Why does God allow suffering?

There are a number of questions that are typically asked of Christians about God, but none quite so sensitive as the one relating to suffering. Maybe you are reading this out of some experience you have had personally or because you have seen others suffer in some way.

Allow me to tell you a bit about myself. I am twenty years old and suffer from a chronic genetic lung disease called Cystic Fibrosis, as well as having a number of other related health issues. I was diagnosed at the age of 4, so for as long as I can remember my life has been full of doctors, nurses and hospitals. At times I have spent up to a month or so in hospital and have had to stop university as a result of my health. Despite this, as a Christian I do not have any anger towards God, nor do I have any resentment. Instead I have a comfort in the knowledge that God is in control of my life. You may well have had experiences worse than me and everyone’s experiences of suffering are personal to them, but the way we often think as humans is the same; it’s painful and unwanted.

The question that should be asked first is not ‘why does God allow suffering?’ but rather ‘why do we perceive suffering as being wrong?’ Suffering in the broadest sense means ‘to experience or be subjected to something bad or unpleasant’. I think this is quite an accurate description of what it is to suffer. Why do we think of famine, disease, death, war as suffering? I think for the answer we need to look at what the world used to be like.

The Bible tells us that when God first made the world it was perfect, ‘Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good’ (Genesis 1:31).When God calls something ‘very good’ it must be perfect and indeed nothing at all bad ever happened back then. As we read on in the Bible we see how the first man Adam, the head of the human race, disobeyed God and as a direct result, the world came under a curse and suffering began. It is because we have an inbuilt knowledge that the world we see around us is not as God intended that we see suffering. Suffering therefore is a symptom of the greatest problem in the world - sin (breaking God’s law).

The Atheist can’t explain suffering, but will tell you that you must just accept it as part of life. As a Christian I know that suffering is unnatural and God is not happy with it. God does not stop the suffering in the world yet, for reasons that we cannot fully understand. However, that doesn’t mean He can’t. The Bible tells us that one day the Lord Jesus Christ will return to this earth to gather all His people to heaven where, ‘there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away’ (Revelation 21:4).

The way to go to heaven is to put your faith and trust in Jesus. You must own up to your own sin, believe that Jesus’ death on the cross was sufficient to pay your punishment and asking God for forgiveness. The Bible says ‘Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near’ (Isaiah 55:6).

James Chittenden