Why Does God Allow Suffering

What is the purpose of suffering? If God is a good God, why do bad things happen to good people? For an honest man, these are fair and common questions. I've been reading through the book of Job recently (part of a chronological Bible reading plan for the new year), and was struck by Elihu's (one of Job's friends) response to Job's suffering and subsequent questioning of God's justice in it all. Elihu is realistic about the pain, brokenness and suffering that is present in all of our lives. Yet, he offers us a hopeful response as to why a sovereign God allows such brokenness and pain. Please read:

"Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones, 

so that his life loathes bread, and his appetite the choicest food. 

His flesh is so wasted away that is cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out. 

His soul draws near the pit, and his life to those who bring death. 

If there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand, to declare to man what is right for him,

and he is merciful to him, and says,

'Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom;

let his flesh become flesh with youth; let him return to the days of his youthful vigor'

then man prays to God, and he accepts him; he sees his face with a shout of joy,

and he restores to man his righteousness.

He sings before men and says:

'I sinned and perverted what was right, and it was not repaid to me. 

He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit,

and my life shall look upon light.'"

Job 33:19-28

A couple things stick out to me as I read this. 

• First, God allows brokenness, pain, and suffering to happen, even to those pursuing Him, because it allows us to experience his salvation. As this passage points out, we can't experience redemption from the pit, unless we ourselves are in the pit. We can't experience the joy of a ransom, unless we are first held captive. In other words, we can not rightly taste and experience the salvation of the Lord, unless we first know, understand, and experience the plight of sin in the world. Healing is sweet when we know we are broken. 
• Second, God allows brokenness, pain, and suffering to happen because it serves as a testimony to the Lord. Notice in this passage, the man who is restored and ransomed from the pit "sings before men and says.....He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit."God's redemptive grace  amidst our brokenness and pain serves to glorify God and point to his Sovereign goodness. 
• Lastly, reading this passage, it is clear that all of these things are ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He is the one who redeemed our lives when we were in the pit. He is our ransom. He is the merciful one. Let us turn to, and accept this God. 

Patience and Steadfastness in Suffering

"As an example of suffering and patience, brothers,

take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 

Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. 

You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, 

and have seen the purpose of the Lord,

how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.....

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray."

James 3: 10-13

The idea of patience and steadfastness in God's compassion and mercy amidst suffering is truly a foreign idea in our western culture today. In fact, most people spend their lives, striving everyday towards the goal of comfort and security. Suffering is something to be avoided at all costs. Amidst suffering, people may exhibit patience and steadfastness, but it is the hope that if they keep holding on, eventually the suffering will be gone, and they will return to their 'good life'. However, we see in these verses from James that our patience and steadfastness in suffering should be in God's glory. We should be patient and steadfast in suffering, not because we are consumed with ourselves, in the hope of a cushy life again, but because we are consumed with our God, and know that through our suffering, his purposes are being revealed, and his mercy and compassion are being displayed to us. The glory of our Creator is primary. This is the difference between worldly patience in suffering and Christian suffering. Suffering is not to be sought, yet it is to be expected, and embraced when encountered. James gives us every reason to embrace suffering with a steadfast hope in God. In verse 13, he exhorts his readers to look to the example of the prophets which came before. 

Throughout the Scriptures, most of the major players in the Bible story encounter some form of suffering. Why does this happen? Isn't suffering just a punishment for our mistakes? In Tullian Tchividjian's 'Surprised By Grace', the author dissects the story of the prophet Jonah, certainly someone from whom we could learn a thing or two about suffering. One thing that is clear from reading the book of Jonah, along with Tullian's book, is that God is sovereign over our situations, especially our sufferings. But this begs the question, why? Why does God allow suffering? Further, the even tells Christians that they in fact will suffer, not might suffer. 

Jonah was swallowed by a whale, and spent three days in the whales belly. What was it like in there? Well, I've  never been inside a fish, so I can't say for sure, but I imagine it was terrifying. Surrounded by darkness, and filled with uncertainty, Jonah indeed was suffering. But this brings us back to the question of 'why?'. 

