This is a question that when posed leaves many Christians shrugging their shoulders in bewilderment and non-believers feeling justified in their skepticism of Christianity. It has been used as a crutch of atheists for centuries in order to discredit Christianity or at the very least nullify several of its basic tenants. But the fact remains: suffering is a real part of man’s existence on Earth and so far God has not decided to end suffering in its entirety. So why would God, who is all-powerful and who (according to I John 4:8) is the very definition of love, not put an end to suffering? Does he not care? Or is he simply not powerful enough to end suffering? This seems to be a contradiction that many wrestle with but can not reconcile.
Perhaps you have come up with this question on your own or maybe someone else has posed it to you in an attempt to derail your Christianity. Either way, the question is both harsh and legitimate at the same time. As such, it deserves an answer. Allow me in my attempt to answer this question to qualify everything that I write here by saying that I do not purport to know everything about why bad things happen, nor am I attempting to explain away senseless tragedies with a few mere keystrokes on my computer. I am simply trying to explain my overall layman’s view of suffering and put it in its proper perspective.
With that said, in order to answer this question with any kind of certainty and finality, we must first wrap our minds around a couple of key concepts.
Why is there suffering?
Before we can honestly attempt to answer why God allows suffering, we must first understand why there is so much suffering in the world to begin with. But before I get into the real reason of why suffering exists, I want to lay to rest a couple of myths about the origins of suffering.
Myth #1: God gives us suffering in order to show his glory and exalt himself in the eyes of man. This is a religious statement that is just simply untrue. I believe it is a lie from Satan himself that he uses to trick Christians in believing that God has given them their suffering and to begin putting doubts into their heads about their loyalty to God. Listen – God does not cause suffering. He is a loving God who cares for his children and he does not throw obstacles in our paths just to make us stumble. I can find no instance in the Bible where Jesus caused someone to be sick just so that He could heal them and show everyone that He was God’s son. No – instead He traveled far and wide fixing the problems that Satan had created in the first place. I mean let’s think about this for a minute – Does God really need to cause us problems and then fix them just to show us His glory? When compared to the creation of the entire universe, I think that fixing our problems would be a relatively minor demonstration of His glory. This myth also requires a dim view of God as an egotistical sadist who uses Christians for some great object lesson of His power. I can tell you right now that I would never throw one of my children in front of a speeding bus just so that I could show everyone how fast I could pull them out of the way. Likewise, God does not cause us suffering just so He can show us His power. He helps us in our time of need because He loves us as His children, pure and simple. The God I know would never use me merely as an object lesson for someone else. I believe He respects me more than that.
Myth #2: Suffering exists for my own good so that God can teach me some great lesson. I know that this is a popular rationalization among Christians, but really – Are you kidding me?!! This too is a religious statement that is completely untrue. Did any of us have a teacher who hit us on the head with a baseball bat until we learned to do math? I doubt it. God gave us the capability of learning through communication with Him – whether it be through the Word, prayer, or the church body. Suffering does not present the ideal situation for learning. Can good things come out of bad situations? Absolutely they can. But that is not the reason we experience suffering. What is true is that my God is big enough that He can take any attack Satan wants to unleash upon me and somehow turn it into something good. The Bible says:
Romans 8:28 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (NIV)
We must be careful not to equate this verse with the thought that all things were meant to come our way to teach us a lesson. Rather this verse is a witness to the all-powerful nature of God and his willingness to help us overcome any situation that comes our way.
Now that we have dispelled these two myths about why suffering exists, let us look now at the true origins of suffering. The true source of all the human suffering today, and indeed of the past and future, has its roots in our own beginnings. At the time of creation, God made a perfect world and placed man in it as its caretaker. Unfortunately, man listened to the half-truths of Satan and chose to rebel against God. As a result of our choice, we opened the door for evil to enter God’s perfect creation and suffering followed. Satan has used this open door to spread his plague of suffering ever since. It was man’s choice that allowed Satan to inflict suffering upon mankind.
