How can a loving God allow suffering?

In this post I’m going to be tackling a question which almost everyone asks at some point in their life, Christian, or not - How can a loving God allow suffering? I definitely don’t have all the answers, and I won’t be able to answer all the questions people have on this topic, but based on what I see from the Bible, I’m going to share with you some of my thoughts:

1)      Suffering isn’t from God

It’s important to realise that suffering isn’t from God, but from the Devil. When God finished creating the world, we read in Genesis 1:31 that, ‘’God saw everything that He made, and indeed it was very good.’’ God made everything good, which means he did not create sin or suffering. Sin is neither substance, spirit, being nor matter so cannot be created. We read further on in Genesis: ‘’And the LORD commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” God warned man not to eat from the tree, as He knew the suffering we would endure because of it, but man disobeyed. Sin entered the world when man let his doubt and greed get in the way of his obedience and trust in God. Therefore, man has full responsibility for his sin. Just as God gave Adam and Eve free will, He gives us free will. He has set rules in place for us to follow so that we don’t get hurt and guides us in our everyday lives, but when we disobey Him and go against His perfect plan for our life, we inflict suffering upon ourselves.

2)      God wants to help us in our suffering

It’s like someone who’s been chased up a tree. God is at the bottom of the tree offering to help the person down, but they don’t want to allow God to, because they believe He chased them up the tree in the first place.

 It can be the same way for people who are suffering. Some suffering results from us as humans making bad decisions and some from others making bad decisions, but it is all the work of the Devil. However, many people don’t realise this and think God is the One causing their suffering, so don’t even acknowledge or accept His offer of help or relief from their pain. They ask, ‘how can a loving God allow this to happen to me?’’ when actually, like a loving Father allows his son or daughter freedom, God allows His sons and daughters freedom. God doesn’t control us like puppets, He just gently guides us. Sometimes, though, we make bad decisions and go against God’s guidance and our freedom hurts us and causes us to suffer. We can be so busy blaming God for our suffering that we fail to see He’s actually the One offering to help us out of it.

3)      If God didn’t create suffering, why can’t he just remove it?

God can’t just remove suffering, because suffering is the result of sin, which entered the world when man made the decision to disobey God. If God were to remove suffering, He would have to remove all evil – which would mean removing us! So it’s actually because of His mercy and love that He hasn’t removed suffering from the earth. There WILL be a day when God will remove all evil, as He is too pure to tolerate evil for all eternity, but until that day comes, we must live with the consequences of our sin.

4)      It’s okay to ask God to take away your suffering

We read in Matthew 26, when Jesus is with His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane just before His death: ‘’He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”...’’Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”…’’ So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. ” Even Jesus, just before He was about to die and endure the most horrendous suffering anyone could imagine, asked His Father to remove the suffering that was about to happen, from Him. But, the most important part is that each time he said, ‘nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’’ He was willing to endure even death on a cross for His Father, because He knew that if that was His plan, it was the best plan. We too can ask the LORD to remove our suffering from us, but we must remind ourselves to say to Him, ‘not as I will, but as You will,’’ because His plan is always the best plan.

5)      God can use our suffering for His glory

Sometimes, God removes our suffering and sets us free from our afflictions. But sometimes God uses our suffering as part of His amazing plan for our lives. Even in events that seem as disastrous as Jesus' arrest and crucifixion seemed to the first disciples, God may be preparing you for His sovereign purposes in these times. It’s not that He wants to see you suffer, but He can see the bigger picture and has a plan for your life. He can use your suffering for amazing things! From Jesus’ suffering on the cross we received the greatest gift - salvation and eternal life with our King! There’s also a scripture in Romans 5:3-4 that says – ‘’And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, hope.’’ Which shows us that suffering also produces godly characteristics.

6)       Our suffering is nothing compared to what awaits us!

There’s a verse in Romans 8:18 that says, ‘for I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.’’ Our suffering here on earth is nothing compared to the joy and freedom we will receive in heaven. If we keep in mind that this earth is only temporary, it can help put our suffering into perspective. Revelation 21:4 says – ‘’And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’’ We can look forward to the day when our present sufferings will be completely removed from us!

These are just some of my thoughts, based on what I’ve read in the Bible and heard from other Christians and preachers, and from what I know about God’s character. But I definitely do not have all the answers. There is an element of mystery with God and there’s only so much we can comprehend about Him as human beings. There are some things that we will never understand until we get to heaven and can ask God ourselves.

 ‘’And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.’’

Thank you for reading and please leave a comment below on what you thought of today’s post. I would love to hear your feedback and also receive any questions you may have! (For those having problems leaving a comment, please either use your google account (which should be the top option) or ‘Anonymous’ (you can always sign off with your name so I know who it is!). Hope that helps!

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Love in Christ,

Chloe xxx