The problem of pain, suffering and evil

Pastor Hans Voortman

It's hard to reconcile a loving God with the continuing existence of pain, suffering and evil in the world. Why doesn't He just stop it?

This is a profound question for which there are no simple answers. We see scenes on TV of Bosnia and the horrors of Rwanda. With the V.E. Day celebrations we've recently relived the atrocities of World War II. It's hard to match the picture of a benevolent, caring Heavenly Father with the genocide of Auschwitz. Everything within us cries out for God to intervene.

So why does suffering, pain and evil go on, given that God could so easily eliminate it?

The classic statement of the problem says: Either God is all powerful but not all good, and therefore doesn't stop evil, or He is all good but unable to stop evil, which means He is not all powerful! Of course, the problem with this statement is that God is God and He can't be put into our little predetermined box. 'His ways are not always our ways' (Is 55:8).

Our western culture teaches us to believe in formulae. One plus one equals two. We function in a closed system, whereas the Bible is an open one. One plus one can equal whatever God makes it. Five loaves and two fish can feed thousands! So in a real sense, the answer to God's tolerance of pain, suffering and evil remains in His heart, and perhaps only eternity will bring clarity to us on many of these issues.

Having said that, there are still many important areas we can discuss, and we can gain a Biblical perspective on this important question.

SIN, ERROR AND FOOLISHNESS

People tend to blame God for everything! Yet much of what is suffering and evil in this world is a direct product of humankind's own choice and behaviour. Imagine a world without lies, theft, gossip, slander, hatred, murder, greed, rape, quarrels, corruption, etc. How many wars would still occur? How much suffering would be alleviated? We have a lot to answer for, before we even begin to think of pointing the finger at God!

So why didn't God just simply make people without the capacity to sin? Couldn't we have been programmed to only do good? Well, of course God could have, but at what cost? Giving us the gift of free will and the power of choice was a risk God chose to take, knowing full well that evil could result if we made the wrong choice. Yet, He considered this risk worthwhile in His deep desire to make humankind in His own image. He wanted our love and response to Him to be voluntary and not an automatic programmed reaction like that of some chatty doll! To make humankind unable to sin would have been to violate the ability to respond in free choice. Intrinsic to the gift of free will was the risk of a world being plunged into pain, suffering and evil. But this was not God's intention. It was humankind's own choice!

Some people would ask: ' Why doesn't God just stamp out evil people? If we could just get rid of all the crooks, baddies and evildoers then things would get right!' The presupposition is that most people are decent folks and if God could in all justice just get rid of the nasties from this world, most pain, suffering and evil would be eliminated.

The logical question follows: 'How evil is evil? What evil do you really want God to stop?' It's easy to ask God to eliminate the Hitlers, Stalins and Pol Pots of this world, but God is just and sin is sin! The only thing that protects any of us from God's judgement is His grace. If He really chose to wipe out sin (the cause of all suffering and evil), how many of us would be left? We would like to have God wipe out the evil in others , but not in us . We're really not that bad!

Don't you believe it! Jesus perceptively declared, '...the heart of all humankind is evil. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander' (Mt 15:19). Born in sin, we have to do little to cultivate evil. Doing good is what takes effort! Thank God for His grace! A day of judgement is coming when all sin will be eliminated, but as 2 Peter 3:9-10 says, 'He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. Yet, the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.'

THE ROLE OF THE DEVIL

Man is not alone on this planet. The Bible makes it clear that there is an enemy, the Devil, who with his evil cohorts of demons is also purposefully at work creating destruction and mayhem in this world (Mt 13:28, I Pet 5:8). The Scripture declares his purposes are to steal, destroy, kill, oppress, accuse, deceive and dominate (Jn 10:10, Acts 10:38, Job 2:7, 2 Cor. 4:4, Col. 1:13). So much that is evil and suffering in our world is devil-inspired.

The question again is , 'Why doesn't God simply eliminate the devil now?' Perhaps Robinson Crusoe's answer to his Man Friday is the best response to this:

'Well,' says Friday, 'you say God is so strong, so great; has He not as much strong, as much might as the devil?'

'Yes, yes,' says I. 'Friday, God is much stronger that the devil.'

'But if God much strong, much might as the devil, why God no kill the devil so make him no more do wicked?'

'You may as well ask,' answers Crusoe reflectively, ''Why does God not kill you and me when we do wicked things that offend Him?''

