How can God?

First of all, even knowing why I suffer doesn't make it feel any better. So for a person looking for relief from their suffering, a discussion of why isn't going to help them.

But it's still a valid question. The best answer I've ever seen is the book "The Problem of Pain" by CS Lewis. If you want a serious, in-depth answer, read that book. He addresses just about every angle of that question you can think of, from the suffering of the innocence to the question about a 'loving God' sending people to hell.

My brief answer would go something like this:
There are many, many reasons for suffering. Most of them are connected to the corruption of the world by sin, and God giving us free will (which necessarily involves the ability to cause pain.) Any benefit we gain from suffering is a side-effect. The original cause of suffering is sin - whether our own or somebody else's. Even disease and natural disasters are results of the corruption of creation because of sin.

Second, as to the question of how can God send 'good people' to hell - first you need to define 'good people.' Sin destroys goodness - a person who has sinned is no longer 'good' except perhaps in comparison to someone who is more corrupt than themselves. But the standard is not other people, the standard is perfection, and we all fall short of that.
I don't think God 'sends' anybody to hell - the people who go there are the people who have chosen to reject God. God doesn't condemn them against their will - in fact He gives them exactly what they want, an existence without Him. The problem is, any place without God is hell. If you choose to reject God, there is no other place you can go to get away from Him.

Anyway, that's the brief answer. Can't come close to covering it all in this little space.

First of all, even knowing why I suffer doesn't make it feel any better. So for a person looking for relief from their suffering, a discussion of why isn't going to help them.

But it's still a valid question. The best answer I've ever seen is the book "The Problem of Pain" by CS Lewis. If you want a serious, in-depth answer, read that book. He addresses just about every angle of that question you can think of, from the suffering of the innocence to the question about a 'loving God' sending people to hell.

My brief answer would go something like this:
There are many, many reasons for suffering. Most of them are connected to the corruption of the world by sin, and God giving us free will (which necessarily involves the ability to cause pain.) Any benefit we gain from suffering is a side-effect. The original cause of suffering is sin - whether our own or somebody else's. Even disease and natural disasters are results of the corruption of creation because of sin.

Second, as to the question of how can God send 'good people' to hell - first you need to define 'good people.' Sin destroys goodness - a person who has sinned is no longer 'good' except perhaps in comparison to someone who is more corrupt than themselves. But the standard is not other people, the standard is perfection, and we all fall short of that.
I don't think God 'sends' anybody to hell - the people who go there are the people who have chosen to reject God. God doesn't condemn them against their will - in fact He gives them exactly what they want, an existence without Him. The problem is, any place without God is hell. If you choose to reject God, there is no other place you can go to get away from Him.

Anyway, that's the brief answer. Can't come close to covering it all in this little space.