Perspective on Suffering

We live in a fallen world, under sin and a curse. This explains why things happen the way they do. This is not limited to the sinfulness of human beings but involves nature as well. When God created humans, He put nature in subjection under them (Genesis 1:28-30). But when Adam and Eve fell (Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 5:12-20), they drug all nature down with them (Romans 8:19-20; Genesis 3:16-19). Therefore, not only do human beings behave badly, but nature also can be hostile. Now it is clearly not true that everyone in this life gets just what they deserve. The book of Job is written as an answer to that, as are a number of the remarks of Jesus (Luke 13:1-5; John 9:1-5). But the picture we get from Scripture is not that God pours out evil things on innocent people. Rather, He pours out good things (Matthew 5:45; Acts 14:17; Romans 2:4,5) on people who do not deserve them (Romans 3:23; Isaiah 64:6, Jeremiah 17:9). On this principle He holds back judgment even on those we feel most deserve it because of His grace and mercy. He also sometimes causes His people to go through trouble in order that they may be made better people by it (Romans 5:3-5; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6,7). While all these things are worked for our benefit by God, who is in control of our lives, if we are believers (Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:11; 2:10). But also through this we can have hope (Romans 8:24,25).   

It is important to put sufferings in perspective (Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:17,18; 1 Peter 5:8-10). What we suffer now is minor in the light of eternity, when God will wipe away every tear (Revelation 21:4; Philippians 3:20,21; Psalms 16:11). Therefore, if a person trusts in Christ and Him alone for salvation (Ephesians 2:8,9; Romans 4:4,5; Titus 3:5,6), then they can be assured that God will bring them through the troubles of this life to dwell forever with Him (1 John 5:11-13; John 10:27-30; Philippians 1:6). If you do not currently have faith in Him, God invites you to trust Him (Acts 16:31; Revelation 22:17; John 3:16-18). But for those of us who have, we possess a hope that God will one day remake this fallen world to be as He originally intended it to be before sin entered (Romans 8:21-23; 2 Peter 3:10-13; Revelation 21:5-8). But it is not always easy to live in light of this truth. We have a desire to have things now and not to wait for them. But those who live for the present day will lose it all in the world to come (1 John 2:15-17; James 4:4; Philippians 3:18,19). Therefore, though we will have troubles in this life (John 16:33; 15:18-21; Acts 14:22), let us look beyond that to where our real treasure is (Matthew 6:19-21) so that we might have that abiding hope (1 Corinthians 13:13) and face the trouble in life knowing we will ultimately be victorious (Romans 8:35-37).

No Easy Answers

I remember once discussing the problem of evil with an atheist. He claimed his answer to why evil existed was the best one because it was the simplest, based on Occam's razor. (I am not so sure of Occam's razor, at least as the only test. What would it make of quantum mechanics?) His answer to the presence of evil was, "It just is." But "It just is" is not an answer. The real answer we want to the problem of evil and suffering is that it does not exist. But it does.

We can can try to minimize evil and pretend it does not exist. That people are basically good and the world is basically nice. But though there are good things in the world because God created it and good traits still in people because they are made in God's image, it is very hard to believe the evil in the world is superficial. Or we can believe things are getting better and better and evil will vanish. But two world  wars, the cold war, and global terrorism have made this seem fantastic. Or we can claim that evil is not really evil but is just the way things are. But then we have to ask how we have come to so totally reject it. Why is it almost everyone has a hard time embracing this idea?

Why is there evil in the world? There are no easy answers here for anyone, but I believe the Christian answer makes the most sense: that we are in a world in rebellion against its Maker. But removing God does not answer the question.

The Solution to Suffering

This is not in any way a nuanced philosophical response to the problem of suffering. But it is a gut level response that I find hard to evade. Denying or removing God does nothing to solve the problem of suffering in the world. It merely eliminates the only One who can ultimately do something about it (Revelation 21:4; Isaiah 2:1-3; John 14:1-3). Suffering is the great given, the situation we cannot deny exists. What eliminating God does is make it incurable. Now one can try to go to the opposite extreme and say that evil is not really evil, it is how things are supposed to be. But if it is simply normal, why does my gut reaction say it is horribly wrong. It ends up not ending evil, but accepting evil as good and repudiating the idea of good. But it is God who is the standard for good. Without Him there is no basis for understanding, let alone solving the product of suffering. But often we are not so much interested in solving the problem as finding someone to blame (Genesis 3:10-13). But God is the only basis for a real solution.

