Why Would God Allow Suffering?
By Tim Webb
Why should anyone worship a God who has allowed so much sin and suffering to enter the world, and allows so many bad things to happen?
The answer is…you have a soul! We are souls who just happen to have a decaying body attached to it. The body dies, but the soul lives forever.
Every human on earth has the opportunity for their soul to gain eternal life by believing in God and accepting his son Jesus as their savior, and then genuinely asking him for forgiveness and turning away from their sins. It’s an easy and open invitation. But the Bible, which is God’s word to us, says that the road and gate to heaven are small and narrow, and that most people won’t accept the invitation. God doesn’t send anyone to hell…he simply honors their wishes.
Some like to blame their separation from God on the misgivings of the church. And while the church has had its shortcomings throughout history, it has also done some amazing things through God’s grace and Holy Spirit. Miracles happen every day, but some people would rather focus on the negative and overlook the positive of this world.
The church is made up of imperfect humans. You can’t trust your soul to another human. Your relationship with God isn’t about organized religion and hypocritical clergymen. It’s about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Don’t ever let the bad decisions of other human beings keep you from seeking God. Not seeking God because of a hypocritical Christian is like not driving a car because someone ran a stop sign and wrecked.
Some people also blame their separation from God on all the pain and suffering that exists in this world. God never said that this world would be a cake walk. Actually, the Bible tells us the opposite. You can expect this world to be chaotic, broken, and painful. Jesus tells us in John 16:33, Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows, but take heart, because I have overcome the world.
We see our true colors when we suffer. We see what we’re made of during hard times. It teaches us who we are and we see who God is. Our suffering here on earth helps us to build faith, character, and perseverance, and teaches us that we can’t do it on our own, and out of that we rise above this world by seeking God. Suffering is part of our calling as Christians. Jesus was the most innocent man in history, but yet he suffered an unimaginable death for our salvation. He was the one-time sacrifice to atone mankind with a righteous and holy God. If Jesus suffered for us, then we can expect to suffer for him. SEVEN THINGS TO CONSIDER1. Think beyond your temporary existence here on Earth. The one thing that every human on earth can agree on is that this life is temporary. It’s like the morning fog, it’s here for a little while, then it’s gone. So the real question becomes…what then? What’s waiting on me after this life?
2. Understand that God allows Satan to rule this world. The Bible tells us this multiple times in multiple books. As long as Satan is in charge down here, the world will always be a screwed up, chaotic, and painful place. God wants us to seek our way out of this world by searching for him and accepting his son Jesus. We need a savior and we need a personal relationship with Jesus. If we could reach God and do it on our own, then Jesus died for nothing. God asks very little of us as humans. He wants us to love him, love other people, and accept his son Jesus into our lives. That doesn’t seem like too much to ask for, considering what we gain from it in the end.
3. God doesn’t make good people or bad people. He just makes people. Every day we wake up with an opportunity to make good decisions or bad decisions. Sometimes people make the wrong choices and bad things result from that.
God allowed sin to enter the world so that we may have the free will to choose him or not to choose him. And when sin entered the world, inevitably, pain and suffering came with it. He gives us free will to make our own choices for the sake of love, because love that is forced is no love at all. If we didn’t have a choice then we would all be angelic robots loving God by default rather than by our hearts. God wants us to love him from the heart, not out of obligation. The Bible tells us that God loves us even while we are sinners. He doesn't love us because he needs to, rather, he loves us because he wants to.
4. Understand that time is different with God. God has always been and always will be. He has eternity behind him and he has eternity in front of him. God is just and will make it all perfect once again. Perfection will come and God will make the world right again, but it will be on his timeline, not ours. God may be slow by our standards but he’s never late.
5. God sent his son Jesus as the answer for a broken world. All that’s required of us is to believe in Jesus. That’s it! It’s that simple! Just believe and trust. Through Jesus we can have eternal life in heaven where there will be no more pain and suffering. No more cancer. No more hurricanes. No more war. Jesus came to this earth as both human and as God. As human, he suffered a very painful and cruel punishment for our sake.
6. Satan and other demons were created good by God according to their nature, but they made themselves evil by their own doing, along with their pride, and their own choices. As for man, his sin is at the prompting of Satan. God does not make us sin, but Satan will literally tempt the hell out of us.
