A Loving God who Allows Suffering

Why does God allow bad things to happen? Why do Christians have to deal with tragedy? Why would a loving God allow suffering?

I remember thinking about these questions as a young child. Oftentimes, my father and I would talk about them as we ran errands, ate supper, or were even whispering as we were in a hunting stand. I am so thankful that my parents welcomed these difficult questions. An adult, I look back and realize what a blessing it is that the people that I confided in to answer these hard questions always pointed me to the inerrancy of Scripture. Being raised as a pastor's child, most people would think that I have never seriously thought about objections to the faith seriously, but as a child I certainly did. Honestly, it was after I had accepted the gift of Salvation in Christ alone that I still grappled with some hard questions as well. What I came to realize is that each subjective objection to the faith actually points to the objective truth of who Christ is as revealed in Scripture. As you read about my journey of discovering that apologetics is an act of worship, you too will reach deep into your heart and unearth the human questions you have and be satisfied with Scripture's answer.

One August afternoon, it seemed like all the loose ends were unraveling. I stood in the front yard, looked up to the sky, and realized that what I had known as "normal" days were over. As a twelve year old girl, I had just experienced reviving my two month old brother from going unresponsive and limp for several minutes. I praise God for equipping me emotionally to perform CPR on him. However, dealing with Gideon's medical condition for the first three years of his life made me think about the hard objections to the faith like: How would a loving God allow suffering? Vividly, I remember gazing at the night sky that afternoon and thinking, "Lord show me how to rely on you. Please give me strength to turn to you in this! Oh Lord, hear my cry". He did. In fact, He answered that prayer- as well as the question about suffering- in a way that I would never imagine.

The next day our family woke up to water creeping into our house. We would soon be victims of the Great Flood of 2016 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As a family of six, we crawled out of our kitchen window in order to evacuate. Floating down our street in a boat, I remember asking the Lord, "How can this be the answer to my question?" In His omnipotence, He knew just what I needed to learn in answering that very question: "Why would a loving God allow suffering?" The answer to that supposed objection rests in the character of God. I needed to dig deep into Scripture. I needed to abandon the idols of my heart. I needed to truly experience God's sovereignty, and if the Lord needed to strip away my possessions, my "normal", and almost my baby brother's life to do that- so be it. The Lord allowed suffering and hardship to radically make me hunger for His Word and realize that He is my everything.

John Calvin says it well when he said, “You must submit to supreme suffering in order to discover the completion of joy."

In the weeks following, my family would live in a hotel, put almost all of our possessions by the road due to water damage, and commute weekly to the hospital with Gideon's ongoing yet undiagnosed condition. By God's grace, I hungered for His Word for strength in a way that I had never experienced before. I was truly experiencing what it meant to live by the Spirit and let Him take hold of my life. I was not perfect, though. I still experienced an ongoing fear of Gideon not coming out of one of his episodes. Yet God had revealed His character to me through His Word and the church gathering around my family in this valley.

Praise God that Gideon was finally diagnosed with a severe case of Cyanotic Breath-holding Spells a year after his first episode, and the Lord provided a home for our family after almost six months of living in a hotel after the flood. Looking back on these events, I see the Lord's glory revealed through who He is even when our lives are shaken. Reflecting on that very question I asked as I looked up at the sky before all these events, I want to remind you of the question I asked, "Why would a loving God allow suffering?"

The first part of this question we need to examine is what the term "loving God" truly means. The question assumes something about God. If we do not break down the presumptions, we will be lead to a flawed conclusion. From the perspective of culture, they define "loving God" as a being who tolerates anything we want to do. However, that is false. Biblically, 1 John 4:16 says that God is love. Because of the fall of man, sin entered the word. Sin has consequences. With mankind being totally deprived, we are in need of a God of justice and righteousness. God does not possess love as we do; He is the epitome of love. Therefore, He cannot do anything unloving. According to the logical law of non-contradiction, something cannot be both true and untrue at the same time.

If God is love, then He cannot be at the same time unloving.

The second part of the question supposes that God would take away suffering if He truly is omnipotent. Oftentimes in our finite minds we forget that suffering is actually a result of mankind's sin in the Garden of Eden in Genesis. Being a God of justice, He gave consequences. Romans 5:12 states, “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—.”