The Hard Type of Faith

Biblically, there are two types of faith. One is to be able to trust God for miracles (Matthew 8:10; Mark 5:34; Luke 17:19). But there is also the faith that trusts God even it there is no immediate miracle (Hebrews 11:13-16; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Proverbs 3:5,6). For we are frequently told to wait upon the Lord for the fulfillment of His promises (Isaiah 40:31; Psalms 37:7; 123:2). I find that this second kind of faith is even harder than the first. And I have often found that when we first put our faith in Christ is when we see our most obvious and blatant answers to prayer. I have a theory, though I cannot prove it Biblically, that God wants to encourage us to be those who trust in Him even in adverse circumstances. Therefore, as we grow older in the faith, we often see fewer immediate answers to our requests. God wants us to trust Him even if He does not instantly deal with the situation. I cannot be dogmatic about this, but I do believe God wants us to have both types of faith. And I know that those who trust Him through afflictions will grow in Him (2 Corinthians 4:17,18; James 1:2-4; Romans 5:3-5).

Living with Mystery

One of the problems about dealing with suffering is that it has no easy, pat answers. And we want pat answers. The Bible repeatedly repels the idea that all suffering is based on what we deserve (Job 1,2; John 9:1-3; Psalms 73). There is a Biblical case for God disciplining sin (Hebrew 12:5-11; 1 Corinthians 11:31-32; Acts 5:1-11). But nice, neat, easy-to-understand suffering seems to be the exception rather than the rule. And I am convinced that without the clear revelation of God, we should be very careful of concluding in any particular case that suffering is discipline. Now God can use suffering in the life of believers to make them stronger (2 Corinthians 4:17,18; Romans 8:28; James 1:2-4). But that does not mean we will understand it while it is happening or even afterwards. Did Job ever understand the reason for his suffering? We do not know. I suspect that one of the points of suffering is that we do not understand. If we understood, we would not be forced to trust God. Also, with all suffering there is a choice. We can trust God through it, or we can reject God because of it. This is why the whole issue is so complicated. But I believe there is fundamental truth in the message of Christ that is worth living in mystery to hold onto.

The Goal of God

One of the fundamental issues underlying the question of the existence of suffering in the world is, What is God's purpose for our lives? In Scripture, that basic purpose is to bring us back into right relation to Himself (Romans 3:23-31; 5:6-11; John 3:14-18), and based on that, to transform us into the kind of people we really should be (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 2:8-10). God's goal is not to make us happy or to cater to our natural desires, but to bring us to the point of being willing to put others before ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40; 16:24-26; Romans 12:1,2). And God uses the suffering in our lives to help bring that about (2 Corinthians 4:16-18; James 1:2-4; Romans 5:3-5). Now this in itself is not a full answer to the existence of suffering. In fact, by itself it would amount to an end-justifies-the-means mentality. But I am convinced it needs to be at least part of any answer to the question. If we believe the universe exists solely for the purpose of making us happy on the level of our own selfishness, it is virtually impossible to reconcile the existence of a good God with suffering. But if we believe the universe exists solely to make us happy on the level of our own selfishness, we are bound to be disappointed anyway. Whatever alternative we accept, that one is not realistic.

How Do They Get Away with It?

It is common to ask, why do the righteous suffer? But the psalmist in psalm 73 struggles with a different problem. Why do the unrighteous get away with it? If we look at the evil things done in the world. At vicious dictators who amass large amounts of money in Swiss bank accounts while their people starve. At criminals who commit brutal crimes against innocent victims. It is easy to ask, why does God not strike them down with a lightning bolt? Now the simple answer is that God is gracious and has allowed them time to repent (Romans 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9; Luke 13:1-5). But underlying this is the idea that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23; Jeremiah 17:9; Isaiah 64:6) and are all in need of God's grace (Romans 3:24-31; Ephesians 2:8,9; Philippians 3:4-11). This is why Scripture forbids us to stand in judgment on ourselves and others (Luke 6:37; Romans 2:1; 1 Corinthians 4:3-5).  Now it does call for loving correction where that is warranted (Galatians 6:1; Matthew 18:15-17; Jude 22,23). But we need to do this with the realization that we ourselves could not stand before God without His forgiveness. Now God will ultimately judge sin (Romans 2:16; Matthew 25:31-46; 1 Timothy 5:24,25). We may ask why God does not more quickly judge some people. I do not claim to know the answer. But we might also ask why He does not immediately judge us. The basic answer is that He is gracious.