Taking heed from James, as we look back at the prophets, it is clear that suffering has a purpose. Suffering brings us to a posture of desperation. Desperation leads us to turn our eyes to God. Desperation shatters all of our false hopes. When we are stripped of everything, we are left only to cling to God. Through our suffering, we are able to taste God's compassion and mercy in a fresh new way. We are able to know God's grace, and to trust in his purposes in ways in which we would not have otherwise. Suffering leads to desperation, and desperation leads to us crying out to God. Take a look at these examples. (these are taken from Tchividjian's 'Surprised By Grace')

In desperation, Jonah prayed. "I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me" (Jonah 2:1)

In desperation, David prayed. "This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles" (Psalm 34:6)

In desperation, Hannah prayed. "She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly" (1 Samuel 1:10)

In desperation, Jeremiah prayed. "Water closed over my head; I said, 'I am lost.' I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit; you heard my plea, 'Do not close your ear to my cry for help!'" (Lamentations 3: 54-56)

And with Job. "My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me. The guests of my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger; I have become a foreigner in their eyes....My breath is strange to my wife and I am a stench to the children of my own mother. Even young children despise me; when I rise they talk against me. All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me......For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God." Job 19: 14-25

And lastly, with Jesus, who like Jonah, faced three days and nights in the darkest of places. "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22: 44). 

In sum, in our times of suffering and affliction, we are to be patient and steadfast. We are to trust God. We can trust God because we have seen throughout history his faithfulness to his children. He may bring times of suffering, but it is not the end of the story. Our present suffering and afflictions reveal God's glory. In our desperation, we are able to see God's goodness, and plentiful redemption that is in Christ. 

Like James says, those who are steadfast and patient in their sufferings are blessed. They are blessed because through their situations, they come out knowing God's grace in a radical new way. Through our sufferings we are made more acutely aware of our sonship

We Can Never Obligate God

The following quote comes from Jerry Bridges book 'Transforming Grace'. I highly recommend this book.

"He doesn't owe me anything, and what He has given me was given by His grace alone."

Without doubt, we live in a culture of entitlement. People feel entitled to certain things. Older adults feel entitled to live a certain lifestyle with a certain level of enjoyment and comfort. Younger adults feel entitled to jobs, to fun, to a life free of responsibility. Teenagers and kids feel entitled to materialistic things. On a deeper level, we all struggle with a sense of entitlement from God.

This attitude of 'deservingness' is extremely detrimental and contrary to the Gospel. In our minds, more times than not, we believe that if we obey God, or do good, we are entitled to God's blessing. In essense, God is beholden to us. He is in our control.

However, in the Bible we get a very different picture of the whole human and God relation. Rather, God says, "Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me." (Job 41:11) and "Who has ever given a gift to God that He should repay him?" (Romans 11:35). The Bible is clear that 1) everything in creation belongs to God 2) Therefore, anything we have in this life is a gift from God and 3) Therefore, we cannot give God anything that God has not already given us.

Reflecting on this, it is obsurd to think how humans even think about questioning God. We are nothing but creatures, who are completely 100% dependent on the grace of God. It is crazy to think that God owes us anything. We are but dirty worms in comparison to the incomprehensible, majestic, flawless God of glory. To think we deserve or are entitled to anything from him is seriously crazy.

But, this is not said to bring us into a state of depression because we realize how small and powerless we really are. Rather, it should bring us to a state of increasing gratitude and joy. Gratitude in that God gives us common grace everyday, in the air we breath, in our health, in every good thing we enjoy in a day. But also, in the particular grace which he has applied to His people. The saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross is that much more glorious when we rightly perceive how unworthy and ill deserving we really are. This, should then produce great joy, that the God of creation, the all powerful, sovereign over every square inch of this universe holds His people, calls them his children, and will see them through unto the end.