A Wonderful Comment from @xplosive

I blogged about our experience at a fancy and expensive wedding, and I pondered about wealth being a challenge to faith. @explosive brought up a greater challenge, and that's this:

When I see and experience huge sufferings and huge pain, I often ask "where is God?"

It's only natural to question the goodness and love of God, when His creation experiences great pain and suffering and it seems that He does nothing about it.

If God is so loving, then God certainly would stop these things. Some people say there is a greater good in all of this.

The Best Questions are Difficult Questions

People have pondered this question for a very long time. I don't know if I can really answer this question, it's something I've wondered myself. There are some scripture that has helped me to better understand.

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It seems that suffering tests the hearts of believers. It's something God does that makes a separation between those "along for the ride" and those who are committed. One of the greatest forms of suffering is hunger. We are not familiar with this type of suffering, but some say it's worse than death. Yet God made his people suffer hunger in the wilderness:

“If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!” Exodus 16:2

He does this to HUMBLE US, to TEST US, to KNOW WHAT'S IN OUR HEART.

God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments. He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Deuteronomy 8:3

It's easy to love God while He's allowing us to live in luxury, but when He makes us HUNGER for a time and eat nothing but our "daily bread", denying us our accustomed luxuries, tests our fortitude and our trust in Him. We don't know how well we'll do until we're actually tested, but it seems best to practice gratitude for whatever we have. For little or for much, for cheap or for rich, for plain or for luxurious. If we're too busy being grateful, we don't have time or energy to MURMUR and COMPLAIN and be deceived into believing God is not so loving after all. May it never be - the first step towards understanding a loving God is fearing that loving God and seeking after HIS ways. This is wisdom and it will lead to a relationship between man and God that will someday fulfill all of the greatest LUXURIES one can imagine! The only way to forming this relationship is through Yeshua, the Word of God made flesh.

The Blessings or the Curses

All that above is well and good for the believers, but what about those who question the existence of God, or denies the existence of God, or who believes in other gods? Doesn't this seemingly apathetic behavior seem to confirm that God doesn't exist or if He does, He doesn't care?

The only answer for this is: God is God. He is not indebted to His creation, His creation is indebted to HIM.

I know that's an uncomfortable answer, it was uncomfortable for me at first. We like to think that since God made us, he OWES us, since we didn't choose to be born. But the reality is that no matter how much we hold on to the idea that God owes us good things, the more difficult our lives will be. The more difficult it becomes to be GRATEFUL for what He provides for all of us. And the truth is (if anyone is willing to see it) that God gives good gifts to the righteous and the wicked together.

[God] causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matthew 5:45

Why does God do this? Couldn't He make constant drought over the wicked and abundant rain for the righteous? He could, but He doesn't, because He commands believers to love their enemies, just as He shows loving kindness to His enemies. He doesn't require believers to do anything He doesn't do Himself:

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.

Conflict and Discomfort

The world is completely run on conflict and discomfort. Without conflict and discomfort, people would never do anything productive, civilization would collapse. God does not bring conflict and discomfort to His creation (except on rare occasions), we are the creators of these. And conflict and discomfort, suffering and death are not GOOD, yet they are allowed to continue.

Why wouldn't a GOOD God simply snap His fingers and eliminate all suffering and death? Because He shows mercy to His enemies, and the greatest enemy is death. Even after Yeshua returns and reigns, even after 1000 years of the Kingdom of Heaven, death and suffering is not yet defeated... not until the the end.

The end will come, when [Yeshua] hands over the kingdom to God the Father after [Yeshua] has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. For [Yeshua] must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet: the last enemy to be destroyed is death. 1 Corinthians 15:25

There is a time that will come when ALL SUFFERING and ALL DEATH will be defeated, having no more authority or dominion over God's Creation. Until then, it is our job to endure the testing of our faith - and if we lack faith begin in the FEAR OF GOD, gaining wisdom and understanding in Yeshua and His walk and praise Him and Worship Him.

This is the understanding that allowed me to be at peace with the concept of God allowing suffering. I believe it to be compelling and true.

An Insufficient Answer

I know that for some people who have experience great pain and suffering, this is a difficult and perhaps insufficient answer. I find this is usually because in their hearts, they are looking for a reason to blame God for their difficult life - and perhaps that's not a bad thing. When a person experiences a difficult life full of pain and suffering, they SHOULD cry out to God, demanding that He explain it. God doesn't owe anyone an explanation, but He hears the cries of those who call on Him.

He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. Psalm 145:19

The Story of Job

The difficulty is when man (in his low estate) becomes prideful and refuses to cry out to God, rather choosing to become resentful towards Him, creating a mis-characterization of Him. They deny His existence and ultimately blaspheme His Name. This is what Job's wife insisted he do, when God allowed great suffering for Job:

Then Job’s wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!” Job 2:9

Job's integrity was in insisting that God is GOOD no matter the circumstances. Yet his wife was pretty much saying "just admit it Job, God isn't so GOOD after all, look what he's allowing to happen to you! Just say what we know you're thinking, curse this god and die. Admit that He doesn't care about you!" But Job didn't commit this sin, rather he spoke the truth about the character of God:

“Should we accept from God only good and not suffering?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said, neither did he blaspheme God with his lips. Job 2:10

Then Job makes his complaint towards God:

I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul. I say to God: Do not condemn me! Why do You prosecute me. Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked? Job 10:1-3

God was not pleased with the suffering of Job, He was not prosecuting Job. He was testing Job to see if he only honors God when things are comfortable, to see if he would blaspheme God if things become uncomfortable. But Job did not blaspheme God, or mischaracterize Him. He essentially said that he didn't understand why God was allowing this unfair travesty to happen to him.

Isn't it all the unfair travesties that we don't understand, also?

God's ultimate answer to Job is God's answer to us. There is a lot that we (dust and ash) will never fully understand about Him. Were we there at Creation? Are we God? No, God is God we are His creation. There are things that we will never wrap our brains around. God was pleased that Job didn't deny or blaspheme Him, or spoke inaccurately about the character of God, nor cursed Him, nor spoke badly about Him. God would be pleased if we do the same.

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. Deuteronomy 29:29

Conclusion

This is my current understanding about why God allows suffering, pain and death in the world - while remaining GOOD. God Himself is the definition of GOOD, we must be careful before we judge the goodness of God by our own standards. This is what it means to "fear God", accepting Him for who He is and drawing near to Him, learning of Him, growing in His wisdom and ultimately loving Him with our whole hearts.

He sees pain and suffering differently than we do, He sees TIME differently than we do, He sees death differently than we do. He is our CREATOR and in the resurrection our RECREATOR. He knows what is best for us, even if it's uncomfortable. Even if it's painful. Even if it makes our stomachs groan - if we trust in Him and His Son (our redeemer) He will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

We will be enjoyers of our inheritance.

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Benjamin Turner: God fearer. Rooted in Messiah. Husband of @lturner. Father of six wonderful children. The guy behind the camera. Blockchain enthusiast.

Bless the Most High!

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