If there is one certainty in life, it is that we will experience suffering, either for ourselves or for those around us.
Perhaps the greatest mystery we face as humans who consider the possibility of a supreme being is this: If God exists and loves us as much as Christianity suggests, then why do people in the world suffer? Furthermore, why do bad things happen to good people? What is it all for, and what does any of it mean?
In this article, I will attempt to illuminate what the Bible says about the human condition concerning suffering. While there are no simple answers to big questions like these, I believe God's word provides enough insight to address our world's pain, misery, and sorrow.
Before delving into the issue of suffering, we must first grasp certain aspects of God and humanity's character.
Here's a summary of what we know about God based on the Bible and historical evidence.
GOD'S CHARACTER
GOD IS LOVE
Love lies at the heart of God's essence. He is the author of love; therefore, all true love flows from Him. God loves all of us immensely; as a result, humans can also express love for one another.
GOD IS HOLY
God is holy, which means pure and without sin. The term "holy" also signifies being "separated" or "set apart" from humanity. This term has two important meanings when describing God's character.
Firstly, it means that God resides above all creation and is uniquely distinct from anything on this earth or in the universe He created. In other words, God alone is God—separate, incomparable, and transcendent.
Secondly, God's holiness means that He is above and separated from the moral corruption of His creation, humanity. Therefore, God cannot sin and cannot be accepting of sin.
GOD IS RIGHTEOUS
God is always committed to the highest moral standards. The Bible tells us that God always acts in ways that are consistent with His loving and holy character. In simple terms, He is perfect, as are His works, decrees, and judgments. He will always do what is right.
GOD IS GOOD
God is the author of goodness. God cannot be loving, righteous, or just if He does not judge evil. A world where evil is not restrained or judged adequately would be doomed to collapse altogether.
You see, God almighty is so good, loving, and holy that He must be separated from all things evil, unloving, and unholy. This leads us to the issues set forth by mankind.
To truly understand God's character as it relates to humans, we must understand our role in God's fallen world.
HUMANITY'S CHARACTER
When the first humans were created in God's image, the world was truly good for a time. However, we have since fallen into spiritual decay because the first man and woman sinned harshly against God, creating a divide between us and Him.
THE CORRUPTION OF THE FIRST HUMANS (ADAM & EVE)
Humanity's initial disposition was noble before the first man and woman sinned. Our world, which was initially good, became corrupt because we trusted ourselves rather than God's wisdom.
God did not create us as "moist robots" to control and command us to love Him. Instead, He allows us the freedom to choose love for Him, even if we misuse our free will by sinning against Him. Adam and Eve's decision to trust in themselves and disobey God by eating from the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden betrayed this love.
We, as humans, have separated ourselves from God by choosing to decide for ourselves what is "good or evil" rather than trusting in God as the authority for moral correctness in our lives.
A GUILTY PEOPLE
The corruption of mankind unleashed sin into the world, affecting all of us. As a result of the choices made by the first humans, we are destined to be born into a state of brokenness, and this shared corruption is passed down from generation to generation.
THE COSTLINESS OF SIN
God's justice requires Him to take evil seriously because our wicked deeds have significant consequences. The entire Old Testament sacrificial system was created to show humans that sin is costly and destructive, defacing the good things that God delights in.
THE STORY OF JOB
The Old Testament Book of Job is undeniably one of the most philosophical pieces of literature ever written. It often seems out of place, but it is a powerful reminder that the Holy Bible is anything but tame. Technically, it is a lyrical poem with tremendous depth, and I want to concentrate on the central theme of human suffering, which takes center stage in Job's story.
GOD'S DIALOGUE WITH SATAN
The story of Job begins with a dialogue between God and Satan. One day, Satan tells God that He has been roaming the earth, going "To and fro and walking up and down upon it." Of course, this means that Satan has been doing his rounds on the earth, no doubt causing all manner of trouble.
God then inquires of Satan if he has "considered His servant Job, for there are none like him on all the earth." God describes how morally upright and blameless a man Job is because he worships and exalts God.
God looks upon Job favorably, blessing him with a beautiful family, tremendous wealth, and good health.
After praising Job and extolling his virtues, Satan suggests that Job's devotion to God is based on the blessings he receives rather than genuine love for the Lord. Satan argues that if Job were to lose his blessings, he would abandon his loyalty to God altogether.
