WHY DOES GOD ALLOW SUFFERING?
By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.
© God’s Breath Publications
www.godsbreathpublications.com

 

We have all asked this ageless question. Usually we ask it when a loved one or we ourselves are going through an extraordinarily difficult time. We ask it because we want to know why bad things can happen to good people. We ask it because we want to understand what sort of purpose could be behind such discomfort, pain or trauma. We ask it because if God were good and loving, why would He allow such physical and emotional discomfort. It is a very, very good question!

 

Scripture answers this question not in a single verse, chapter or book of the Bible, but when taken as a whole and seen through eyes guided by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:14 15 tells us that, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” This is especially true when we look to scripture’s answer to this difficult question. Let’s look at scriptures answer to this most serious question. Why does God allow suffering?

 

When we attempt to understand the reasons and purposes that God allows suffering to exist we must realize that all of us live in a fallen world. When sin entered into the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve, not only was their relationship with God affected, but also their physical and spiritual condition as well as all of creation (Romans 8:19-21). Sin brought about the existence of death and suffering. All of us, good and bad, righteous and unrighteous, saved and unsaved live in a world plagued by the problem of sin. Matthew 5:45 tells us, “He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” While Christians are God’s children, they still live in a twisted world tainted by the effects of sin. Sickness, disease and suffering will very likely step into the path of a Christian as they live and serve their Savior. God allows this to happen for several purposes. Possibly if we explore the purposes God has for us experiencing suffering we may understand why He allows suffering.

 

God uses suffering and trials to develop perseverance in us. James 1:2 3 tells us bluntly, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” Nothing grabs our attention to the realities of life more than trauma and suffering. Faith tested and enduring through trials and sufferings rises from the level of simple profession to verified reality and substantially developed faith in God.

 

God uses suffering in our lives to manifest His faithfulness in developing maturity in us. James 1:4 continues, “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” When our faith is tested our weakness is overwhelming at times, but God grants us the strength we are lacking to remain steadfast. When we persevere in the most emotionally and physically draining of trials, we emerge strengthened in our faith in our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.

 

God demonstrates His faithfulness during our sufferings by establishing our view of Him as our loving and compassionate Father. Christ learned and practiced obedience when He suffered and died and we also learn obedience when we persevere through trials and testings (Hebrews 2:10, 5:8-9). Romans 8:17 states, “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.” The faith we demonstrate in the sufferings we experience give evidence to the fact that we are children of our God.

 

God proves the genuine nature of our faith when we endure sufferings and trials that He allows to take place in our lives. James chapter 2 discusses that faith without works is dead and useless. Satan and his demons have faith that there is one God, but they have no faith that God can work in their lives. Our faith is proven genuine when it is tested and we emerge still trusting in our majestic and loving Heavenly Father. The deeds that prove truth faith are those deeds often paid for with tears. When a loved one is stricken ill or dies, only true faith in God will endure to the end.

 

God also uses suffering to develop humility in us. Deuteronomy 8 speaks of how God used the wandering of Israel in the wilderness to teach them humility and test their faith. God may use similar means to allow us to grow in our understanding of humility. Sufferings in this life can knock the wind out of any heart full of pride or arrogant mind. When we are honest with ourselves often we find elements of pride winding their way through our lives. Trials and sufferings burn out pride and stimulate the growth of faith and trust in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Bowing before our Creator in humble prayer is the posture that fosters development of faith.

 

God sometimes finds it necessary to allow suffering to keep us on track in our spiritual life. Proverbs 3:11 12 tells us, “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” God is our Heavenly Father and may find it necessary to allow suffering to get us back on the right spiritual track. We all have wandered from His narrow path at times and many of us might admit that often suffering has knocked us back on course when it came into our lives. Hebrews 12:10 11 adds to this idea when it states, “God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” So suffering can develop our faith, allow us to share in God’s holiness and produce a harvest of righteousness if responded to with appropriated faith.

 

Suffering often gives us insight into the heart of God. When we experience suffering we learn something of the pain that Christ endured in the garden as He faced His death and endured great pain and suffering on the cross.

 

God uses suffering in our lives to enable us to help others in their trials as well. 2 Corinthians 1:3 4 speaks of this when it says, “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.” God will comfort us and give us strength in our sufferings so that when similar sufferings are experienced by those around us we can give comfort to them. God can use us greatly in the lives of those around us when we can offer comfort and empathy that we ourselves have received from God in similar situations.

 

God uses suffering sometimes to reveal what we really love and care about. Suffering has a way of boiling away the useless and worthless thoughts and commitments we have entangling our hearts and minds. It causes us to crystallize our thoughts into the significant concerns we have about our life. When faith is expressed during these times it can shift our life in the direction of spiritual matters and to the Savior we should have always had the eyes of our heart on.

 

Finally, God uses suffering at times to demonstrate His glory. John 11:4 gives us an example of this when Jesus was confronted with the death of His friend Lazarus. Jesus demonstrated God’s glory when He raised Lazarus from the dead. God is glorified whenever our faith is strengthened by illness, pain, suffering and trials. Even when God does not heal an illness His glory can be manifested in the ways those affected handle the situation. Trusting God in times of suffering and even the loss of a loved one demonstrates the faith that God provides for those enduring such trials. This witness of faith is beheld not only by those of us present, but also by the spiritual beings who are in heaven and those we fight against on this earth. Holding fast to faith in God is the call of the servant of God.

 

How we respond to the sufferings of life is vitally important to our own faith, but also to those who lack faith. It is by demonstrating in the realities of life what true faith is that we can lead others to Christ. Pastor Alistair Begg has said of Christians, “If we don’t know how to suffer then how will anyone know how to suffer. If we don’t know how to face pain, how will the godless know how to face pain? If we cannot, in light of the realities of eternity face the issue head on, then what are our friends and neighbors going to do? Christianity is not about how to escape from the difficulties of life, but how to face the difficulties of life.”

 

God has given us several resources that enable us to better cope with the deep sufferings of life. He has given us His Word, the Bible, to let us know how to live. He had given us the prospect of heaven so we can have hope of our heavenly dwelling where suffering will be no more. He has given us His precious Son, Jesus Christ so we can trust in Him as we endure our pains. He has given us His sensitive comforter, the Holy Spirit, so we can be made new and view our lives as a furnace where our faith is purified for the glory of God. And, He has given us Christian friends who can pray with us, love us, encourage us and cry with us.

 

2 Corinthians 5:1 10
“For we know that when this tent we live in now is taken down when we die and leave these bodies we will have wonderful new bodies in heaven, homes that will be ours forevermore, made for us by God himself and not by human hands. How weary we grow of our present bodies. That is why we look forward eagerly to the day when we shall have heavenly bodies that we shall put on like new clothes. For we shall not be merely spirits without bodies. These earthly bodies make us groan and sigh, but we wouldn’t like to think of dying and having no bodies at all. We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will, as it were, be swallowed up by everlasting life. This is what God has prepared for us, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. Now we look forward with confidence to our heavenly bodies, realizing that every moment we spend in these earthly bodies is time spent away from our eternal home in heaven with Jesus. We know these things are true by believing, not by seeing. And we are not afraid but are quite content to die, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So our aim is to please him always in everything we do, whether we are here in this body or away from this body and with him in heaven. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged and have our lives laid bare before him. Each of us will receive whatever he deserves for the good or bad things he has done in his earthly body.”