The Theological Significance of Suffering - Part I

I am sure you have heard these questions: “How can a loving God allow suffering in the world?” Or "What good is it to be a Christian if God allows the same pain to afflict one’s life as the non-Christian?"  There is so much about suffering that is off-stage, you might say, hidden from us in God's will and ways, that one really can't blame the doubter. 

I have heard some say that the existence of suffering makes little sense if we are really living in a world God created and sustains.  So why does it exist?  Philip Yancey, said: “The problem of pain is a modern obsession, the theological kryptonite of our time.” The world cannot wrap its mind around the co-existence of suffering and a loving, active God. And because of that many people conclude that God's existence is impossible or, at least, highly improbably.

Before we do anything about the questions, let's address a few housekeeping matters. First, we will assume God exists. (I know He does, but just go with me on this.) Second, we will acknowledge two routes to the realization of His existence: faith and reason (not to suggest they are on equal footing). Faith, while requisite to a relationship with God and to living a Christian life, is not required for their discovery: Certainly, one can come to God through faith - a simple decision, but he can also through reason, employing evidence to build logically to the undeniable conclusion of God's reality. (Some Christians see reason as a sort of anti-faith or humanistic counterfeit - one must believe his way to everything. I argue that any ability God has given us - including the ability to reason - should be employed to knowing God and living His Word better. Besides, if we deny reason a role in our faith, we rob ourself of the intellectual architecture required to construct an understanding of suffering and its place in the life of a Christian.)

Now, before we try to answer “How can a loving God allow suffering in the world?”, let's carefully examine the question's meaning and premises. What is “loving”? If one considers the context of the word in the question, it is clear that loving is defined as an act of preventing harm and suffering from afflicting the objects of one’s love.  God’s love is quite different. Three passages illustrate that clearly: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son.  Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.  What son is not disciplined by his father?” (Hebrews 12:5b-7)  “’For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

Further illustrative of God’s love is the good he helps us bring out of bad situations. In his letter to the Roman church, Paul said, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Does this mean that all bad things are made good somehow? No. No matter where we are with the Lord, some things are and always will be undeniably bad. What Romans 8:28 tells us is that with God's help, bad things can be made to have good long-term benefits if we learn through them and from them; if we allow them to make us better somehow; and if, most importantly, we allow them to bring us closer to God.

God’s love is not just about shielding one from harm - which often results from bad behavior or poor decisions.  That is the misguided love of the world.  That is the kind of love which can enable or cause more suffering. God’s love is about bringing glory to Himself through His plan for His children - for us. That requires sacrificial love and disciplinary love, as well as tender, protective love. God never waivers in giving us what we need, which is often in conflict with what we want.

Next, what is “God”?  Again the context and nature of the suffering question suggests the world’s answer.  God is who worldly man thinks He is – a being made in the image of us and not the other way around; a being enclosed in the walls of our limited perception.  Since man cannot understand the role and purpose of suffering; since he cannot understand God’s plan for His creation; since he cannot fully understand God’s nature; and because he is fallen, man brings God “down to size”, into a neat, simple explanation that precludes the supernatural, denies standards to which man might be held accountable, and dismisses phenomena for which man’s reason provides no answer.   There is no room for faith in this equation. No wonder God said, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (I Corinthians 2:14)

For the Christian, God is who His Word says He is (assuming the Christian knows what God’s Word says).  God is a god of infinite power, all-knowing, all-seeing, full of love, mercy, and grace.  God is a god of justice, cause and effect, actions and consequences.  So, unlike secular man, Christian man does not rationalize away God’s power or the supernatural, which, unfortunately for some, leaves the loving God-suffering dilemma mostly intact.

We now move on to the word “allow”?  To allow implies someone has the power to prohibit.  If they do not, then their allowing is no more than a fiction that may or may not be observed by the object of their decision.  When one questions why God would “allow”, he is asking why God permits suffering to occur?  God indeed allows suffering, but not just in a permissive way.  God also allows suffering in a directive, positive way: “ . . . but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4)  I

Isn't it ironic that suffering can produce hope? It can! Well, that is enough to digest for one post. Stay tuned. Next time in "The Theological Significance of Suffering - Part II", I will define "suffering", and then start bringing everything together in an answer to "How can a loving God allow suffering in the world?"