Suffering . . . "Why, God?"
Gripped by the mental image of Jesus approaching
the man desperate to be healed, I am.
But then, Jesus.
Those three words are game changers.
But I gotta ask, why did it take God 38 years
to find this guy?
If you read carefully, you noticed something else about the setting at the Pools of Bethesda, as John wrote, "In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water."1 In other places, when the term "multitude" is used in the gospels, it refers to hundreds, even thousands of people, as in the Feeding of 5,000. What about all of the people who were not healed, but saw that man get up, pick up his mat, and go on his merry way. It raises a question about suffering. Why not them? And Why does God allow suffering anyway? Probably the most difficult question to answer when pointing people to our good and loving God.
This has been an age old question.
In the 3rd century BC, the philosopher Epicurus asked,
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?”
Some complete it: “Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” 2
In the beginning, God created perfection and we were part of it,
but that perfection included free will.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been perfect love …
it would have been coercion.
At the end, all will be made right.
We are just in the middle of the story.
The question of suffering, combined with the question of evil is thrown up by many a person as a roadblock to believing in God. And since these conversations about the truth of Christianity are my passion and calling, I have tried to get at this huge question over the years. Starting with the disclaimer: I do not know God’s mind and if I could understand all of his thinking, I would be God . . . Isaiah reminds me that his thoughts are not my thoughts, and his ways are not my ways. 3
And I content myself with the fact that for now, I know only in part, but one day, I shall know fully.4 (Thank you, Paul) But while I am content with the lack of complete knowledge of God's permissiveness of suffering, mind you, in a world that mankind corrupted by choosing to rebel and sin, that is how it all started (Genesis chapter 3), I want to be able to adequately discuss this question with people who cannot trust God because of suffering in the world.
Interestingly enough, this question of suffering and why God would allow it, is almost always raised in the West, in the first world . . . yet rarely raised in the parts of the world where people seem to be suffering most. Hmm... Somehow, it seems the people who suffer the most often have the greatest confidence in the goodness of God. 5
If that line, "How can a good God allowing so much suffering?' is asked of you, before launching into a philosophical answer, stop. Look your conversant in the eye and ask a question about the nature of suffering she is referring to. Ask the next question. Perhaps your 'friend' is personally suffering greatly, and she is not looking for philosophy--but really wants a reasonable explanation. Your friend needs hope to carry on, and truth be told, she needs the power of believing in a loving God.
Here’s what I know and have experienced of God in times of great suffering-- God is moved by my suffering, and he chooses to enter into it with me. He does not leave me on my own, but enters into my pain with me. O friend, do you not see what a staggering notion that is?! You and I do not serve a God who is far off and unmoved by our pain, he enters into our pain, if we will but let him. We have a loving Father - a parent, if you will - who stoops down to wipe our tears. After all, a loving parent is the One who is willing to suffer alongside his child, not leaving her by herself.
In Islam, the idea of God suffering is nonsense; it is thought to make God weak. In Buddhism, to reach divinity is to move beyond suffering. Is it possible Gautama Buddha actually left his wife and infant to pursue detachment… wait, what?! So then, what do Buddhists do with suffering in this world? And what about Jewish thought and teaching on suffering? And how does Jewish teaching answer the question of suffering and God? They treat suffering as a deep mystery, a subject for debate, and a call for human action.6 hmmm...
Contrast this with Jesus Christ who became a human being
and took on suffering,
that we might have relationship with him now, and eternity with him.
Aye, God chose to into our suffering; and he did so on our behalf.
I take you once again to that Passover Thursday night when Jesus sat at table with his disciples, and specifically warned of trouble and suffering all of them/us would face, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world .7 Jesus knew about that trouble as that very night he would be arrested, falsely accused and tried, flogged mercilessly and then crucified the next day.
I do not know why it took God 38 years to heal this guy at the Pools in Jerusalem, but he had his eye on Mr. Bethesda all along. But on the matter of suffering, I know that He sees, He knows, He is with us. He will make sense of it all one day.
He cares about your pain and suffering--so much so that he collects your tears in a bottle, the psalmist says.8 There is nothing you will face that he has not. God has his eye on you too, so run to Him.
Because whatever you have lost,
whatever you are going through,
Jesus alone fully understands,
and promises he will never leave you alone.9
And our tender God will one day wipe every tear from your eyes.10
Listen please: My Prayer for You, Alisa Turner:
He is with you,
He is with us.
Christine
John, no.16
1 - John 5.3
2 - "Addressing Epicurus’ quote about God willing to prevent evil,"
3 - Isaiah 55.8-9
4 - 1 Corinthians 13.12
5 - Why Suffering? a talk by Vince Vitale
6 - "Suffering with Dignity", Jewish Action
7 - John 16.33
8 - Psalm 56.8 - "You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book."
9 - Hebrews 13.5 - "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you"
10 - Revelation 21.4 - 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.
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