Suffering, part 1

I often wonder if the world is getting worse, or if the constant stream of media just makes it seem that way... Tragedy is nothing new, but our obsessive, over-stimulated culture is constantly feeding off it. No longer do we get just one news report on it, either. It is dissected from every angle, analyzed, replayed over and over, and kept at the forefront of our consciousness for weeks on end. One has to wonder what the psychological impact of all this connectivity will be... but that's another post. Jesus warns His disciples "in the world you will have trouble..." (John 16:33), and Paul prepares Timothy that "evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse..." (2 Tim 3:13), so for followers of Christ the evil we see around us comes as no surprise. However, it is one thing to know a concept externally - to agree to its truth when we are not personally involved in the situation. It is quite another thing when that truth hits close to home and we find ourselves caught up in the middle of it. How do we handle the tragedies that come our way? The question of how a good God can allow such unspeakable evil in the world seems to have resurfaced in recent years - and not just by critics seeking to discredit the Christian faith. I have encountered it mostly with sincere people struggling to make sense of the world around them - people honestly seeking answers on which to base their lives. Never has there been such a need for Christians to provide REAL answers to the ultimate questions of life - and to suffering in particular.

The book of Job gives us the most complete insight into why God allows suffering into our lives, and as usual, the answer is not exactly what you'd expect. We find the weird story of a man who God Himself describes as "blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." In fact, God has such confidence in Job's testimony that he pretty much dares Satan to try and break him. Satan does his worst (within the limits God places in him), and Job ends up losing everything - his family, his possessions, his health. Job's "enlightened friends" are no help either - after chapters of empty philosophies and vain attempts to explain Job's situation they basically come back to "you must have done something terrible and God is punishing you."  Job maintains his integrity and cries out to God, demanding an answer to the pain he is experiencing. Notice that God does not hold his questions against him. He is not afraid of our doubts, our challenges. He patiently opens our eyes to give us a greater glimpse of who He is.

Modern skeptics would have us believe they have uncovered some new philosophical challenge that disproves either God's existence, His power, or His goodness. Job is one of the oldest books in the Bible, but even in this instance the question is not new. In fact, it has been around since before there was even any evil to question - which itself gives us some insight into its true nature. At the heart of this challenge is the idea that God is somehow holding out on us. That He could have chosen a better way to shape human history that would not have included suffering. That He does not have our best interest at heart, or that somehow if we were God, we could have done better. The origin of this question? 

Take a look at Genesis 3 - Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”  The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,  but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”  “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.  “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Adam and Eve lived in paradise! No guns, no sickness, no natural disasters - they had everything they could possibly need, yet they still questioned God's goodness! Satan's deception is subtle, and the challenge seems harmless enough, but at the heart of it is the same idea - that God is either unable or unwilling to give us the best life possible. That the world would be a better place if we were in charge. Even the harshest critic would have to admit they can see a purpose for some suffering - the principle that trials lead to maturity (James 1) is evident even outside the realm of Christiandom. So the question becomes, how much is too much? Who gets to decide which suffering is fruitful and which of it is just plain mean? How can we, as creatures with limited understanding, selfish motives, and very a narrow perspective, question the almighty, sovereign God who designed the very fabric of the universe we inhabit? This is God's answer to Job. Through a series of rhetorical questions He shows Job that it is his perspective that needs to change. Job's response is sobering - "My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

This world is not about us, it is about God. He created it for His glory, for His pleasure, and for His purposes. It is not His desire that we live nice, safe, quiet lives free from trouble, but that we come to know Him. That is the ultimate good in this world. It is as we know God and draw close to Him that we discover what goodness really is, and it is as we move away from Him that evil flourishes. An old practice among shepherds was to take a lamb that was prone to running off and break its leg. The shepherd would then carry the now helpless lamb while its leg healed, forcing it to be completely dependant on the shepherd for food, water, protection - everything. That momentary pain at first seems cruel until one understands the purpose behind it, and the safety it would later provide. Just like a surgeon that causes momentary pain in order to bring ultimate healing, it takes a long-term perspective and a detailed understanding to bring purpose out of the pain. You and I have neither - it is God alone who can make sense of what we observe in the world around us. As we will discuss later, it is when we take Him out of the picture that things really start to get blurry.