Finding meaning and making sense of suffering

(Challenges to having faith in God often relate to questions about pain and suffering. Whether in debate or from raw experience, they bring issues about meaning and purpose into sharp focus. We know that at any time in this world, people somewhere can be experiencing unimaginable suffering and loss, whether through illness and disease, or from injuries following serious accidents and assaults, or resulting from large scale disasters, wars and conflicts. Pain can be physical, as well as mental and emotional from trauma and loss, or other conditions that cause people to become emotionally conflicted and overwhelmed. Pain and suffering can be experienced by an individual, a small or large group, or even peoples and nations.

Such realities prompt a variety of responses as people try to understand and cope or bring comfort and relief to others. Reactions can involve both private and public displays of grief, helplessness, despair, and outrage, sometimes expressed in a desire for revenge and retribution. Understandably, thoughts can also turn to considerations about God - about how he relates to our pain and suffering and, not uncommonly, how responsible for it he is, or how much he cares by allowing it, or even whether he is real and exists at all.

The bible portrays God as being in control of all things, yet as someone who is entirely good, and to whom we are encouraged to turn to for strength and help in times of trouble. However, the nature of pain and suffering would seem to cause these two aspects of God to be in conflict. How can God be caring if he allows pain and suffering, and if he is caring, how can he be in control if not able to prevent and stop these things from happening?

Such apparent anomalies are not fully addressed in any one bible passage, but both aspects are asserted to be true in an unfolding revelation of God through what he says about himself, and through his involvement in human affairs as recorded in bible history. Together, these show God to be both loving and in control – though, as in the bible story of Job, people over the years have tended to sway towards one view or the other, suggesting either that people who suffer must be bad, or that God himself is impotent, remote and uncaring, or perhaps just a figment of imagination.

Exploring the Whos, Hows and Whys

God is described in the bible as having made a perfect world with humankind at its peak and integral to his purposes. Humanity enjoyed a privileged and intimate relationship with him, to help in oversight of his creation which, in the beginning, was ‘very good’. However, God has an enemy, Satan, who particularly targets people because of God’s great love for them. Satan has enticed us (through our forebears, in the fall) into asserting our own self-will, with its hope of finding a greater freedom and fulfilment, supposedly, in pursuing destinies of our own making, i.e., based on human knowledge and wisdom, rather than upon God’s.

However, we have been deceived and not aware that following anything other than God’s perfect will brings us into an alignment with Satan’s enmity towards him. This has distanced us, along with his created world, from the fulness of God’s sustaining life and protective oversight and has now left us vulnerable to pain and suffering.  

Eternal consequences followed ‘the fall’ resulting in all subsequent generations now being at odds with God’s perfect will and purposes, seemingly forever, and without hope of reversal.  However, God does not easily allow his purposes for good to be set aside, and from the very beginning, he forecast a future plan to redeem humanity back to himself through the gift of his own son, Jesus, who suffered the consequences rightly deserved by us, and who bore them on our behalf.

Are there constraints upon God?

God does have some limitations on how he can respond to evil and suffering in this present season of grace and forbearance.

A basic constraint upon God comes from his relentless love and mercy. Pain and suffering could be eliminated entirely from this world by simply destroying everything he has made, but such a fate for humanity, whom he loves, would play directly into the hand of his enemy, Satan, who does have an ultimate wish for our destruction.

A further constraint comes from the integrity that God has towards our personhood. Having made us ‘in his image’, he does not negate our capacity to exercise free-will choice in how we respond to him - whether with faith and obedience, in an attitude of heart that reflects gratitude and humility, or with doubt and unbelief, being persuaded by our own human reasoning and logic. God is like us, in that we know from experience that a close relationship needs to be freely engaged in by both parties for it to be of mutual benefit. We also know that when our desire to be in a relationship with someone is resisted, seeking to impose it upon them, even with the best of intent, will not be experienced by them as beneficial. Similarly, it is because of this regard for our person that God is constrained in what he can offer of his salvation and the good he desires for us.

To know and experience God is a matter of the heart, because this is how he speaks and reaches out to us from a realm that is ‘unseen’. Thinking naturally about God, with reason and logic alone, is to constrain his desire to bestow on us his gifts of salvation, blessing and grace. It is therefore us who deny to ourselves the benefits that he offers. This is because the way they are received is by faith, which God in his grace also imparts to us if we will but open our heart and give heed to what he is saying to us through his Word, the bible.

