Why does God allow suffering? It’s a question I’ll bet every Christian has wrestled with. And maybe we even take it a step further. Why does God allow good, Jesus loving people to suffer? As if those we deem not as good are less deserving of grace. I’ve been guilty of asking both of those questions. And the reality is that there will never be a sufficient answer that satisfies my limited understanding. Or one that eases my fragile human heart.
A dear friend of mine is losing her mother to a ravaging cancer. This is a woman who has loved Jesus fiercely for nine decades. A woman who is light and inspiration. A woman who raised my sweet friend to be someone who inspires me daily with her faith. Why should my friend’s mother have to suffer? Shouldn’t she be able to slip peacefully into her Savior’s arms? Shouldn’t her family be spared the pain of waiting and watching her struggle?
It seems obvious to me…yes. Yet, God has a different timetable. A different path. And in circumstances like this, I cry out, “Why, God?”
I won’t pretend to have a good answer. Because, honestly, I don’t’ think there is an answer that will ever bridge the chasm between what my heart is feeling and what God is allowing to unfold. What I do know is that despite the questions, anger, and frustration, my faith is asking me to believe.
Believe that even in this season, God is working and using all for His glory. Romans 8:28 tells us, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” It’s hard to accept purpose in suffering. It’s almost unfathomable that good could come from such distress. And yet, I know it to be true.
Because I know that my dear friend’s mother continues to walk in the love of Jesus. I know that my friend and her family are living in unwavering faith amidst devastating circumstances. I know that the hospice workers see and feel the love and presence of Jesus when they enter her room. Doctors and nurses are touched by a strength that is eternal. And in her suffering, my friend’s sweet mama leaves the fingerprint of God on those around her. A life may be rescued from damnation thanks to the suffering of a woman who doesn’t deserve to suffer.
God works in and through us. We may not always recognize it. And while I’d prefer that He use me and the people I love through joy and comfort, I know that He will bring ultimate good that serves His purpose for the universe. Even when it hurts. Even when it is unfair. Even when it devastates. Romans 8:28 reminds us that nothing in this life of waiting and suffering is wasted. It is all meaningful for those in Christ, even if that doesn’t diminish our pain in the moment.
So, no, I don’t understand why we suffer. I don’t understand why God-loving and God-honoring people don’t get an easy path to Heaven. And I never will. It is in that inability to comprehend God’s reasoning that I settle into the truth that faith is the only answer. That trusting the truth of the Word is my comfort. It is remembering that Jesus Christ endured an agony beyond comprehension to save my wretched soul. Knowing that my Father in heaven chose to send His Son to suffer. Recognizing that God, surely, understands the cost. For it is in the sacrifice and suffering, that God made a way for Jesus to hold the hand of my friend’s mother and walk her home. To a place that sees no suffering. A place where the pain of this world is exchanged for the promise of the life for which we were created.