Some weeks, the bad news just keeps coming. A conversation with a child ends in silence, and no amount of praying repairs the relationship. A friend gets a diagnosis no one wants to hear. A health problem drags on for months with no answers and no end in sight.
Then come the headlines: gunmen opening fire on Christians gathered for a funeral at a church in southern Jordan. A plane crashing in western Wisconsin taking six lives and leaving whole communities in mourning. Two high speed Spanish trains colliding and killing 69 people. It’s enough to make anyone throw up their hands and ask, “God, what is going on?”
I’m certainly not the first person to wrestle with why God allows horrible things to happen. Plenty of authors have tackled the subject, most notably Harold Kushner in his aptly named book, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.”
And the Bible, faithful people were never promised an easy road:
- Abel was murdered by his own brother, Cain.
- Moses struggled with a speech impediment.
- Job lost his family, his wealth, and his health.
- Paul suffered from an affliction he never named.
- Jesus was nailed to a cross.
So when the suffering, loss, and tragedy pile up, is it okay to question God? Yes. Absolutely, yes.
Most of the Old Testament prophets questioned God. Job certainly did. Even Jesus did. In Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34, He cries out from the cross, “My God, my God! Why have You forsaken Me?”
Sidebar: This is the only saying of Jesus from the cross that appears in more than one Gospel, and it’s actually a quotation of Psalm 22:1.
Did Jesus lose faith? Theologians have offered different answers. The one that resonates most with me is that His cry shows He was fully human and suffered the way any of us would. Another view is that by quoting that psalm, Jesus identified Himself as the One the psalm points to, showing that He was fulfilling Scripture.
I don’t have the answer to why God allows suffering. But here are a few passages that have eased my mind lately.
Isaiah 55:8-9: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
To me, this is God saying, “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”
Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
God promises there is a plan. I take that to mean there’s a purpose behind the pain, even if I can’t see it yet.
Psalm 121:1-2: “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”
When I remember to lift my eyes from my earthly problems and fix them on what’s ahead, my strength is renewed.
Romans 8:28: “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.”
God has good things in store for us.
Psalm 30:5: “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”
God is in control, and His plan leads somewhere wonderful.
The world may feel far from God right now, but even on the darkest days, He is still in control. We can hold on to hope, because we already know how the story ends!
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