Facing the Question of Suffering

A few months ago, I was interested and excited to read about some happenings at The Gate Church in Reading.  During a period of mission by the church, 100s of people had either rededicated their lives to Christ or made a first-time commitment.  One of the main features of what was happening was that it took place not in a church building but out and about in the community.

When we heard that some folk from Reading were coming to Leicester to help lead a two-week mission in the city, Sue and I were keen to go along and discover more.  After some training in the morning, we were challenged to go out onto the streets to engage with people and share the message of God’s love.  The reason I mention all this is because of the reaction of one lady we approached.  We had been encouraged to commence a conversation by introducing ourselves and then, having made the introduction, to say to the person how much God loves them and that God has a great purpose for their lives.

With some trepidation, Sue approached a lady who was walking towards us.  When Sue informed that lady of God’s love for her, the lady shook her head and replied something like, “I don’t see how God can love us when there’s so much suffering in the world.”  In other words, she brought up the age-old, thorny problem of human suffering.  Put simply, the BIG QUESTION is, “If God is a God of love, and if he is all-powerful, then why is there so much suffering in the world?”

It’s one of life’s tough questions.  It’s one which all those who believe in a God of love cannot ignore.  Let’s be honest and admit that although there are some things we can say in response, which might at least provide part of the answer, there is no fully worked out, conclusive response to such a massive question.  This blog is not the forum for addressing in any detail the question of human suffering, but the lives and recent deaths of two people known to me do, I believe, have something to say.

The first is a lady called Beryl.  I wrote a few weeks ago in my blog about this wonderful lady, who for some 35 years experienced the increasingly debilitating effects of Parkinson’s Disease, which progressively took more and more of her physical abilities away from her.  Beryl freely admitted that she didn’t understand why God had allowed this to happen, and yet her amazing testimony was that through the dreadful experience she found herself being drawn closer and closer to God.  Still she was able to daily count her blessings, and experienced the reality of constant God’s presence.

The second person I want to mention is called Dan.  Dan was the son of Paul and Jacky, friends of ours from our days in Norwich.  Aged 25, recently-married Dan was diagnosed with an aggressive and inoperable brain tumour.  Rather than wring his hands and give up on life, Dan responded with typical resolve.  He was a young man of strong Christian faith, and despite everything, his faith in Jesus Christ never wavered.

In May this year, Dan was told that the brain tumour was continuing to grow and another cycle of chemotherapy began.  In October, he was told that the chemotherapy wasn’t working and treatment would stop.  Describing how Dan took this news, his wife Kim said: “We came out of that appointment and I said: ‘how do you feel about it?’ and Dan just looked at me and said: ‘God’s good’.  And through everything, every time we get good or bad news, Dan is always like: ‘God’s in control and God’s good’.  And that has always been the focus: God is still good and God still loves us.”  [You can read a full tribute to Dan here].

Beryl and Dan, two people from different generations, but two people deeply in love with Jesus and very much aware of God’s presence in the midst of great suffering.  I can’t give a totally satisfactory answer to the problem of suffering, but what I would want to say is this: Firstly, this life isn’t all there is; those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ have the assurance of a life to come, free from suffering and pain, a life lived fully in the presence of God.  Secondly, God never promises that our earthly lives will be free from suffering, but he does promise that through whatever we face he will be with us; Both Beryl and Dan knew the truth of that promise!