Why Does a Good God Allow Suffering?
Evil, pain, and suffering are never far from us.
Why does God allow it? How can a loving God allow suffering? Why does God allow pain? How do we reconcile an all-powerful, caring God with a God who allows bad things to happen?
- Tragedies and suffering flood the news. Why?
- Bad things happen to good people: Why does God allow this?
- Suffering seems to leave no one untouched.
People ask why God allows pain in their lives – emotional pain, physical pain, sadness, and loss. It can even feel like God must not care, or perhaps He isn’t powerful enough or can’t stop the suffering.
Suffering Started with Sin
For better or worse: God allows each of us to be human and make our own choices. He cannot allow human freedom without allowing suffering, or humans would be puppets. Much of the evil and pain in the world is human evil, or human-caused pain, the result of human sin.
God allowed Adam and Eve to make choices. Their choice to sin brought suffering and chaos into the world. But hope was never lost! God’s Word promises that He will create a new heaven and a new earth and there will be “no more mourning or death or pain” because man’s sin will be gone and God will dwell with mankind.
God does not want suffering. God allows mankind to make choices - but sinful choices come under His judgment. He allows evil but judges it, too.
If we were forced to love God, love others, and always be 'perfect', well...then the freedom that Jesus died for certainly wouldn't be freedom. We have a choice. We get to choose.
- Free will to love others and God himself is not free if it disallows other options.
- Sinful desires bring natural consequences including pain, suffering, and heartache.
- Sinful choices also carry spiritual consequences - including God’s judgment.
It Started with Eden and Ends with Eternity
Pain and suffering are a result of sin in the world – people’s sin. Even though God allows suffering and pain caused by sin, He alone can judge sin justly. God’s Word warns us not to judge others.
Though God allows suffering, He will always overcome it.