10 Reasons Why God Allows Suffering

1- SUFFERING COMES WITH FREEDOM TO CHOOSE

Every loving parent wants to protect their children from unnecessary suffering. Nevertheless, wise parents know the danger of overprotecting their children. They know that free choice is at the very heart of the human experience and that a world without freedom would be worse than a world without suffering. Worse still would be a world inhabited by people who would make bad choices without suffering. There is no more dangerous than the liar, the thief or the murderer who does not feel the harm he is doing to himself and to others (Genesis 2: 15-17).

2- SUFFERING CAN WARNING A DANGER

We hate suffering, especially among those we love. However, without discomfort, the patient would not go to see a doctor. The exhausted body would not rest. The criminal would not fear the law. The child would make fun of getting corrected. Without the instances of consciousness, the daily dissatisfaction created by boredom and the unfulfilled desire for meaning in their lives, people who are made to find satisfaction in an eternal Father would be satisfied with much less. The example of Solomon, deceived by pleasures and taught by his sufferings, shows us that even the wisest of us tends to depart from good and from God until the suffering resulting from his own choices short-sightedly discourages him from going farther (Ecclesiastes 1 - 12, Psalm 78,34,35, Romans 3: 10-18).

3- SUFFERING REVEALS WHAT IS IN THE HEART

Suffering often results from the actions of others. However, she has her own way of telling us what's in our ownheart. The ability to love, to be merciful, to be angry, to envy, and to pride oneself can be dormant in us until a certain situation awakens it. The strength and weakness of the heart is revealed not when everything goes as we wish, but when the flames of suffering and temptation come to test our character. As fire is used to refine gold and silver, and coal needs time and pressure to change into a diamond, the human heart is revealed and developed by bearing the pressure and heat of time and situations. The strength of character is not demonstrated when everything goes well in our world, but in the presence of human pain and suffering (Job 42.1-17, Romans 5.3-5, James 1.2-5, 1 Peter 1.6-9).

4- SUFFERING LEADS US TO THE THRESHOLD OF ETERNITY

If death marks the end of everything, then a life filled with suffering is unfair. However, if the end of life here below brings us to the threshold of eternity, then the people who are most fortunate in the universe are those who discover, through suffering, that life here below is not everything. Those who discover themselves and their eternal God through suffering have not suffered in vain. They allowed their poverty, sorrow and hunger to lead them to the Lord of eternity. These are the ones who will discover to their eternal joy why Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs! (Matthew 5.1-12, Romans 8.18,19.)

5- SUFFERING RELEASES OUR CHECK ON LIFE

With time, we are less and less interested in our work and our opinions. The state of our body is getting worse by wear and tear. It eventually sinks into an inevitable obsolescence. The joints stiffen and hurt. The sight weakens. Digestion slows down. Sleep becomes difficult. Problems get worse as options decrease. Yet, if death does not mark the end but the beginning of a new day, then the curse of old age is also a blessing. Every new pain makes our world less inviting and life to come more attractive. In its way, suffering paves the way for a departure in grace (Ecclesiastes 12: 1-4).

6- SUFFERING GIVES THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRUST GOD

Famous for this reason, Job is the man who has suffered the most of all time. According to the Bible, Job lost his family because of "a great wind", his riches because of the war and a fire, and his health because of painful ulcers. Nevertheless, God never told Job why all this was happening to him. While Job suffered the accusations of his friends, the sky remained silent. When God finally spoke, he did not reveal to him that Satan, his sworn enemy, had questioned Job's motives for serving God. Nor did God ask Job to excuse him for allowing Satan to test his consecration to God. Instead, God told him about wild goats calving, lion cubs hunting and scavengers in their nests. He mentioned the behavior of the ostrich, the strength of the buffalo and the stride of the horse. He spoke of the wonders of the heavens and the sea, and the cycle of the seasons. Job could only conclude that, if God had the power and wisdom to create our physical universe, we would be right to trust this same God in times of suffering (Job 1-42).

7- GOD SUFFERS WITH US WHEN WE SUFFER

No one has suffered more than our heavenly Father. No one paid higher price for free will, which allowed the entry of sin into the world. No one has suffered so much for a race that suffers because it has gone the wrong way. No one has suffered as one who has paid for our sins in the crucified body of his own Son. No one has suffered more than he who, when he stretched out his arms and gave up his soul, showed us how much he loves us. It is this God who, drawing us to Him, asks us to trust Him when we suffer and those we love cry in our presence (1 Peter 2:21, 3.18, 4.1).

8- THE CONSOLATION OF GOD EXCEEDS OUR SUFFERING

The Apostle Paul begged the Lord to remove from him an unidentified source of suffering. The Lord, however, refused him, saying, "My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is fulfilled in weakness. To this Paul replied: "I will therefore boast more readily of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. This is why I am pleased in weaknesses, in outrages, in calamities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong "(2 Corinthians 12: 9,10). Paul discovered that he would rather be with Christ in suffering than being without Christ in good health and in a pleasant situation.

9- IN TIMES OF CRISIS, WE FIND OTHERS

Nobody would choose pain and suffering. However, when we have no choice, we still have consolation. Natural disasters and times of crisis have their way of getting closer to each other. Hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, riots, diseases and accidents all have their way of bringing us back to reason. Suddenly, we remember our own mortality and that people count more than things. We remember that we need each other and that, above all else, we need God.
Whenever we discover the consolation of God in the midst of our suffering, our ability to help others is increased. This is what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote, "Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who comforteth us in all our afflictions. so that by the consolation to which we are the object of God
we may comfort those who are in affliction "(2 Corinthians 1, 4, 4).

10- GOD CAN CHANGE THE SUFFERING IN WELL FOR US

This truth is best seen in the many examples of the Bible. In the midst of Job's suffering, we see a man come not only to gain a deeper understanding of God, but also to become a source of encouragement to the people of all generations who have followed. In the midst of the rejection, betrayal, slavery, and wrongful imprisonment of a man named Joseph, we see someone who has come to say to those who have wronged him, "You had meditated on hurting me: God changed him into good "(Genesis 50.20a). When everything shouts at us after heaven for allowing suffering, we are right to fix our eyes on the eternal result and the joy of Jesus, who himself cried out suffering martyrdom on the cross of an executioner : "My God, my God, why did you abandon me? (Matthew 27:46.)

YOU ARE NOT ALONE if injustice and suffering in life make you doubt that a God in heaven cares for you. However, consider again the suffering of the one whom the prophet Isaiah described as a "man of pain and accustomed to suffering" (Isaiah 53: 3). Think about his lacerated back, his bloody forehead, his nails torn from his hands and feet, his pierced side, his agony in the garden and his heartbreaking cry of abandonment. Consider Christ's statement that he suffered not because of his sins but because of ours. To give us the freedom to choose, it allows us to suffer. He himself, however, suffered the supreme chastisement and suffering for all our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:24).

If you come to see the reason for the sufferings of Christ, remember that the Bible says he died to pay the price for our sins and those who believe in their hearts that God raised him from the dead will be saved (Romans 10: 9,10). The forgiveness and eternal life that Christ offers is not a reward for the efforts made, but a gift to all who, in the light of the evidence, put their trust in him.

To accept the gift of God, you can pray like this: "God, I know myself a sinner. I know I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for my sins. I believe that He rose from the dead to live His life in all who believe in Him. I receive him now as my Savior. I accept your offer of forgiveness and eternal life. Thank you, Father. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. "