Does God Cause Suffering?Sample

Day One: The Character of God

It is important to remember that our God is wholly righteous and that there is no taint of unrighteousness, iniquity, or immorality in Him. Whatever He does is pure and without fault, for “all His ways are just” (Deuteronomy 32:4). Even when we speak of the love of God, we are speaking of a powerful moral force, for God’s love rejoices only in truth (1 Corinthians 13:6). It is directly and uncompromisingly opposed to all evil, and it is most clearly revealed to us in the cross - the death of the Lord Jesus to satisfy the Father’s justice (Romans 3:25-26), the free offer of salvation to satisfy His mercy (Romans 5:8). That is truly the love of God, justice, and mercy rolled into one, poured out to redeem a disobedient people. 

The connection between the righteous love of God and the problem that we face is simply this: by making the Lord out to be some nice old “grandfather” figure who wouldn’t even think of hurting a fly, we have unconsciously compromised His holy character. As one writer aptly put it, He is not just our “celestial buddy.” He is the Sovereign Lord (Hebrew ’adonay, pron. ah-doh-NAI), the all-powerful Ruler, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords! His name is Yahweh, “He Who brings all things into being,” and He is a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24, Hebrews 12:29)!

You see, God is not fickle, as we so often are. He is always totally for righteousness and totally against unrighteousness, totally for truth and totally against lies, totally for mercy, and totally against cruelty. He is not on our side one day and against us another day, for He does not change. However, we do change. He is always going in one direction, and if we follow Him in faith, then He is for us; if we oppose Him in unbelief, then He is against us, but not because He changed His course. It is we who changed our course. The Lord was merely continuing down the path that He laid out for Himself in eternity past. It is the path of light, life, and love, the course of eternal blessing for all of His people. Those who travel the road to hell find themselves going against God Himself.

Revelation 3:19 says, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.” In other words, love which does not say, “Stop! Turn back! You’re going the wrong way!” is not really love at all.

We must always remember that He is a just God, and His judgments are always righteous and praiseworthy. The Lord is against those who willfully refuse His grace, and He will put up all necessary roadblocks in order to turn them from their sins.

Take a pause and look at your current circumstances. Is there a place where God has nudged you to stop and turn back because you’re going the wrong way? If you feel that pull that is okay! It is merely our Compassionate Father directing you to stay on the course He wishes us to follow.