Why
Does God Allow Suffering?
By:
Lisa Davis
(ironically
written a year before my husband died)
I know that God has allowed me to
suffer in my life in order to humble me and strengthen my character.
Paul says in Philippians, “I want to know Christ and the power of his
resurrection and the fellowship of sharing
in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain
to the resurrection from the dead.” (Phil. 3:10-11) I have often wondered when reading this
verse, why does Paul say he wants to
share in his sufferings? Why would
anyone want to suffer?
Paul knew, from knowing the life of
Christ, that we must die before we can live, meaning we must die to ourselves
first. As long as I live for myself, I
am imprisoned by myself. I am plagued
with fears, and I want to protect myself from anything. I want to take care of number one, me.
However, Jesus said, “Whoever wishes to
save his life will loose it, but whoever looses his life for my sake will find
it” (Mt. 16:25 ). As long as I was consumed with making myself
feel happy and accomplished, I was not happy.
It was only when I tried to help others and forget myself that I found
happiness.
Paul notes that because Jesus “became
obedient to death, even death on a cross…. God exalted him to the highest
place….that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Phil. 2:8-10). Jesus was humble and did not consider his own
comfort more important than saving me.
Therefore, why would I consider my comfort more important than helping
others. I am supposed to model my life
after Christ. His example was to die for
others. Though in America
Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my
disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Luke 9:23 ). To deny myself means as long as my needs are
met I do not need anything else. I do
not need more food in my refrigerator than I can eat in a week. I do not need ten sweaters if I already have
two. To “take up my cross” means to
carry an electric chair around with me all the time. He means that symbolically I should always be
ready to die for what I believe. I
should not worry what people will think of me if I actually live out my
faith. What God thinks of me is more
important than what anyone else does.
Jesus said, “Whoever acknowledges me
before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven, but whoever
denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven”
(Mt. 10:32-33).
Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the
gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who
believes” (Rom.
Jesus said to his disciples, “Unless a
kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single
seed. But if it dies, it produces many
seeds.” (Jn. 12:24) Jesus was a single
seed before he died on the cross. However,
after he died, his spirit descended on mankind and produced many little Christs;
that is what Christian means, little Christ.
He multiplied himself by dying.
It was not until he died that he was able to do so.
In the same way I died as a child, my innocence
died, a part of my heart died, but if my death and resurrection in Christ can
produce more life it was worth it.
As Paul says in Romans, “We know that in
all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Rom. 8:28 ). The event of my abuse or Roger’s death itself
was not good. Satan intended to possibly
keep me from a relationship with God or from ever enjoying my life, but what
Satan meant to destroy me God can use to transform me.
Joyce Meyer said when giving her testimony
about her father raping her that she would not take any of it back. I was somewhat shocked to hear that. I always thought if I could take back what my
dad did I would. However, she knows that
she is the person today because of what happened to her. Perhaps I would not have the relationship
with God that I have now if I was not misused as a child. Since I had nowhere else to turn to, I turned
to God.
It is true that the fruit of the spirit
grows best, not on the hilltops, but in the valleys. Though hilltop experiences are nice, it is in
the hard times that I have been refined by fire. I was most alive when I was on mission trips
in third world countries.
I have learned most, not when something
came easy to me, but when I had to struggle to accomplish something. Every day is a struggle for me to keep my
mind focused on good things.
As Peter says, “Though now for a little
while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater
worth than gold…may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor
when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Pet.
1:7-8) My faith is more important than
my happiness. We will all have to give
an account one day for what we do in this life.
Peter states that my suffering will bring “praise, glory and honor” when
I am judged in the last day.
Paul says, “For our light and momentary
troubles are achieving for us a glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes, not on what is seen but
what is unseen. For what is temporary,
but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18 ). Paul says that my troubles are “light.” Granted I may not see them in the midst of
the trauma as light but looking back on it, they may seem light. He also says they are “momentary.” They only last for a short time. In the perspective of how long eternity is,
they can seem to be only a second in time.