So, God does something very interesting and allows Satan to cause misery in Job's life. It is hard to understand why God would do this. After all, no good parent would allow suffering for their children at the hands of an evil-doer, and yet we are to believe that a God who would allow this to happen is righteous, good, and loving.
It is important to understand that God is always in control. God and Satan are never equals (not by a long shot); God must allow Satan to wreak havoc in Job's life; otherwise, Satan is entirely powerless, but make no mistake, God's control is further evidenced by the conditions that He sets on Satan's ability to cause Job to suffer. Satan is allowed to do all but take Job's life.
JOB LOSES EVERYTHING
Satan makes quick work of Job by taking the lives of his children as well as his property and all that it produces. Job's wife curses and forsakes him, and to top things off, Satan even attacks Job's health.
In no time, Job goes from living a life filled with blessings to wishing he had never been born.
Job's three friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar), men of faith in God, visit him to offer sympathy. However, when they see the sorrow that has befallen Job out of seemingly nowhere, they cannot believe that God would allow what has happened to Job for no reason other than to punish him for secret, unrepented sin. They accuse him left and right of whatever undisclosed wrongdoings he has "no doubt" committed.
JOB'S DIALOGUE WITH HIS PEERS
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar cannot quite reconcile what is transpiring in Job's life and initiate a prolonged dialogue with him about how he must be deserving of everything that has happened to him because only good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people.
His "friends," now turned rivals, continue to speak at him and make assumptions about how God runs the world. They condemn Job and even proclaim that he deserves worse! Again, the three men are convinced that Job has done something vile to warrant such misery.
After extended discussions with his three rivals, Job is on the verge of complete despair and hurt because they continue to condemn him. Job then says that the "wicked prosper" and live both long and well despite turning away from God. Job grapples with trying to understand why God is punishing him. Despite his questioning, he believes that God must have a reason for doing so and continues to hold onto his faith, vowing to maintain his integrity.
However, as the story continues, Job is wracked with grief and burdened by so much uncertainty. In his final appeal to God, Job asks many questions about his "supposed wrongdoings" and demands that God review his record. He challenges God to point to an instance of sin that would justify his present circumstances and asks Him to show up to provide an answer. Job has now reached a point where he accuses God of being unjust and incompetent at running the world.
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar stop responding to Job because they see his questioning of God as a sign of complete self-righteousness and start treating Job as a lost cause. All of a sudden, a younger man named Elihu arrives on the scene, full of anger, and rebukes the three men in addition to Job. He draws some unique conclusions about why Job has been allowed to suffer so much.
Elihu starts by stating that God is just and thus operates the universe according to His justice; he then concludes that God may very well inflict suffering on people to serve as a lesson for others to follow to refrain from future sin or to use suffering as a tool to teach people valuable lessons.
Elihu ends his dialogue by recognizing that he does not know why God does what He does, but regardless of the reasoning, Job is wrong to accuse God of being unjust.
JOB'S DIALOGUE WITH GOD
God suddenly appears in a whirlwind and directly answers Job, challenging him in return. God then begins asking Job questions, such as where he was when God laid the earth's foundations, determined its measurements, created morning and evening skies, and established animals' feeding patterns and birth cycles, etc.
God makes the point that He alone is watching over all these cosmic details that Job has never conceived of.
Up to this point, Job and his friends (turned rivals) have concluded and assumed how God ought to run the world according to what is just. When God arrives in the story to speak for Himself, He deconstructs these assumptions. God has always existed and thus has a much broader perspective of the world and an infinitely greater responsibility towards it.
Job then confesses his ignorance and repents to God, acknowledging that he has no place to question Him in any capacity and asking for forgiveness. God then proceeds to rebuke Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, telling them that His "anger burns against them" because they did not speak of Him correctly, as Job did.
God then proceeds to restore Job's health, wealth, and family many times over, and Job lives well, dying as an old man "full of days."
MAKING SENSE OF THE (SEEMINGLY) SENSELESS
The story's ending may seem surprising because God vindicated Job and rebuked his accusers. I can assure you that this is no inconsistency. Instead, it supports one of many truths that the Book of Job is trying to get at, which we will unpack soon enough.
Job never turned his back on God despite his suffering at the hands of Satan. He understood his place in the world and chose to love God, fulfilling what God had hoped for him.
Job's suffering was not meaningless. Instead, it was driven by God's desire to prove Satan wrong and teach humanity a lesson. Ultimately, God restored Job's family, health, and wealth because He deeply cared for Job and wanted to make things right (as He always does).
