God and suffering

On this tenth anniversary of 9/11 and as I begin our new series on Why, let me share with you some reasons for suffering and evil in the world.

There is a branch of theology or area of study called theodicy.  It attempts to reconcile God intrinsic nature of goodness and love with the existence of suffering and evil in the world.  While this study can be intellectually satisfying because of its logical defense or explanation of why suffering and evil exist and still support the biblical understanding of God as loving and good it can leave one cold and unsatisfied when going through a time of suffering or questioning.  In the book of Job the namesake finally realized that God was bigger and more complex and his attempt to understand fairness and the ways of God was beyond his ability.  The good news is that our faith establishes a relationship with the One who loves us and walks with us through every heartache and like a hurting child the best we can and should do is hold on to Him.

And yet, understanding why there is evil and suffering can be helpful for those who need a more reasonable understanding of their faith all the while realizing that we can never fully understand some subjects and there will always be unanswered questions in life. 

Here are some basic thoughts on reconciling the whys with God’s love and goodness.

2 misguided assumptions that cause us to ask why:

1. If I believe in God and try to be good God will take care of me.  When that does not happen we think we must have done something bad and we are being punished by God.  Adam Hamilton in his book titled Why? Making Sense of God’s Will says that the message of the Bible is not a promise of a charmed life, instead the Bible is about people who refused to let go of their faith in  the face of suffering.

2. Everything happens for a reason.  By this we usually mean that God has a plan and is working out through all events.  Yet, the Bible does not support that view.  When a woman is raped God did not have some higher cosmic purpose for it.  God would be a monster if He did that.  The message of the Bible is that in spite of the bad things that happen God, while not the author of evil, is able to bring good out of it (Romans 8:28). 

There are 3 foundational ideas that help explain why bad things happen in this world.

1. God has given humans dominion over this planet.  We are charged with taking care of it and each other.  With that He set us certain natural laws that govern our planet.  Plate tectonics, the heating and cooling of winds, and other natural phenomenon maintain our planet but also cause extreme weather and physical manifestations that wreak havoc and those who are the poorest suffer the most because they lack the resources to evacuate or build earthquake resistant houses.  We abuse our environment and the result is that we ingest pollutants that probably are the cause of much disease.  The charge is for us to alleviate suffering with sound environmental policies as well as help the poor and those least likely to survive natural disasters with the abundance God has given us. 

2. To be human is to have freedom to choose God’s way or another way.  We can choose right or wrong as long as we breathe.  We can choose to drink too much and drive a car.  These choices cause horrible suffering for many families when an accident occurs and a life is lost or habitual abuse of alcohol ruins a marriage and destroys a family.  Last week I was with some staff members at a restaurant and a woman left who obviously had too much to drink.  I commented that she was  a danger to herself and others and one of our staff members went to her car and convinced her to have her friends drive her home. 

3. We all have a predisposition to stray from God’s path (even the best of us).  We have civil laws that bring penalties that should keep us in line, but some times we choose destructive paths in spite of it all.  We recklessly use our freedom and we do not know how to change.  That is why we need to have a relationship with One who can change us from the inside and walk with us through all the ups and downs of life.