If there is a God, Why is there suffering in the world?

All of us or majority of us struggle with this question. Sometimes we think we are good citizen or good person. We also help those who are in need. We believe in God. We go to church every Sunday. But deep inside we ask ourselves and sometimes we asked God, Why God allowed the bad things happen to good people? For some they think God abandoned us.

The bible said about suffering………….

Luke 13:10-16 – Satan or at least a spirit was the direct cause of this woman’s infirmity, a condition that had crippled her for eighteen years.

Job 2:4-7 – Job offers a combination of the two causes: Satan inflicts the pain, but only after obtaining God’s permission.

Proverbs 26:27 – This verse typical of proverbs, stresses the natural consequences of a person’s action: follow an evil pattern and you will one day suffer because of it.
God is powerful, all knowing why He allowed it?

- There is a PURPOSE in suffering

Suffering make us look upward. CS Lewis said “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.”

Ecclesiastes 7:14 - When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.

No one can change what God has ordained. So when evil comes accept the fact that man’s limited perspective does not permit to see how it fits into the totality of things. This is the reason why Job didn’t blame God (job 1:21)

Gen 50:20 – you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

It doesn’t mean that Evil is somehow good. Rather it meant that even in suffering, God is at work to bring about his good purpose in our lives. Actually even physical pain can be good things. Think about what would happen if we lost our pain senses tomorrow. We will be able to step on a nail, burn and we never know it.

- Suffering maybe the consequence of our own action

Pr 19:15 Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless man goes hungry

Wrong choice in life is the result of our suffering. It leads to painful consequences.
The life of Jesus is the good example of suffering. Jesus walked this earth and suffered just like us.

1. He knew what it was like to be hungry ( Matt 4:2)
Mat 4:2 “After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”

2. He did not have a home or possessions (Luke 9:58)
Luke 9:58 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

3. He was ridiculed by other (matt 27:29)
Matt 27:29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said.

4. He wept when someone he loved died (John 11:35)
John 11:35 Jesus wept

5. He was betrayed by two close friends (Luke 22:47, 61)
Luke 22:47 While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him,
Luke 22:61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times."

6. He was beaten and suffered pain (John 19:1-2)
John 19:1-2 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe

7. He experienced injustice when he was put to death even thought he was innocent (2 Cor. 5:21)
2 cor 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God

Jesus understands our pain and suffering. This is good but what we need is a solution. The solution is Jesus Himself

1. Jesus overcome evil in this world ( john 16:33)
2. Jesus overcame sin, disease, and death when he arose from the grave. (luke 24:6-7)
3. He offer to us that same overcoming power of the resurrection with which we can live our live (eph 1:18-20)

Yes, God allowed suffering and pain, but at the end of the day God himself as the answer.
There is suffering in this world because we have freewill. God set up human beings and human society to operate according to fixed principles. Like honesty, truthfulness, and compassion that would yield to good results. Unfortunately we choose the opposite, like lying, cheating, and greed, which is the cause of our suffering.


Book references:

1. Where is God when it hurts, Yancey
2. Bring your faith to work, Norman Geisler