THE RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE
The first perspective is what I like to call the "religious perspective." Many people of various religions hold this perspective to be true. It is similar to the beliefs of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, who accuse Job of having a secret, unrepented sin that has caused his misery.
It is important to note that many religions outside of Christianity follow this logic because it is the only way we "spiritual" humans can often reconcile the issue of suffering. If we don't have good things happen to us, it is most likely because we do not have enough faith or aren't living well enough. Conversely, if bad things happen to us, then it must be because we are being punished for wrongdoing.
THE SECULAR PERSPECTIVE
The "secular perspective" is often predominant in modern Western societies. It suggests that either God exists but does not effectively intervene in the suffering and disasters of our world or that He does not exist at all, and circumstances in life are entirely random.
SPIRITUAL "DEAD ENDS"
Both these "religious" and "secular" perspectives are spiritual dead ends in that they ultimately lead to nowhere.
Those of us so self-righteous as to say that we are "basically good" ought to think twice about uttering such words in the presence of a God who has His eyes set on everything. God is not necessarily sitting up in heaven rewarding good people with gold stars and bad people with pain and misery.
As Job pointed out, if we take one good look around us and witness the many "prospering people" building their lives off of things, money, status, and popularity, then it becomes clear that God is not going out of His way to allow them to suffer as some other people appearing to be "good" often do.
THE CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
Every Christian must recognize and accept God's mysterious nature, endeavor to build a strong relationship with Him, and continue to love and serve Him even when we don't understand why we suffer. God is always in control, and thinking that we know how God ought to run the universe leads to the same sin that unleashed human suffering upon our world to begin with.
We should not just accept that we will never understand the reason for our suffering; we should embrace that we may never receive an answer for why we suffer as we do.
Loving a God who represents goodness and seeking a relationship with Him is the only way to overcome the evil in our world.
TRUTH #1: WE MUST LOVE GOD ABOVE ALL ELSE
It might seem like God and Satan are playing with an ordinary person, but solely focusing on this aspect overlooks the deeper meaning of Job's story. Satan's belief that Job doesn't truly love God but instead loves the good things he receives from Him catalyzes Job's suffering.
We should keep in mind that Satan's initial goal with Job was to expose and discredit him. It is important to recognize that Job never learned why God allowed him to suffer so greatly. At no point did God explain to Job what transpired with Satan before Job's misery was allowed to occur, nor did He explain to Job why He had allowed such suffering to take place.
Looking back on the story now, it is evident that Job's lack of understanding regarding his suffering was crucial in proving Satan wrong when he accused Job of not truly loving God.
If Job had known that he would eventually be restored, he might have attempted to see the "bigger picture" and persevered through the hardships by clinging to hope for what God was trying to accomplish.
Instead, when God and Job finally converse near the end of the story, God reminds His servant of who He is: the one and only God of the universe, whose eye is on everything and whose responsibility is beyond measure.
By loving God for who He is, we must accept that suffering is unavoidable and that God is more significant than any evil, pain, or misery we may face.
TRUTH #2: OUR WORLD IS MORE BROKEN THAN WE CAN IMAGINE
At no point did God directly generate Job's suffering; Satan did. God merely allowed Satan to torment Job, but He was always in control, limiting what Satan could and couldn't do.
You see, God didn't create the world with death, illness, and catastrophe. The Bible teaches us that the world God created was beautiful and good and without sin. Death, illness, and catastrophe are a result of the costly sin that has been unleashed into our world, a sin that the first humans caused when they turned away from God.
By allowing Satan to cause misery for Job, God overruled the evil forces that have broken the created order of our world. God allowed Satan to achieve the opposite of what he intended with Job, which exposed Satan as a liar. Satan aimed to discredit Job, just as he seeks to discredit all of us by causing immense suffering, hoping that we will choose to turn away from God.
Just like Job, the ultimate choice is ours. If we choose to love God with all our hearts and place our trust and faith in Him, we can demonstrate that goodness exists within humans. We are able to show that we can choose the path of righteousness even while living in a world that is more broken than we can imagine.
TRUTH #3: GOD ALWAYS GIVES US A CHOICE
God gives us free will because true love involves choice. He didn't create mankind to be worshipped by us but to have a relationship with us. Just as a parent often desires to be closer to their child, God wants to know and be near us despite the pain we've caused Him.
