PSALM 34:19 (ESV)
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”
Why God allows suffering is a question many have been asking for a very long time. And it is understandable why when we observe all the suffering in our world. But from the beginning, it was not so:
GENESIS 1:31 (NKJV)
“God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.”
Yet, when we see innocent people suffer, children dying from terrible diseases, families torn apart, and natural disasters destroying entire communities, we demand, “How can any of this be good?”
Why doesn’t an all-powerful, loving God simply come down from heaven and make everything go away: the pain, the suffering, the disease, the death—all of it!
Thankfully, the Bible gives four very practical answers to this age-old question. And at the end, you’ll understand the truth that God did come down from heaven.
1. Suffering Entered the World Through the Garden of Eden
In Genesis chapters 2 and 3, we read that God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, where everything was perfect; there was no death, no sin, no suffering, no pain. He provided everything they needed.
Adam and Eve could freely eat from the trees of the garden, except for one: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God warned Adam that if he ate from that tree, he would surely die (Gen. 2:16-17).
Instead of trusting and obeying God, our father and mother chose to disobey Him. Their one act of rebellion changed everything in their lives—and in our lives!
Think of sin as a sort of spiritual diabetes. It affects everything it touches just as diabetes affects everything in the human body. Sin’s consequences reach far beyond the individual who commits it; sin reached out and touched us all, which is why Scripture says death has reigned over God’s good creation (Rom. 5:14).
This is why we all die, whether as a small child from cancer or an old man from heart failure. Suffering and pain are now a sad reality of our lives.
God also cursed the ground—our earth is now corrupt—and we now have natural disasters and terrible diseases plaguing us.
Our relationships with God and one another have also been damaged. Dysfunctional families, spousal abuse, divorce, child abuse, prejudice, racism, murder, and war are all examples of the terrible suffering that human sin has brought into our world.
Scripture describes this as creation being subjected to futility and groaning under the bondage of corruption while awaiting its future deliverance (Rom. 8:20–22).
Paradise is lost!
The ancient world often believed personal suffering was a result from hidden sin. Just talk to Job’s friends! Even Jesus’ disciples asked about a man blind from birth and whether his blindness resulted from his own sin or that of his parents. Jesus corrected them, explaining that neither the man’s sin nor his parents’ sin caused his blindness (Jn. 9:1-3).
The decay and corruption in our world from the sin in the Garden often lead to unexplained tragedy and suffering apart from private personal sin.
But there is good news! God, in His mercy, provided a plan of redemption. In His absolute, unwavering love, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to save us (Jn. 3:16). Born of the virgin Mary, Jesus was tempted in every way we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15). He suffered in our corrupt world (1 Pet. 3:18), died a brutal, painful death on a Roman cross (Is. 53:5), and shed His blood to provide redemption, saving us from the wrath of God and from hell (1 Thess. 1:10).
His resurrection on the third day restores the relationship between God and man and there is coming a day of full restoration:
REVELATION 21:4 (NKJV)
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
It doesn’t get better than that!
2. Disobedience Causes Suffering
Another reason we experience suffering is that our choices have consequences when we disobey God:
ROMANS 6:23 (NKJV)
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Consider the choice to abuse alcohol resulting in violent family relations which perpetuate to the next generation as children endure such abuse. These personal decisions result in human suffering.
What about neglecting the environment with improper farming techniques, pumping animals full of antibiotics while cramming them into unbreathable spaces all the while injecting our food with highly processed, cheap additives because of greed? Are we really surprised our health declines?
Just look throughout history where power-hungry governments sought to take over the world, resulting in wars, massive loss of human life, and suffering for generations.
These are not acts of God; these are sinful choices people make that result in suffering.
Yet God has given us commandments about how to farm, treat animals, treat each other, and build healthy societies—not because He wants to deprive us of happiness, but because His ways are righteous, good, and healthy.
Throughout the Old Testament, we repeatedly see God warning the nation of Israel about the consequences of her rebellion. When the Israelites persisted in disobedience, they experienced judgment, hardship, and even captivity.
Yet God continually called them to repent, urging them to throw off their rebellious acts and get a new heart (Ez. 18:30-32).
God desires us to love one another (Jn. 13:34-35) and to live in peace with all people (Rom. 12:18).
3. God Allows Suffering to Train His Children
God sometimes allows suffering to train His children, develop spiritual maturity, strengthen their faith, and teach them to depend upon Him:
JAMES 1:2-4 (NKJV)
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
Suffering shows us our weaknesses and where we need improvement. While suffering may be unpleasant to endure, later on it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace supplying us with a Christ-like life (Heb. 12:5-11).
Sometimes God lets us go through trials to reveal hidden sins we’re clinging to in our lives so they can be filtered out. David, who faced trials, persecution, and hardship, cried out:
PSALM 26:2 (NKJV)
“Examine me, O LORD, and prove me;
Try my mind and my heart.”
At other times, our suffering has nothing to do with personal wrongdoing, yet God can still use those experiences to develop perseverance, humility, compassion, and Christlike character in us. The apostle Paul suffered from what he described as a thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan that afflicted him. He pleaded with God three times to remove it, but God said:
2 CORINTHIANS 12:9 (NKJV)
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
We need to be asking God to reveal to us the sin in our lives and help us turn away from it.
Rom. 8:28-29 reminds us that God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. So take heart during suffering.
4. God Allows Suffering as a Witness to the Lost
Job was a righteous man who feared God and shunned evil (Job 1:1). Yet he experienced almost unimaginable suffering, losing his family, children, home, possessions, and health. Of all the people to suffer and question “Why me, God?”, Job stands out the most.
But why did God allow Job to suffer under the Devil’s attack?
First, God limited Satan’s attack (Job 2:6) and never allowed Job to be completely without hope, as Job himself declares:
JOB 19:25 (NKJV)
“For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth”
Second, consider this thought: what if God allows His faithful to suffer because they are the only ones trustworthy to be an example to the unfaithful?
God is so loving that He is not willing any should perish, but all should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). Thus, God sometimes allows suffering as an opportunity for His faithful to witness to unbelievers suffering in this world—that they should be saved.
The apostle Paul describes how God used his unjust suffering to bring the Gospel to pagan jailers and strengthen the Church at the same time:
PHILIPPIANS 1:12-14 (NKJV)
“But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, 13 so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; 14 and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”
Who else can God trust to suffer as an example to the lost world other than His faithful, righteous servants? Scripture reminds us:
2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-5 (BSB)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”
The One Who Came From Heaven Suffered for Us
There was One more righteous than Job. One who never sinned, never hurt anyone, and never entertained an evil thought. And yet He suffered the most out of any human on earth. Who else bore the sins of every single person who lived?
This One is the Lord Jesus Christ, who came down from Heaven and suffered for us while He remained innocent:
1 PETER 3:18-19 (NKJV)
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison…”
Although Christ knew no sin, He became sin for us that we would become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus suffered for us; Jesus was rejected, He was despised (Is. 53:3), He endured separation from His Father (Matt. 27:46) and He went to the place of the dead (Acts 2:27-31)—for us!
Consider this fact: if God the Father allowed God the Son to suffer, He will also allow His faithful to suffer. Yet we can take hope from those who suffered well:
PHILIPPIANS 3:10 (ESV)
“That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…”
While suffering may not be anything that we want to go through, we can rest assured that God has suffered with us, understands us, and can bring good out of our suffering. Remember, “after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1 PETER 5:10)
HEBREWS 4:15 (NKJV)
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
