If God is good, why is there so much suffering?

Over the course of any given week, you don’t have to look far to find examples of suffering.  At present, I’m friends with people who are experiencing suffering in areas of physical health, mental health, relationships, and finances.  When I read or watch the news, I encounter stories of natural disasters, wars, acts of terrorism, and other forms of difficulty on a national and global scale.  While there is much that is beautiful on this planet, we’re also surrounded by suffering and we never really know when a particularly difficult season of suffering may emerge in our own lives.

When I was just emerging as an adult, this was a concept I really struggled with.  To be more specific, I guess I should say that I didn’t necessarily struggle with why suffering existed in this world in a general way, but I often struggled with the concept of suffering in my own life.  I wondered why God would allow me to suffer when I was doing my best to trust Him, follow Him, and obey Him.  I now have a better understanding of why that is the case and I’ll elaborate on that shortly.

That being said, many people in this world would probably admit that they wrestle with the presence or concept of suffering.  It can be hard for them to consider God “good” when they’re wrestling with the fact that He’s clearly allowing people to suffer in all kinds of ways.

So what is the answer to this question?  If God is good, why is there so much suffering in this world?

Suffering is the logical outcome of rejecting God and His ways.

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”  (Genesis 2:16)

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”  (Genesis 3:6)

 It’s hard for us to imagine what this world would be like without the presence of evil, but there was a time when sin was not present on this planet and the world wasn’t under its curse.  Man was created and humanity knew God, walked with Him, and delighted in His fellowship.  The work we did was pleasurable, the weather was favorable, relationships were trusting, and disease and death were of no concern.

 As a test of faith, Adam, the first man was told that he was permitted to eat from every tree with the exception of one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  He was even told ahead of time what the consequences of eating from that tree would be, namely death.  Adam should have also been faithful to share this instruction with Eve and likewise should have protected her from consuming the fruit.  But instead of doing so, he let her eat of it then rebelliously ate of it himself.

 In that instant, this earth came under a curse, and the suffering we experience in the present can all be tied back to that moment.  But it isn’t the only example of human arrogance toward the instruction of God that we’re given in Scripture.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”  (1 Samuel 8:4-9)

 For roughly 400 years, give or take, the people of Israel did not have a king in the traditional sense, but were ruled by divinely appointed leaders called judges.  The Lord Himself operated as their King and the judges functioned as earthly representatives of His leadership.  In time, however, the elders of Israel asked to be ruled differently.  They weren’t content with this form of national leadership.  It was their desire to be ruled like the neighboring nations.  So God instructed Samuel, the last judge in Israel, to grant them their request and appoint Israel’s first monarch, a man named Saul.

 The people of Israel thought they would be better off being ruled this way, but they didn’t realize just how good they had it.  Even though the Lord warned them that they were inviting suffering into their lives and the lives of their children, they completely ignored the warning.  Through Samuel, the Lord warned the people of Israel that kings would oppress them, force their sons and daughters into their service, take their grain, vineyards, and animals, and make the people slaves, they completely rejected this warning.

But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”  (1 Samuel 8:19-20)

 If you look at the history of Israel as it is outlined in Scripture, and you read about the kings that led them, the vast majority of men who occupied this role were evil.  They rejected the Lord, abused their power, and oppressed the people.  And yet I’m sure that in the midst of that torment, there were people asking the question, “Why would a good God allow us to suffer like this?”  They suffered because they rejected Him and idolized their preferences over the counsel of His word.

Suffering can contribute to growth.

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  (1 Peter 1:6-7)

 Life during the era of the early church wasn’t easy.  The pioneers of our faith dealt with severe and unpleasant forms of persecution during their generation.  Their neighbors rejected them.  Their government oppressed them.  Many of them were chased away from the communities they grew up in, and a considerable amount were put to death for refusing to worship the emperor and other Roman deities.

 Yet Peter tried to encourage the early church in the midst of this suffering.  In fact, he encouraged them to rejoice while it took place, knowing that it would only last for a little while.

