The Purpose of Suffering
The problem of pain and suffering is one of the oldest questions of humanity. How can a Christian answer the charge that an omniscient, omnipotent, and perfectly good God is irreconcilable with the terrible evils of this world? It must be admitted that this truly is a difficult question, and one that cannot be treated lightly; in a way, it’s one of the greatest mysteries of God’s plan, beyond the total comprehension of the human intellect. However, in this short blog post, I’d like to offer a small beginning, a simple foundation, upon which the Christian can begin to build his response. At the heart of this foundation is the claim that a redemptive, conversional power – a real good – can be found in the depths of the worst suffering.
If God is good, why do bad things happen? Why Hurricane Katrina, why the earthquake in Haiti, and why the Japanese tsunami? Why do people die of cancer? Why is there suffering at all? These are questions often asked, for people want to know how a God who is good can allow suffering in the world. Although it may appear that a good God is incompatible with the evil in the world, that is not the case. The Bible teaches that God is sovereign over this world and has a good purpose for every event. Although in the midst of suffering this purpose is often difficult – sometimes nearly impossible – to see, the Bible teaches that one of the purposes of pain and suffering is to highlight God’s mercy and lead sinners to repentance.
The Bible is clear that God controls all events, even those which might appear evil to us. The doctrine of God’s sovereignty teaches that all things are under God’s rule and control and teaches that nothing happens without his permission or direction. God determines all things that will happen, and he works them according to the purpose of his will.[i] Therefore, nothing can prohibit or inhibit what God desires to be done. Psalm 115:3 says that “[o]ur God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases,” and Daniel 4:35 asserts that God “does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand.” Conversely, nothing happens that God does not will, for he sovereignly controls all events. Therefore, natural disasters and suffering are both permitted by God and under his control.
The Bible not only teaches that God is sovereign, but also explains that he is not indifferent to what happens on earth. That is, God does not act arbitrarily, creating or destroying in a reckless manner. Rather, he has a vested interest in creation and works purposefully according to his “good, pleasing and perfect will.”[ii] Since God is sovereign, and since all things that happen on earth are a part of his will, all things must therefore be good, pleasing and perfect. Hence, God both controls natural disasters and suffering and has a divine, good purpose for them.
Yet these things certainly appear neither purposeful nor good. How, then, can we reconcile them with the knowledge that God always acts in a good way? To do so, we must first have an understanding of God as a judge who is slow to anger. Ever since the Fall of Mankind in the Garden of Eden, sin has pervaded all aspects of life. All people are sinners by nature. As Paul says in Romans, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”[iii] Since people have sinned, they have not matched the standard of perfection that God demands. Thus, all justly deserve God’s wrath and punishment. Ultimately, sinners will receive that wrath and punishment at the end times, when Christ will return to judge all of the living and the dead. He will sentence sinners to eternal punishment in hell, and he will give eternal life in heaven to those whom he has chosen to save. Christianity teaches that this will be the complete and final judgment of sin.
In his mercy, however, God has not yet come to judge sin. The Bible teaches that God is patient and “slow to anger.”[iv] Although he could pour out his wrath on humanity at any time, because of his patience he has not. All of history is thus a testament to God’s patience, kindness, and goodness in allowing sinners to live until the day of his Second Coming.
Nevertheless, the Bible teaches that God still reveals his wrath. Paul writes in Romans that “the wrath of God is being revealed from Heaven against all godlessness and wickedness of people.”[v] As the story of Noah illustrates, sometimes that revelation of his wrath happens in dramatic ways. God looked down from heaven and saw the great wickedness of mankind.[vi] Because of this wickedness, God chose to cause a great flood to destroy all people, with the exception of Noah and his family. This is just one case where God reveals his wrath, a wrath which is a foreshadowing of what will happen at the Second Coming.
So given the context of God’s sovereignty, his good will, and his punishment of sin, what purpose can a Christian see in hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and the like and how do they manifest God’s goodness? The purpose of these things is to lead people to repentance. [vii] They are a foretaste of the judgment that is to come, and they show that God will execute justice on all wicked, unrepentant sinners. Thus they ought to humble us by showing us our sin and the need to repent. They ought to then drive us to repent of our sins and trust in Christ for salvation. Herein lies one way in which these disasters display God’s good character. They show his patience with sinners and his mercy as he calls them to repent and to find salvation in the work of Jesus Christ.
This understanding that natural disasters can display God’s goodness is not to say that the Christian ought to rejoice at them; the death of a single person, let alone the death of tens of thousands in a natural disaster, is certainly a cause to mourn, for pain and death are both results of sin in the world. Neither is this to say that every Christian can or does fully understand God’s good nature. In fact, one would be hard pressed to find any Christian who always rejoices in God’s goodness while he or she is suffering. Rather, the doctrines of God’s sovereignty, goodness, justice, and mercy provide a rational explanation for suffering, for they show that God can use painful events in life to humble people and lead them to repentance. It is through this understanding of the salvific purpose of suffering that the Christian can begin to reconcile the pain in this world with God’s goodness and mercy.
