arafah Supplication) Blame me and hit me. But, don’t be upset at me. Don’t be displeased with me. Don’t be angry with me. I haven’t come to get something and leave. I want You Yourself to be good with me.

We don’t have these spiritual fluctuations and this excitement when talking to God. In our relationship with God, we don’t beg for His Kindness. Why? Because, basically we don’t see ourselves in need of His Kindness. We see ourselves in need of our own interests, our interests in this world and the Hereafter. We see our need for our trials to be resolved, our trials in this world and the Hereafter. This relationship itself has been forgotten!

What is interesting is that all of the world’s trials are for us to move towards discovering this relationship. God shows us, “See, no one loves you!” And, He wants to whisper in our ears, “Except Me!” But, we talk to God and say, “God, why doesn’t anyone love me. Do something so that someone will love me.” “But, I have given you solitude for you to come towards Me.”

The philosophy of the trials, and sometimes this feeling comes even without trials, is for a person to feel lonely. After he feels he is alone, he will ask for God’s companionship. When he asks for God’s companionship, he will ask for His Kindness. He shouldn’t ask God to help him find an entertainment due to his loneliness. God says, “I separate you from other entertainments for you to be entertained by Me! Why do you ask for something else from Me again?”

In many cases, a bad thing that happens for the youth is that they slowly cut their dependence on their parent’s kindness. But, during their education they don’t put their dependence on God and His Kindness instead. Where do they try to find this? In receiving kindness from the opposite gender. Many people consider their relationship with the opposite gender to be so important because of the emotional aspects. This young person is looking for the source of emotion, attention and kindness. They haven’t taught him that this is only in the Hereafter. That source, which satisfies a person, is God only. They look for it on earth, and thousands of crises arise.

Spiritually too, you can see that there are many people who believe in God, obey religion, and believe in the Hereafter. But, they still don’t feel good. He is afraid of divine punishment. But, this fear should have had a result, which hasn’t yet come about for him. If you are afraid of divine punishment, you should take refuge with God. Something should happen here. You should pay attention to God’s Kindness now that you have gone to Him. You should receive His Kindness and nourishment from it.

People don’t try to build this relationship. They say, “God, have You forgiven me? Hurry. I want to go. I have work to do.” “Where do you want to go?” “I want to live my life.” “Where is life? What do you want to enjoy? What do you want to do next?” A person should gain nourishment from God’s Kindness for him to calm down. What feeli