Why Does God Allow Suffering? - Bible Baptist Church

Text: Habakkuk 1:1-4

Accusation against God

Why does God allow suffering? This is an excellent question.
Suffering is such a part of life that large portions of national economies are devoted to addressing human suffering. For the US it’s almost 20% of the GDP deals explicitly with medical maintenance of failing bodies.
The real question is more specific. Not all suffering is useless or meaningless. In fact, some suffering is beneficial. So this question is more about what seems to be pointless suffering. Specifically, innocent suffering.
It’s often an accusation against God. And I’ve noticed atheists and agnostics cite this as the problem they have with the God of the Bible particularly. Their criticism is that God has a moral obligation to forbid suffering within His creation if He’s good. And since He allows children to suffer from cancer for example, then He is either not good, not powerful enough to stop it, or He doesn’t exist.
It’s also a point of faithlessness because it’s where there is no trust in God, instead, there is suspicion.

Answers from religion

Buddhism teaches that suffering comes from trying to live in a constant state of enjoyment. It goes a little deeper to say that suffering exists because we are attached to things and people. And we’re attached because we don’t really know what we are. The idea is everything is constantly changing and nothing is permanent, and suffering is our attempt to anchor ourselves in transient, ever-changing foundations. The solution is the 8-fold path: Right view, Right intention, Right speech, Right action, Right livelihood, Right effort, Right mindfulness, and Right concentration. If you practice these, then you can get rid of your own suffering.

Advent of sin

The biblical explanation for the existence of suffering is sin.
Sin is the perversion of love. Sin is the perversion of good. Sin is the perversion of what’s right. Sin is the perversion of marriage like adultery. Sin is the perversion of parenting.
Romans 5:12 and Ephesians 2:1-3

Allowances for suffering

Suffering is one of those things that isn’t necessary because it will eventually be done away with. It is one of those things that God uses to good to them who love God and are called according to His purpose like Romans 8:28.
God uses suffering to extinguish the flesh
- This brings us to our first reason God allows suffering. It is to let dead things die like 2 Corinthians 1:9.
- The flesh is dead like Romans 8:6-8.
God uses suffering as an example
- Wickedness in Jude 7
- Or for patience in James 5:10
God uses suffering to establish righteousness
- Matthew 16:21 – The Creator did not exclude Himself from this suffering. This is something that people who accuse God don’t think about.
- The Bible addresses the suffering of God’s people in unjust situations as an act of faith. According to Peter, it’s participation in God’s divine nature.
- Job
- Philippians 3:10 as in the fellowship of his suffering
- 2 Timothy 2:12 suffer with him and reign with him, Revelation 2:10
- Hebrews 11:25
- 1 Peter 1:11, 2:18-25, 4:13

Annihilation of suffering

I heard a Hindu guru talk about suffering existing because man has a choice. And for man to be truly free, he must have the opportunity to bring in suffering otherwise he is not liberated. The problem with that is here in Revelation. When suffering has come to an end, man will be freer than he’s ever been.
Revelation 21:1-4
The end of suffering tells you something about why suffering was introduced to God’s creation. Now that the creature who introduced sin and suffering is gone, there is no more reason to suffer.