Both Good and Terrible?

Earlier this week we read the article "Aslan the Terrible." In it, Wielenberg discusses some of the ideas Lewis writes about in his book The Problem of Pain, the main idea being that the problems of society and our world prove that God doesn't exist. If there is a God who loves us, why would he inflict so much pain and suffering? I've often struggled with this question myself, because God is supposed to love us, yet He still causes suffering among His followers. Some of the reasons God would do this to His people are laid out in this article; He might hurt us because we are doing something wrong, to teach us a lesson, etc... When Aslan hurts Aravis, he does it to show her how the servant was punished after Aravis drugged her. He did it so Aravis knew what it felt like, to teach her a lesson.

So the title "Aslan the Terrible"...how does this fit in with the article? If Aslan is like God, he is both good and terrible. God is good, He rewards us when we follow Him, He does good things in our lives, but He is still terrible because He also has the power to cause suffering. It is easy for us to become angry with God when we face trials, and it is also easy for the world to reject Him when bad things happen. But when doing these things, He is just proving His love for us. While reading this article, I was reminded of a couple verses that go along well with the topic, so I'm going to end this with them. Romans 5:3-4 says "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."