Scottish Charity No. SCO 09542
Made with Xara
Why does God allow suffering?
We can’t know for sure why God allowed suffering to come into the world, but much of it is
a direct result of our own human sinfulness, e.g. greed, lust, envy, pride. And even where it
is not our own sin, it is usually someone else’s. War and fighting is an obvious example; but
things like drought caused by cutting down of forests to make money for a few, but leads to
crop failures and hunger for others. Sin is at the root.
Suffering comes because this is a fallen world – it is not how God made it to be, but how sin
has twisted it in every way. And that includes what we call natural disasters. The Bible tells
us that the created order around us was impacted by the entry of sin into the world – that
even now we could describe it as groaning as it waits for sin to be undone by God.
Sometimes God uses suffering to cause us to turn to Him from our own ways – they say
there are no atheists on a shipwreck! Sometimes He uses suffering to discipline His
children; sometimes to teach us important lessons about depending absolutely on God for
everything. It is usually very difficult, and often wrong simply to say that a particular
suffering was for a particular reason – especially if we are saying it about someone else!
Often we only see as we look back how God was close to us, helping us through. But for
the Christian we also have the assurance that God works all things together for the good of
those who love Him (Romans 8:28) There is no suffering therefore that is ultimately
pointless – even our pains have meaning in God’s plans.
The good news of the gospel is that God has done something about our suffering – Jesus
died and rose again so that everyone who believes in Him should have eternal life. That life
will be in a new creation when God at last does away with the old, and makes everything
new. Then there will be no suffering – especially because there will be no sin. The point
then is where you’re heading to.
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