How Can a Loving God allow Suffering

If God is good, why doesn’t He just eliminate suffering?

It’s the question I’ve thought about since a kid, wrestled with as a teenager and lived with throughout the pain I was going through when heavily oppressed and depressed.

And while there are no straightforward answers to this question, let me humbly offer you three perspectives/realities that have helped me through times of difficulty. I have found that when I chose to see suffering through these lenses, my pain diminishes, and God’s grace grows. And I see that love and suffering can exist at the same time.

1. Remember that we don’t see the whole picture

When I’m tempted to question God’s love in the midst of the suffering I see around me or experience, God’s gracious hand has led me to realise that I don’t see the whole picture.

One of the devil’s tactics in causing us despair is for us to focus on truths in a simplistic manner.

For example, the enemy whispers – you believe and follow Jesus, you faithfully give your tithes to God; yet this bad thing happened, do you think God really loves you? I mean 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 right?

But maybe the equation is more like 3πr +sin^2 or something. Maybe the tactic of the enemy is to blind me to the other truths that are present in the equation. Yes, I believe and faithfully followed Jesus, I blessed many and yes, the bad thing happened, but I need to also see how God’s gracious hand lovingly picked me up. I need to see that when I cried, He cried. I need to realise that in the midst of all the trials and testings, God provided people to catch my fall. I need to realise the reality of spiritual warfare and the trickery of the enemy in all this. I need to be aware of my own sinful nature, the iniquity of my ancestors and this reality of this broken world. And I need to remember that God promises to work for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).

When things don’t go our way, we easily fall into the 1+1+1 = 3 lie of the devil. We easily blame ourselves, others or God. We forget the reality of a very vile enemy who wants to distant us from the help we truly need. And in times like this, it is good for us to be graciously reminded of the other truths present, ground ourselves in the realities found in God’s word and trust that God ways are so much higher than my ways.

2. Look to the One who became the Answer to our suffering

It’s easy to say that you may say – Eunice, you don’t understand. No I don’t, and there are areas I still wrestle with and don’t understand myself. But if God were to make us understand and comprehend this question fully – would things change for the better?

Rather than giving us an answer or the wisdom to understand everything, God provides a Person who truly understands. He knew an answer would never be enough so He gave of Himself. He gave us Jesus whose life, death and resurrection reminds us of God’s love. Jesus, God’s Son came down to be a man, went through the difficulties of life and died a horrific death as a solution to the sin and suffering of this world. God didn’t give us a theological thought or a mathematics equation as our solution to suffering, He gave us His Son.

How many times have you found a yapping friend telling you about all the causes/solutions to your problems extremely irritating when what you needed was a hug and kind eyes?

The reality is that I’ve found God to be that Friend that offers an embrace rather than a theological debate. And while at times I questioned His silence, I realised that in those moments, His silence was what I actually needed. His silent presence.

In your suffering, may You experience His kind embrace that helps you doubt your doubts about Him. May you find Him there on your bathroom floor as you slam your fist and cry. May you find Him holding your hand as you tears run down your ears. May you see Him holding you back from the darkness you were going to head towards.

3. Rest in the fact that the suffering will pass

There has been numerous times in my struggle overcoming the oppression and depression that I faced that I felt I had no other option. Death seemed so close and right behind me. While I tried not to entertain those thoughts of dying or death, I felt stuck and lost. It was in those times I found the mercy of God’s hand pulling me up. Slowly the dark nights became less frequent, the voices around me less real and God’s embrace more tangible. Slowly, I began to believe that the suffering will indeed pass and I do have a future and a hope.

And so if this is you, remember that you are not too far gone and God you’re Creator is not going to let you go. Just take the next breathe and the next. Cry out to Him and find His hand not too short to save.

………

So how can a loving God allow suffering? While I am certain that suffering was never the original intention of God, I don’t have all the answers. But I pray that as I journey through life, I will be more and more certain of the love and grace of God in spite of the suffering. And I pray that I will always remember the glorious hope available from a God who suffered but did not stay dead, who rose again, and gives me the access to this same resurrection life.

I hope this blessed you.