How Could God Allow Suffering?
3 million Africans were forced into slavery. Systematic rape. 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Genocide. Trafficking of more than 1 million children this year. Do I need to say more? Suffering is one of the hardest realities of life and one of the biggest barriers to faith. Many of us have asked, If God is loving, why does He allow so much pain? What are we to do with this subject of suffering? The weight of this question is heavy.
The chapter poses this question: “We will face the question that haunts us all at one time or another. How can we reckon with suffering?” Chapter 11 of Confronting Christianity wrestles with this issue head-on, not with easy answers but with deep truths that challenge our assumptions about suffering, God, and love. In this post, we will explore some of the key takeaways and what they mean for us today.
1. The Problem of Pain: Why Do We Question Suffering?
Suffering is not just an intellectual question—it’s deeply personal. When we hurt, we naturally ask why. But why do we assume suffering is a problem at all?
If the world were purely random, suffering would just be a fact of life.
Our outrage at suffering actually points to a belief that life should be different—that we are made for something better.
The Bible tells us that we were created for a world without suffering, and our longing for justice reflects that truth (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
"There is something inescapably personal about suffering: it feels like a problem to be solved, not a mere fact to be explained."
2. Christianity Does Not Minimize Suffering—It Centers It
Christianity faces suffering head-on. The Bible is full of lament, grief, and cries of anguish:
Jesus wept (John 11:35). He did not ignore or dismiss suffering.
The Psalms are filled with raw cries of pain—proof that questioning and wrestling with God in suffering is part of faith.
Christianity is the only faith where God Himself steps into suffering.
“The original vision of humanity was very good. But it was not the best. The best, from a biblical perspective, was yet to come. And the way to get there would be through suffering.”
3. Jesus Entered Our Suffering
A God who merely observes suffering from a distance would be hard to trust. But Jesus didn’t stay distant.
He was betrayed by friends.
He experienced injustice at the hands of corrupt leaders.
He felt deep pain and loss—crying out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
Adam and Eve experienced God as Creator and Friend. Yet Christians know Jesus intimately: as Savior Lover, Head, Fellow Sufferer, and their Resurrection and their Life. Rather than eliminating suffering instantly, God chose to suffer with us. And through His suffering, He opened the door to redemption.
4. The Cross Transforms Suffering
The cross represents the most gruesome type of suffering. The cross is where suffering meets redemption. What looked like the ultimate defeat—Jesus’ crucifixion—became the greatest victory.
If God could bring unimaginable good from the worst suffering, can He also bring meaning and redemption to our pain?
This doesn’t mean suffering is easy or makes immediate sense, but it does mean suffering is not meaningless.
"Christianity does not offer a reason for each specific pain, but it does provide a framework in which suffering can be both meaningful and temporary."
5. Hope Beyond Suffering
Christianity’s response to suffering isn’t just that God understands it—it’s that He promises to end it.
The Bible doesn’t just explain suffering; it offers hope of a future where suffering will be no more (Revelation 21:4).
In the meantime, Jesus calls us to be part of the solution: bringing comfort, justice, and healing in a broken world.
"God 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." — Revelation 21:4
McLaughlin says, “But he also bears the heartbreak of our suffering. Jesus holds us close as we lament. He weeps with us as we weep. He knows the end of the story, when he will wipe every tear from our eyes. But this does not stop him from cleaving to us in our pain. In fact, pain is a place of special intimacy with him.”
We have a promise of someone who desires to be with us in our suffering. His name is Jesus and He does not leave us alone. Not today. Not ever.
So, What Do We Do with Our Suffering?
Acknowledge it. Pain is real, and Christianity doesn’t ask us to pretend otherwise.
Know you are not alone. Jesus understands suffering and walks with us through it.
Hold on to hope. Suffering is not the end of the story—redemption is coming.
Be part of the healing. If suffering is a problem, what small part can we play in bringing hope to others?
Discussion
Have you ever wrestled with the question of why God allows suffering? What has helped (or not helped) you process it?
How does the idea of Jesus suffering with us change the way you view pain?
Do you think suffering can have meaning, even when it doesn’t have clear answers? Why or why not?
How can we be part of bringing hope and healing in the midst of suffering?
What do you think about the idea that our frustration with suffering points to the fact that we were made for something better?
Suffering is painful, real, and often unexplainable. But in Jesus, we see a God who doesn’t just observe suffering—He steps into it. He weeps with us, He carries our burdens, and He promises that one day, suffering will end. In the waiting, we are never alone.
Where do you find yourself in this conversation? Let’s talk. ⬇️
