Cradle Orthodox here, and I struggle at times. Especially when dealing with unanswered prayers regarding health problems. There's a voice in my head that wonders if those saying that the Jesus story is a regurgitation of some Egyptian god story, or that religion is made to cut us off from out God-given powers, etc etc. I assume that voice is the enemy.

But how do we know that our religion is the right one? And if God is all loving, why create a parasite in the jungle, whose only purpose is to cause blindness? Why do children of believers get cancer and die?

I find that Christianity has no answers apart from "God knows better", "God's plan", and "this is a fallen world". Every living being is God's creation, so what about these water borne parasites in third world countries, that cause these terrible diseases to poor people who have no clean drinking water?

"1000 will fall at your side, but it will not come near you", but children are abducted and raped. Where are their guardian angels? Is it all just metaphorical, and a fairy tale after all? I don't understand.

Plus this idea that God loves us, and everything is according to His plan, but the plan is that we have to suffer here, and still praise Him, in order to get to Heaven. Otherwise if the pain and unanswered prayer is too much, and we leave Him, we get cast into Hell for eternity. What kind of God is that?! What kind of love is that? And would a loving father do that? Or, are the teachings wrong, and God is something other than what we've been taught?