People who receive Jesus and the reconciliation he offers, can see suffering very differently. First they can see by the example of Jesus that God is able to bring good out of even the greatest pain (even when they don’t understand how that can be). Second they can look forward to a future that is free from suffering. The Bible insists that there will come a day when God will renew the world and all those who have trusted in him. Those who followed Jesus will rise to a new life.

Terrible things happen in this world and no one can pretend to really understand why. Even the Bible acknowledges that this question is beyond the wisest person (Ecclesiastes 8:14-17). Yet, while suffering makes faith in God difficult for many people it need not force us to the conclusion that there is no God or that God is not good. In fact we might even say that the fact that we recognise suffering as evil (especially other people’s), shows that we know the world isn’t supposed to be like that.[1]

Here (very briefly!) are some the ways the Bible encourages us to think about the problem of pain and suffering.

1. We Suffer Because of Our Broken Relationship to the Creator

At the most basic and general level, the Bible insists that suffering is a feature of this life because the human race has turned away from its Creator. God is the one who gives life and health and safety yet we’ve tried (and keep on trying) to live life according to our own rules. Because of this, everything in our world is out of alignment and nothing works properly any more—relationships break down, bodies fail and creation groans. As humans seek to provide for themselves and justify themselves, they inevitably find themselves in conflict and competition with each other.

God describes the pattern like this:

My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own wells … that cannot hold water. … Consider then and realise how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God. (Jeremiah 2:13,19)

2. God Knows all About It

The human predicament described by the Bible is desperate and hopeless, yet God has not left us alone in it. The New Testament tells us that God has sent his own Son into the world as a human to share our life and experience our suffering. Through Jesus who was tortured to death on the cross, God knows human grief and loss first hand and so we can find help and comfort in him.

[Jesus] faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
(Hebrews 4:15-16)

Read More