My last thought on why God allows suffering

[Guest guest]

Here is my last info on why God allows suffering. If anyone would like to

discuss this further, with me, please write me at casca@... I hope

this finds you and yours well.....Mark

Why Does God Allow Suffering? - By Lee J.

Dorothy Love was a godly woman, utterly sold-out to her Lord and Savior,

Jesus Christ. God had gifted her with a marvelous ability to communicate His

Word. She and her husband, Bob, served the Lord for ten years in Spain with the

Greater Europe Mission. Then, when health reasons demanded staying in the

States, she dedicated herself to a busy schedule of teaching ladies' Bible

studies and being involved in children's work. She also spoke to many groups in

the Chicago area. Those who crossed her path were spiritually uplifted. However,

about three years ago, Dorothy died, after suffering intensely from multiple

myeloma cancer of the bone marrow, for five and one-half years.

We chasten ourselves for doing so, but we still find ourselves asking,

Why? Why did such a godly, gifted woman have to suffer so much?

The problem of human suffering has vexed many children of God. Theologians

and philosophers have written complex and learned volumes wrestling with it. At

the heart of the problem is a question that takes us back to examine the very

essence of God's nature: If God is absolutely good, infinitely loving and

all-powerful (omnipotent), why do we, the products of His creative power and the

focus of His infinite love, suffer?

Some have suggested that God is indeed good; He has good intentions. He

wants to prevent our suffering, but He can't. He is good, but He is not

omnipotent. Others might suggest that He is indeed omnipotent but not good. He

could stop suffering, but He doesn't want to. He is fiendish and capricious.

However, if God should be as these suggestions imply, He would not be God at

all. The biblical self-revelation of God is that He is both omnipotent and

infinitely good. The Bible affirms that He is absolutely good: " God is light,

and in Him there is no darkness at all " ( 1:5, NASB). He is also

all-powerful: " Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power and

out-stretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for Thee " (Jer. 32:17). He is able

to prevent suffering, and He finds no pleasure in suffering.

Yet human suffering is real; we all experience it. When it touches us or

those we love, it is no longer an abstract idea to leave to the theologians but

a grim and perplexing reality: How can we explain human suffering in a universe

created by a good and omnipotent God?

We would be vain and naïve to think that we could understand and explain

what the most knowledgeable and godly have found perplexing. Yet the Scriptures

do make several helpful affirmations, which must be accepted even if not totally

understood.

God Permits Suffering

First, the Bible affirms that God has chosen to permit suffering. God is

the designer of a plan that allowed for sin and suffering. Though God does not

approve of sin and its consequences (suffering), nor is He responsible for it,

it is here by His permission. In His omniscience (His full knowledge of

everything), He knew that the plan He chose, even though it allowed for sin and

suffering, ultimately would bring about the greatest good and glory. Nowhere

does the Bible suggest that God was overcome by the power of sin; that suffering

was forced into His universe against His will. No. He is the sovereign who

" works all things after the counsel of His will " (Eph. 1:11).

Result of Fall

Yet, at the same time, the Bible makes it very clear that all human

suffering is the result of the Fall. Our suffering is directly related to the

curse that came upon the earth as the result of sin. With sin came corruption,

suffering and death (see Gen. 2:17; 3:17; Rom. 5:12; 8:20-22). This is not to

say that every occurrence of suffering in our lives is direct punishment for our

personal sins. This misconception causes much undue self-castigation. It was the

mentality of Job's friends who did their best to convince Job that his suffering

was a result of some unadmitted wickedness. It was also the popular conclusion

among the Jews at the time of Christ--a view He clearly refuted (see Luke

13:1-5; 9:1-3).

Christians Suffer

Third, we come to the reality that we often find the most troubling. God

has not chosen to spare even His children from the consequences of living in a

fallen world. Living godly lives does enable the believer to avoid some of the

unnecessary suffering that others bring upon themselves by ignoring God's moral

and spiritual laws. Yes Christians do get sick and die. Christians are robbed

and raped. They have accidents. They lose loved ones in fires, earthquakes and

hurricanes. And it seems at times that believer's suffer more than the wicked.

