GROW AND GO
FREELY COPYABLE BIBLE STUDIES
SERIES A - BASIC TEACHING
EIGHT
A8. WHY DOES GOD ALLOW SUFFERING?
When the body is in pain and the emotions are hurt, it is the mind that cries out for a reason. And after the body has been healed and the heart comforted the mind will still be asking, “Why?”
This study is divided into three parts, first, “Why does God allow suffering in the world?” Second, “How to we face our own suffering?” and third, “What can we say to others who are suffering?”
A8.1. PART ONE - WHY DOES GOD ALLOW SUFFERING IN THE WORLD?
A8.1.1 GOD HAS A PURPOSE IN VIEW
Matthew 13:24-30
A farmer sowed his field with good seed, but when everyone was asleep an enemy came and sowed weeds in the same field. As the wheat grew up, so did the weeds. The farmer’s workers came to him and said, “Didn’t you sow good seed here, how come these weeds?”
He replied, “An enemy has done this.”
“Shall we pull up the weeds then.”
“No, if you do that now you will pull up a lot of wheat with them. Let both grow together until harvest, then I will tell the reapers to pull the weeds first, burn them, and then bring in the wheat.”
Matthew 13:36-43
Afterwards His disciples asked Him, “That story about the wheat & the weeds, what was it all about?”
The field is the world and I am sowing good seed in it - the children of the kingdom, people with God’s family likeness. The Devil sows weeds, people with his family likeness.
When the age comes to its full completion, that will be the harvest. I shall send out my angels to collect up the corrupters and producers of evil to throw them into the fire, crying and grinding their teeth.
Then the righteous will be like the sunshine in their Father’s kingdom.
The farmer ploughed the field because he wanted a harvest - and this made it possible for weeds to take root.
Could God have made a world in which evil and suffering was not possible?
Maybe, but not one which would have brought the harvest He was looking for.
As a mountaineer might gaze at a distant peak, knowing full well the difficulties and dangers that separate him from it, yet with such settled purpose that in a sense his feet are already upon it; so He who made all mountains and mountaineers looked across the ages.
What He saw was, is, will be, something so beautiful that no human thought has yet conceived it; an ever-increasing kingdom whose citizens are loved and valued beyond measure, each one unique, a multi-coloured many-sided reflection of its King, His Son. He saw me there, one of billions, and loved me.
To reach the goal, there would be conflict, struggle, suffering, heartbreak; an infinite cost for an infinite prize. He looked down at the dark chasm that lay before the distant peak and saw the human race lost in self-imposed darkness, wallowing in dirt, utterly unfit for the destiny He made it for. He saw me there too, but still loved me.
He could have aborted the whole venture then, spared Himself the cost, spared us the struggle, spared those who finally reject Him their ultimate fate.
But He had set His love on the people He had seen. So; “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)
A8.1.2. QUESTION - IS EVERYTHING POSSIBLE WITH GOD?
When Gabriel told Mary, “Nothing is impossible with God,” the word used for “thing” was rhema - spoken word. Nothing God says He will do is impossible to Him.
But God has never said He would do things that contradict themselves. He tells us, “It is impossible for God to lie” and that, “He cannot deny Himself”.
If two things contradict each other, not even God can do both. It is meaningless nonsense to suggest that He can.
So from the beginning, God could not have people or angels who were good unless He made goodness possible. To make goodness possible, it had to be possible to choose it, otherwise it would not have been good.
A8.1.3 “AN ENEMY HAS DONE THIS.”
The conflict between good and evil, God and Satan, is real. God tells us Himself that He does not always get His own way in everything.
War produces suffering indirectly as well as directly - more accidents, more sickness, less resources etc. All through my childhood there was a war on and we did not concentrate too much attention on the question, “Why?” when facing the suffering it caused. We just said, “There’s a war on,” and got on with the job of winning it. That included making do with limited rations as well as front line fighting.
Since the first sin entered the universe there has been a war on. Evil affects nature, animals, germs and earthquakes. They are part of a world that has gone wrong. Romans 8:18-23 speaks of nature groaning while it waits for the completion of God’s purposes.
A8.1.4. “LET BOTH GROW TOGETHER UNTIL THE HARVEST.”
Of course the weeds could be rooted out - but not without spoiling the crops. Good and evil must grow together “Until the Harvest.” Evil causes suffering, and it is God’s policy to share that suffering.
He shared it on the cross. He shares it in His people.
A8.1.5. THE HARVEST IS COMING.
Our short-lived and lightweight troubles are producing heavyweight and age-long glory. All we see is temporary, it is the unseen reality that lasts for ever.
On Earth we live in a temporary structure. God, however, has built us a permanent house in Heaven, not made by human hands. Here we long for the heavenly dwelling, wanting, not to be rid of this tent and homeless, but to have it replaced by our real home where mortality is swallowed up in Life.
God made us for Heaven, and He has guaranteed it by giving us His Spirit as a deposit. As long as we are in our temporary homes we are away from the Lord and have to live by trusting not seeing. Of course we would rather leave the body behind and be with Him, but in the mean time we exist to please Him, at home or away.
(2 Corinthians 4:17 - 5:9)
Suffering is not without purpose and it will not be wasted. But the good it brings may well be in the distant future.
