Why Do We Suffer?

Why Do We Suffer?

I was once asked this question, “How do I explain the Christian view of suffering to a non-Christian?”

Let’s start here: what is the question that our non-Christian friends are going to ask us about suffering? I can tell you that the most common question that I am asked as a Pastor is this: “How can there be a God when there is so much suffering in the world?“

We are going to answer this question in stages and the first stage is going to be to recognize that there is a very simple and easy answer to this question. But, it requires an understanding of two very complex ideas: sin and free will. Let me explain:

When God created everything, He pronounced all of creation to be good.

Genesis 1:31

“God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good...”

But, something happened after that to throw everything out of whack. Something happened that changed the nature of our world.

God is a Designer and He designed us with a purpose in mind. We are worshipers. That is our purpose and it’s why we were created. But, a worshiper that does not have the option of NOT worshiping is not a worshiper at all. That’s just making a robot and telling it to perform a specific task. That’s not worship. Worship has to be a choice. So, God gave us choice. We could choose to live life with Him-doing what we were designed to do, or we could live life our own way - without Him.

When we are worshiping like we were designed to do, we experience God’s presence and blessing. But, we can also choose to live life our own way - on our own terms. That’s called sin. Sin is doing things our own way instead of God’s way.

Mankind chose plan B. That is the world that you and I have been born into and that is our problem.

Tomorrow: what it means to live in a world of sin that has been separated from our source of life and blessing.

Genesis 3:23-24

“...therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”