God is additionally constrained in reaching out to those who rationalise and explain away as merely relative such fundamental concepts as good and evil, truth, humility, faith, love, morality, and justice. When the existence of God and such foundational realities are treated as no more than philosophical inventions of human origin, there tends to be a dismissing of conscience and a rejection of warnings about the eternal consequences that result.

God’s absolute perfection also constrains him from compromise about the consequences of our shortcomings and wrongdoing. Regardless of his mercy, love and desire to forgive, it remains true that God always acts justly. This is a dilemma of tragic consequence to a God who is perfect in his righteousness and judgement, but one who also desires to show mercy and love to those who fall short. However, God has made it possible by offering the gift of his own innocent Son, Jesus, who satisfied justice with his suffering and death, and has made God’s mercy and grace available to all who will receive it.

Ultimately, and despite all that God has done to overcome them, there are constraints about who among us will finally be able to enter in to live in his perfect presence forever. As noted, entry will depend on how we have chosen to respond to him. There is a need for us to be made right with God by accepting, in faith, the ‘justification’ that he offers us through Jesus, rather than in trying to justify ourselves with our own human reasoning or chosen philosophies.

God’s plan for future good – with implications

The message of the bible tells us that God has planned, and is working towards, a day when Jesus will return to usher in ‘a new heaven and a new earth’ where wrongdoing, pain and suffering will be ‘no more’. Satan himself will be ‘cast out’ into a destiny of final destruction. We are warned, however, that Satan desires to take humanity down with him, and he therefore works to deceive and destroy, wreaking havoc both in nature and in people’s lives, for which he likes to see God receiving the blame.

Importantly, we are warned that the return of Jesus will separate out all that is not of him, including those who have not prepared themselves to stand in the presence of an awesome God – having persisted in unbelief or relied on beliefs of their own choosing. Jesus spoke passionately of the need for us to make a daily choice to follow him in an attitude of readiness, so as to be able to enter with him in the age to come and avoid sharing the fate of Satan who will become entirely separated from God and his sustaining life, (i.e., a biblical picture of ‘death’).

Over the course of our mortal life, then, God offers opportunity for us to ‘opt in’ to his redemptive plan and be made right with him, both in this present life and for all eternity. This is a reconciliation that is made possible through the death of his innocent son, Jesus, and is received by taking a step of faith made in a personal response of heart and mind towards him.

Why would an end to pain and suffering be ‘delayed’?

Obviously, God has not immediately finalised his plan to ‘banish’ all that is evil from this present age. Though this is hard to understand, we are reminded that for him to do so would bring to an end all further possibilities for people to come to him and be made right with him. We are reminded that his seeming ‘delay’ therefore, comes out of his compassion and ‘patience’. His desire is that no one should miss hearing about, or having opportunity to receive the salvation and everlasting life that he offers.

While waiting for the appointed time when Jesus comes again, he warns that the ‘apparent’ delay should not lead to complacency or disbelief, with attention diverted away from the certainty of his soon return.

God as ‘a very present help’

God’s plans for good are relentless and his love and mercy do not diminish. We need to remember that, although pain and suffering continue to be present in this world, they nevertheless remain under his sovereign watch and restraining hand. Jesus, in his teaching and ministry, consistently demonstrated that God’s will and purposes are against pain and suffering which he saw as being the work of God’s enemy. In addition, we have seen that from the very beginning God’s desire and plan has been to restore complete control, according to his will, and to bring an end to evil and suffering forever.

Thus, despite their continuing influence, God has not abandoned us or left us without hope. In fact, he has already done something in sending the gift of his son in human form. Because of Jesus’ life on earth among us and the cruel death that he experienced, we are assured that he not only identifies with our human weaknesses and suffering, but that he willingly bore, as an innocent man, the pain of death that was rightly deserved by us. Through his sacrifice we can now approach God confidently because we have been legally set free and all condemnation has been removed.

