Why does God allow suffering?
Have you ever wondered why God allows tragedy? Maybe it’s hit you after something’s happened: a call from the doctor with bad news, an unexpected death of a loved one, a personal struggle you’re facing. . . In this article, we’ll answer the common question: Why does God allow suffering?
Suffering Draws Us Closer to God
I think of the apostle Paul. He was a man who walked with God, was used by God powerfully—but the Lord allowed in his life what Paul described as a thorn in the flesh (see 2 Corinthians 12:7). We don’t know what that was, but it was so bad that he prayed about it all the time and asked the Lord to take it away. Some believe it was some kind of a physical problem; Paul was beaten a bunch of times, it could have been an injury that resulted from one of them.
Whatever it was, it was hard and he asked God to take it away. And here’s what God said to him, “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness’. . .” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV). Then Paul added, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV). And that’s really true because when you go through hardship, you’re sometimes hoping that someone will have the right words to say to you to fix it, but here’s what God effectively says: “I will be with you.”
When God said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you,” He was effectively saying, “Paul, you need me. That’s the answer. You need me.” Let me put it another way: When you’re in times of hardship, you cling to God more tightly than in other times. And you realize the answer’s God—a closer relationship with Him, walking with Him.
David said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me. . .” (Psalm 23:4 NKJV). And I think it’s a greater awareness of the fact that you need God and that He’s with you and you cling to Him, you rely on Him. You’re not so self-sufficient. You realize that only God is sufficient to get you through these things.
Suffering Helps Us Help Others
Another reason God can allow suffering is so we can help other people. Paul wrote, “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us” (2 Corinthians 1:4 NLT).
When you’ve gone through something and come through the other side, you can go to someone who is going through it and bring great words of encouragement. In effect, you’ve been given the right to address the subject because you’ve survived it or you are surviving it. I think God can really use you to help someone else so they don’t lose hope and know that there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
God Will Never Leave You Nor Forsake You
Here’s the thing. We can pray and sometimes God will remove our problems, sometimes He’ll heal us of that infirmity. . . But sometimes our problems don’t go away. Yet, God is still with us. God said, “‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5 NKJV).
We have a greater hope than this life and this Earth. It’s a life in Heaven in the presence of God. For now, all of our questions are not answered. We all have questions as to why this happened, why that happened, but there will come a day when we see God face-to-face and all of our questions will be answered. Until then, we need to walk by faith, trust God, and remember that His grace is sufficient for us.
