WHY DOES GOD ALLOW SUFFERING?

There are some questions in life that not many theologians enjoy answering. This is one of those.

I am not a theologian. But I believe God’s ways can often be dimly reflected in everyday human interaction. As a keen observer of human behavior, and with my daily spiritual reflections on God’s Word as my foundation, allow me to venture a practical guess on why God allows suffering in the world today.

First, we have to understand that God is not the author of human suffering but He does allow it.

Second, in answering this question about suffering, we must not be quick to simplify its causes and reasons at the risk of being insensitive to those who have actually suffered. If I sound very simplistic in my explanation, then please forgive me. That is not my intent.

Third, the answer to this long-standing question is quite inexhaustible which one article cannot possibly sufficiently provide.

Finally, I don’t claim to have full understanding of this matter. In fact, once a person says he understands God, then most likely, he doesn’t. Our limited human capacity, cannot fully understand God’s ways.

Nevertheless, as a way to provide reprieve, even for a little while, for those who are trying to make sense of what’s happening today, and to help those whose faith is being challenged by this present crisis, I dare to share my thoughts on the matter, albeit inadequate for sure.

To begin, allow me to share my reflection on this matter of “suffering” with a short illustration.

During this lockdown, my wife and I have been taking this opportunity to teach our kids to do some of the chores at home which they could not do during regular class days. We asked them to make a general cleaning of their rooms, wash dishes, mop the floor and fix their clothes in the closet. Just like normal children, if they have a choice, most likely they would prefer to just spend their time on a video binge or chatting online with their friends. But no, we know that teaching them these chores, no matter how difficult these chores may be for them, will eventually redound to their benefit. In a sense, a greater good will come out of their difficulties — they will learn some practical life skills and they will eventually become self-sufficient.

In a similar way, we have made a mess of our world. And God allows us to suffer the consequences of our neglect in order for us to learn a lesson from which we can learn to become better versions of ourselves coming out of this crisis. With every bad turn, God brings out a greater good.

The history of the church gives us many examples of moments whereby people suffered but because of the suffering, a greater good resulted.

The story of Joseph the Dreamer is one of those stories (Book of Genesis 38-50). Remember, the young Joseph was sold by his own brothers as a slave in Egypt. As a slave, despite doing good, he was set up by the wife of his master and he was wrongly charged with attempted rape. He was then thrown in prison where he lingered for years. Eventually, he was released from jail when he was able to interpret the very disturbing dream of the Pharaoh. As a reward, he was made into an administrator of the entire Egypt, next only to Pharaoh in terms of rank. He was made in-charge of preparing the people for the upcoming drought as seen by the Pharaoh in his dream. We all know the rest of the story. Joseph not only rescued Egypt from the drought, he was able to reconcile with his brothers and bring his entire family into Egypt to live in abundance during the crisis.

Joseph himself summed it up perfectly when he told his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20)

We are in a crisis too where we are called to be “Josephs”. We are called to be men and women who choose to relentlessly believe that God is up to something very good out of what seems to be a very bad situation. God allows this suffering so we can bring something so much better out of this. We may not know what this “greater good” is, but we choose to believe, in faith, that there is.

God’s track record speaks for itself.

Shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the martyrdom of the apostles led to the growth of Christianity outside the borders of Jerusalem.

In ancient times, we know of the suffering of the people in Rome due to the Antonine Plague in the 2^nd Century contributed to the spread of Christianity because of the amazing witness by Christians of what unconditional love was by their care for those who were infected.

In the last century, we saw the suffering and death of Martin Luther King resulting in the eventual decline of racism in the U.S.; and the assassination of Ninoy Aquino in our country leading to the overthrow of the twenty-year authoritarian leadership of the Marcoses.

In the moment of suffering, it will be hard for us to believe that God is up to something better. In retrospect, however, we always see how God is able to turn things around and eventually, bring something good out of something so bad.

As Christians, we need to respond well to this crisis and let our faith shine. For it is in these dark times, that our light can shine the brightest.

We pray. We serve. We love.

This present suffering is not a dead end but a pathway for God to accomplish the greater good that he seeks to achieve in us and in the world.

In this, we choose to trust in faith…no matter what.