Why is there suffering and evil in the world?
People have been struggling to find the answer for thousands of years. Theologians, philosophers, and mystics from every human culture have sought to explain the meaning of pain and despair. Hundreds of books have been written about it. And so far, no one has landed on an answer that satisfies us all.
“Why did Nastya have to suffer? God, why would you allow a child so beautiful to be born with such a terrible disease?”
Why is there suffering and evil in the world?
The world is broken.
Romans 8:18-21
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For 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.
God created humanity in his own image. He wanted to be in community with us, so he gave us choice. Free will. He showed us the pathway of life but gave us the ability to choose whether or not to take it. What did we do with this freedom? We chose to take our own road. We rebelled. We sinned.
Even though today all we see is death and pain and suffering, scripture is full of visions of God’s creation restored to what it was meant to be. The lion lays down with the lamb. The blind receive sight. Pain is no more. Death is vanquished.
Romans 8:22-24
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.
In other words, this is not the end. What we see with our eyes is not all there is. The story is still unfolding. A new creation will one day be born.
If God is all loving and all powerful, then why doesn’t he just snap his fingers and bring an end to all this suffering?
Psalm 13:1-3
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
And every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death.
Sometimes God reveals his plans to us and sometimes he doesn’t. We have no choice but to trust that God is who he says he is. It’s a leap of faith.
Jacob wrestles with God: Genesis 32:22-32
We wrestle. But ultimately, we trust. We trust that God, the author of this story, is who he says he is. We trust that he’s good. That he’s working to redeem this broken creation. To bring freedom and healing and peace.
Psalm 13:5-6
But I trust in your unfailing love;
My heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
For he has been good to me.
Where is God in the midst of my pain?
All throughout scripture we see that God radically identifies with the poor, the marginalized, the sick, and the weak. Never was this more true than with Jesus.
We follow a Creator who longs to bring comfort and peace to those suffering most from the brokenness of this world. Who sweeps in to our deepest pain to bring healing and who has been working since the creation of the world to renew and restore and redeem this broken reality.
“There is a reason for hope; we hope because in Jesus Christ we see the destiny of the entire created order - his bodily resurrection from the dead, and through him the restoration and renewal of the universe, and thus the conquest of decay and death and a new heaven and a new earth. Jesus is the first fruits of a great harvest yet to come.”
-Jerry Sittser, A Grace Revealed
Although we may never understand the reason for suffering in our world, we can be confident of where God is in the midst of it.