When free will is used to love God and seek holy righteousness, it leads to goodness and flourishing. However, the choice to turn away from God always remains. Evil exists because God allows us to follow His model for moral goodness or define it for ourselves. At no point did God take away Job's free will. Job chose to still put his faith in God and trust in His character.
Yes, Job expressed his displeasure and complained to God during their conversation. However, the Bible teaches us that bringing our pain and anger to God without turning away from Him or dictating how things should be run in the world is what is most important, as evidenced by God's vindication of Job.
Deciding to love God does not guarantee that our lives will improve. It's often the opposite, as seen in the story of Job. However, having unwavering faith in a personal God involves trusting His overall plan and purpose. Regardless of how difficult things become, we must embrace God's mystery and acknowledge that His reasons are beyond our understanding.
When God finally speaks to Job, He conveys that His role is vast and complex, far beyond human comprehension. God oversees everything, and He carries out His work alone. We must understand our position within the created order, and it is never our place to dictate to God how the universe ought to run.
TRUTH #4: GOD MAKES EVIL WORK FOR GOOD
God hates all things evil just as He hates suffering. Only God can take any evil and make it work for good. Satan was permitted to cause suffering in Job's life only to the extent that evil ended up defeating itself. In other words, God only allowed Satan enough leeway to ensure his own downfall.
Once again, God did not reveal the reasons for Job's sorrow. It's safe to assume that Job spent the rest of his life on earth without understanding the reasons for his previous misery.
However, it is plain to see that the Book of Job has profoundly impacted the world many times over. Job's story has helped millions of people, and it seems God intended it to be so. God may allow us to endure things we cannot handle, but in our weakest moments, we can find strength and refuge in Him, using our newfound strength to eventually overcome evil.
TRUTH #5: GOD WILL ALWAYS DO WHAT IS RIGHT
God is righteous and good. He will always do what is right. In the end, Job was pushed to his absolute limit. Although he expressed anger towards God, he ultimately trusted Him and remained faithful. God vindicates and restores Job's life because God always does the right thing in the end, (in one way or another).
WHAT WILL GOD DO ABOUT HUMANITY'S PRESENT SUFFERING?
I understand that some of you reading this may still not be satisfied. In Job's story, things ultimately worked out for him, (that much is clear).
But what about all those people throughout history who have suffered similarly to Job? What about the people suffering right here and now? Why aren't their families restored? Why must they suffer with no happy ending and seemingly nothing to show for it?
To some people, it appears as though God is "sleeping on the job" of caring for the world at the present moment.
The answer is simple: He has already done something.
GOD'S ANSWER TO SIN & SUFFERING: LORD JESUS CHRIST
Although God despises evil, He was so full of love for us that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to be a sacrifice for our sins. Jesus (who was God in the flesh) was born from a virgin woman because He had to be a different kind of human, free from sin (with God as His true Father).
Jesus lived among humans as a perfect man, teaching with love and truth. He gathered disciples who would later spread the message of His role as the Messiah.
God became flesh in the form of Jesus so that He could be sent down to earth, suffer as a man, and take humanity's evil upon Himself as our representative substitute. God arranged the world in such a way so that He could step in as the judge to take the sinner's place.
Jesus willingly gave his life because of His love for mankind, a love that His Heavenly Father shares. The physical suffering and death that Jesus endured on the cross were necessary because Christ suffered a wrath reserved for sinners like you, me, and the rest of humanity. God's justice demanded satisfaction for our sins, and Jesus paid the price in full.
The only person born without sin had to be punished in the way only sinners deserve. Jesus suffered our curse and was the only human being ever to have been forsaken by God, crushed to dust, and sent to hell for you, me, and everyone else despite being the most uniquely perfect person in all of human history.
Again, God hates sin and thus hates evil. However, God's anger is not some irrational, selfish, or uncontrollable emotion. Instead, it is a consequence of His distinct holiness, righteousness, and love for all things good. Jesus lovingly and willingly stepped in, took the cup of God's wrath, and drank from it every drop, satisfying God's justice.
THE RESURRECTION
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a foundational belief in Christianity. According to the Bible, Jesus died for our sins and then rose from the dead on the third day following His burial.
His Resurrection is a sign that He is the true Son of God and that God accepted His sacrifice for the sins of humanity.
This event distinguishes Christianity from other religions, as it is centered on the person of Jesus Christ and His victory over death rather than just a set of rules or philosophical beliefs.
THE RESULT OF GOD'S MERCY: ETERNAL LIFE
By satisfying God's demands for justice, Jesus made pardon and justification available through faith in Him. All those who believe in what Christ did for humanity will not perish but have eternal life.
