If There Is a God, Why Is There Suffering?

This is an extra lesson on the Seeking Path; read it any time.

This may be the most common reason people give for not believing in God: if there really is a God who is all-powerful and loving, why is there so much suffering in the world—illness, disaster, injustice, and the pain we ourselves have known? If you are going through something hard right now, this lesson will not try to settle it with a few neat arguments.

The Bible does not avoid suffering. It says plainly, “man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” (Job 5:6-7) Nor did Jesus promise his followers an easy road; he said directly, “In the world you have trouble.” (John 16:33)

Nor does the Bible answer every ‘why’. It even says that God has set prosperity and adversity side by side, “to the end that man should not find out anything after him.” (Ecclesiastes 7:14) But it gives something else: not an explanation, but a God who is present—“The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble.” (Nahum 1:7) And as Lessons 4 and 6 said, Jesus himself went into the deepest suffering and died on the cross. God did not stand outside suffering looking on.

Jesus’ words go on: “but cheer up! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Suffering is real, but it is not the last word. If things are hard for you right now and you want to talk to someone, the ways below are always there.