 Peter also reminded them that there would be a direct spiritual benefit they would experience through this test of faith.  It would demonstrate that their faith was genuine and would help them grow spiritually mature.  The greater result of this spiritual maturation was that Jesus would be honored and glorified through it.

 I mentioned earlier that when I was a young adult I often wondered why God was allowing me to experience certain forms of suffering even though I was attempting to live in obedience to Him.  Through this passage and several others, He has taught me several important things…

• a.  I was giving myself way too much credit.
• b.  I was ignoring the presence of pride and self-righteousness in my life.
• c.  My immature faith was too anchored in my behavior and needed to be better anchored in the sufficiency of Jesus.
• d.  Allowing my faith to be tested through personal trials made my faith much stronger and prepared me for the future leadership roles He had prepared for me.

 If you love and follow Jesus yet you’re presently enduring a season of suffering, understand that it will be used by God in healthy ways.  He will strengthen your faith, develop your maturity, and prepare you for future seasons when you’ll be asked to step up in new and challenging ways.

Suffering is also a form of divine discipline.

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”  (Hebrews 12:5-6)

 There are certain personal disciplines I choose to practice, and certain areas of my life where I struggle to remain disciplined.  It’s generally true to say that the disciplines I embrace still involve some level of pain and discomfort.  The same is true of the disciplines I tend to avoid.  I think I avoid them because they’re painful or uncomfortable.

 As the father of four children, I regularly disciplined them.  Sometimes my discipline would take the form of verbal correction.  Other times, it looked more like insisting that a task be completed before a liberty would be granted.  On occasion, particularly while my children were little, discipline included a slap on the hand or a swat on the backside.

 My children are all adults now, and each of them have directly thanked me for loving them enough to discipline them.  I disciplined them in love.  I corrected them to protect them and steer their lives in a healthy direction, even though the discipline I gave them wasn’t pleasant for any of us when it was first dispensed.

 The Lord does the same for us.  He loves us enough to discipline us.  In doing so, He’s demonstrating the depth of His love for His children.  He cares enough to protect us from our arrogance, immaturity, and rebellious spirit.  Sometimes suffering comes into our lives as evidence of God’s care.

Suffering was part of Christ’s atonement.

“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”  (Isaiah 53:3)

 Suffering isn’t unique to us.  Jesus Christ, God the Son, is also highly familiar with suffering.  He came to this earth to atone for our sins.  Jesus atoned for the sin of humanity when He was rejected by those He came to save.  He atoned for our sins when He suffered and experienced sorrow.  He atoned for our sins when He died on the cross.  In the suffering He endured before the cross, and in the suffering He endured on the cross, He was paying for our rebellion and unrighteousness.

 Adam rebelled.  Israel rebelled.  I rebelled.  You rebelled.  We brought suffering upon ourselves and truly deserve the discomfort it brings.  Yet in His perfect compassion, Jesus who didn’t deserve to suffer came to this earth to take our suffering upon Himself so that He could liberate us from it.  In fact, through faith in Jesus, our suffering will eventually come to an end.

God will one day end suffering.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”  (Revelation 21:1-4)

 For those who are united to Jesus by faith, suffering is a temporary circumstance.  By the grace of God, suffering isn’t a permanent reality for those who have become part of His eternal family.

 In fact, as we look at the unfolding pages of Scripture, it’s most fair to say that we serve a good God who has temporarily allowed us to experience the outcome of our rebellion while also graciously providing the solution to suffering in Jesus so that we won’t suffer forever.

Of course, for those who reject Jesus, there is a future of eternal, conscious, suffering ahead.  That is a tragic outcome of our penchant for rebellion against Him.  Yet, I’m so grateful to God when I realize that even though suffering is the fruit of our decisions, He has providentially intervened because He loves us and is looking forward to granting us an eternity where suffering will never be a concern again.  All who sincerely trust in Jesus are assured of this blessing.

© John Stange, 2025