SERIES: “ANSWERS FOR SOME OF LIFE’S DIFFICULT QUESTIONS”
TEXT: VARIOUS
TITLE: “WHERE IS GOD WHEN I HURT?”
INTRODUCTION: A. We started a new series last Sunday with the introductory message “Difficult
Questions”
1. The series is called “Answers for Some of Life’s Difficult Questions”
--We’re going to tackle some of the tough questions that bother people about God
and about Christianity
2. Here are the questions we’ll be looking at:
a. How can there be a powerful and loving God if there is so much pain and so
much evil in the world?
b. I’ve never seen a miracle I can prove. And science is explaining so much we
once thought miraculous. Can we really believe the miracles of the Bible?
c. How could the God of the Bible be worthy of worship if he is responsible for
the death of innocent children?
d. Isn’t it offensive and arrogant to claim that Jesus is the only way to God?
e. How could a loving God create a place called Hell?
f. Christians have been responsible for so much violence and oppression and evil
in the name of God. Doesn’t our failure to reflect the character of God call into
question our ability to proclaim the truth of God?
g. Can I really be a Christian when I keep having so many questions and doubts?
3. Those are difficult questions.
a. They’re worth pondering.
b. I hope you’ll bring a friend
B. The question we are going to reflect on this morning: If God is so good, and God is
so powerful, and God is so loving, and God is so just - if there is really a God - why is
there so much pain and suffering and evil in this world?
1. Sometimes, this question is even more difficult for Christians
a. If God is so good and so powerful and so loving and just, why do his own
people, why do Christians suffer so much pain and evil in this world?
b. If God won’t take care of those who rebel against Him, why won’t he at least take
care of those who serve Him?
2. The fact is, there’s probably no question about God that has vexed people more than
this one.
a. Epicurus: “Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not
want to; or he cannot and does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is
impotent. If he can, and does not want to, he is wicked. But, if God both can
and wants to abolish evil, how comes evil in the world?”
b. John R. W. Stott: “The fact of suffering undoubtedly constitutes the single
greatest challenge to the Christian faith, and has been in every generation. Its
distribution and degree appear to be entirely random and therefore unfair.
Sensitive spirits ask if it can possible be reconciled with God’s justice and love.”
3. Lee Strobel, The Case for Faith: “Christians believe in five things…First, God
exists. Second, God is all-good. Third, God is all-powerful. Fourth, God is all-
wise. And fifth, evil exists.”
--He then asks, “Now, now can all of those statements be true at the same time?”
4. I’m not going to pretend that I know all the answers and can solve this puzzle for
you in the next few minutes
--I simply want to offer a few suggestions that might be worth considering
I. THE PROVOCATION OF SUFFERING
--What’s the cause of suffering? The Bible doesn’t give any simple answers to the question at hand but it
does identify several things that cause suffering:
A. Sometimes in the Bible God uses suffering as discipline or warning
1. Both the Old and New Testament teach about God’s use of discipline and warning
a. Prov. 3:12 – “…the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.”
b. Rev. 3:19 – Jesus says, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.”
c. C.S. Lewis: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains.
It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
2. Does God enjoy watching us suffer”
--Lam. 3:33 – “For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.”
B. Sometimes in the Bible suffering is caused by Satan, or one of his demons.
1. Luke 13:11 tells us that Jesus healed a woman who had been “crippled by a spirit for eighteen years”
2. Satan brought a boatload of pain to Job
3. We see demons aggravating and possessing a host of people in the Bible.
C. Sometimes in the Bible people suffered because of sin.
--Sometimes they suffered because of their own sin. And sometimes they suffered because of someone
else’s sin.
1. The book of Proverbs is full of examples of the pain and suffering that come when we make bad
choices, when we choose against God’s way, when we sin.
2. If I lie, it will cause pain. If I cheat on Anna, there will be suffering - probably mine. When I am self-
centered, people get wounded
--When we sin, people get hurt.
D. Sometimes in the Bible folks suffered for no other reason than the fact that they lived in a world that is
broken, and often dangerous.
1. Jesus’ disciples saw a blind man in Jn 9.1-3 and they asked Jesus, “Who sinned that this guy was born
blind? Whose fault was it?” Jesus said, “No one sinned. It happened and God’s going to use it to bring
Himself glory.”
2. In Lk. 13:4, Jesus tells about a rock tower fell on some people in Jerusalem and eighteen people were
killed. Jesus said, “Do you think they were any more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem.”
a. Maybe the rocks of the tower simply became unstable, and gravity pulled them to the ground.
b. And maybe some folks just happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.
E. It’s a pretty much the same today as it was in Bible times
--There’s no simple answer as to why there’s so much pain and suffering in this world.
1. God may cause us to suffer
--But in every case in the Bible, it only happened after He specifically warned people and warned them
again and again to either change their ways or suffer the consequences
2. Satan still causes suffering
a. But not nearly as often as some Christians think
--Some Christians want to blame every flat tire, every trip to the doctor’s office and every sin on a
demon lurking nearby
b. There are still demons active and present among us, they’re still at war with God, and they do want
to trip us up or trap us in their snares
3. A lot of our pain is caused by one of two things:
a. First thing: Sometimes we make bad choices
--we sin and we suffer the consequences.
1). We smoke too much, and we suffer from all kinds of health problems.
2). We have illicit sex, and suffer physical and spiritual and relational consequences.
3). We eat too much and we exercise too little, and we end up with a body like mine.
4). If we refuse to live life God’s way, we will suffer consequences.
a). When that happens, it’s dumb to blame God for our pain.
b). I read about an actress whose lover had drowned in a boating accident. Apparently the
guy rolled off the yacht in a drunken stupor and drowned. The actress looked at the
camera, her face contorted with grief, and asked, “How could a loving God let this
happen?”
