Preacher: Pastor Tim Redfield
Date: September 26/29, 2019
Text: Romans 8:28
Our main question today is: If God is Good, Why is There So Much Suffering? The more I ponder that question, the more I think that what people really want is for God to be more like Superman. I truly think that many people want a Savior who is going to swoop in, save the day, and then fly away. If their house is on fire, Superman can just bust in, take them out of the burning building and then put out the flames. If someone pulls a gun on them, Superman can fly in front of the bullet to deflect it. If they fall off a building, Superman will catch them and deliver them safely to the ground. Everyone would be safe. No problems at all. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an easy fix for all of our problems? The suffering would all go away and then we could live in peace. People want God to stop all the bad things from happening so that our lives are problem free. But that is not how it works. As we think about that, we can recognize that there is an opportunity when we see suffering. There is an opportunity for compassion.
Part 1: Suffering is the mark of a sinful world
When we think about why a good God would allow terrible suffering in this world, we recognize that there hasn’t always been suffering in this world. When God first created the universe, everything was good. God looked around on the 6th day and declared that it was good. Genesis 1:31 says, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed.” Adam and Eve experienced a perfect world. But then came the fall into sin. After that, all of creation was corrupted by sin. That is when suffering became part of existence. We are all born with a sinful nature that causes harm to ourselves and others. Sin contaminates us and leads to decay. The contamination of sin leads to diseases, disabilities and many other forms of suffering.
We recognize that God is not the problem. God did not want there to be suffering when he first created the world. The problem is sin. God is not at fault for our problems. I suppose someone could say, “Why doesn’t he intervene and stop the suffering that we see in the world?” It can be challenging to answer that question. We see horrible suffering and disease and we wonder why God is letting such things happen. Doesn’t he care? Doesn’t he love us? We see sin running rampant in our world and we question why God doesn’t put an end to such activities. How can a holy and just God allow this wickedness? We experience financial burdens and we don’t know how we are going to pay the bills. Doesn’t God care about us? Why isn’t he helping us by giving us the funds we need? We worry. We are afraid. We are overwhelmed by problems.
We think that we know best. The thought crosses our minds, “If I was God, I wouldn’t allow things to happen this way.” Some people even think, “Maybe I shouldn’t even believe in God if he can allow these things to happen.” Think about the fact that we don’t know better than God. We are sinful human beings and he is perfect. God doesn’t owe us an explanation for why he does what he does. There can be times in this world when God’s purpose can seem very clear. Other times, we won’t know God’s plan until we reach heaven. It takes a leap of faith to trust God when we don’t understand what we see around us. God gives us reasons to trust his plan even if they are not the exact reasons we wanted to hear.
Our earthly problems can lead us to fall into despair and hopelessness. That can also lead us to recognize our need for the gospel. The gospel reminds us that Jesus loves us in the most amazing way. He is our Redeemer. That means that he paid the ransom to buy us back from the devil. He couldn’t buy us back with gold or silver. He had to use his holy, precious blood. He was tortured and crucified on our behalf. He suffered the agony of hell for us. He endured the greatest punishment that has ever been endured. When it feels like our sufferings are a form of punishment, think about the truth that Christ endured far greater punishment on the cross.
When we are tempted to think that God is bringing harm into our life, he reminds us in his word that he never desires any harm to come to us. He goal has always been to show us love through Jesus. He has set us free from our sins. The price has been paid by Jesus. The punishment of hell has been suffered by Jesus. Jesus has freed us from physical death. Even though our bodies will die, the souls of believers will rise to be with him in heaven. We are freed from the power of the devil. We belong to Christ. We need to hear the good news again and again. It is the joyful proclamation which can bring us out of the pit of despair.
When we think about the joy of the gospel, think about this: if we did not know that Jesus had redeemed us from sin, death, and hell, how would we handle sickness and other painful forms of suffering? We probably won’t handle them very well. Look at the world around us. Some people handle their problems by getting lost in alcohol or other drugs. Other people seek after worldly pleasure or success. Mental health problems are a huge issue in our world today. People are overwhelmed by the stress they face. People struggle with anxiety and depression. Some people get so overwhelmed by their problems that they think they should just end it all.
