People ask the questions; how can there be God when there is
so much suffering in the world? If God is so powerful then why does He not
eliminate suffering? Etc
These questions are asked for different reasons
Others ask because they genuinely seek answers
Others ask to discredit the existence of God
Others ask for other reasons which I may not know
In this post I will attempt to answer the question
as briefly as I can and I pray this can edify someone.
There are many sufferings and to name a few; wars, poverty,
hunger, corruption, abuse, sickness, death, sorrow, pain etc. So where is God
in all these? What is the reason for all these?
Reason 1
Suppose I decide to steal from my neighbor. My neighbor languishes
as a result.
Suppose also a man gets jealous of his relative because he
has great wealth and poisons his relative so that he can seize his wealth after
he dies. The man dies and the wife becomes a widow and the children orphans.
They lose their wealth and from then life is never the same.
Or what if a General Manager withholds wages from his workers
just because he has the power to do so and because they do not have the power
or resources to defend themselves and refuses to listen to their plea. Will not those workers suffer? Who has caused the suffering?
When a man’s heart is evil it causes suffering to others. That’s
right an evil heart will result in evil actions that will cause suffering on
others.
Job 35:8 Your
wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only the
sons of men.
But why does God not do something?
God helps those who trust in Him.
If your trust is in the help of man, the
help of friends, the help of lawyers then you will soon realize that that help
is worthless. Psalms 108:12 Give us help
from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
Not to say that we do not receive help from
our friends or lawyers because God can work in our lives through people but that
we cast our cares and burdens to God first and that our ultimate trust should
be in God. Psalm 118:8 “It is better to
trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”
It is not true that God does not do something.
When Jesus was on earth He said the work He
does He has seen the Father do. John 5:17
…..”My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”
And we know that Jesus went about doing
good, healing the sick, delivering the oppressed, forgiving sinners, performing
miracles, raising the dead, welcoming children and blessing them, teaching in
the temple, helping the poor and so much more. Acts 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and
power, and He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power
of the devil, because God was with Him.
And this shows the nature of God –
Hardworking. God is not on His throne sleeping! Have you not heard that God
does not sleep nor slumber.
God raises the poor from the dust and sits
them with Kings.
God hears the cry of orphans and widows and
helps them.
God opens the womb of the barren.
God remembers the righteous on their
sickbed and even if they die it is to their gain for they will sleep until the
blessed day when they will be raised in glorified bodies and there will be no
more pain or death.
God is long-suffering even to the wicked.
2 Peter 3:9 ….He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
A man with an evil heart who goes about
doing what is evil causing pain and suffering to others may boast that he is
rich, healthy and living better than the holiest man on earth. The evil man
does not realize that He is alive because it is God sustaining him so that
perhaps the man will turn from his evil ways, follow God and begin to do good
so that he may not die in his sins. God knows that if a man dies in his sins
then that man has perished.
For it is the worst thing that a man should
die in his sins when the sacrifice for the world’s sins was paid in full
Let it be known that the Kingdom of God is
home of righteousness, how then can evil dwell with righteousness?
Can darkness dwell with light? No!
Evil and darkness dwell in hell where there
is blackness, worms, gnashing of teeth and fire that is unquenchable. In hell people
are not partying up a storm! In hell many people who died in their sins are in
torment day and night, they wish they had lived in the fear of God but it’s too
late.
They could have received eternal life but
they thought themselves wise and rebelled against God. For God does not force
anyone to worship Him.
We have freewill
Those who worship God follow Him willingly
and surrender themselves to His will and His will is that all may believe in
His Son Jesus, be baptized for the forgiveness of sins and begin to walk and
learn from Him even as the heart is changed to begin to do good to others
thereby walking in love for love is kind and heals those who are suffering.
1 Corinthians
13:4-6 Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it
is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with
the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Reason 2
Now that we have established that
a man’s evil heart and actions causes suffering. It is also good to note that there
are principalities and spirits at work to cause suffering. I don’t think a man
is born with an evil heart so where do the evil thoughts come from?
There is an enemy of what is
good. The devil and evil spirits. John
10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…..
he is a thief
he is a liar
he is a destroyer
he uses crafty ways to deceive.