This makes it possible for us to have a full and satisfying relationship with God, through faith, right from the moment we choose to receive him into our heart and life. When we acknowledge our mistakes and waywardness, he hears the heartfelt cry and remains ever ready to forgive. This brings not only a hope of future good, but an offer of his grace and help in our present life as well. Jesus both taught and demonstrated that our heavenly ‘Father’ knows and cares and is moved with compassion towards us in our human predicaments, and that God promises to be ‘a very present help in the time of trouble’. He is constantly reaching out to us in his love and mercy, assuring us of his concern and willingness to help in difficult circumstances if we will but trust and turn to him.

Times of pain and suffering can thus be surrendered over to God. By putting our trust in him, he is able to ‘redeem’ that which the enemy has intended for evil, by bringing about purposes for good, either for ourselves or others. Such experiences can be a profound mystery. Sometimes we may gain a greater awareness of our own inner strengths or develop new insights about some good that has come from the difficulties we have been through. To endure suffering is not easy or pleasant and can be extremely challenging. However, there is sometimes no shortcut to the benefits that facing adversity can yield. We may find that we have grown stronger, with a greater sense of inner peace, after coming through a season of challenge.

It is by opening our heart and putting our trust in God, that we are able to prove his promises and gain confidence and trust in his willingness and ability to help - sometimes in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances. It is not wise to neglect the gift of faith that God offers to us, which helps to transform even our pain and suffering into a victory for some greater good in our lives.

References:

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children 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 freedom and glory of the children of God. 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 to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8: 18‑25 NIV

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 ESV

So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. Matthew 4:24 ESV

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12 ESV

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 1 Peter 4:1 NIV

For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:19‑21 ESV

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Further References:

Note: An itemised and more comprehensive list of References relating to the above topic follows an introduction on the next page: Why has evil been allowed to continue to cause suffering and not been stopped

(We may not fully understand why God allows experiences of suffering, but the bible reminds us that since the ‘fall’, not everything in God’s world has worked perfectly together as his creation did ‘in the beginning’. It was his first people, made ‘in his image’ (i.e., with free will), who became seduced by Satan, God’s enemy, into deciding to follow their own human inclinations rather than to seek the purposes of God. This has distanced all of humanity away from God and continues to allow Satan to have a disruptive presence in this world. Though God has worked a victory over Satan through the coming of his son, Jesus, receiving the forgiveness it offers needs to be worked out for every person. This is because God continues to respect our free-will in choosing about coming into right relationship with him out of love, free from any pre-programing, blind instinct, or other forms of coercion.)    

References:

The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all. Psalm 34:19 NIV

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 1 Peter 4: 12‑13 ESV

In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. Ecclesiastes 7:14 ESV

He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised,
and we held him in low esteem. Isaiah 53:3 NIV

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53: 4‑5 NIV

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head.
Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.” Job 1: 20‑21 NIV

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 2 Corinthians 4: 8‑10 ESV

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. Philippians 4:12‑14 ESV

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

“As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. John 9: 1‑7 NIV

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Luke 13: 1‑5 NIV

For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 1 Peter 2:19 ESV

I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3: 16‑18 ESV

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. Revelation 2:10 ESV

Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices.

You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. John 16: 19‑22 NIV

For I will show [Paul] how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” Acts 9:16 ESV

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References:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. Our hope for you is steadfast, knowing that, since you are partakers of the sufferings, so also are you of the comfort. 2 Corinthians 1: 3‑7 WEB

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Romans 15:4 KJV2000

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Even as it is written, "For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter." No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8: 35‑39 WEB

For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. Psalm 22:24 ESV

Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 ESV

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 NIV

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 ESV

But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” 1 Peter 3:14 NIV

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4 ESV

This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. Psalm 119:50 ESV

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26 ESV

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; Isaiah 43:2 NIV

As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. James 5: 10‑11 ESV

But this I call to my mind; therefore I have hope: The Lord's faithful love does not cease; his compassion does not fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. Lamentations 3: 21‑25 NHEB

For his anger is but for a moment, and his favour is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:5 ESV

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Deuteronomy 8:3 NIV

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Hebrews 12: 4‑13 NIV

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References:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 ESV

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15: 1‑8 NIV

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11 ESV

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:10 NIV

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5: 3‑5 ESV

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 2 Corinthians 4:17 NIV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1: 2‑4 ESV

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1: 6‑7 ESV

It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. Psalm 119:71 ESV

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. Psalm 119:67 ESV

Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12: 6‑10 NIV

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 1 Peter 3:18 ESV

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