7. Finally, understand that God looks at death differently than we do. We see death here on Earth as the end. God sees it as the beginning. "And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?" Matthew 16:26
The answer is…you have a soul! We are souls who just happen to have a decaying body attached to it. The body dies, but the soul lives forever.
Every human on earth has the opportunity for their soul to gain eternal life by believing in God and accepting his son Jesus as their savior, and then genuinely asking him for forgiveness and turning away from their sins. It’s an easy and open invitation. But the Bible, which is God’s word to us, says that the road and gate to heaven are small and narrow, and that most people won’t accept the invitation. God doesn’t send anyone to hell…he simply honors their wishes.
Some like to blame their separation from God on the misgivings of the church. And while the church has had its shortcomings throughout history, it has also done some amazing things through God’s grace and Holy Spirit. Miracles happen every day, but some people would rather focus on the negative and overlook the positive of this world.
The church is made up of imperfect humans. You can’t trust your soul to another human. Your relationship with God isn’t about organized religion and hypocritical clergymen. It’s about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Don’t ever let the bad decisions of other human beings keep you from seeking God. Not seeking God because of a hypocritical Christian is like not driving a car because someone ran a stop sign and wrecked.
Some people also blame their separation from God on all the pain and suffering that exists in this world. God never said that this world would be a cake walk. Actually, the Bible tells us the opposite. You can expect this world to be chaotic, broken, and painful. Jesus tells us in John 16:33, Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows, but take heart, because I have overcome the world.
We see our true colors when we suffer. We see what we’re made of during hard times. It teaches us who we are and we see who God is. Our suffering here on earth helps us to build faith, character, and perseverance, and teaches us that we can’t do it on our own, and out of that we rise above this world by seeking God. Suffering is part of our calling as Christians. Jesus was the most innocent man in history, but yet he suffered an unimaginable death for our salvation. He was the one-time sacrifice to atone mankind with a righteous and holy God. If Jesus suffered for us, then we can expect to suffer for him. SEVEN THINGS TO CONSIDER1. Think beyond your temporary existence here on Earth. The one thing that every human on earth can agree on is that this life is temporary. It’s like the morning fog, it’s here for a little while, then it’s gone. So the real question becomes…what then? What’s waiting on me after this life?
2. Understand that God allows Satan to rule this world. The Bible tells us this multiple times in multiple books. As long as Satan is in charge down here, the world will always be a screwed up, chaotic, and painful place. God wants us to seek our way out of this world by searching for him and accepting his son Jesus. We need a savior and we need a personal relationship with Jesus. If we could reach God and do it on our own, then Jesus died for nothing. God asks very little of us as humans. He wants us to love him, love other people, and accept his son Jesus into our lives. That doesn’t seem like too much to ask for, considering what we gain from it in the end.
3. God doesn’t make good people or bad people. He just makes people. Every day we wake up with an opportunity to make good decisions or bad decisions. Sometimes people make the wrong choices and bad things result from that.
God allowed sin to enter the world so that we may have the free will to choose him or not to choose him. And when sin entered the world, inevitably, pain and suffering came with it. He gives us free will to make our own choices for the sake of love, because love that is forced is no love at all. If we didn’t have a choice then we would all be angelic robots loving God by default rather than by our hearts. God wants us to love him from the heart, not out of obligation. The Bible tells us that God loves us even while we are sinners. He doesn't love us because he needs to, rather, he loves us because he wants to.
4. Understand that time is different with God. God has always been and always will be. He has eternity behind him and he has eternity in front of him. God is just and will make it all perfect once again. Perfection will come and God will make the world right again, but it will be on his timeline, not ours. God may be slow by our standards but he’s never late.
5. God sent his son Jesus as the answer for a broken world. All that’s required of us is to believe in Jesus. That’s it! It’s that simple! Just believe and trust. Through Jesus we can have eternal life in heaven where there will be no more pain and suffering. No more cancer. No more hurricanes. No more war. Jesus came to this earth as both human and as God. As human, he suffered a very painful and cruel punishment for our sake.
6. Satan and other demons were created good by God according to their nature, but they made themselves evil by their own doing, along with their pride, and their own choices. As for man, his sin is at the prompting of Satan. God does not make us sin, but Satan will literally tempt the hell out of us.
7. Finally, understand that God looks at death differently than we do. We see death here on Earth as the end. God sees it as the beginning. "And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?" Matthew 16:26