By acknowledging that God sent his only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross, we can believe in God's goodness and mercy and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us from the inside out, enabling us to repent and be redeemed.
Belief in Jesus Christ and subsequent transformation by the Holy Spirit bring us salvation by granting access to the Kingdom of Heaven.
THE GREAT EXCHANGE
Through faith in Christ, we are united with Jesus in His death, allowing the open ledger of our guilty record to be paid for at the cross. Now, God can treat us like we lived Christ's perfect life. This is what Christians refer to as the "Great Exchange."
THE STORY OF HABAKKUK
The short Old Testament book of the prophet Habakkuk depicts a man complaining to God about the evil and violence in his home of Israel. Habakkuk asks God to step in and stop the sinning that is happening against his Jewish people at the hands of the Babylonians.
God famously explains that He has a plan that Habakkuk cannot yet understand or know about, which involves raising up the Babylonians to greater power.
Habakkuk is outraged and cannot understand why God would forsake His chosen people and subject them to the devastation of war. He realizes that he and those he loves will likely be killed at the hands of their enemies, and he questions why God would allow this to happen. Habakkuk complains to God:
God communicates to Habakkuk that His plan is more extensive than anyone can imagine. It will take time to unfold, and until then, God commands Habakkuk to help safeguard His vision for the Israelites and the world at large.
The plan that God is alluding to is the coming of Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Even though Habakkuk lived hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, God's message to him through his suffering directly points to the Gospel message and the ultimate plan that God was building up to.
Our deadlines do not always align with God's timetables, and we often think like Habakkuk—overwhelmed by emotions and fearful of the future. God's plans for the world are always more significant than our own. In the end, despite finding God's message to be bitter and unclear, Habakkuk chooses to keep his faith in God.
GOD HAS A PLAN
We often hear the saying, "It's all a part of God's plan." Yes, God has a plan because He is the powerful, unique, all-knowing tuner of the cosmos. However, that ultimate plan does not necessarily revolve around you or me. Quite frankly, compared to God, we are like ants.
Despite our comparative insignificance, God loves us deeply and has guided mankind since the creation of the earth and stars. It is because He loves us that we are significant. He desires justice against evil and has never broken His promises to humanity despite mankind repeatedly breaking our promises to Him.
We can never know the extent of God's plan, but we must recognize that He has a plan, nonetheless. God's timing is not the same as ours. The average lifespan of a person in Western civilization is still less than one hundred years, which is tiny compared to God's infinite nature.
I have observed how modern medical technology has advanced, often motivated by individuals affected by the loss of loved ones due to illnesses, which has improved the chances of survival for future patients.
I have witnessed the compassionate response of people reaching out to help impoverished nations through mission trips and humanitarian aid provided by the military.
I've seen individuals who were conceived through rape grow up to lead incredible lives and become forces of good in the world.
And, of course, I have witnessed beautiful children who were denied love from their biological families being adopted by loving parents who were unable to conceive a child of their own.
GOD IS BIGGER THAN HUMAN SUFFERING
What God is offering for those who believe and follow Jesus is far greater than anything we could endure here on earth. The Kingdom of Heaven that God wants so badly for us to be a part of is a paradise utterly devoid of pain, illness, war, prejudice, and darkness.
If we can imagine that such a place exists, then suffering here on earth for a few mere decades is nothing compared to an eternity of paradise, wouldn't you agree?
Like Job's friends turned rivals, it isn't for me to say what God will and won't do, but we must remember that God loves us so much that He gave up His one and only Son to suffer a death meant for you and me.
The Christian faith is unique for several reasons, including that both Job and Habakkuk engaged in dialogues with God, expressing anger and dissatisfaction towards Him; yet, God doesn't receive it as rebellion but as prayer.
Job and Habakkuk complained and questioned God directly. Yet, they chose to trust in His plan for them and this fallen world. God wants us to do the same when we suffer: to bring our pain to Him and never turn away, never to believe that we know how things should run in the world because it isn't ours to dictate.
God allows us to pour out our hearts to Him, just as He allowed Job and Habakkuk to express their anger and grief. He does this because He loves us, and His heart breaks when we suffer.
We must hold onto the mystery of God and accept that suffering is inevitable because, ultimately, God is more significant than any pain or sorrow we may endure in life. He proved this with Job, Habakkuk, and, of course, with His Son, Jesus Christ.
