Why Does God Allow Suffering?
- Summary: The question has been asked for thousands of years: “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Committed believers have wondered why Christians experience suffering. Thankfully, the Bible does shed some light on this ages-old question of human suffering.
John 16:33
- • Jesus shared with His followers two important insights: (1) we will have trouble in this world. But (2) in the midst of this trouble we can have peace, because Jesus has overcome the world.
- • It is a naive and erroneous belief to think that when we come to Jesus in faith as our Savior, all our troubles are over. Far from it! To the contrary, the apostle Paul reminds us that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Timothy 3:12).
- • It is part of life in this fallen world to experience “trouble [NIV] … tribulation [KJV] … tribulation and trials and distress and frustration [Amplified] … suffering [NET] … affliction [LEB] … trials and sorrows [TLB] … difficulties [MSG] … persecution [NRSV] … oppression [WEB]” (vs. 33).
- • The key for us as believers is to see this through Jesus’ eyes. He promises us that, since He “has overcome the world,” we may find peace in Him, come what may in our lives.
- • God’s creation, including Adam and Eve, was perfect, “very good” [1:31], at the beginning. Then Genesis 3 records the fall of Adam and Eve into sin through their disobedience of God’s command.
- • God had given them free will: “…you are free to eat … but you must not eat” from that one tree that God had placed off limits. Sad to say, they wrongly exercised their free will and chose the path of sinful disobedience.
- • The result was catastrophic [2:17] for Adam and Eve and for all the human race since then. Sin and death had now entered the world of mankind, along with the sickness and suffering and many other troubles associated with that fall.
- • It is vitally important that we establish this point strongly — that is, that the entrance of evil, suffering, and death entered into the lives of human beings because of the sinful disobedience of human beings, not because God desired these things to happen. God had laid out the proper boundaries for man, but man (Adam and Eve) violated these and brought all the subsequent evil and suffering into the world. In sum, the presence and problem of evil in our world are man’s fault, not God’s!
- • Only a few more chapters into Genesis, we see the tragic result of the sin in Eden. Now the human race had become wicked and “only evil all the time.” Sadly, human sin had taken its toll.
- • So the primary reason that humans, including Christian believers, suffer is the disastrous effects of sin — not just that of Adam and Eve, but our sins as well.
- • However, in specific instances, as we will see below, there are sometimes other explanations for human suffering, and some of those are for positive purposes.
- • Jesus and His disciples came upon a blind man. The disciples asked whose sin had been responsible for his blindness. Now we know that sickness and death were in the world since the sin of our original parents, Adam and Eve. But in this case Jesus said that God had a special, positive purpose in mind. Jesus went on to heal the blind man and thereby to bring glory to God.
- • Be careful to discern something here. It was not the blindness that would bring glory to God, but the healing! So sometimes our sufferings of one sort or another can be opportunities for God to move mightily and to bring great glory to Himself.
- • Sometimes sufferings, trials, testings can be used by God to help us to persevere in our faith. Yes, evil entered the human race through sin. But God can take bad situations and turn them to good for the believer (Romans 8:28). And we can grow in our Christian maturity through these trials, not necessarily by escaping them. A right response to suffering produces endurance, James tells us.
- • There is rich truth here. Yes, we will have some “fiery ordeals” and testings. But remember, this is not unique to you. Rather, believers all over the world are “undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
- • Remember also that Jesus suffered greatly, and it is our privilege likewise to endure some hardships, some persecutions, even violence against us for Jesus’ name. We can “rejoice … as [we] participate in the sufferings of Christ.”
- • The upside of this is that suffering experienced with faith and victory can restore us and make us strong, firm, and steadfast (vs. 10).
- • The record of the early Church shows that it was strengthened and grew, even in the midst of persecutions and martyrdom. You can grow in hard times. They don’t have to defeat you.
- • Two thoughts: (1) suffering can at times be “according to God’s will” and (2) can lead us to a greater commitment to the Lord and a closer walk with Him.
- • Discipline! Chastening! Nobody likes these things. And yet they can be beneficial. For example, a loving human father chastens and disciplines his children in order to shape their character for good.
- • It is even more so with God. He “disciplines us for our good”! Are you perfect yet? Of course not; neither am I. So we need God’s hand of discipline on us. For what? “For our good!” God desires to shape us into greater holiness (vs. 10). If we submit to and are trained by God’s corrective chastening, it will produce in us a “harvest of peace and righteousness.” Submission to disciplinary suffering builds character.
- • Do you know a brother or sister who is suffering? Then the appropriate response may be to pray for them and seek to see them released from that (seemingly undeserved) suffering. But! … it is possible that the suffering may actually be God disciplining and chastening them for their good, perhaps to help them overcome some sinful habit or some other situation that God is intending to purge from their lives. So there is not just a one-size-fits-all approach to our own hardships or those of other people. Prayerfully seek God to see how and what He is working in each situation.
- • Disclaimer: I am not suggesting that God disciplines or chastens His children by making them sick. To the contrary, Jesus consistently healed the sick in the four Gospels. Promises of healing to God's faithful are found throughout the Scriptures.
- • Should we pray for deliverance from the trouble? Perhaps. But more importantly, pray to get a sense of God’s intentions for each situation.
- • Let’s create a hypothetical scenario. Let’s say that a Christian brother feels led to start a small business and does so. Then the business begins to struggle and he experiences much suffering and distress. There could be any one or several reasons for his struggles. For example:
- • It could be God chastening him for sin. Perhaps he is cheating on his business’s taxes.
- • Or it could, on the positive side, be God working and developing in him a greater dependence on the Lord.
- • Perhaps it is God leading him into more fervent prayer.
- • Maybe God is using this to strengthen the business owner’s walk of faith.
- • God could be simply (via one of more of the above) drawing the man closer to Him.
- • Or it could be just as simple as the man practicing inefficient business practices!
- • Try to view distress and suffering from an eternal perspective. Our earthly troubles are “light and momentary.” Our coming through them with victory leads to an “eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
- • So what should be do? “Do not lose heart” (vs. 16) … keep a heavenly, not an earthly, perspective (17) … fix your eyes (18) on the things that truly matter: God the Father, Jesus His Son, and the eternal promises of God. This life is short; eternity with our Lord is forever.
- • We may not know all the answers to suffering. I certainly don’t. We cannot always see a clear answer to the ages-old question, "Why does God allow suffering?" We can’t always explain each instance of trials and distress as we would like to. But remember (vs. 28) that God can bring good even out of bad circumstances.
- • In “all these things” God makes us “more than conquerors.” Victors over hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, the sword, death, demons, malignant enemies, and more. “IN all” these things God will give us the victory.
- • Suffering is a fact of human life. It is experienced by our fellow believers throughout the world (1 Peter 5:9). Jesus told us that in this world we will have troubles (John 16:33). In light of this, allow me to close by quoting three of my favorite “victory” scriptures. These verses will give you great hope, whatever trials you may be facing.
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Pentecostal Sermons and Bible Studies
by Pastor Jim Feeney, Ph.D.