How Can a Good God Allow Suffering?
Strength for the Church
When we experience injustice, disappointment, or crisis, it’s common to turn to God and ask “Why?” Maybe you’ve had life throw you a curve-ball and you’ve asked God what He’s doing. While Scripture often doesn’t give us easy or satisfying explanations for the hard things that happen in life, it does invite us to bring those questions honestly before God.
One reason for this invitation is that faith is embedded in the question. When we ask God “Why?” even in our pain and doubt, we are still turning to God as the one who has the answers —who holds all things and knows all things. At times, we can feel it’s wrong, faithless, or out-of-line to question God. But the fact that we’re looking to Him for answers acknowledges our relationship with Him.
Questioning God causes us to lean into Him instead of pulling away. Faithful believers all throughout the Bible wondered how God was working things together for good. Moses, Gideon, Elijah, and Jeremiah all questioned their place in God’s purposes. Abraham doubted God’s promises (Genesis 15:8). Joshua questioned God’s actions (Joshua 7:7–8). Even Jesus’ disciples voiced their reservations (Matthew 11:2–3; Mark 6:37; John 20:25). Scripture doesn’t present these moments as failures but as part of an ongoing maturity of their faith.
It’s become all too common for people who experience pain or suffering to walk away from the very One who can meet them in their sorrow. The Christian hope is not that we will always understand our circumstances, but that God was willing to step into our suffering with us. On the cross, Jesus experienced such deep anguish that He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Yet even in Jesus’ worst moment, the Father was faithfully working all things together for our redemption. God has promised in all things to strengthen and restore us (1 Peter 5:10).
The 20th century pastor, A.W. Tozer wrote, “God does His deepest work in our darkest hours.” In Jesus, we learn to trust that suffering can be the very place where God’s presence breaks through most powerfully. He may not provide the answers we’re looking for in the way we desire, but He’s faithful to stay present, to minister to our pain, and to lead us forward in our faith.
Reflection Questions
- Do your questions draw you closer to God or tempt you to pull away from Him?
- Can you see ways that God has shaped your faith through hard times even if you didn’t fully understand what you were going through?