There will come a time when the devil will be destroyed, but it seems in the sense of the justice and retribution of God, this too is delayed till a time only God knows (Acts 1:7, Rom. 9:9). Of course for the Christian, the devil's power has already been defeated through the cross (Col. 2:15) and where the devil may still try to influence the Christian, he need not be successful. 'Resist the devil and he will flee' (Jas 4:7).

FRAILTY, FINITENESS AND FATE

There are two different views of God's involvement with this world. Some see Him as totally removed; He wound up the great clock of creation and it's gradually winding down now under its own steam with no direct involvement from God. Others see God involved in everything; nothing happens without His direction.

Both views have some elements of truth, but the clearer view, in my understanding of Scripture, is that God has given over much of the issues of control in this world to us and to the processes of nature which He has established. Yet, in spite of this, He remains God and can in His sovereignty overrule at anytime. So for instance, the sun rises each morning as a result of the gravitational forces He has set in motion that cause our earth to rotate around the sun with perfect precision. He doesn't need to give it a kick along every now and then if it slows down! Yet for all that, He could still make the sun stand still for Joshua (Josh. 10:1-14)! When I go fishing, whether or not I catch anything or not is a result both of my skill and whether there are fish there, rather than God's direct intervention! Yet God, with a simple declaration of His Word, could give Peter a catch of fish that defied his night of useless toil (Luke 5:5-7)!

So when weather goes sour, causing floods or hurricanes, or if a building collapses and hundreds are killed, it is not God's doing, but human frailty in the midst of events that should never be described as 'acts of God'. It's strange that when good things happen, people always attribute them to 'Lady Luck'; but when they're bad, it's declared an 'act of God'!

Buildings collapse because of faulty construction or because of pre-existing fault lines in the soil. This world is a dangerous place and hurtful, tragic events will at times occur. The hope of the Christian, is that God can intervene and overcome. Confronted by natural disasters, human finiteness could be easily overwhelmed if it were not for the intervention of the infinite! Praise God, miracles do happen; yet when they don't, let's not blame God!

THE PLACE OF SUFFERING

In our world, there is the faulty assumption that happiness is the greatest goal in life, and that suffering is the antithesis of this. Yet true, genuine, deep-seated happiness is something much more profound than the ephemeral, fleeting enjoyment of the moment. True happiness doesn't preclude suffering. In 1 Pet 5:10, Peter declares, '...but the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.'

We are often tempted to ask, 'Why do bad things happen to good people?' Yet this is the wrong question. We should rather ask, 'What happens to good people when bad things happens to them?' Answer: If they handle it God's way, they become better people!

Christianity is not some Pollyanna religion where bad things don't occur. The Bible faces the challenge of pain and suffering squarely as part of the scenario of life. Isaiah declared, 'Fear not...when you pass through the waters, when you walk through the fire, you won't be overwhelmed. For I am the Lord, your God' (Is 43:1-3). The Christian is in fact 'perfected through suffering' (Heb. 2:10, Rom. 5:3-4)! In the Beatitudes Jesus declared, 'Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted' (Matt 5:4). In fact, in my need and in my pain, I admit my need for God.

Many are the crises of pain and suffering that have been the final points of turning of hardened hearts to God. When the life boat is sinking, even the most resistant heart cries out, 'God, save me.' More's the pity that it takes the catastrophes and disasters of life to get many of us to this point! Perhaps God allows suffering to finally bring us to our knees and admit our need for Him.

HEAVEN

In conclusion, let us remember that God's final release valve for suffering and pain is His gift of heaven! Rev 21:1-4 declares it is a place where 'every tear will be wiped from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.' In the framework of eternity, 'three score years and ten' of existence here on earth seems pretty insignificant!

In suffering and pain, it is this hope of the hereafter that has sustained many. Jesus Himself, 'for the joy set before him, endured the cross' (Heb. 12:2). The apostle Paul said, 'I consider that our present suffering is not worth comparing with the glory that is to come' (Rom. 8:18) At present we live in a fallen world, surrounded by the curse of sin (Gen. 3:14-19), but it will not remain that way. The best is yet to come! We're only visiting this planet! As Christians, it's our point of transition into a world free of pain, suffering and evil.

Yet as much as Heaven is a reality, so is hell, where suffering will be the eternal norm. '...There will be darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth' (Mt. 8:12). Pain, suffering and evil need not go on forever - the choice is ours. In this life and in the life to come our trust remains in the Lord. As the Apostle Paul so wonderfully declared, 'God is faithful. He will provide a way out' (1 Cor. 10:13). That's the message of hope the Gospel brings amidst pain, suffering and evil.