WHY MUST WE SUFFER SO IF GOD TRULY LOVES US?

“The Problem of Evil and Pain,” in its many forms, is the most common objection to the Christian faith. Here is one recent statement of this challenge:

·       There is no reason that a good and all-powerful God would allow such great suffering if He is truly a God of love. If He is all-powerful, he could do something about it

Today, we are being bombarded many such varieties of this challenge. For instance, if God is all-powerful and all-knowing, He could easily have stopped the CoronaVirus, Hitler, Hurricane Sandy, or a Tsunami. He even guarantees that in heaven, He will wipe away every tear. He’s got the power, and He loves us.

Why then does He allow various kinds of suffering, even death? Because it is necessary! A complete answer may not be possible, but I think that we know enough to answer this challenge.

The larger question is, “Why did He allow the Fall and sin and death to enter into the world? Why did He allow Satan to operate in the Garden through the serpent?” Because He wanted to achieve something greater:

·       Romans 11:32-33 For God has committed them all to disobedience [by allowing Adam and Eve to sin], that He might have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

God handed this world over to corruption, but in the expectation of something even greater:

·       Romans 8:18, 20--23 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us…For the creation was subjected to futility [corruption and decay], not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

 It could only be through the Fall of the first Adam that we could receive the redemption and the gift of life through the Second Adam, Jesus, whose Cross had been planned even before the world was created.

Perhaps the best way to demonstrate that suffering is necessary is to use myself as an example. I’ve learned that I need to suffer threats and emotional torments. Without them, I’d never have learned to trust in God. Instead, I would continue to trust in my own ways and thinking:

·       2 Corinthians 1:8-9  For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.

Even more important, I would never learn to love God without suffering and seeing my own failures and inadequacies. It is only after I am continually humbled and broken that He shows me His goodness by repeatedly delivering me:

·       Psalm 34:18-19) The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.

The trials also bring to the surface all of my fleshly ugliness and show me how unworthy I am of even a smile from God (Luke 17:10). Yet His many rescues teach me how much He loves me despite my unworthiness. This is what it means to experience the trials of our faith:

·       …you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6-7)

As gold is refined in the cauldron by fire, so that the impurities rise to the surface, so too is our faith refined. Suffering brings our sinful impulses to the surface to humble us and to show us the goodness of God that He would love such an unworthy person as me.                                          

Consequently, I become more grateful and seek to glorify God even more than myself. Consequently, the Bible teaches us that when we are weak and broken, it is then we are strong in the Lord (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). As a result, a real and eternal love relationship grows. No wonder our Savior requires us to suffer:

·       2 Corinthians 4:8-11 (NLT2) We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies.

The suffering is preparing us for something greater:

·       2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NKJV) Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

I am convinced that God is working all of these evils for good (Romans 8:28) to build, with us, an eternal relationship of the deepest love.