Why Suffering? Series

Introduction

We’re in a series called “The Big Questions of Faith,” and today we face one of the hardest:

• Why is there suffering?

• Why would a loving and merciful God allow it?

This isn’t just a question for theologians - it’s a question for all of us.

Whether you’ve

o lost someone you love,

o faced illness, or just

o watched the news,

suffering is real and close to home.

And as followers of Jesus, we not only want answers for ourselves, but so we can walk with others who are hurting.

Let’s be honest: there are no easy answers.

But God does not leave us without hope, comfort, or purpose in our pain.

1. Suffering Is Not a Sign That God Doesn’t Love Us

One of the most common — and painful — misconceptions about suffering is that it must mean God has turned His back on us.

We might think, “If God really loved me, He’d protect me from all harm.”

Or worse, “Maybe I’m suffering because God is punishing me.”

But the Bible tells a very different and far more hopeful story.

From Genesis to Revelation, the people most deeply loved and used by God often endured intense suffering.

Their pain was not a sign of God’s absence, but often the very context in which God worked most powerfully.

Think of Joseph —

• betrayed by his own brothers,

• sold into slavery,

• falsely accused, and

• imprisoned.

Yet God was with him in every dark moment, and in time, used his suffering to save many lives.

And David, anointed by God as king, yet hunted like a criminal by Saul for years, hiding in caves, clinging to God in desperation.

Think of Job, who lost his children, his health, and everything he owned. His friends said that that he must have done something bad for God to me mad at him.

— yet he remained faithful, even in his confusion and grief.

And above all, think of Jesus — God’s own Son.

Fully loved by the Father. Sinless.

Yet He willingly walked the path of suffering and death.

He did not come to avoid pain, but to enter into it — for us.

Isaiah foretold that the Messiah would be “a man of suffering, familiar with pain” and called Him “The Suffering Servant.”

From a biblical perspective, we must reject the idea that if God loves us, He will never let us suffer.

That assumption simply doesn’t hold up.

Many of the Bible’s greatest stories — and greatest truths — are forged in the fire of suffering.

So if you are suffering, it does not mean God has abandoned you.

It certainly doesn’t mean He loves you any less.

God’s love is not proven by a pain-free life.

It is proven by two profound truths:

• His presence with us in our pain — He does not leave us to suffer alone.

• His willingness to suffer for us — on the cross, Jesus bore our sin, our sorrow, our grief. That is love.

When you suffer, remember:

God is not far off.

He is the God who steps into our pain, walks with us through it, and one day will wipe away every tear.

2. God Gives Us Freedom.

One of the foundational truths of the Bible — and of being human — is that God created us with free will.

He didn’t make us as robots or puppets, forced to obey Him or love Him.

Instead, like a loving and wise parent, God gave us the ability to choose —

to choose love, goodness, trust, and relationship.

That freedom is a gift.

It’s what makes real love possible.

Because love that is forced isn’t love at all.

For love to be genuine, it has to be freely given and freely received.

That’s how God loves us —

and that’s how He invites us to love Him and others.

But here's the hard truth: real freedom also includes the possibility of choosing the opposite —

choosing selfishness, pride, cruelty, and rebellion.

Much of the suffering in our world comes from those kinds of choices.

Sometimes it’s the hurt we cause ourselves.

Other times (often) it’s the pain we experience because of the actions of others.

God does not desire this suffering — it grieves Him deeply.

But He allows it because He allows us to be truly free.

As one writer puts it, “God allows people the freedom to choose for or against Him and others, which is necessary for the full experience of love, joy, and goodness.”

We may wish God would step in and stop all evil — but to do that, He would have to take away our freedom.

And if He removed our freedom, He would also remove our ability to truly love.