Growing up, one of the most difficult questions someone ever asked me was “Why do bad things happen to good people?” And honestly, I was stunned. I didn’t know how to respond. I knew God was good, but a million other questions filled my mind:
-Why does God allow suffering?
-If God can heal, why doesn’t He?
-Why does being a Christian allow pain?
-What is the purpose of evil and injustice?
No matter what type of pain you’re experiencing, I think we can all agree it isn’t pleasant or fun. And if God is good, then why are we hurting? But we aren’t the only ones or the first ones to ask these types of questions. While suffering often causes us to question God’s presence, let’s look at what Scripture says about it.
Suffering Was Never God's Original Design
First, suffering was never God’s original design. If we look at the creation account in Genesis 1-3, we see that God created the Heavens and the Earth. He created man and woman. He created the skies above and the waters below. It was good. Perfect. In harmony.
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31, NIV).
But because God gave His people (us) free will, sin quickly entered the picture. We wanted to be all-knowing. Not just to be like God, but to be God Himself. In charge of our lives.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’” (Genesis 3:1, NIV)?
Did you notice how quickly Satan made Eve question her God? How quickly she exchanged truth for a lie? For temporary satisfaction and the sweetness of a fruit not yet ready?
Today, you and I live in the aftermath of the fall. This world isn’t as God, or as we intended. Sadly, brokenness affects everyone. But there’s a huge difference between God causing suffering and God allowing suffering.
Leading evangelist Billy Graham answered the question this way:
“The Bible teaches that Satan is the author of sin. Sin is the reason that we have afflictions, including death. All of our problems and our suffering, including death itself, are a result of man’s rebellion against God. But God has provided a rescue in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. That’s why Christ died on the cross. That’s why He rose from the dead.”
God Often Uses Suffering to Shape Us
Because suffering was never part of God’s original design, it can be confusing to understand why He allows it anyway.
Author Paul Tripp furthers Graham’s point by noting that while the Bible is honest about the fallen state of our world, none of us can escape suffering. “The Apostle Paul, in Romans 8, tells us that between the ‘already’ of our birth and the ‘not yet’ of our homegoing, God has chosen our address to be a world that is groaning, waiting for redemption. So, the Apostle Paul speaks of suffering as a universal human experience. And that means if you're not suffering now, you will someday; and if you're not suffering now, you're near someone who is.”
According to Tripp, we do suffer because we live in a fallen world, but also because suffering can lead to sanctification, even if God didn’t cause it. This is the premise of Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (NIV). It’s not an easy answer, but it’s why we’re often qualified and prepared to minister to those who are suffering. If we believe in Jesus, we will eventually suffer in some way for Him.
“For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:5-7, NIV).
No one enjoys suffering, but through it we grow. Transformation of the pain. A sudden closeness to our Creator.
Suffering Can Draw Us Closer to God
In Psalm 34:18, we read these powerful words: The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (NIV). Jesus suffered, and so too will we. But suffering can draw us closer to the Lord if we allow it to. And instead of turning away from Him, we learn to turn towards. This is the difference between self-sufficiency and dependence.
In the article, “Closeness Comes Through Fire: How Suffering Conforms Us to Christ,” by Counselor Ed Welch, many stories of suffering exist in the Scripture. We say “Lord, help,” and He delivers us even if that deliverance looks different from what we anticipated. But perhaps the most profound knowledge is that “in Jesus, you find a kindred spirit who knows your experience through his own.” Suffering sanctities because it brings us closer to God, even when it hurts.
Remember, Jesus was pierced for our transgressions. But He went through all of this because of His love for you. To be close to you. To save you. To be present in your pain because He knew what it was like to live through His own.
Jesus Understands Our Suffering
More than any other human on earth, Jesus understands suffering. In fact, it was the reason He was born; to die for our sins and the sins of the world. Isaiah 53 says it this way:
“He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by humankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:1-6, NIV).
This is why Hebrews 4:15-16 describes Him as a high priest who can empathize with our weaknesses. Because Jesus suffered and died on our behalf, he did so that we would never have to suffer alone. He did so, so that we could have hope beyond the pain.
While I wish I could tell you that believing in Jesus would take every ounce of your suffering away, I can’t. But what I can tell you is that God promises to redeem every hurt. We can validate the pain here and now, while also maintaining an eternal perspective on that which is to come.
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed” (Revelation 21:4, NIV).
Photo credit: Unsplash/JudeBeck
