A common argument against Christianity is known as the problem of evil. It basically says, if God is so good and so powerful, then why does evil and suffering exist? This is a powerful argument because all of us at one point or another are impacted in some way by evil, pain, and suffering that we don’t understand.
Now, I know that endless volumes of books and far greater minds than mine have weighed in on this topic for centuries. I know one short blog post won’t fully satisfy or end this discussion. But I also know that writing helps me wrestle with deep life questions like this. So I just share hoping that my wrestling might help someone else with their wrestling.
A Third Option
Some people look at the problem of evil and they see two options:
- Since evil exists, God must not be good. And since He’s not good, I’m not going to believe in Him. Or,
- Since evil exists and God does not stop it, God must not be powerful enough to do anything about it, so why bother worshiping Him?
But the Christian view of suffering points us to a third option. If God is good [which we believe He is] and if God is all-powerful [which we believe He is] and if evil exists and persists [which it clearly does], then it’s because our all-knowing, all-powerful, gracious God has a greater purpose for permitting it temporarily.
Permitted For A Time
As Joni Eareckson Tada, who has seen tremendous suffering in her own life, says, “God permits what He hates to accomplish what He loves.” God permits evil and suffering now for a time, not because He enjoys it. Not because He can’t stop it. But because He has a far greater purpose for it that He understands far better than we can.
When my daughter was a baby, she got so sick one time that we had to take her to the emergency room. While we were there, they did an X-RAY on her chest. But to do this X-RAY, they had to put her in this plastic holder that held her arms straight up out of the way. As we put her in that thing, I can tell you I never heard her scream so bad before or since. It was terrible listening to her screams.
Here’s the point. We had to permit her suffering for a time to accomplish a greater good of helping her get better. She had no idea why we would allow that. She was screaming! She wanted out of there! But we had to permit it for her own good, even though she didn’t understand it.
In the same way, we may not comprehend why God allows suffering and evil to persist. But even far more than my wife and I love our daughter, God loves all of us. We can trust that what suffering He allows, He allows temporarily for a greater purpose. We can hold on to the promise of Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Photo by Noah Silliman on Unsplash
A Thrill of Hope 
Dear Jason, Great illustration to help us understand. Reading your post I thought of a time when I brought my son to the medical clinic as a one year old perhaps. I had a wonderful trusting relationship with him and I held him tightly as the nurse administered the vaccination shot. His face turned from trust and wonder at what was going on in this strange place to shock then tears and sadness and confusion. I felt awful and wanted so badly for him to understand why I had just forced him to go through the pain. We are created in God‘s image so we get a taste of the emotions that our Lord feels when he causes or allows us to go through pain. Thanks for your work Jason and the Lord bless you richly as you help us trust in Jesus. Pete
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