Why does God allow so much pain?
This week’s question in our Curious Christmas series is a big one – for some, it’s THE big one:
Why does God allow so much pain?
In Psalm 86:15, David writes:
“But you, LORD, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”
But we can look at a passage like this and wonder, “How can a compassionate, gracious, loving and faithful God allow so much pain and suffering in the world and in our lives?”
These are deep waters because we all know far too much about suffering, but the water is muddy too because there aren’t many clear answers. That doesn’t mean Scripture is silent on the topic of suffering – it actually has a lot to say about it.
But clear answers? Not so much.
Jamey Codding read through Matthew 2:1-16, where we see the Magi traveling to see the newborn Jesus by way of King Herod in Judea. Herod was a wildly successful politician who was suspicious of anyone who posed a potential threat to his power, so when he hears of the prophecy of Messiah who was to be “born king of the Jews,” he takes action.
First, he asks the Magi to let him know where the Messiah had been born, claiming that he would go to worship the baby as well. But when God warns the Magi not to trust Herod, he decides to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem under the age of 2 to ensure this so-called “king of the Jews” is also eliminated.
An angel of the Lord then appears in a dream to Joseph, Jesus’ father, and warns him of Herod’s plan. Joseph escapes to Egypt, saving Jesus’ life, but Herod’s original order is still carried out, with most estimates saying somewhere between 15-30 young boys were murdered in what is known as the Massacre of the Innocents.
In times of sorrow and tragedy, we can question God’s decision to not act. Jamey pointed out seven different moments where God could have intervened to potentially save the lives of those boys, seven opportunities to ask why.
Questions like: Why didn’t God tell the Magi where Jesus was instead of them asking Herod? Or, why didn’t he warn the families of those boys in Bethlehem like he warned the Magi and Joseph? Or, why didn’t he just stop Herod in some other way?
While we don’t always know God’s reasons, Jamey said we see an important glimpse of his motives in the book of Job, where God gives Satan permission to take everything from Job, a “blameless and upright” man who “fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8).
Job questions God’s goodness – “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me” (Job 30:20) – and God responds by essentially telling Job that he’s never passive, but is instead always working to orchestrate everything toward his good purpose.
He’s God. We’re not.
God says it this way in Isaiah 55:9:
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
It’s futile to believe we’ll ever fully understand what God is doing in our waiting, or in our pain, or in our grief.
But Romans 8:28 tells us we trust that it’ll be good:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
The Christmas story provides unmistakable proof of God’s compassion, his grace, his love and his faithfulness because Adam and Eve introduced pain and suffering into his good creation in the third chapter of the Bible, but the story didn’t end there.
God’s plan was and remains for us to be with him forever, and he loves us too much to let sin derail that. So he came down, God in flesh, a baby in a manger – leaving heaven to enter into a world festering with sin – to open up the path back to him. It was the only way.
Out of his compassion, grace, love and faithfulness, he uses the worst things in our life to draw us close, to convince us to stop living for ourselves, to save us from being satisfied with anything but him, and to pull our eyes off our circumstances and onto the cross.
Because he knows the pain we experience in this world is nothing compared to the pain of eternal separation from Him.
And in John 11, when Lazarus dies, Jesus shows us that we’re never alone in our suffering. He weeps with us and he mourns alongside us, even as he brings forth his purpose.
So the next time you look at your circumstances and wonder, “Why won’t you do something, God?”…remind yourself of the truth: “My God is always working, he’s always good, and his purpose will stand.”
(If you’d like to read more of Steve’s story, the friend Jamey shared about in his message, please visit his blog at steadfastintrial.com.)
Watch the Message
Worship Songs from December 10
- “The First Noel”
- “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”
- “Is He Worthy?”
- “Worthy”
- “Always Good” (after the message)