Paul said they “achieve for us a
glory.” Jesus said, “Blessed are those
who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven” (Mt. 5:10 ). When other people try to put out my light, I
will be rewarded for at least trying to shine in the darkness. Paul says “what is seen is temporary.” It will not last forever. “But what is unseen is eternal.” I will be with God forever in heaven. Therefore, where I stand with him is what
matters most.
Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those
who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell”
(Mt. 10:28 ).
I once heard a story of a martyr of
the early church who was about to be burned alive for his faith. Before he was tied up, a younger Christian
asked him, “Aren’t you afraid?” The
older one said, “No, because God has strengthened me to do this.” The younger one said, “Do me a favor, if it
still worth it when you are being burned raise your hand.” So after the old man was roped to a log and
the flames starting coming up around his body he rose his hand in the air, and
the boy was encouraged to press on in the fight.
Jesus said in Revelations, “to him who
overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne” (Rev. 3:21). I believe we are in the last days. I believe it will only get worse from here on
out until we come to the end. Jesus
addressed this to what could be considered the church of our modern era. He promised that if we endure the horrors to
come, we will get to rule with him during his thousand year reign.
Sometimes God lets us go through trials
so that we become stronger to endure worse trials.
I wrote to my husband recently that his
life has been incredibly hard, but God made him out of solid iron and knew that
he could handle everything he had been through. It is true that God does not give us more then
we can handle.
I also like the phrase, “Whatever
doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
Since my husband endured what he did, he could work in a prison. Since I experienced what I did, traveling to
a third world country, Calcutta ,
India
God knows what he is doing with us. He has a purpose in everything. If God can cause pain in my short life in
order to save me in eternity, he will.
His ultimate goal was that I would fall on my knees before him and say,
“I can’t do this on my own. I need your
help.” I have had to say that many
times.
Dr. Robert Morey says in his book Fearing
God, “When a true child of God is crushed in the wine press of suffering,
sweet wine comes forth” (FG pg. 53). It
felt like I was being crushed like a grape many times growing up. If I choose to let God do what he wants with
my past, the product can be like “sweet wine.”
God allowed Satan to take everything
dear to Job, just as he allowed Roger to die.
God did not answer any of Job’s questions about why God let him suffer
though. Job says to God that he feels
that he led a blameless life, so why would God allow his life to almost be
destroyed? God responds by saying, “Who
is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question
you, and you shall answer me.” (Job 38:2-3)
God’s answer is essentially “Who are you, Oh man to talk back to God?”
(Rom. 9:20 ) God is God, and we are not. He created everything we see; we created
nothing. God says that Job spoke with
“words without knowledge.” We cannot
understand everything God does, because we are finite beings and God is
infinite.
God says, “As far as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts
than your thoughts” (Is. 55:9). We
cannot begin to fathom or understand all that God knows. Take time for instance. We are born inside of time, but God is outside
of time. This is why I believe we will
not notice the passing of time when we die.
I believe at the moment we go to heaven will be the moment talked about
in Revelations when Jesus sits on the great white throne and divides the sheep
from the goats. We will not have to wait
for anyone. We will be there at the same
time as if we all died at the same time, because we will then be outside of
time. God has no time. He has always been, and he always will be.
I read a beautiful story about a woman
who was afraid to die because she would be going to heaven before her
husband. She was sad and was afraid she
would miss him. But one day she told her
husband she felt ok about dying. He
asked, “Why are ok with it now?” And she
said, “Because I was just told that where I am going, you already are.” It is a mystery, but God can give us eyes to
see.
God then says that he will question Job
as Job questioned God. It is like God
says, “Before I answer your questions, you can answer mine.”
God asks, “Where were you when I laid
the earth’s foundations?” (Job 38:4) Job
was obviously not in existence at that time.
