Honest Questions: Why Didn’t God Stop My Suffering?
Why didn’t God stop my suffering? This is a question I have asked myself many times throughout my life. I am sure many of you have done the same thing. This question expresses the tension or contradiction we sense between the love of God and the suffering of humanity. How could a loving and powerful God allow so much suffering? The answer we will explore today will not completely resolve the tension we feel between God’s love and human suffering. Still, I do believe it will show that these two things are not a logical contradiction, and it will give us comfort and hope when we experience suffering.
Why didn’t God stop our suffering? Because He is not done cleaning up the mess. There is a mess of pain, suffering, and evil because of sin. God is cleaning up this mess by using pain, suffering, and evil and bringing them to an end. Big Idea: There is a mess, and God is cleaning it up. First, let us see how this mess of suffering started and then look at how God is cleaning it up. Looking at the origin of suffering will help us solve the logical problem of suffering. Exploring how God is cleaning up the mess of suffering will help us find comfort in the midst of suffering.
When dealing with pain, suffering, and evil, we are tempted to solve the problem by subtraction. The problem of suffering has three parts: God is great and good, yet there is suffering. Many try to solve the problem by subtracting from God’s greatness or goodness. This is not how the Bible addresses this issue. The problem is solved by addition and not subtraction. We add the idea that God had a goal for His creation. This goal explains the presence of suffering and why God has not completely removed suffering from our world.
God’s goal was to create good people in a good place with good choice. He didn’t want to create fake people in a fake place with fake choices. His goal was not to create robots. He didn’t want to create glorified people in a glorified place with glorified choice. He didn’t want to create us in heaven with glorified wills that can’t sin. God wanted to create humans on earth, not robots in a simulation or glorified beings in heaven. The “goodness" of the place and people God created is stated seven times in Genesis 1 (1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, and 31). At the end of the chapter, God pronounced everything as “very good.”
Genesis 1:31, “31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”
The good people that God put in this good place had been given the good gift of choice. They were not forced to follow or break God’s commands. With this good gift of choice came the possibility of sin and suffering. You can’t remove the possibility of suffering if your goal is to make humans who may sin. To eliminate the possibility of sin and suffering, you would have to either make subhuman robots with no desires or choice, or superhumans with no ability or opportunity to sin, like persons in heaven. God didn’t create sin, but He created good people who could sin. These good people God created had good desires that could get spoiled or distorted and lead to sin.
Genesis 3:6, “6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”
God’s goal was good, but we turned it bad and created a mess. Sin broke God’s good creation: us and the world around us. We show our brokenness by hurting others and ourselves. We cause others to suffer and ourselves to suffer. The world around us does not work like it was designed to. We experience earthquakes, tornados, floods, viruses, and all sorts of sicknesses. Paul wrote about the effects of sin on humanity and the world in his letter to the Roman church.
Romans 5:12, “12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.”
Romans 8:20-21, “20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
It is important to note that the Bible portrays suffering primarily as a general consequence of sin and not a specific consequence for a sin. Sometimes, suffering is connected to a specific sin. The Bible gives some examples of this, but this is not how we should generally view sin’s relationship to suffering. Jesus made this point clear when speaking about a mass murder and a natural disaster.
Luke 13:1-5, “There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
The first evil or suffering that Jesus spoke of resulted from evil human actions. The reference to “mingled” blood most likely refers to Pilate having Galileans murdered during the Passover when they would make their own sacrifices and not the priest. The second suffering mentioned occurred because of a natural disaster. After illustrating both of these times of suffering, Jesus asks the question if the ones who suffered were “worse:” “sinners” or “offenders.” Both times, Jesus answered his question with a “no.” Jesus did not connect their specific suffering with their particular sins. God didn’t create sin or pain. God created good people who chose sin and brought pain and suffering into the world.
Seeing the origin of evil and suffering helps us to resolve the logical problem of evil. The presence of suffering and the existence of an all-powerful and loving God is not a logical impossibility. It appears that way, but seeing that God had a goal to create humans with choice explains the presence of evil, which came from humanity's abuse of their God-given freedom. This is philosophically helpful but not practically soothing. This is not where we find comfort and hope. We gain those things when we see how God is working to clean up the mess we created.
God is using evil for good and will end suffering one day. When we examine how God uses evil, we must be careful and not conclude that God needs pain, evil, and suffering to create good. The reason or explanation for suffering is not found after it but before it. Often, in pain, we look to the positive outcomes to find comfort. That is a good thing, and we will see an example of this in our following passage. But we should not take the next step and say that the good outcome of the prior evil or painful event was necessary and justifies God allowing it to occur. The “ends don’t justify the means.” God’s allowance of evil is morally permissible because He created humanity, not because He can bring good from evil. God doesn’t need evil to make good, but He uses evil to bring about good, which gives us all great comfort. Let me show you this from Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church.
2 Corinthians 12:1-7, “I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— 6 though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
In verses 1 to 6, Paul shares his experience of visiting heaven. He starts his story by referring to himself in the third person, “I know a man in Christ,” but as the passage develops, it becomes clear that Paul is referring to himself. This supernatural experience could have caused Paul to become arrogant and prideful. God used a “thorn” to prevent this from happening. Most interpreters believe that Paul was speaking of a physical discomfort. This makes the best sense of the phrase “in the flesh.” This also aligns with what Paul shared about his physical condition in his other letters. He writes that his physical shortcomings were a trial to the church of Galatia (Gal. 4:13–14).