The Ivory Tower God

One of the wrong ideas about suffering is that God is sitting in heaven somewhere, looking down on us in our suffering, smiling benignly at us, but really having no idea what we are going through. This is not the Biblical idea of God. The Bible says that He has come down and has become a Man and has suffered with us (Hebrews 2:9-18; Philippians 2:5-11; John 1:1-18). Further, He did this for our sakes, to save us from our sin (1 Peter 2:24,25; Colossians 2:13,14; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Further, the Father also loves us, being willing to send His Son to save us (John 3:14-18; Romans 5:6-8; 1 John 4:9,10). This does not provide an intellectual answer for the problem of evil. We might even ask why it was necessary for God to do this. Why was there not an easier way? But it does show that God is not someone who stands at the sidelines, shaking His head over what He sees happening in the world. And this can change our attitude toward God and suffering. For if God calls us to suffer, at least He is willing to lead the charge.

The Long Perspective

One of the contexts in which the Bible approaches suffering is to put it in perspective. It points out that it is temporary and that the sufferings of this present world are simply a prelude to a future one (2 Corinthians 4:17,18; Romans 8:18; John 16:33). This does not make the sufferings of this time go away or make them automatically easy. But it does put them in perspective for those who trust in Christ and hope for a time when such sufferings will be no more (Revelation 21:4; Philippians 1:21; 2 Corinthians 5:1-5). If we consider this life as all there is and think that happiness in this life is the only goal, then it is difficult on any basis to reconcile ourselves to the existence of present suffering. But if we consider this life as the preliminary to something better, we see our sufferings in the light of eternity.

The Lack of Faith

A closely related idea to the one that suffering is the result of sinful behavior is the idea the suffering is due to lack of faith. If we simply have enough faith, we will not suffer. Now Scripture does make a connection between faith and the working of miracles (Matthew 13:58; 14:28-33; 17:19,20). But there are also cases where there is suffering even when there is no lack of faith involved (2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Matthew 26:36-46; Job 1,2). Also, there are times when God does work miracles where the faith seems lacking or inadequate (Acts 12:3-17; 3:1-8; Mark 9:23,24). Therefore, while faith is a factor, there is also the matter of God's will.  Further, God has told us that those follow Him will experience suffering (Acts 14:22; John 16:33; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18). It should also be noted here that faith means faith in God; faith in our faith is useless (Romans 4:17-21; 1 Peter 1:21; Hebrews 11:6).

Job's Comforters

In looking at the wrong ways to approach suffering, I need to start with the obvious one. This is the idea that good people do not suffer, and suffering is always connected with sin. There are many Scriptures that firmly contradict this (Job 1,2; John 9:1-3; Hebrews 11:35-38). Now we are told God can use suffering in our lives as discipline to correct us when we need correcting (Hebrews 12:5-11; 1 Corinthians 11:30-32; Galatians 6:7,8). But we must be very careful of jumping too quickly to the conclusion that we or someone else are suffering because of our sins. And even if some suffering is the result of sin, the goal is to produce repentance (Proverbs 28:13; 2 Corinthians 7:10; 1 John 1:9), not to condemn. But if we see the need to correct others, we should do it properly, with gentleness and concern for healing (Galatians 6:1; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; Hebrews 12:12,13). However, we should be very reluctant to rush to any sort of opinion regarding another's suffering. For when you are suffering, the last thing you need is someone mistakenly concluding it is a result of your sin.

The Problem of Suffering

One of the oldest problems in the world is, why do people suffer, particularly those who have not done anything obvious to deserve it? It goes back to the Sumerians, the Babylonians, and the book of Job (whenever you date that book). It is the really emotionally gripping part of the problem of evil. It can reasonably be claimed that people do morally evil things because they choose to. But it is the suffering of their victims or the victims of natural disasters that is heart-wrenching.  The fact that this issue has been around so long shows it is a difficult question that cannot be easily resolved one way or the other to everyone's satisfaction. To increase the difficulty, it is not merely an intellectual problem but involves a fundamental emotional reaction to the world around us. That is why purely intellectual answers tend to feel so thin and inadequate when used in this context. Nor can we escape the this problem simply by becoming  atheists. For if suffering is just a normal part of life, why do we feel it is so abhorrent?. And there is also with that the question of how we face these issues when we encounter them in our life. I do not claim to have all the answers. But in future posts I want to deal with various too-easy answers in hopes of getting some sort of idea on how to look at this issue.