God is pointing out the fact that the created cannot be greater than the
creator. He rhetorically says to Job, “Did
you help create the world? Are you my
equal?” Of course, we are far from equal
to God.
God
asks, “Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook?” (Job 41:1) The leviathan is most likely a reference to a
dinosaur the way it is described by God.
God basically says to Job, “Do you have
control over my wild, unruly creation?
No. Of course not. So what makes you think you can control me? What makes you think you can put me in a
box?” God is wild indeed. He is unpredictable.
We seem to have this concept of him as a
teddy bear. Where did that come
from? Yes he is loving, but he is also
just. The earth disappeared and
swallowed up hundreds of people when God was angry at the Israelites. His people, whom he loved dearly, saw the
wrath of God many times.
Does a teddy bear send plagues of locust
on Egypt
All Job can say in response to God is,
“my ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust
and ashes.” Job knew about God perhaps
from reading what Moses wrote in the first five books of the Bible. He had heard stories about God, but he had
never experienced God.
His response was to despise himself and
repent. He despised the fact that he
even questioned God. He felt a bit sure
of himself before he heard God speak. He
thought that, out of anyone alive, he would have justifiable reasons to say why
he did not deserve what was happening to him.
After hearing God’s voice he repented of his complaints and fell in awe
of God.
I am reminded of the song, “Turn your
eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his
wonderful face. And the things of earth
will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.” Once we look at Jesus, everything in this
life becomes “dim.” We do not see it
anymore, because we gain a new perspective when we compare our lives that are
like a mist with the radiance of Christ.
In Revelation John has a vision of
Jesus. He says, “His face was like the
sun shining in all its brilliance. When
I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.” (Rev. 1:16-17). He “fell at his feet as though dead.” I have never done that. I can imagine if I saw a tornado or a tsunami
headed toward me I might have the same reaction. Paul was blinded for days after he saw the
brilliance of God. I read once that in
heaven, we will not need the sun because all of heaven will be kept bright by
God’s radiance. God’s intense light is
beyond our comprehension.
God is not one to be questioned. He is one to be feared. God always has his reasons for doing what he
is doing in our lives. Ultimately, the
only thing we need to know about God is that he is good and that he loves us
very much. Any knowledge beyond that we
would most likely not be able to comprehend anyway due to our finite minds.
James says, “What is your life? You are
a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14) Whenever we begin to think we lead lives of
the utmost importance, it would be good to remember God’s words to Job.
Another reason God allows suffering in
our lives is so that we can have compassion for others. It can give us a new perspective on life, and
we can then tell others who are suffering, “I have been there.”
Some people think that God does not
understand the pain they are going through, but Jesus died the cruelest death imaginable. He was “a man of many sorrows.” He understands.
Not only does he understand physical
pain, he understands the height of emotional pain as well. He was rejected by his own father, God. “At the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud
voice…. ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” For a moment in time God the father could not
even look at his one and only beloved son because the entire world’s sins
covered Jesus. It was not just the sins
of the people alive then, but the sins of anyone who had ever lived from Adam
and Even until now. Over 3,000 years of
people’s sins covered Jesus!
The sight was so repulsive in the sight
of a holy God that for a moment he turned his back on his son.
Jesus knew exactly what he was about to
go through. It was not the physical pain
of having his flesh ripped by the whips or the nails pierce his wrists and feet
or the excruciating crown of thorns that he was dreading in the garden of Gethsemane. I believe he was most afraid of being abandoned
by his father, even for a moment.
Three times he prayed, “My Father, if it
is possible, may this cup be taken from me.
Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Mt. 26:39). God let his own son endure extreme physical,
emotional and spiritual pain. Jesus did
not want to suffer, just as we do not want to suffer. However he said, “Not my will, but thy will
be done.”
God is the potter and we are the
clay. He is constantly pruning us as
someone prunes a bush. Sometimes it
feels like he is literally cutting pieces off of us. Of course that would hurt, but wisdom sees
that it is ultimately for our own good.
