mommamia – I believe that sometimes the suffering, when it lasts for decades, is not a test but rather a tikun. Where a neshama had to live out a life without making the mistakes over again and begged Hashem to put him/her in a life where they wouldn’t have the same temptations. For example, a friend of mine had a daughter who had no use of her limbs, a mekubel told her that that neshama wanted to make sure she didn’t use her limbs for bad, as she had in her previous life, and preferred a life where she was assured success. Maybe someone was gluttonous, or promiscuous or wasteful and the neshama begged Hashem to place them in a life that “guarenteed” success. I was taught that we are all shown our lives before we come here and we agree to them as is. I take comfort in that. To me it means that not only Hahsem knows the reason for my pain, but that my neshama knows as well. (Sorry if this was way too much of an answer)
