Rev. Richard Smith
35 Job 23:1-2
Then Job answered:
Today also my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning…
I would lay my case before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
It has to be the most penetrating question of the Christian faith…What about suffering? Why do the innocent suffer? It is a question that has both confounded and troubled Christian thinkers and believers throughout the ages.
So, let me share five key insights…
God Allows Suffering
While there is no question in my mind that God does not cause all suffering, we Christians cannot avoid the truth that evil and suffering and tragedy could not happen if God did not allow it. He may not cause it, but He does allow it. As the theological equation goes…
Either God is all-powerful (Omnipotent) and all-Knowing (Omniscient) or He is not.
If He is all-powerful and all-knowing, which we believe He is, then nothing happens that He could not stop or change.
Thus, if suffering happens, God allows it.
The Question “Why?” Is A Valid Question
Friends, the question of suffering is a valid question. Far too often our response to those who raise such questions is to say, “We shouldn’t ask, ‘Why?’ We just need to leave that to God.” Well, I think ‘Why?’ is a valid question.
There are questions which just won’t go away and our efforts to relieve God of the necessity of this question do not in the end help Him or belief in Him. We need to understand that some people, even people of faith, cannot help but struggle with this question.
Personally, I don’t think God is offended by this uncertainty so neither should we. I think God understands our humanity. I think God knows that at times we can’t help but struggle here.
No Fully Satisfactory Answer Here And Now
As a pastor for 46 years, I witnessed all kinds of suffering, including devastating suffering. Now, if you came and talked with me about extreme suffering in your life, I could talk with you; point you to important scripture passages; pray with you; and listen to your true feelings and thoughts. I would do the best I could to be a caring friend, a proper theologian and a good pastor.
But what I couldn’t give you is an absolute answer to the question of suffering. I don’t believe there is in this life a satisfactory answer to the way God does things, the way God has created things, why God allows some horrible things in life to happen.
Now I can tell you something I don’t believe. I don’t believe that suffering and pain are placed on us specifically and individually by God. I don’t believe that God causes the specific suffering in your life or in mine…allows, yes, causes NO!
Someday All The Questions Will Be Answered
One of the most revealing passages in all of scripture is found in I Corinthians 13:12 where Paul says:
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.
What this passage tells us is…
Someday the answers will come.
Someday the answers will make sense.
Someday all this seeming nonsensical suffering will be explained by God.
God Does Not Leave Us Alone In Our Suffering
Finally, what we must not forget amidst the great suffering of life is that God does come to help us. As I see it, there are two ways God comes to us in those times.
First, God sustains us. I don’t believe that you will face any suffering in your life that you will have to face alone. God will be there. God will be there giving you strength and power to handle whatever it is you face.
Secondly, God helps us by bringing others into our lives in the midst of our suffering. No one faces suffering without God working to bring someone to help out.
God may not give us the answers we want or can comprehend but God does give us Himself!!