He doesn't work in isolation, many have sold themselves to him and he works through them to bring about all
manner of evils. They are antichrist. They promote evil. They serve money. They
are shameless in doing evil. They use media and other means to promote
immorality, orgies, adultery, false religions, homosexuality, idolatry,
violence, abuse, vanity, greed, selfishness, pride, disobedience, sexy
dressing, slander, lying, stealing, dirty language, porn, drugs, smoking etc
While others are sleeping at
night, they are busy at work, for they love darkness most. They use magic,
divination, incarnations and all manner of falsehood to pour out curses so that
you will suffer and blame God for your sufferings.
Remember how the devil caused Job
a lot of suffering hoping Job would curse God and die but Job blessed the Name
of God and God in turned blessed his latter more than his former.
Do not be a partaker or supporter
of things that do not please God. Always be alert, watching and praying that
you do not fall into temptation. More so now that the devil knows that his time
is short and wants to cause as much suffering as he can.
Reason 3
God
Yes God can cause suffering. Isaiah 45:7 I form light and create
darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I the Lord, do all these
things.
Can God do what is evil? No God
cannot do what is evil!!!
Here is a scenario
A man commits a crime and is
taken to court. The judge sentences the man to 2 weeks community service as
fair punishment for his crime.
Is the judge wrong in pronouncing
a judgement?
I don’t think so
So also God can cause suffering
when He is punishing His children. After David had committed murder and
adultery, God pronounced punishment on David through the prophet Nathan. And
that was a time of suffering for David and yet later on when David repented God
gave him comfort in the child Solomon.
Through the prophet Jeremiah, God
pronounced captivity for His people for a number of sins they had committed.
I myself have suffered punishment
from God. It is painful but it is also a cause for great rejoicing for me. It
means God cares and loves me. My parents have punished me when I have done
wrong and I love them for it, if they had not corrected me I would have been
lost.
Hebrews 12:5-11 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses
you as sons:
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose
heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He
punishes everyone He accepts as a son.”
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what
son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone
undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover,
we have all had human fathers who disciplined us for a little while as they
thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, 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
trained by it.
The conclusion
If your neighbor (Friend,
relative, workmate, stranger etc) is the reason for your suffering, forgive
them. You also at one time have caused suffering to others maybe through words
or actions but God has forgiven you.
You may have a heavy heart and it
may seem impossible to forgive but God cannot tell you to forgive if He thinks
you can’t do it. God is your Helper and will help you to forgive them then you
will know you serve a living God. Remember this is achieved by the help of God
by His Spirit.
If the devil and evil spirits are
the cause for your suffering; Resist him meaning don’t allow him to steal from
you. Don’t allow him to destroy your health. Don’t allow him to kill you in
your sins.
One day I had a dream, before me was a plate of food and I knew that it
was my food then suddenly and quickly came this black dog and began eating from
my plate. The dog was eating so fast, my food was finishing quickly. I tried to
deter the dog then it turned fiercely and wanted to attack me but I didn’t back
down. I woke up and wrestled in prayer. Soon after my prayer doors of
breakthrough opened for me in many directions.
We fight against principalities in the heavenly realms
We may not understand all of it but as you take steps in trusting in God
and in reading your Bible, meditating on it you gain the tools to resist the
devil
There are things that are rightfully yours but satan and his agents want
to get them forcibly from you.
The fact that it is rightfully yours doesn’t mean you have to relax. A
thief doesn’t care that you hold titles and receipts for your property, all
they care about is grabbing it from you.
After receiving blessings from God, the greatest being the gift of life
we cannot afford to sleep and relax while the thief is roaming about seeking
whom to devour.
Resist the devil and he will flee; Do not give satan chance
Fight the good fight of faith
Do not love the world or the things in the world
If God is causing you suffering in order to discipline you, you may feel
tempted to justify yourself and to confront God with many questions like Job
did. Whatever you do remember God knows better than you, take it as a sign that
God loves you enough to discipline you. Instead of justifying yourself rather
humble yourself and admit to your errors, renounce your sins and find grace to take
you through those sufferings.
God
bless