Why Does God Allow People to Suffer?

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Two Witnesses Walk the ‘Endless Path of Misery’ Left by Super Typhoon Haiyan.  More than 10,000 feared dead as evangelical relief workers in Tacloban report devastation in Philippines. Tacloban is the highly urbanized capital of the province of Leyte (360 miles southeast of Manila).
After abandoning her van and walking for eight hours “over electrical posts and passing by dead people along the way,” Mary Ann Zamora (an emergency communications worker for World Vision) finally arrived in Tacloban, one of the Philippine cities worst hit by Typhoon Haiyan. (The locals call it Typhoon “Yolanda”.)  It was one of the world’s strongest storms in recorded history.  It is estimated to have been 3 & ½ times the strength of Hurricane Katrina.

Zamora says:
“The road we took last night looks like an endless path of misery. There are survivors approaching me, all are in tears, to ask for favors, to send messages to their worried relatives,”

Christian relief agencies, especially ones in Asia, were mobilizing teams to provide shelter, food, and medical care. Philippine officials say they expect the death toll to be over 10,000 in Tacloban alone. Air transports are bringing in blankets, plastic sheeting & shelters for the living, and body bags for the thousands upon thousands whose bodies litter the landscape.
You would be hearing a lot more about it, if a similar situation occurred in America.  And we would be asking the same thing the Philippine people are asking right now.  “Why does God allow such suffering?”

There is no quick and easy answer to this question, especially when it was your loved one who was washed out to sea.  To truly understand this living nightmare, we need to gain a perspective that is much larger than our circumstances. Because of our finite understanding, when we are hurt like this, we sit like Job and wonder “Where in the world is God”. When trouble like this hits, it is the number one question on everyone’s mind.  Why does God allow this to happen?   It is distressing that natural disasters are often termed “acts of God” while no “credit” is given to God for years, decades, or even centuries of peaceful weather.

Let me try and clarify a few things.  As God created the world, there was no suffering, no tears, no pain, no tragedies to make us wonder.  All of our suffering comes from the free will that God has given us, and our tendency to use that free will in choosing poorly.  As Adam and Eve fell, so all of creation fell with them.  The garden paradise that protected them was now gone, and they were now subject to the rage not only of mankind, but to the broken creation of nature herself.  Most natural disasters are a result of these laws at work. Hurricanes, typhoons, and tornadoes are the results of divergent weather patterns colliding. Earthquakes are the result of the earth’s plate structure shifting. A tsunami is caused by an underwater earthquake.

As we look at the 20th century alone we are horror struck by what happened, and most of it due to our own poor choices.  From the wars, to the killing fields, to the extermination camps, to the ethnic cleansing, disease and terrorist activity the suffering is in Biblical proportions.  Never in the history of the world has there been a century like the one we just finished. If you add to that the disease, and plagues and accidents, it is just too much to even comprehend.

So why doesn’t God just come down and stop it all?  Well, the truth is that He is getting ready to do just that.  But as we wait for the return of Jesus to bring peace and order to the world; the suffering rages on privately and worldwide.  The question we should be asking is why did God allow us to choose in the first place?  And why does He allow us to continue choosing today, given our bad track record?

He wants us to love Him freely.  He does not want androids or robots.  In order to love freely, we must have to choose.  And we do so every day. Most often we choose rather selfishly or poorly, if you will. For the most part, we are our own main concern.  We choose the things that we think are best for us, in the sense that they will make us truly happy in life.

The Bible proclaims that Jesus Christ holds all of nature together (Colossians 1:16-17). Could God prevent natural disasters? Absolutely! Does God sometimes influence the weather? Yes, as we see in Deuteronomy 11:17 and       James 5:17.
Is every natural disaster a punishment from God? Absolutely not.  In much the same way that God allows evil people to commit evil acts, God allows the earth to reflect the consequences sin has had on creation.Romans 8:19-21;  Sin is the ultimate cause of natural disasters just as it is the cause of death, disease, and suffering.

Secondly, realize that God is not the author of evil.  He does not cause evil and He does not tempt us into doing wrong.  That is the Devil’s business in this world.  Satan wants to destroy of as many of God’s creatures and creation as he can.  He means it for evil.  But God allows it to happen for quite a different reason.  If He gives Satan permission to tempt us like he did to Job, David, and Jesus (to name only 3) you can be assured that it is somehow for the good of his followers, for justice and righteousness, and for His own glory.  Satan tempted Jesus, hoping that He would succumb to sinning like the rest of humanity.  But God allowed it and used it to test Jesus and to strengthen Him for the ministry that He was getting ready to undertake.

The continued poor choices we make help contribute to the suffering within this world. But without having the ability to choose, we would not have the ability to love, for love cannot be forced but only chosen. And love is what our relationship with God is based upon.

And finally, God wants us to know that this suffering is only temporary.  Paul called our suffering in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “our light and momentary troubles.”  And he would know, given all that God dragged him through
until his dying day. John assures us in Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.”

Knowing this does not minimize the pain and hurt and heartache associated with living in a broken and sinful world.  But it does give us hope.  We have an everlasting and ever-loving God who is with us and in us during such times.   He will provide the strength and peace we need to be sustained during the dark places known as the valley of the shadow of death.

Why did God allow the tsunami to kill over 225,000 people in Asia? Why did God allow Hurricane Yolanda to destroy the homes of thousands of people?  Such events shake our confidence in this life and force us to think about eternity. Churches are usually filled after disasters as people realize how tenuous their lives really are and how life can be taken away in an instant. What we do know is this: God is good!

Sola Gratia – Pastor Mike


693 Responses to “Why Does God Allow People to Suffer?”

  1. lauyjap says:

    gohite

  2. Mary costello says:

    My question is,. Why does the suffering have to be so violent? Such as rape, car accidents. Murder. Horrific storms that wipe out a city a day kill so many. Why so extreme, violent and painful?

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