Faith Is For Weak People By Ray ComfortSample

“How can you believe that God is love when there is so much suffering in the world?”

Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know. I’m content not to understand all of God’s ways because of what I do understand. I know that God is loving, kind, and utterly faithful. All around me I see evidence of His wonderful creative hand. I also understand that He did not cause evil to exist.

People who ask the current question of a loving God allowing suffering are often thinking about a specific circumstance and wondering why God permitted it. We will all endure some combination of pain and hardship. None of us escape suffering: “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Our question becomes this: Did God intend life as we know it? Is human suffering part of His master plan? If so, most of us would rather not be part of it. We can think of a better one. We don’t want or need suffering.

When we look at life’s tragedies, it is illogical to say, “These things are terrible, therefore there is no maker.” However, it makes perfect sense to conclude that something is radically wrong. And there is. The Bible gives the perfect explanation: “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” (Romans 5:12).

Suffering should never be used as an excuse to reject God and His Word but should be seen as a very real reason to accept it. The fact that we understand suffering comes from an awareness that a greater good exists. In other words, our recognition of suffering evidences our awareness of God’s love for mankind.

Jesus doesn’t tell us why people will suffer. It was His chance to solve this age-old mystery in our passage from Luke 5, and He chose not to address it. He left us hanging but with His faithful hand beneath to catch us if we fall. Therefore, the only sensible thing to do in the midst of suffering is to lift ourselves out of the darkness of despair through trust in a faithful Creator. When it comes to all the suffering in the world, I won’t always know what God is doing, but I’m content and fully confident to trust His character.

Does suffering turn you away from God or draw you closer to Him? Why is blaming God for the suffering we see around us illogical?