Christians: How can a loving God allow so much suffering?

Question

I have been recently saved but can't seem to understand this at times. I just don't understand at times why a God who loves would allow suffering, pain, and little children to suffer from cancer. I know your not supposed to question things like this but I need some scripture to help me understand things.

summermsv, how rude are you!! no wonder why so many people dislike Christians!

Answer 1

I think to have a strong faith, you have to ask these questions. Never stop seeking answers! My personal views are maybe too liberal for you, but I think that suffering is simply part of life. I think that things happen in opposites. Light and dark, joy and pain, love and hate. To understand one, we must have knowledge of the other. For example, if it had never been dark, we wouldn't know that it was light. And these things are beautiful. Sometimes it helps to consider this life as just the first leg of the journey. I wouldn't call pain a test of our faith, but instead a lesson in faith. When you go to great lengths to accomplish something, it feels all that much more amazing once you achieve it, right? I believe that God is a positive force in the universe - the source of all life. I also think that we are all inherently good because, if God created us, it stands to reason that in each of us is a little bit of Him. I know I was all over the place there, but I hope that gives you a little food for thought anyway! Good luck, and feel free to e-mail if you ever want to talk...

Answer 2

1 John 5:19 - "We know we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the [power of the] wicked one."

When you think about it, does that not make sense? This world reflects the personality of the invisible spirit creature who is “misleading the entire inhabited earth.” (Revelation 12:9) Satan is hateful, deceptive, and cruel. So the world, under his influence, is full of hatred, deceit, and cruelty. That is one reason why there is so much suffering.

A second reason why there is so much suffering is that mankind has been imperfect and sinful ever since the rebellion in the garden of Eden. Sinful humans tend to struggle for dominance, and this results in wars, oppression, and suffering. (Ecclesiastes 4:1; 8:9) A third reason for suffering is “time and unforeseen occurrence.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11) In a world without Jehovah as a protective Ruler, people may suffer because they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It is comforting for us to know that God does not cause suffering. He is not responsible for the wars, the crimes, the oppression, or even the natural disasters that cause people to suffer. Still, we need to know, Why does Jehovah allow all this suffering? If he is the Almighty, he has the power to stop it. Why, then, does he hold back? The loving God that we have come to know must have a good reason.—1 John 4:8.

Answer 3

You most certainly can question things like this. Who says we aren't supposed to? How will we understand the nature of God if we don't question? The answer is simple... God is not a pupetteer, he gives us a world and provides us all we need. He then gives us free choice and the same chance of tragedy as everyone else. Sometimes tragedy is caused by bad choices (ie... drunk driver accident), sometimes chance which God allows catches up to us. God doesn't promise His followers freedom from tragedy, just the abillity to deal with tragedy and the knowledge that all suffering will end in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Answer 4

Well, I don't know really. All I can say is that I've always been taught that God, as you call him ( he's the Great Spirit to me), allows certain mishaps and disasters to take place to test the strength of not only individual people, but the entire human race as a whole. This testing, of faith, I presume, is His way of deciding who is worthy of His grace and mercy, and who tries to run for the hills or abandon him when the going gets rough. I knw there are terrible things happening, but it all happens for a reason. Keep your faith, if you have any, and trust in Him. You don't have to like it, but trust in what He is doing and live your life right while you can.

Answer 5

I'm going with Elsa's response.

Suffering and pain are integral parts of being human. But, they're not the parts we like. Scripture makes clear that believers and non-believers alike possess the full range of emotions and feelings. Suffering is simply one of them.

Answer 6

There is no God in the supernatural way, this is why things like this go on, why would a God allow the tsunami. There is no God.

there is a really good book called intelligent design, which used to be called the true face of God. It's a free download and worth a read. You can get it here...

Answer 7

Who says you're not supposed to question things like this?

I think everyone, even Christians, wonder this.

And nobody knows the answer..but if I had to guess I'd say it's because of us. God gives us free will..and he doesn't intervene with it. We cause sin and bad things--and God doesn't step in when we make those decisions.

