Does God cause suffering?

When tragedy happens, we often ask “Why?”  “Her number came up,” someone might say, as if everything is predestined. Or, “He was punished for his sins,” as if we aren’t all sinners. Or, “God needed her more that we did,” which is sometimes said to children. But doesn’t that lay a guilt trip on a child who might think, “I should have loved her more”?

Maybe most common among Christians is “God must have had a reason for this to happen.” But does God really make it a decision to cause us suffering? Is God, our loving Father, like an abusive parent?

All these explanations might be offered in an attempt to understand and console, but they are inadequate. And they don’t reflect the biblical picture of who God is or how God works.

When people suffer as a result of their own terrible choices – a drug addict or a robber -- it’s sad, but less troubling. We see a cause and effect relationship between their bad actions and the disastrous consequences.  But when someone suffers who didn’t do anything to cause the tragedy, we struggle for answers. I’ve been with families who have experienced tremendous loss, and so often wished I had more answers.

But here is what I’ve learned. We live in a fallen world permeated by evil and suffering.  Great tragedy often visits innocent people. That’s one of the lessons of the book of Job.  Innocent people die as nations wage war. Babies die of malnutrition because of unjust economic systems. Fallen nature erupts in natural disasters. Qualified doctors, airline pilots, and bus drivers make fatal mistakes.

God doesn’t in any sense cause these things to happen. God doesn’t cause our suffering, but he can redeem our suffering. God hurts when we hurt, just as Jesus wept at Lazarus’s death and his sisters’ grief.  God walks with us in our suffering. “Even though I walk through the valley of death, You are with me,” proclaims the Psalmist.

If we let him, God can cause good to come from tragedy.  I don’t say this easily. In all things God works for the good of those who love him, writes the Apostle Paul (Rom 8:28). The primary good that God can bring to us in whatever happens is to make us more Christ-like, “that we may be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom 8:29).

If we turn to God in times of tragedy, and keep turning to him, God can strengthen our faith, bring us a closer relationship with him and with those we love, enable us to inspire others and minister to others with greater understanding, gain a deeper appreciation for life, and bring a reordering of our priorities. God hates the suffering and tragedy that exist in our world, and he feels every pain and heartache with us. But he can grow flowers out of the dirt of life. I’ve seen this many times.

When tragedy and suffering happen, we need to go beyond the “why” questions. They rarely get answered. The “why” questions may express our pain, confusion and frustration. But we need to get beyond them. I’ve prayed for grace to live with unanswered questions. I believe the why questions will one day be answered, but we need to put them on hold for now.

When Job experienced the loss of everything dear to him, his first act was to worship God. In this moment of tragedy, Job had a choice to make: to curse God or to worship God. When we experience tragedy we face the same decision.

In the end, God blessed Job abundantly, restoring his prosperity. Our blessing may not be the same as Job’s.  In this life, we may or may not have restored what we’ve lost. There are no easy responses to those who suffer, no pious bromides.

But God’s promise is sure: “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved. For . . . neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).

Kirk Hanger, Pastor, New Hope Fellowship