Biblical Answers to Life’s Tough Questions: Why Does a Loving God Allow Suffering?
Romans 8:22
1 Peter 5:10
How many of you have ask this very question before? I know that I have. I have questioned why an omnipotent God doesn’t stop certain events from happening. We realize and have faith that God can do all things; can stop all things; can cause all things; so why doesn’t he stop certain events from occurring that result in such suffering?
While I realize this is an incredibly difficult question to tackle, I hope this morning to do my best to help you understand some things that may answer this question, if even slightly, for you.
Before we get into answering this question, I want to remind you what the apostle Paul said in regards to suffering. “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 9For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” (Romans 8:18-21)
We need to reflect upon these verses each time we experience suffering in this world. Regardless of what type of suffering we experience in this lifetime, it is incomparable to the absolute joy and perfection we will experience in Heaven.
Paul writing a little later in Romans 8 tells us this: 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
In other words, the good that God is working all things together for is the conforming of you and me to the image of His Son. And if Jesus was made our perfect high priest by His continued obedience through suffering (Heb. 5:8–9), shouldn’t we expect to also suffer?
In the midst of suffering, we cry out for God to deliver us, when what He may want to do is transform us. He doesn’t merely want to move us out of our suffering; He wants to change us through it. This is a hard truth.
God, in His infinite wisdom, works all things—painful things, difficult things, heart-breaking things, terminal things, and excruciating things—together for good, so that we will be more Christlike.
If the goal is your immediate comfort and your temporary happiness, then God has failed. But that’s not the goal. God is more concerned about your holiness than your happiness. His goal is your eternal character, not your immediate comfort.
So, why does God allow suffering?
The short answer for this is that God allows suffering because it is a byproduct of sin. Sin happens because God gave us free will, even though he opposes sin and helps us overcome it when we are willing. God gave us free will because he loves us. And although suffering is not a good thing in and of itself, God can and does use suffering for the good of those who love him.
It might seem arrogant to attempt an answer to this huge question. The question is often asked more out of agony than curiosity. But a lot of people ask the question, and unfortunately some of the answers given in reply just make things worse. As I attempt to offer an answer, I’d like to offer an important caveat: I can’t attempt to answer why you are facing the particular waves of suffering that are slamming into you. The Bible does give us some indicators as to why we face capital-letter Suffering.
To say that suffering is caused by sin seems to be just about the most calloused answer possible when somebody is suffering.
The Bible never said that Person A’s suffering always traces back to Person A’s sins. Of course, sometimes it’s because of my sin (e.g. I rob a bank and go to jail). But other times, it’s because of someone else’s sin (e.g. Someone cheats me out of my money). Very often it goes back to the first sin.
And the Lord God commanded the man, “16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen. 2:16-17)
Paul reminds us that, as a result of this very first sin, we all inherit a sin nature. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” (Romans 5:12)
We’ve inherited and contributed to a very fallen world. From Adam and Eve onwards, we find ourselves feeling…
Embarrassed by ourselves (Gen. 3:7)
Threatened by God (Gen. 3:8)
Attacked by each other (Gen. 3:12)
Frustrated by nature (Gen. 3:16-19)
Again, at some level, it traces back to sin.
Why sin? Because of free will.
Sin is made possible because God gave humans the ability to decide whether we would make good or evil decisions. He gave us commands instead of just programming our instincts, and part of our humanity is that God gave us the decision to follow these commands or not. Jesus respected our use of freedom even as he grieved people’s misuse of it:
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matt. 23:37)
Why free will? Because of love.
So, why in the world did God give us free will? Didn’t he value our obedience, our submission to his will? Didn’t he want everything to go well? Yes, but as we read through the Bible, we learn that he apparently valued something even more than he valued our conformity to his will. Like what? What could possibly be more valuable than our doing what he says and everything going as it’s supposed to?
Let’s consider parenting for a moment. Parents want all sorts of things for their kids: good character, intelligence, good friendships, safety, material well-being, etc. But what do parents want most from their kids? Obedience? Of course, parents want obedience, but is that what good parents want most—obedience through gritted teeth? No, good parents want something much deeper and more beautiful than mere obedience. What is it?
Good parents desire a lot for their kids, but what do they most desire from their kids? It’s love. They want to be loved, because they want real relationship.
So, back to God. Why free will? It’s because he wants our love, and love can’t be forced. God can’t force us to love him, because forced love isn’t real love. Love has to be free. So, again, why free will? It’s because God wants our love.
Why love?
Why do parents desire for their kids to love them? Again, parents want all sorts of things for their kids, but from their kids, they want to be loved. Why?
It’s simple. It’s because when you love somebody, you naturally desire to be loved back. You can’t help it. It’s the way love works. Parents love their kids, and so it’s the greatest feeling on earth to be loved back.
So, why does God want us to love him? It’s because he loves us. And when you love somebody, you naturally desire to be loved back. As surprising as it may be, God really does desire a real relationship with us.
Here’s another way to put it: What does God want from us? It’s to love God. And what does God want for us? Well, since God is good, he wants what’s best for us, and so what is best for us? Again, it’s to love God. For it’s in relationship with God that everything gets put back together: It’s in this relationship of love that I start receiving grace. I start loving people. I start living purposefully. I start welcoming truth. What God wants from us and for us is the same: to love God.
Why love? At root, it’s because, as I John 4:16 tells us, “God is love.” According to God, love is the most important thing (29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.Mark 12:29-31), and it’s worth the risks of freedom.
III. Why does God allow suffering? Because good comes from it
Suffering is never fun, but it can be a good thing for us, especially for those who love God and are willing to be conformed to Christlikeness (28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Rom. 8:28-30).
Far from being something that should slice away at our hold on God, suffering is something that ought to strengthen our grip and convince us that he is trustworthy, even when life scams us. Here are 5 reasons why suffering points us to God.
1. If we never suffered, we would never hate evil. Without suffering, people could do as much evil as they wanted, but would never suffer the consequences. No one would ever see the ugliness of evil, so no one would ever actually hate evil.
2. If we never suffered, we would never appreciate goodness. Without suffering, everything good that happened to us, we would just expect. We would never thank God for the blessings he gives us because we would figure that’s just the way it’s supposed to be. Gratitude, a fuel for so much virtue, would have trouble taking root within us.
3. If we never suffered, we would never need God. We would never feel the need to have God in our lives. We would never need to look up and seek him, to get right with Him. We would remain blissfully but hopelessly lost.
4. If we never suffered, we would never hope for heaven. We would never hope for the day that God would come and rescue us. Rather, we would naturally hope to stay on earth, content with an empty and self-absorbed “life.”
5. If we never suffered, we would never grow. How do you become a truly loving person? Not by being around people who are always lovable. Similarly, you grow in courage only through having to face fear. You grow in patience only through being in frustrating situations. You grow in joy through going through tough circumstances. You grow in self-control through being tempted. You grow in peace when you’ve had your world go crazy. You grow in grace through experiencing brokenness.
Most people play the movie up to the pain and then say, “Must be a bad thing.” Christians, however, play the movie past the pain. How will God use this suffering for my good and for his glory? We also remember that it is only temporary.
“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” - 1 Peter 5:10
