Suffering takes many forms, from minor to agonising, and the suffering can be physical or mental.  Why does God allow such suffering?

Minor Physical Suffering

Minor physical suffering such as pain from stubbing a toe, pricking a finger, touching something hot or cold, being too hot or too cold, or even exercising, is necessary feedback from our body to prevent injury and death.  We would be much worse off without such minor pain.  It’s easy to see why God allows such pain as it is a necessary part of survival.

Minor Mental Suffering

Minor mental suffering such as emotional upset from seeing the sports team you support lose, traffic jams, unpleasant interactions with people, social rejections, are part of life and mostly inevitable.  Some are a result of how mankind has structured his society, some a result of bad behaviour of individuals, and some a result of how we choose to react.  All of these come down to free will, which is discussed in more detail later.

Agonising Physical Suffering

Agonising physical suffering, such as comes from poverty, hunger, war, disease, can for the most part be attributed to the sinful actions of mankind.  Poverty and hunger could be eliminated if the resources of the world were shared more fairly.  There would be no wars if people chose not to fight each other but rather learned to love each other.  Most diseases could be avoided through access to clean water, good hygiene, healthy food, and a clean environment — in other words, most diseases are caused by mankind.

Agonising Mental Suffering

Agonising mental suffering, such as depression and grief are for the most part outside the control of mankind.  Depression can sometimes be remedied by a change of circumstances, but not always.  Grief comes to all (who live long enough) as we all die, but it is particularly poignant when death is premature such as a child losing a parent or a parent losing a child.

How can we make sense of suffering from a Biblical perspective? 

Self-Inflicted Suffering

Some of this suffering we bring upon ourselves.  Bad choices leads to bad results.

Gal 6:7  Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

For example, if you choose a violent life, you will most likely die a violent death.

Mat 26:52  But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

Undeserved Suffering

Some of this suffering falls upon the completely innocent, such as those infants who Herod slaughtered, and all the millions of abortions.

Mat 2:16  Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.

Random Suffering

Some suffering appears random, such as accidents.  This was apparently on the minds of some who spoke to Jesus, when they told him about some unfortunate Galileans who had been martyred.

Luk 13:1  There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

Were they worse than anyone else?

Luk 13:2  And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?

Were those 18 who perished when a building collapsed on them worse than others?

Luk 13:4  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?

Jesus’ answer was no to both.

Luk 13:5  I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

Without explaining why they died, and others didn’t, Jesus went to the core issue: we will all die (eternally) unless we repent.

Why God allows Suffering

God allows suffering because He has given us free will.  God allows us to make decisions which bring pain and suffering upon ourselves and others — even innocent others.  God could eliminate severe suffering, but to do so He would have to intervene in human affairs to the point of interfering and taking away our free choice.

How do we explain the suffering of the innocent?  How is it that some people are born into a life of luxury and ease and others into a life of poverty and hardship?  Why are some born with greater intelligence or beauty than others?  From a human perspective it appears that God is unfair.  To be completely “fair” we would all have to have the same starting point.  But God has not chosen to do it that way.

An analogy with playing cards may help.  We are all dealt a hand to start with, some a good hand and some a bad hand.  As life progresses, we pick up cards, some good and some bad.  But eventually it ends for all.  What is important is not what cards we got, but how we played with the cards we got.

In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), one servant got 5 talents, another 2 and another 1.  The first two servants doubled their talents, one ended up with 10 talents and the other 4, but they both got the same reward.  The last servant who did nothing with his 1 talent was punished.

In the parable of the ten minas (Luke 19:11-27), ten servants got 1 mina each.  The first servant increased his mina to 10 and was rewarded with 10 cities, the second servant increased his mina to 5 and was rewarded with 5 cities, and another did nothing with his mina had it taken away.

These parables explain it’s not what we start with that matters but what we do with what we are given that matters.

A very human response is to complain about the hand we are dealt, perhaps accusing God of not being fair.  From a human perspective, that may be so.  But God is not man.  His thoughts are much higher — greater — than ours.

Isa 55:8  “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
Isa 55:9  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

God wants to give all of us eternal life

1Ti 2:3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
1Ti 2:4  who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

How God does this, is of course, His prerogative.  It may not appear fair at times.  In the parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16), the workers who started first were offered a full day’s wage, and those who started later were offered “whatever was right”.  At the end of the day all the workers were paid a full day’s wage upsetting those who worked a full day, who complained to the owner.  The owner’s response was it was up to him how he paid the workers.

Some might have to work harder, some might have a harder life, but at the end of the day the gift from God is eternal life.

The apostle Paul also touched on this issue.

Rom 9:19  You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”

Do you want to question how God does things?

Rom 9:20  But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”

Who are we to question our creator?  By comparison to God we know next to nothing.

Conclusion

Going through a particular suffering can be very difficult, regardless of whether we are innocent or not.  See “Why does God allow trials?” We may not understand the specifics, but severe suffering is the consequence of the free will God has given us.  It’s an essential part of God’s master plan to offer eternal life to all.