Today's passage: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33
Every day we learn of troubling news such as the death of a young child or mass devastation of homes and the loss of life due to storms. We can be tempted to ask why God would allow such things to happen. Some people even turn their backs on God, accusing Him of their suffering. It seems to make sense to them that if God created the world and is in control of all things that He should not allow the innocent children to suffer or His people to fall victim to terminal diseases. We must turn to the Bible in order to find answers to such issues as these.
In the beginning, God created the world and everything in it. He made a beautiful garden called Eden and there He placed Adam and Eve, the first man and woman. All sorts of trees grew there and streams came up to water them. Man’s job was to take care of the garden. He could eat of anything in the garden except that he was warned not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or else he would die. Eve was tempted by the serpent and ate of the tree and also gave the fruit to Adam. Both had sinned and with that sin, death entered the world as God had promised. In Romans 6:23, we learn that “the wages of sin is death…” Therefore, the couple was cast out of the garden so that they could no longer eat of the tree of life and live forever. God does not want us to live forever in our sinful, fleshly state here on the earth. If so, we would suffer eternally.
When undergoing trials or suffering from a devastating disease, people often ask, “Why me?” It is a natural human response to the pain and heartache, but it is due to a misunderstanding of God’s plan. We do not have all of the answers, nor do we have the entire picture. I think of Job and his example whenever I feel the temptation to question why something was allowed to happen.
Job was as innocent a man as could be found, and the Bible says that he was “blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” He even prayed for all of his children and offered sacrifices in case they had sinned during their feasts. He did not know that behind the scenes, Satan was planning all sorts of temptations and trials for Job so that he would sin and curse God.
Job lost his livestock, his servants and all of his children in the same day; but he did not blame God. Satan then caused Job to suffer painful sores that covered his whole body. Job’s wife told him to curse God so that he would die and find peace, but Job could not do that. He knew that if he blamed God, he would not find peace after death. He asked his wife, “Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?” Job’s friends tried to comfort him by telling him that he needed to repent, because it was obvious he had done something wrong and that’s why he was being punished. But Job knew he hadn’t done anything to cause the suffering. His friends were no help at all, and neither was his wife. Job was alone, except for God.
After a time, Job grew weary of his suffering. He asked God many questions such as why God did not give him peace. He wanted to be able to approach God and argue his case. Surely God had made a mistake. God finally spoke to Job and his friends. He asked, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” He asked many questions that made Job realize how small and insignificant we truly are when compared with God. Our Lord has all of the answers and the entire plan, but we only see a small part of it, and that is through the selfish eyes of human beings.
Job repented and humbled himself before the Lord, and God gave him more livestock and servants than before, and also blessed him with children. The story of Job helps us to see that we will never understand everything that happens until we see the Lord someday and He reveals everything to us. We must trust that He knows best and is in control of the world, but we must also understand that for a time, the devil looks for ways to come between us and God. I Peter 5:8 tells us that our “enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom we may devour”. We must overcome the temptation to blame God and trust that in the end, He will make everything right.
The suffering that we undergo, whether from the hands of others or from disease or poverty or natural disasters, is a result of the sin that first entered the world. Because we will not live forever in these bodies, our days are numbered. Death can come in many forms, but it is all a result of sin. God did not cause us to sin – it is our doing. Yet because death is a natural part of life on earth, the innocent can sometimes be affected. Also, the sins of others such as rape or murder can affect the innocent.
We know that as long as we live on this earth we will experience hardship and suffering at times. However, Paul wrote in Romans 8:18 that …”our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” God has not left us alone in our fight. He has a plan to save us and to make all of our trials and sufferings seem trivial when compared to the joys of heaven. Hallelujah for a Father such as ours!