--I’d say alcohol and it’s effects had more to do with the man’s death than God did
c). Maybe you’ve heard that the family of the woman who fell out of the roller coaster at Holiday
World is suing the amusement park for wrongful death. However, the investigation shows that
she was famous for standing up while riding roller coasters. Her own negligence caused her
death.
b. Second thing: We suffer simply because we live in a world broken by sin and is dangerous to live
in
1). I know someone with a small skin cancer that needs to be removed
--That skin cancer didn’t come about because God sent it. It came about because he grew up in
California and spent a lot of time baking in the sun.
2). Cars can slide off a slippery road.
3). The economy can change and we can lose a job.
4). Our bodies can break down.
--They can be attacked by viruses and bacteria.
F . And God chooses not to protect us from all those dangers.
--Consider two important things:
1. If He protected just his children, pretty soon we would follow him for the wrong reason - to take care
of number one.
2. If He removed all the dangers of this world, we wouldn’t grow into all He created us to be.
--that leads us into
II. THE PURPOSE OF SUFFERING
A. Suffering keeps this world from becoming too attractive
1. The Bible tells us that we are “pilgrims” and “sojourners”
2. God has something much better prepared for us
3. If there were no suffering here, no one would want to leave this temporary world nor prepare
themselves for an eternal home
B. Suffering can make us more Christ-like
1. Rom. 5:3-5 – “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering
produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint
us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
2. James 1:2-4 – “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because
you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so
that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
C. Suffering can make us more appreciative of our blessings
1. We forget the blessings of God and take them for granted
2. We tend to focus on what’s wrong instead of what’s right
--such as good Christian friends or a loving family
D. Suffering makes us more dependent on God
1. Too often, we think of ourselves as “self-sufficient”
--But as Paul says in Acts 17:28 – “’For in him we live and move and have our being.’”
2. One Christian, going through great suffering said, “…when a dozen of the most skilled men in their
profession tell you they have done all they can and it is completely out of their hands, you suddenly
realize how much you depend on God.”
E. Suffering helps to purify us
--1 Peter 1:6-7 – “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer
grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which
perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and
honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
F. Suffering makes us better able to help others in their suffering
1. Rom. 12:15 says that we’re to “weep with those who weep”
2. 2 Cor. 1:3-5 – “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and
the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble
with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over
into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”
G. Suffering teaches us how to pray
1. Most of us are probably praying people
--we pray at the right time and for the right things
2. But it’s in the midst of suffering that we really learn how to pray
-- There’s an old story about three preachers having lunch in a roadside diner. When they finished
their meal, they started talking about prayer. The subject soon turned to the best position for prayer.
One of the preachers said that he thought the best position for prayer was kneeling, with head
bowed, eyes closed, and hands folded reverently in front of the body. Another preacher said that he
felt that the best position for prayer was laying prostrate on the belly on the ground. The third
preacher said that he felt the best position for prayer was standing with eyes looking toward heaven
and his arms outstretched to God.
An old farmer was seated in the next booth and was listening in to the preachers’ conversation.
He said, “I hate to interrupt three preachers in the middle of such an important conversation but I
have to say the best position I ever found for prayer was one day when I fell down the well. My leg
got hung up in the rope and I did some awful earnest praying hanging upside down in that well.”
3. One Christian man, whose wife was in a terrible car accident and fought a long, hard battle with life
and death said, “I’ve been a praying man since I became a Christian. But never like this. I have
learned more about prayer in the past six weeks than in the previous twenty years. My prayers will be
different for the rest of my life.”
III. THE POWER IN SUFFERING
--How do I find the strength to keep going in the middle of suffering?
A. Know that God sees and hears your suffering and is concerned
--Ex. 3:7 – “The LORD said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them
crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.’”
B. Know that the only real power for facing suffering and evil is to trust that we can make it through the
power of God
1. Phil. 4:12-13 – “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned
the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in
plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
2. 2 Cor. 12:7-10 – “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great
revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times
I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my
weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in
weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am
strong.”
3. What we suffer here will seem light when we receive our eternal inheritance in heaven
--Rom. 8:16-18 – “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we
are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his
sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. For I consider that our present sufferings
are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
CONCLUSION: A. On February 15, 1947 Glenn Chambers boarded a plane bound for Quito, Ecuador
to begin his ministry in missionary broadcasting. But he never arrived. In one horrible
moment, the plane carrying Chambers crashed into a mountain peak and spiraled
downward.
It was learned later that before leaving the Miami airport, Chambers wanted to
write his mother a letter. The only thing he could find to use as stationary was a page of
advertising inscribed with one word: “WHY?”
The letter arrived after his mother learned about her son’s death. She opened the
envelope, took out the paper, and unfolded it. Staring her in the face was the question:
“WHY?”
1. Don’t you think that was the question Jesus’ followers asked when He was arrested,
tried, and crucified?
2. We all want to know the whys and the wherefores but we can be assured that even if
we never understand why, God is with us and He is making “all things work together
for good for those who love him and are called according to His purpose.
B. Why did God set up a world like this at all?
1. Why couldn’t he have made a world that is less dangerous?
2. What if God made a world in which there was no suffering, no pain, at all.
--No violence, no disease or illness, no evil intentions?
3. What if God had created a world in which no one could be injured by accident?
--No drunk drivers, no tornadoes, earthquakes, or hurricanes?
4. The only way to make a world without pain would be to make a world without
freedom.
C. John R. W. Stott: “I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross… In
the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have
entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before
the statue of Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, his face detached from
the agonies of the world. But each time after while I have had to turn away. And in
imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross,
nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-
pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness.
That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of
flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more
manageable in light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but
over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross which symbolizes divine suffering. The
cross of Christ … is God’s only self-justification in such a world as ours.”