Logically said,

(premise 1) the root of suffering is sin not God himself.

(premise 2)Totally deprived people sin.

(conclusion) Therefore, the root of suffering is from our total depravity.

Solving the seeming contradiction between a loving God and the reality of evil is usually referred to as a theodicy. According to CompellingTruth.com, "A theodicy attempts to solve the apparent tensions in what is often termed the problem of evil. But the problem of evil is really a series of problems." Like many large problems, sometimes it is helpful to break them down into their constituent parts The way of theodicy (from the Greek theos, “God,” and dikaios, “just”; hence, a justification of the ways of God in his dealings with men) seeks to demonstrate God’s reasons for permitting evil. The idea is that by allowing evil God attains greater good than possible apart from evil. (Strong's Greek Dictionary)

In applying this Greek understanding to the cannon of Scripture, it clearly shows God's love stemming from his righteousness, justice, and perfection. Romans 5:8 (ESV) says, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." God's love is sacrificial. The greatest picture of true love in all of history is the Gospel. God sent His one and only Son to die on a cross to pay the price for our sins. That is love. That is sacrifice. That is the Gospel. David recognizes this while worshiping and says in Psalm 86:15 (ESV) "But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." Jeremiah the prophet records the infinite live of the Lord and says in Jeremiah 31:3 (ESV), "The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you." This leads us to recognize the following point:

Christ not only exhibits love; Christ is the epitome of love.

Now that the first term "loving God" has been addressed, let us turn our eyes to the full question at hand. Oftentimes, when individuals grapple with the question, "Why would a loving God allow suffering," they make a logic inference. Some prepose that if God is loving, then He would not allow suffering. However, the root of suffering flows directly from the fall, total depravity of man, and our rebellion against the total perfection of Christ.

C. S. Lewis said in his book The Problem of Pain,

“Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free-wills involve, and you find that you have excluded life itself.”

Scripture confirms this in Romans 5:12 (NIV) which describes the consequences and says, “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—.” A quick illustration of this point is found earlier in Romans 9:17 (ESV) when Paul says, "For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth'". Suffering, pain, and sorrow will exist until Christ returns for those who have placed their trust in Christ alone through the gospel. Second Corinthians 4:17 (NIV) "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." For the Christian, the promises in Revelation should bring great consolation.

Evil serves a purpose in God's plan, but He will one day fully destroy evil after using it for His purpose. The writer of Revelation says in Revelation 21:4 (ESV) says that one day God 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 came to realize that each subjective objection to the faith actually points to the objective truth of who Christ is as revealed in Scripture. The answer to that supposed objection rests in the character of God. When responding to the question, "Why would a loving God allow suffering" we should respond with humility. In review, the first part of this question we need to examine is what the term "loving God" truly means. The second part of the question supposes that God would take away suffering if He truly is omnipotent. Being omnipotent, God knows that pain and suffering can humble us. Sorrow directs us to discover where our hope rests-Christ alone. It is vital to remember that as Deuteronomy 29:29 (ESV) says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." Being finite humans, we must trust and cling to to the promise that God's character remains the same.

When tragedy strikes, pain cuts deep, and suffering is strong, we must not call into question the character of God. The real question we must ask is this: Are we in a place in our faith where we can truly trust God? If suffering brings the Lord more glory than my desires for myself, will I submit and cling to the character of God?

I wish I could go back in time and give that little girl gazing at the sky a few words of advice. If that were possible, I would say the following six words: "Cling to the character of God!" I pray that my story of grappling with this very question will encourage you to dig deep in the Word of God to find answers to the hard questions. In retrospect, I would not trade anything for the glory the Lord brought Himself through a flood, Gideon's medical issues, and the suffering during that season of life. Tragedy is not the time to determine your theology. Do not wait until almost everything else is taken through a flood to hunger for Scripture. John Piper once said, “This is God's universal purpose for all Christian suffering: more contentment in God and less satisfaction in the world.” The time is now! So, cling to the character of God and let His love radiate through your suffering for His glory.

My prayer is that the Lord will help you hold fast to the promise in

Romans 8:28 (ESV) which says, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

Written on March 8, 2023 by Kelby Grace Beeson