Answer 8

In answering this question, the first thing to consider is whether such a thing as “the innocent” even exists. According to the Bible, “the heart is wicked and deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9), and “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Therefore, no one is innocent in the sense of being sinless. Sin entered the world when Adam and Even rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden, and mankind has been in rebellion ever since. Sin’s effects permeate everything, and the suffering we see all around us is a direct result of that sin.

But God did not leave us here to suffer pointlessly. Our loving and merciful God has a perfect plan to use that suffering to accomplish His threefold purpose. First, He uses pain and suffering to draw us to Himself so that we will cling to Him. Jesus said, “In the world you shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). Trials and distress are not something unusual in life; they are part of what it means to be human in a fallen world. In Christ we have an anchor that holds fast in all the storms of life, but if we never sail into those storms, how would we know that? It is in times of despair and sorrow that we reach out to Him, and, if we are His children, we always find Him there waiting to comfort and uphold us through it all. In this way, He proves His faithfulness to us and ensures that we will stay close to Him. An added benefit is that as we experience God’s comfort through trials, we are then able to comfort others in the same way (2 Corinthians 1:4).

Second, He proves to us that our faith is real through the suffering and pain that are inevitable in this life. How we respond to suffering is determined by the genuineness of our faith. Those with faith truly from God, “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2), will not be crushed by suffering, but will come through the trial with their faith intact, having been “proven through fire” so that it “might be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7). Those are the ones who do not shake their fists at God or question His goodness, but instead “count it all joy” (James 1:2), knowing that trials prove that they are truly the children of God. “Blessed is the man who endures temptation, because having been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” (James 1:12).

Finally, God uses suffering to take our eyes off this world and put them on the next. The Bible continually exhorts us to not get caught up in the things of this world, but to look forward to the world to come. This world and all that is in it will pass away, but the kingdom of God is eternal. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36), and those who would follow Him must not see the things of this life, both good and bad, as the end of the story. Even the sufferings we endure and which seem so terrible “are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

Could God prevent all suffering? Of course. But He assures us that “all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). So even suffering is part of the “all things” that God is using to accomplish His good purposes. His plan is perfect, His character is flawless, and those who trust Him will not be disappointed.

Answer 9


What does all this have to do with me?
If it was Adam’s decision to disobey God that brought sin into the world, why do we ALL have to suffer punishment?
If we are honest with ourselves, we will realize that Adam is a fair representative for all of us. If a perfect person in a perfect place decided to disobey God’s rules, none of us would have done better. Romans 5:12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” We all inherit Adam’s sin nature. We all sin, so we all deserve to die and suffer eternal punishment in hell. We must understand that not one of us is innocent before God. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Not one of us is worthy to stand before the Creator of the universe because we would each bring a sinful, rebellious nature into His presence.
In the beginning God completely sustained His creation without blemish. That’s why it was perfect. He held every atom together in a perfect state. He kept the planets in their orbits. He kept animals from tripping and breaking their necks. He did not allow people to suffer and die.
Deuteronomy 8:4 gives us a little glimpse of how things might have been in the original creation. “Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.” God is omnipotent and perfectly capable of sustaining and protecting his creation.
When Adam sinned, however, the Lord cursed the universe. In essence there was a change and along with that change God seemingly took away a little bit of his sustaining power and allowed things like suffering and death into His creation. Now He permits bad things to happen—and this is a reminder that sin has consequences and that the world needs a Savior. Romans 8:22 says, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”

God took pleasure in all of His creation ("http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?passage=revelation+4:11&version=NKJV"), but He loved people most of all. He allowed the created universe to deteriorate so we would see the consequences of our sin. If we did not see the consequences of our sin, we would never see that we need salvation from our sin, and we would never accept His offer of mercy for our sin. Most people easily recognize that there is a problem in the world. This can be used to show them that there is one who has overcome this problem of death and suffering—Jesus Christ.

Answer 10

How can man allow such suffering? We hear about the human trafficking of children, in and out of the United States, and do nothing. Have you written your congressman about this? Have you joined your neighborhood street club to complain about crime--not just in your neighborhood but in this country? How many letters have your written to stop the war in Iraq? What are you doing about poverty throughout the world? Are you protesting the drug traffic in your country alone? Why are YOU allowing so much suffering?