The good news of Jesus isn’t going to cure all of our problems at the snap of a finger. I can’t go to a depressed person, tell them that Jesus saved them, and expect that they will overcome their depression. And yet, the gospel is a message that everyone needs. It gives peace, joy, comfort, and strength. Even when it feels like our problems are threatening to destroy us, God is there for us. He does rescue us from evil. Romans 8:28 says, “In all things God works for the good of those who love him.” We don’t always see it at the exact moment but we trust that God is working for our good.
The question of why God allows suffering focuses on us. Our sinful nature thinks that we know better than God. We think we know how God ought to act. We fail to trust that God is working for our good. Our life of faith can be difficult. It is difficult to be patient. It is difficult to wait for the Lord to reveal his good plan. It is difficult to wait for the perfection and goodness of heaven. We want eternal bliss and comfort right now on this earth. But that is not the way it works. We endure through this life. The devil tries to get us to despair and to doubt the promises of God. He uses our suffering to try to do this. He wants us to turn away from God. We need the love of God.
Part 2: Serve others with the gospel so they may inherit heaven
As we get close to the end of the world, there will be more suffering. Matthew 24 says there will be many false prophets. There will be wars and natural disasters. There will be severe persecutions against the church. Even Christians will betray and hate each other. Matthew 24:12 says, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” Think about how sad it is when we stop showing love to others because of the great wickedness and suffering we see in the world around us. Is that our temptation? That we stop loving others because of how bad this world has become. Do we just remain silent rather than sharing the love of Christ.
We should view suffering as an opportunity to share the love of Christ. Let’s be compassionate to those who are suffering. Part of the reason that God doesn’t completely stop suffering is to give us, his people, an opportunity to share our faith. We can point people to the time when all suffering will be gone. We can point them to heaven. Romans 8:18 says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” The glory revealed to us is the joy of heaven. We can endure through this world because we know of the perfect home that awaits us.
Even though we face many difficulties, we have the comfort of knowing that Jesus has taken care of our biggest problem. Sin is defeated. We have forgiveness and eternal life. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Paul calls problems light and momentary in comparison to the glory of heaven. Paul went through many difficulties. There were times that he was violently opposed as he proclaimed the gospel. He even asked God to take away one of his severe troubles.
He says in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” We don’t know exactly what the thorn in the flesh was. Perhaps it was a physical ailment. Perhaps it was anxiety or depression. We don’t know. Regardless, God would not take it away from him. God used that thorn to strengthen Paul. God’s power can overcome weaknesses. He did it for Paul and he does it for us.
God helps us and takes care of us so that we can help others. He reminds us of his help in the book of Isaiah. He says, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand … For I am the Lord your God, who holds your right hand, who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you’” (Isaiah 41:10+13). God helps us with our suffering. Perhaps he sends that help through a pastor, counselor, doctor, or fellow Christian.
When we are helped, then we can look for ways to help others. Rather than seeing suffering as a burden, we can look at it as an opportunity to serve. That is why I love my work with our WELS Special Ministries. We look for ways to show Christian love to people in various circumstances. We share the gospel with people with various disabilities – visual impairments, hearing impairments, and intellectual and developmental disabilities. We help provide Christian counseling for people dealing with mental health issues. We seek to share the gospel with prisoners and military members. Special Ministries is all about showing Christian love.
Conclusion
God never promised to be a God who would swoop in and rescue us from every earthly problem. His focus is on the forgiveness of sins and our eternal salvation. Rather than rescuing us from earthly problems, he rescued us from our eternal problem. When he did this, he used suffering and he didn’t take it away. Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that the cup of suffering be taken away from him. But that is not what happened. God the Father put our suffering on Jesus so that we would be saved. Our Good God used terrible suffering for our good. God has saved us so that after we pass through this world of suffering, we will inherit eternal life in the place where there will never be suffering. May God bless us so that we can look for opportunities to share this good message with many more people.