Subsequent to reading the book, I discovered that there was a DVD looking at the same issues. I bought the DVD and we have recently started using the 6-session series in one of my churches. The subject for our first session last week was, "God, where are You?" In other words, where is God in our times of struggle and pain? We had an interesting discussion after watching the DVD.
I have recently begun reading a book by former atheist Lee Strobel, 'The Case For Faith', in which he examines 8 common objections to Christian faith, the first of which is the issue of suffering, addressing the question as to how can a loving God exist when there is so much evil and suffering in the world? There have probably been hundreds of books written on this subject, and it is true to say that we are never going to fully understand the subject. Nevertheless, there are some things which we can say. I am finding Strobel's book very helpful in thinking through some key issues.
As I have been pondering on the discussion which we had at last week's 'When Faith Gets Shaken' session and on what I have since read, into my thoughts came a memory from when our daughter Caroline was still in her very early years. She had to undergo an operation at the local hospital. Although it was a relatively minor operation, I remember feeling distraught as she was wheeled away on a trolley towards the operating theatre. I felt tears come to my eyes, and I would have given anything to have taken her place if that had been possible. Thankfully she came safely through the procedure.
A couple of thoughts come out of that experience. Firstly, because Caroline was so young and probably didn't understand fully what was happening to her, it would have been quite understandable for her in her young mind to think that Sue and I didn't care for her as we handed her over to strangers to take her and do something to her which caused her pain. That's because she couldn't grasp the 'big picture', that it was necessary for her to have the operation for her future health. I am convinced that much of our problem with suffering is that we can't grasp the big picture as God sees it. As God says through the prophet Isaiah,
'For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.' Isaiah 55.7-9.
The second though which comes as a result of our experience many years ago with Caroline has to do with what I have already said, that I would have given anything to have changed places with her and taken the pain myself. There is a sense, of course, in which that is what God has done for us. He stepped into our world through his Son Jesus Christ. Jesus became one of us, and suffered the torture and agony of the cross, taking on himself the weight of the sin of the world. Imagine the depths of sorrow in the heart of God the Father as he witness the crucifixion of his Son. God is not a remote and far-away God, but a God who is fully acquainted with suffering. What's more, he promises to be with with us in whatever we experience; 'I will never never you or forsake you' (Hebrews 13.5).
The book of the Bible which most directly deals with the issue of suffering, of course, is Job. Job was a person who suffered a great deal, and constantly questions God about what has happened to him. Ultimately, Job was only satisfied when he came face to face with God: 'My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you' (Job 42.5). The questions about suffering will remain, but as we look fully into the face of the God who created us and loves us, we will find courage to live with the questions, and strength to trust him in life's storms
