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Why Suffering?

I have been pondering suffering lately. 

I personally am not undergoing suffering, but a number of people around me are. 

Which is difficult.

And quite frankly, I have yet to hear a satisfactory explanation of it from a Christian perspective. Sure, I have read and listened to enough apologetics to know the usual responses – such as we live in a fallen world, free will, and it helps us grow/draws us closer to Christ. 

To me, while these arguments are not inherently wrong, they still fail to answer the question of a distressed mother who cries out: Why God?

Of course – the typical answer that ends discussions on suffering is also unsatisfactory. If we do not know the answer we say – “God is mysterious”, and “His ways are not our ways,” or “He has a reason for everything from His eternal perspective.”

Quite frankly, these answers leave the Christian floundering, with little satisfaction. And while I wish I could provide you with a full complete answer to this after 2000 years of theological debate and discussion – I cannot.

I can’t. 

Suffering is hard to explain

The countless books, the countless ideas and yet the defense of it still falls short. From my perspective, suffering is one of the biggest – and rightfully so – questions against Christianity.

And if it such a big question – why is it not directly discussed in the Bible? 

There is a glorious chance for Jesus to go on an extended theological exposition of suffering in Luke 13:1-5 when asked why worshipers at the altar were killed by soldiers. And yet he sidesteps the question, calling us instead to repent. Paul, in all his letters, fails to go in-depth on this topic. 

So why suffering?

That is a question I cannot answer. I don’t know why. The Bible does not explicitly tell us.

But let me offer you this instead.

Christianity is more than suffering

My faith is built on more than a theology of suffering.

It is built on the all encompassing evidence of both the Bible, the natural world and my own personal experience. And when I look at all the evidence before me, I become utterly convinced that the God of the Bible exists, and that Jesus Christ the Son of God died and rose for my sins.

I see this in the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. 

I see this in the extra-biblical evidence of the historical Jesus. I see this in critical analysis of the Bible and its authenticity. I see this in my own personal living relationship with my Creator. 

And this evidence outweighs my theology of suffering.

Because the truth is – Christianity is not meant to be an answer to life’s hardest philosophical questions. Jesus, it seems, is not so concerned about philosophy.

But what he is concerned about is much more important. 

You.

Beside Him for all eternity

Coming back to Luke 13:1-5 we see Jesus beautiful response when asked why these people died. Jesus is not concerned with causality, instead he simply says to the questioners:

“Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

And that, right there, is the heart of Christianity, the heart of Jesus, and the heart of the Father. 

I don’t know why suffering happens. 

And I still cannot offer a satisfactory explanation for all the difficult things you have experienced.

But I do know that regardless of the suffering – He does not want any of us eternally perish.

He wants YOU, right there beside HIM for all eternity.

And if that's not love, I don’t know what is.

Until next time,

Be Blessed,

Aaron

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