DID GOD REALLY CREATE EVERYTHING? Part Five — Why Does God Allow Suffering?

 

DID GOD REALLY CREATE EVERYTHING?

Part Five — Why Does God Allow Suffering?

By Reverend Michael Cook, D.Div.
Red Bull Illuminati Ministry

Few experiences test our faith more deeply than suffering.

When life is peaceful, it is easy to believe.

When our prayers seem answered, it is easy to trust.

When everything is going well, it is easy to say that God is good.

But what happens when tragedy enters our lives?

What happens when a loved one dies?

When a child becomes ill?

When a marriage falls apart?

When we lose our home...

Our health...

Our dreams...

Or our hope?

These are the moments when many people ask the question:

"If God loves us, why does He allow suffering?"

This is not a new question.

It has echoed throughout history.

Job asked it.

David wrestled with it.

Jeremiah wept over it.

Even Jesus cried out from the cross.

The question itself is not a lack of faith.

Sometimes it is the beginning of a deeper faith.

One of the greatest mistakes we can make is believing that every instance of suffering has one simple explanation.

Life is rarely that simple.

Some suffering is the result of nature.

Storms.

Earthquakes.

Disease.

Old age.

Some suffering is caused by human choices.

Violence.

Neglect.

Greed.

War.

Cruelty.

Some suffering comes from accidents.

Some from circumstances we may never fully understand.

The honest truth is that we cannot explain every tragedy.

Humility requires us to admit that.

Sometimes the most compassionate response is not offering easy answers.

Sometimes it is simply sitting beside someone in their pain.

The book of Job teaches an important lesson.

Job's friends believed they had all the answers.

They insisted that Job must have done something to deserve his suffering.

But as the story unfolds, we discover that they were mistaken.

Sometimes suffering cannot be explained by simple formulas.

Sometimes life is far more mysterious than our theories allow.

What we do know is this:

Pain changes people.

Some become bitter.

Others become compassionate.

Some become angry.

Others become wiser.

The same fire that melts wax hardens clay.

The difference is not always the fire.

Often it is what lies within.

History is filled with remarkable people whose deepest compassion grew from their deepest suffering.

People who endured loss...

Yet chose kindness.

People who experienced injustice...

Yet worked for justice instead of revenge.

People who knew grief...

Yet comforted others walking through similar valleys.

Their suffering did not become the end of their story.

It became part of their transformation.

This does not mean suffering is good.

No loving person should celebrate another's pain.

Compassion calls us to relieve suffering wherever we can.

Feed the hungry.

Comfort the grieving.

Visit the lonely.

Care for the sick.

Protect the vulnerable.

Stand beside the oppressed.

These are not optional acts of goodness.

They are expressions of love in action.

Perhaps one of the greatest misunderstandings is believing that God remains distant from human suffering.

Throughout the Christian story, God is not portrayed as One who merely observes pain from afar.

In Jesus, Christians believe God entered human suffering.

He knew hunger.

He experienced rejection.

He felt grief.

He endured betrayal.

He wept.

He suffered.

Whether one approaches these events devotionally or symbolically, they reveal a profound truth:

The Divine is not indifferent to human pain.

Love enters suffering in order to bring healing and hope.

Perhaps this changes the question.

Instead of asking,

"Where is God during suffering?"

We might ask,

"How is God inviting us to respond to suffering?"

When someone is hungry...

Perhaps God responds through the hands of those who feed them.

When someone is lonely...

Perhaps God comforts through the presence of a faithful friend.

When someone is grieving...

Perhaps God speaks through the quiet embrace of another human being.

Love has always sought willing hearts through which it can work.

This is one reason compassion matters so deeply.

Every act of mercy becomes a reflection of something greater than ourselves.

Every kind word becomes a small answer to another person's prayer.

Every generous act pushes back a little more darkness.

Will suffering ever disappear completely from this world?

History suggests that as long as human beings possess freedom, suffering will continue to exist in many forms.

But suffering does not have the final word.

Hope does.

Love does.

Compassion does.

Healing does.

Perhaps the purpose of life is not to avoid every hardship.

Perhaps it is to become the kind of people who carry light into the darkness whenever suffering appears.

Not because we understand every mystery.

But because we understand love.

In the end...

We may never answer every question about suffering.

But we can answer one question every single day.

"Will I become part of another person's suffering...or part of their healing?"

That choice belongs to each of us.

It always has.

And perhaps it is one of the holiest choices we will ever make.

In our next chapter, we will explore another mystery:

Why does human life begin in weakness and ignorance rather than perfect knowledge?

Perhaps our greatest lessons are not given to us all at once...

Perhaps they are discovered one season at a time.

Until then...

Be patient with those who suffer.

Be gentle with those who grieve.

Be compassionate with those who struggle.

For we never know how much strength it has taken someone simply to make it through today.

Peace, Light, and Understanding to All.

— Reverend Michael Cook, D.Div.
Red Bull Illuminati Ministry