This is a question that has plagued mankind since the beginning of time. Why did my brother, Terry have to suffer a slow painful death from throat cancer. I prayed. My mother prayed. Many prayed. But the pain and suffering only grew worse until my sister-in-law, on orders from the doctor, gave Terry enough morphine that it stopped his heart. Only death could relieve the pain that he suffered. The morphine could not. Where was the good and loving and caring God that the Bible tells us about and that I believe in? Why did He not respond to our prayers?
In a national survey commissioned by by author and apologist Lee Strobel, asked people what question they’d ask if they could only ask God one thing. The number one response was: “Why is there suffering in the world?”1https://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2012/july-online-only/doesgodallowtragedy.html In 1 Corinthians 13:12 we’re told, “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.” Someday we’ll see with clarity, but for now things are foggy. We can’t understand everything from our finite perspective. And frankly, what suffering people don’t really need a big theological treatise on the question of suffering; any intellectual response is going to seem trite and inadequate in most cases. What those who are suffering need more than philosophical or theological answers is the very real and comforting presence of Jesus Christ in their lives.
“Suffering is a part of every life. Rain falls upon every life. All people encounter tragedy. Everybody struggles through hardship—not just Christians. But for the believer, for the child of God, whatever comes into our life first comes through the grid of God’s plan and purpose for our lives. There are no accidents in the life of the believer.” ― Greg Laurie, Why Does God Allow Suffering?
A young woman dies of cancer leaving two young children behind. A baby is born horribly deformed only to die after three short months of life. A family of four is killed by a drunk driver. A factory goes out of business leaving a small town without jobs. On and on the list goes. Pain, suffering, lose. Since the fall of Adam, it has been a part of the human condition. And we can accept that evil people should suffer the consequences of their wicked behavior. We can accept that God would would bring pain and suffering into their lives. But what of the innocent; the righteous; those who seek to do right and to live according to God’s revealed will? Why do these suffer? That is the question that the book of Job addresses.
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