(See the testimony of Asaph in Psalm 73.)

In addition to the natural calamities of life, believers suffer

persecution because of Jesus Christ. The New Testament does not proclaim the

health and wealth " gospel " that is so popular in 20th-century evangelicalism.

The sooner we accept the reality that we are living in a fallen world with its

suffering, the sooner we will be able to get on with living effectively for the

Lord.

Perhaps at this point you are asking, Wee, it sounds like the Bible

teaches fatalism--whatever will be will be. So why fight it?

This is not a proper biblical perspective either. We are not expected just

to take it on the chin without a whimper. The Bible urges us to do what we can

to relieve suffering. We are to " visit orphans and widows " ( 1:27), " use a

little wine for the sake of your stomach " (1 Tim. 5:23), " to be generous and

ready to share " (6:18). We have a social responsibility when it comes to

suffering.

We are also urged to cry out to God, to petition Him who loves us. We have

a God " who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think "

(Eph. 3:20). He is the God of the miraculous. He is able either to prevent or

remove the cause of our suffering if it is His will to do so. We are also called

to live wisely. Some of our problems could be avoided if we would live

consistently by the principles of wisdom in the Word of God. Sometimes we are

only reaping what we have sown.

Eternal Good in View

The fourth biblical affirmation laid out for us in the Bible is this:

whatever calamity befalls us, God has our eternal good in view. God may not have

a specific lesson to teach us every time we suffer, but He does have a good

purpose in view. In Romans 8:28 we read: " And we know that God causes all things

to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called

according to His purpose. " We quote this verse in times of suffering and rightly

so. However, we must be careful not to remove the good spoken of from the

purpose spelled out in verses 29-39. God has designed all of life (including

suffering) to conform us to the image of His Son. Nothing that we suffer in this

life can prevent this process from reaching its divinely purposed outcome.

So, how can we come to grips with our suffering? How can we endure it?

Here's a plan of action:

1) Expect suffering. Realize that in a fallen world suffering is the

abnormal normality (see 1 Pet. 2:12-14).

2) Realize that God in control; nothing can happen unless He allows it. We

should be humble before Him (see Ex. 4:11; Job 40:2; Provide. 6:4; Isa. 45:7;

Jer. 49:19; Amos 3:6; Rom. 9:20-23).

3) Understand that though God is sovereign and man is responsible for his

actions, suffering is a product of the Fall (see II Sam. 12:11; 16:21,22; Acts

4:27,28; Rev. 13:2,7,8).

4) Accept the reality that God allows suffering for good and necessary

reasons: to prepare us to comfort others (see II Cor. 1:4-6); to teach us to

trust in Him and not in ourselves (see 1:9; 4:7,16, 18; 12:1-10); to turn our

hearts toward heaven (see 5:1-4); to develop maturity (see 1:1-12); to

discipline us for sinful behavior (see I Cor. 11:30); and to judge wickedness

(see Ps. 37:12,13).

5) Remember that God has entered into our suffering to redeem us from it.

He did this through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ (see Rom. 8:18-23).

6) Remember that we do not yet see clearly. We must trust God until

answers to suffering are made clear (see Job 13:15; I Cor. 13:12).

7) Remember that this life is nothing when compared with eternity. What is

a lifetime of suffering in comparison with an eternity of heaven? (see Rom.

8:18).

When this biblical understanding of suffering grips us, it will bring

trusting obedience and confident hope in the faithfulness of God. As Dorothy

Love once put it, " Our trust is completely in our blessed Lord. " " For I am

convinced 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, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is

in Christ Jesus our Lord " (Rom. 8:38,39).

Mark E. Armstrong

www.top5plus5.com

NW Chapter Rep

Pancreatitis Association, International