A8.2. PART TWO. OUR OWN SUFFERING.
If I am living in tune with God and obeying Him, I shall still suffer. Why?
A8.2.1 THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERINGS. Philippians 3:10
This life is the only chance we shall ever have to share in Christ’s suffering.
God is prepared to make heavy sacrifices to bring in His kingdom - in which it is His purpose to bless us, along with as many others as He can - eternally and infinitely.
The great multitude from every nation tribe and language in Revelation 7:9-17 is not merely the Saved, (that will be an even greater multitude) but those who have suffered for Him.
A8.2.2. BUT DOESN’T GOD WANT HIS PEOPLE HAPPY?
Did He not want His Son happy? Perfect obedience to the Father led Christ to the Cross. God wants our highest good, greatest blessing, and not only ours.
A8.2.3. BUT WHAT ABOUT FAITH THAT MOVES MOUNTAINS?
If God wants a mountain moved He will tell you. That kind of faith, and that kind of miracle is only for those who are acting under orders. God knows when to move mountains and when to leave them for us to climb. We may not demand that He allows us to use that kind of faith to relieve our own sufferings or obtain our own way.
A8.2.4. SHOULD WE MEEKLY SUBMIT TO WHAT HAPPENS?
Normally, No. If we are ill we should go to a doctor. If suffering - our own or someone else’s, can be relieved by practical action we should take that action. There may be exceptions, when action to relieve suffering may harm another person or harm God’s kingdom.
The main thing is to keep in tune with Him, find Him and hear Him in each situation. Then act or accept as the case may be.
“Give us serenity to accept what we cannot change, courage to change what we can, and wisdom to know the difference.”
A8.2.5 ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD - finish the verse, “for those who love God and are called for His purpose.”
Yes, God is working for good in all our lives (actually “towards” good). This is a long term assurance, eternally long term; but the “good” may not be just round the corner.
Good, includes completing His work in us as His craftsmanship. Making a perfect masterpiece out of us. Some of our suffering, (not all) is because He is working on us to perfect us. To ask Him to give up working on us is to ask for less love, not more.
Good also includes good for others. Some of our suffering (maybe all) benefits others.
Good includes sharing His victory, and the cost of it. Some of our suffering is part of that, as Job’s was.
Good can sometimes mean healing or deliverance from the suffering. In fact it quite often does. There is nothing wrong with praying for it. But never expect or demand it as a right.
A8.3. PART THREE. OTHER PEOPLES’ SUFFERING.
When another person is suffering the best thing we can do is show them we care, preferably without words. Job’s friends were good comforters as long as they sat with him in silence. When they began to speak they did more harm than good.
A8.3.1. SOME ANSWERS NOT TO GIVE.
These statements are sometimes made by people who mean to help but actually do harm.
Some of the statements are false, others have, or may have, some truth in them but must never be given in a shallow way.
Never say -
1 “It is a punishment from God.”
Job’s friends said that and God was angry with them for saying it.
2 “If you had more faith you would be healed.”
This is the modern version of 1. It makes God just as angry.
3 “It is God’s Will.”
Who says it is? Does God? Where?
4 “It will do you good.”
So it might. But to say this is its purpose, that God actually caused or allowed it for that reason is going beyond what Scripture says.
5 “You should endure hardship like a good soldier.”
Okay if it is only hardship. There is a difference between ordinary hardship and real suffering. But never belittle what someone else has to suffer.
6 “It is caused by the Devil.”
So it might be. But it might not. Don’t assume it is the Devil because you don’t know the answer. It is better to say, “I don’t know.”
And don’t be too slick or shallow when quoting scripture. One suffering person said recently that if anyone else quoted, “All things work together for good” she would throw something at them.
What we may quote is the Cross. The question, “Why is this happening to me?” may be asked, provided it is directed to Him who was nailed there.
First and foremost, suffering is part of the life we share with our Lord. He feels it too. He admits us to partnership with Him in fulfilling His plans to bring people out of a suffering world into an eternal weight of glory. It will have been worth it.
A8.3.2. ANGRY WITH GOD?
It is normal to feel angry with God. Job was, but God was not angry with him. On the other hand, Job’s friends put on a show of unreal pious reverence and God was angry with them. At the end of the book we find God telling them to ask Job to pray for their forgiveness, not the other way round.
But the important thing was that Job kept talking to God. He never gave up on God although he expressed his anger quite forcibly. Being angry with God is part of a relationship with God. We should handle it like anger with a friend - tell Him, and listen to what He has to say about it.
A8.3.3. “I KNOW I SHOULD NOT FEEL LIKE THIS BUT - -”
How often do we hear that said? People feel guilty about what they are feeling, often feelings of anger against God or others, or depression which causes hostility or rejection of others.
Feelings are never sin, the words “I should not feel - - -” are incapable of having meaning, there are no “shoulds” to feelings. An emotion may be a temptation, but it only becomes a sin if we let it control us or if wrong action is taken because of it. Admitting it exists and crying to God about it, is not a wrong action.
Second, such feelings are, themselves, suffering - and as such qualify us to speak of the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. So when you feel at your worst and lowest, it may well be your finest hour, as it was for Job.
(See also the Grow and Go study on Job.)