Meaningless suffering or is it God’s plan?
“If God is real, all-powerful and good, why is there so much suffering in the world?” It is an age-old question and a common objection to the Christian faith.
I have tried looking into the Book of Job in the Bible for answers. It tells the true story of a wealthy, upright farmer who loses his children, his wealth and his health. In many ways it is a perplexing and troubling book.
For a start, God asks his adversary (Satan). “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him. He is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” (Job 1:8, NIV). Satan then accuses Job of only revering God because God has so blessed him with wealth and family. God basically responds by inviting Satan to have a go at Job, but forbids him to take Job’s life.
There follows a lengthy poetic debate between Job and his three friends (plus a younger guy) as to why Job is suffering. The friends insist that Job’s suffering must be due to a specific, serious sin he has committed. Their traditional belief is that bad things happen to bad people.
Job infuriates them by maintaining his innocence. The dialogue breaks down and finally God speaks.
We might expect that God would settle the argument by revealing the real reason for Job’s suffering, but He doesn’t. Instead, he asks Job a series of questions about His greatness as revealed in creation.
In the end, after Job repents of speaking of things he did not understand, God rebukes Job’s three friends, restores Job to greater wealth and gives him more children.
How on earth is this book of any help to a suffering person? Where was God’s compassion in pounding Job with question after question to make him feel small and insignificant?
Frankly, I don’t have the answers. The appalling suffering in the world, especially of innocent people, is beyond me. I think the point of God’s questions was to get Job (and us) to come to terms with the fact that, as the creator and governor of the universe, only God is able to deal with the problem of evil and our part is simply to trust and worship Him.
I am amazed at the insights Job gained during his suffering. He certainly got beyond cliche´s to raw reality. Job doesn’t mince words in telling God and his friends how he feels about how God has dealt with him. This is something that suffering can do for people.
Honesty is essential in relating to God. Too often, Christians utter trite slogans in the face of pain and suffering – no wonder people get annoyed with this.
One of Job’s great insights was the need for a mediator between God and humanity: “If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together.” (Job 9:33).
He was a man ahead of his time. “There is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5). T
The greatest comfort I find when troubled by suffering is the truth that God got His own hands cut and dirty in this broken, messy world, in the person of Jesus Christ. Christ is the ultimate Job – the one wholly good person who suffered more terribly than we can imagine, on the cross.
Was this meaningless suffering? Or was it God’s plan, in order that all who trust in Jesus can look forward to a glorious eternity where there will be no more suffering or tears or pain?