James says, “The testing of your faith develops perseverance.” God does test us, sometimes very hard, but
only in the hope of making us stronger.
We also suffer as a result of free
will. Many have heard the argument for
free will. God did not want robots to
worship Him. The equivalent would be if
you were single and there was someone you liked. Suppose that as long as they were under the
influence of a drug, they were madly in love with you. Yet all the while you would know that they
only loved you because of the drug’s affect.
How would that feel? Wouldn’t it
be better if they were free to either love or hate you?
Love is so amazing and fulfilling
because that same person who loves you is also free to completely loath the
core of your being.
We do not realize how wonderful good is unless
it is contrasted with evil. White seems
brightest next to black. The light of
the dawn is appreciated most because it follows the pitch black darkness of
night.
Due to free will sin entered the
world. The world is under a curse, and
Satan is temporarily in charge of the world as we know it, not God. God ultimately has control, but after the
fall he allowed Satan to have free reign for the time being.
However, with Jesus’ death on the cross
He overcame Satan’s power. Jesus said,
“Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will
be driven out. But I, when I am lifted
up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (Jn. 12:31 -32).
Paul states, “Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a
public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Col. 2:15). Jesus was describing the type of death he
would die; he was lifted up on the cross, and because he rose from the dead,
many put their faith in him.
Jesus drove Satan out in a spiritual
sense because he rescued man from their enslavement to sin. Before Jesus, Satan had every man in slavery
to sin, meaning they could not not sin.
Even following the law could not save people. It was not until Jesus took the payment for
our sins that we could be free from sin’s chains.
When sin entered the world God’s
creation was cursed as well, which is the reason we have so many natural
disasters and earthquakes. When Adam was
formed he was given dominion over the physical world. God said to him, “Fill the earth and subdue
it. Rule over every living creature” (Gen. 1:28). When man sinned and ate the fruit God said to
man, “Cursed is the ground because of you” (Gen. 3:17). Paul notes in Romans, “The creation was
subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who
subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its
bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God”
(Rom. 8:20-21). When man rebelled
against God the curse of death and destruction not only affected mankind but
also nature, because man was made responsible for nature. Tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, etc. are an
outward manifestation of the destruction that inwardly takes place inside of us
as a result of sin. We wonder why God
allows the world to be torn apart by natural disasters, but we only have
ourselves to blame. We did it to
ourselves.
The premise is that if any man alive was
in Adam’s place, and any woman was in Eve’s place, we would have done the same
thing. Some people say, “No I would have
never done what they did.” Well that
would be because we have seen the effects of their one bad choice. Hindsight is 20/20. Adam and Even did not know the ramifications
of their simple action. They did not
realize that they were essentially nailing Jesus, God, to the cross just by
eating one little piece of fruit.
It was harmless, right? That is what we think every day when we tell
a little lie, or cheat on something, or look at something we shouldn’t look
at. Scripture states, “The heart is
deceitful above all things and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
I once heard in a sermon that before
Christ we aren’t just drowning, we are laying dead at the bottom of the
ocean. We are completely lost before
being regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
“The heart is deceitful” because we are born with a rebellious sinful
nature. The only cure is Jesus. The law could not cure it. Self-help psychology books cannot cure
it. No amount of worldly intelligence
can cure it. No other religion or
meditation or step to get to heaven can cure it.
For those who choose God in this life,
God will take away all suffering and pain in the next. Revelation promises, “He will wipe every tear
from their eyes. There will be no more
death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed
away.” (Rev. 21:4)
Paul says, “I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that
day.” (2 Tim. 4:7-8)
And Maximus says in the movie The
Gladiator, “What we do in life echoes into eternity.” We may suffer in this life, but we will be
glorified in the next.
I would like to conclude with my
favorite passage in scripture, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more
than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,
for ever and ever! Amen” (Eph. 3:20 -21).
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