The answer to an old question "why does God allow suffering"?

"Why does God allow suffering?" I posed this question as a visceral response to the suffering I have witnessed, experienced or heard about. I struggled with the question when my first wife left me and abandoned my children. I cried again when my brother lay sedated in intensive care, dying of a mysterious disease, his suffering crushing my mother and father.

"Why does God allow so much suffering?" I do not know the answer

But I don't know that Jesus' words about suffering spoke strongly to me. After explaining to his disciples that their pain at his imminent departure will turn into joy, Jesus said: “I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have problems. But take heart! I have conquered the world "(John 16:33). Will I take the Son of God at his word? Will I take courage?

The Son of God himself entered this world as a human being, and he himself experienced suffering. By dying on the cross, he overcame sin and, coming out of the grave, he overcame death. We have this certainty in suffering: Jesus Christ has overcome this world and its difficulties, and one day he will take away all pain and death, mourning and weeping (Revelation 21: 4).

Why this suffering? Ask Jesus
The Bible does not seem to provide a single and clear answer to the question of why God allows suffering. Some accounts from Jesus' life, however, give us guidance. How often they encourage us, these words of Jesus can make us feel uncomfortable. We do not like the reasons given by Jesus for some of the sufferings witnessed by his disciples; we want to exclude the idea that God can be glorified by someone's suffering.

For example, people wondered why a certain man was blind from birth, so they asked if it was the result of someone's sin. Jesus answered his disciples: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. . . but this happened so that the works of God might be manifested in him ”(John 9: 1-3). These words of Jesus made me squirm. Did this man have to be blind from birth just for God to make a point? However, when Jesus restored man's sight, he caused people to quarrel with who Jesus really was (John 9:16). And the once blind man could clearly "see" who Jesus was (John 9: 35-38). Furthermore, we ourselves see “the works of God. . manifested in him ”even now if we consider the suffering of this man.

A short time later, Jesus again shows how faith can grow because of someone's difficulties. In John 11, Lazarus is sick and his two sisters, Martha and Mary, worry about him. After Jesus learned that Lazarus was sick, he "stayed where he was two more days" (verse 6). Finally, Jesus told his disciples: “Lazarus is dead and for your sake I am glad I was not there so that you may believe. But let us go to him "(verses 14-15, emphasis added). When Jesus arrives in Bethany, Martha tells him: "If you had been here, my brother would not have died" (verse 21). Jesus knows he is about to raise Lazarus from the dead, yet he shares their pain. "Jesus wept" (verse 35). Jesus continues praying: “'Father, I thank you for listening to me. I knew you always listen to me, but I said this for the sake of the people here, so that they believe you sent me. ' . . Jesus cried aloud: "Lazarus, come out!" “(Verses 41-43, emphasis added). We find some hard-to-digest words and actions of Jesus in this passage: waiting two days before leaving, saying he is glad not to be there and saying that faith would (somehow!) Result from this. But when Lazarus came out of the tomb, those words and actions of Jesus suddenly make sense. “Therefore many of the Jews who came to visit Mary and saw what Jesus had done believed in him” (verse 45). Perhaps - as you are reading this now - you are experiencing a deeper faith in Jesus and the Father who sent him.

These examples speak of particular incidents and do not give an exhaustive answer as to why God allows suffering. They do, however, show that Jesus is not intimidated by suffering and that he is there with us in our troubles. These sometimes uncomfortable words of Jesus tell us that suffering can show the works of God and deepen the faith of those who experience or witness difficulties.

My experience of suffering
My divorce was one of the most painful experiences of my life. It was agony. But, just like the stories of the healing of the blind man and the resurrection of Lazarus, I can later see God's works and a deeper faith in him. God called me to himself and reshaped my life. Now I am no longer the person who went through an unwanted divorce; I am a new person.

We couldn't see anything good in my brother's suffering from a rare fungal infection of the lungs and in the pain he caused my parents and family. But in the moments before his death, after about 30 days under sedation, my brother woke up. My parents told him about all those who had prayed for him and about the people who had come to visit him. They were able to tell him they loved him. They read the Bible to him. My brother died peacefully. I believe that in the last hour of his life, my brother - who has fought against God all his life - has finally realized that he is the son of God. I believe this is the case because of those beautiful last moments. God loved my brother and gave our parents and him the precious gift of some time together, one last time. This is how God does things: He provides the unexpected and the eternally consequential in a blanket of peace.

In 2 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul says to ask God to remove "a thorn in [his] flesh." God responds by saying, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (verse 9). Maybe you haven't received the prognosis you wanted, are undergoing cancer treatment, or have been dealing with chronic pain. You may wonder why God allows your suffering. Take the heart; Christ has "conquered the world". Keep your eyes peeled for “God's works” on display. Open your heart for God's timing "that [you] may believe." And, like Paul, trust in the strength of God during your weakness: “Therefore I will boast even more willingly about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me. . . Because when I am weak, then I am strong ”(verses 9-10).