Interestingly, Paul saw two intentions behind this one experience of enduring this thorn in the flesh. He saw both God's and Satan's intentions behind this one experience. Their intentions were different, but the event was the same. A clue that this thorn was from God is found in its purpose, which is stated twice at the beginning and end of verse 7. The hope was that it would produce humility. Humility doesn’t sound like the agenda of Satan, but rather God. God can create humility without pain. He didn’t need the thorn, but He used it to develop humility. Satan also stood behind this “thorn.”
Paul described the thorn as a messenger of Satan, sent to harass him. The verb “to torment” implies humiliating violence—like being slapped. The same word is used for the abuse of Jesus before His crucifixion (Mark 14:65; Matt. 26:67). We must come to terms with the mixture of intentions in this passage. If we do not, we will constantly be assigning this little bit of our life exclusively to the devil and some other little bit exclusively to God. But this is not how we should live our lives or understand the events in our lives. God is behind all events, just in a different way than the evil persons involved. Paul saw God’s control in this, which is why he prays.
2 Corinthians 11:8-9, “8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Interestingly, Paul asked three times for relief from this pain. This is the same amount of times that Christ prayed in the garden of Gethsemane before the cross to be released from His coming pain. In both cases, the removal requested was not granted. However, just as Jesus was strengthened to face His dreadful and unique pain, Paul was strengthened to endure his pain as well. This surprising twist reflects the paradoxical way God defeats Satan. God permits Satan to strike the apostle, but that, in turn, makes Paul an even greater instrument of His power. A proud, arrogant Paul would have only hindered the gospel’s advance. He could have been like the false teachers that he was facing in Corinth. A humble and weak Paul accelerated the gospel’s progress so that it has spread everywhere (2:14). This has to be frustrating for Satan. Satan’s strikes against us only sharpen us. Our setbacks become steps forward. Our pitfalls become progress. Our wounds from the enemy become weapons against him. How frustrating for Satan and encouraging for us. God uses evil for the advancement of good.
This does not mean that Paul enjoyed weakness in itself. He delighted in the power of Christ that rested upon him in his weakness. Paul’s pain was a stage for God’s power. He delighted in the divine display, not the evil event. The phrase “rest upon me” is powerful. The word here means to make a tent or dwell. This brings up the imagery of the Old Testament when God would dwell with His people in the Tabernacle. This exact phrase is used to speak of Christ dwelling with humanity when He became a man. It also describes how God dwells with His people in the New Heavens and Earth in Revelation. God’s power is present in your pain. He is right there with you, crying with you, holding you, whispering in your ear, saying, “I will not waste this pain. I will use this pain for my Glory and your good.”
2 Corinthians 11:10, “10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
In verse 10, Paul applied the lesson he learned from the Lord through the experience of the thorn in the flesh to all the various difficulties he experienced in his life. This is an invitation to see that this principle also applies to us. God doesn’t waste a hurt but makes us holier through them. Pain is a stage for God’s power, a catalyst for our character, and a testament to the world. It comforts my soul greatly to know that God uses all the suffering in this world for good. This doesn’t make these evil things good, and God didn’t need them; they were not a part of His original design. God is not only using evil and suffering; He will end them.
Revelation 21:1-4, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
I can’t wait for that day. It’s not here yet, and in my opinion, it can’t get here soon enough. I don’t know when that day will come, but I know it’s coming, and that gives me great hope.
There is a mess, and God is cleaning it up. I know why there is a mess. I know that God will clean it up. I don’t know how He will clean it up. I don’t know when it will be all clean. I know that God uses evil. I don’t know how He uses evil in every situation. The Scriptures don’t answer every question about suffering, but they do answer the most critical questions: How did it get here? And will it go away? Humanity brought suffering into the story; God will take it out.
Cleaning up this mess comes at a great cost to God. God is cleaning up the mess by suffering Himself. God suffers more than us so that we won’t suffer anymore. The greatest suffering in history happened on the cross when Christ suffered for the sins of the world by enduring the wrath of God the Father. God is not indifferent to our suffering. He suffered for us so we would not have to endure the greatest form of suffering, eternal separation from God in hell.
I hope you will trust God more after walking through these Scriptures on suffering. If you are in a season of great suffering, I hope you can trust that God is grieving this season with you, using it for some good purpose, and will one day bring it to an end. I hope you can trust that He loves you even when He doesn’t grant your request for your suffering to end. I pray that if pain and suffering have caused you to stop believing or made you hesitant to believe, that you would see Christ's willingness to suffer on your behalf, showing you how much He loves you and how serious God is about cleaning up the mess of sin that humanity made, and that you would trust Him with your life.
Life-Level Application
Head: Read Acts 2:22-24 and 4:27-28. List the people who played a part in the crucifixion of Jesus. How were the intentions of these individuals different? How do those intentions change the moral quality of their involvement?
Heart: Read Luke 12:4-7. What is the greatest danger that humanity can face? How does Jesus’ teaching on the love of God in verses 6 and 7 relate to the fear He speaks about in verses 4 and 5?
Hand: Read Genesis 37:3-4, 18-21, 23-24, 28, and 50:20-21. How did Joseph’s view of God’s control over his life change his heart toward his brothers? How do these passages encourage you to treat those that have hurt you?
Habit: Read 2 Corinthians 12:8-10. What was Paul’s response when God didn’t grant his request? How do you respond when God doesn’t grant your request? How does this passage encourage you to respond better?