Even today we can see examples of how our own choices bring about our own suffering. For example, those who choose to smoke, abuse drugs and alcohol, eat a poor diet, view pornography, drive recklessly, mismanage finances, or enter into bad relationships cause themselves and those who care for them to be exposed to a dark world of suffering.
But one does not need to make bad life choices in order for suffering to pay them a visit. Unfortunately, suffering also comes to the completely innocent. Famine, natural disasters, poverty, accidents, disease, war, and random acts of violence find the innocent in every corner of the world. In fact, we learn in I Peter 5:8 that Satan is an opportunist. It describes him as a roaring lion seeking anyone whom he can devour.
So whether suffering is invited into our lives by our own choices or whether suffering finds us completely innocent like a predator waiting in ambush for its prey, let us be completely clear about one thing – all suffering originates with Satan himself. The reason goes back to our beginning. Man allowed Satan to corrupt God’s perfect world and now we must live with the result – an imperfect world. This is a world where life is not fair, regardless of whether you are a believer or not. In fact, Jesus himself said in Matthew 5:45 that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. And He promised us in John 16:33 that we would have tribulations in this world. The old cliché that bad things happen to good people is just as valid as saying good things happen to bad people. Fairness is just not a part of the world that Satan has corrupted for us. So suffering is the natural result
So why doesn’t God do something?
Now, back to the original question – why does God allow all of this to happen? Where is He? If God loves us and sees us as His children, why doesn’t He do something about all the suffering and injustice in the world?
My answer is simple – He HAS and IS doing something about it! From the very moment that man fell from His grace (the beginning of all suffering), He began to enact a plan that would bring man back into fellowship with Him. In order to lift us out of our suffering He developed the plan of salvation for all of those who would accept it. And He sacrificed His son to make it happen.
No one who knows and understands this can possibly say that God isn’t doing anything about suffering. He has done more than we can possibly realize. For the one who has accepted God’s plan of salvation, suffering may exist here in our imperfect world but it will be banished forever once Heaven is reached.
How do we know this? Revelation 7:17 speaks of God wiping away every tear from our eyes. And looking again in I Peter 5, this time verse 10, we learn that:
I Peter 5:10 – And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. (ESV)
However, for the unbeliever, the life after this one only holds more suffering – and on a scale that is unimaginable. So ultimately, the choice of whether or not we will continue in suffering is ours once again. Even though the original choice was not yours to make and even though Satan is a lion who may try to cause things to happen to you through no choice of your own – you can still choose to allow God to take away all of your suffering.
Conclusion
The problem for the believer is that too often we only see the moment in time that our lives currently exist in. Our challenge is this: In times of suffering and tribulation, we must step back and see our circumstances in their proper perspective. We must see suffering for what it is – a curse resulting from our own bad choices (whether they are our own or from man’s beginning). And we must remember that all of the suffering in our lives exists as one small point on the scale of eternity. But most important, we must remember that for the Christian, suffering is promised to be a temporary problem that will be taken away in the end. Let’s put the suffering in this world in its proper context – as the evil that God’s plan has already overcome. Remember John 16:33 from earlier in this writing? Jesus said:
John 16:33(b)- In the world you will have tribulation. (ESV)
I saved the latter part of that same verse for now – it says:
John 16:33(c) – But take heart; I have overcome the world. (ESV)
So the answer to the question “Why does God allow suffering?” is simple. He doesn’t allow it in the sense that He is responsible for suffering. It is man’s exercise of the free choice that He lovingly gave us that has allowed suffering to enter our world. Any statement blaming God for our suffering is at best ignorant of what He has already done for mankind, and at worst it is showing arrogance in the face of God. It is we who are to blame for our suffering. But God has given us one more chance to rid ourselves of the bad choices from our past. It is up to us to now make the right choice in accepting His grace.
© Gregory M. Watson, 2008 (see Copyright Page for details)
