Why Do We Suffer?

This is adapted from a letter I sent to a brother, who does not accept the Lord, after a family reunion:



It was good to see you at the family reunion. I’m glad that you are in good health and enjoying life.

I am enclosing an article on the Fremont People artifacts in eastern Utah. I hope it has some stuff you haven’t seen in your papers. Please read it before you continue.

I would give a lot to know more about these people – how they lived their daily lives, what they ate and drank, what they believed. I wonder if the were afraid of the dark? Growing up with darkness, they probably weren’t, but the wolves, mountain lions, etc, may have made them afraid of what was in the dark. Maybe they were like me, afraid of what might leap on them. Did their older brothers surprise them in their back yards? Or was that only two other brothers? I seem to remember you being involved in scaring the living daylights out of me. Did these people believe the stars were just points of light, or did they know more? Did they, like some people in the Middle East at the same time, use clay-pot batteries, perhaps for lighting? Maybe they did not need to be afraid of the dark. The photos make their technology look primitive, but so does most Middle East artifacts.

I wish you had been able to stay at the reunion a little longer. You missed several good water fights. All in all, an excellent time for all.

You also missed my talks on what I believe and why I believe it. Though this was from a scientific standpoint, and you seem more concerned with other matters, I believe that you would have enjoyed it.

You expressed considerable moral indignation at child suffering. It’s a reflection of the moral indignation that God Himself feels when His children suffer. If God did not exist, neither could your moral indignation. Evolution could not create such indignation (notes 1, 2). Only God’s creatures can feel such outrage. Clearly, I believe that you direct your outrage at the wrong person, but the outrage itself is an excellent thing.

So how do I explain why children suffer the unspeakable horrors that life sometimes visits on them? First, understand that I may ask God those questions when I see Him, because my heart does not understand.

But, my head does. One thing I have learned is to use other’s work when possible, and I enclose three articles on “Why Does God Allow Evil?” (See http://www.answersingenesis.org/).

God does not cause senseless suffering, for children or for adults. The Bible says that “God is love”, and you are correct to object to any god who loves but causes evil. So why is there suffering in this world?

It is not an uncommon question, and it keeps lots of people from coming to God. Just since the time you mentioned it, Dad has gone into the hospital where he found he had an earlier heart attack, and has undergone a quadruple bypass surgery; my pastor fell ten feet and broke his femur and his wrist, then had a stroke in the hospital; and more deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq, leaving behind widows and orphans in those countries and in ours. So why do I still serve Him?

God created us perfect, without suffering or sin. He even gave us a great gift: free will. He wanted us to use that gift to love Him as He loves us. Instead, we used our free will to rebel against God, and we began to do all sorts of evil things. Because God had given us control of this earth, our rebellion caused the earth to do evil things as well (earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, disease, etc). Things got so bad that God decided to kill all those evil people. He did this with a global Flood, but He found eight people who were good enough to save, and He warned them to build an ark, on which they and the animals of this world survived. Those eight people became our ancestors, but, unfortunately, some of us have committed evil as well.

So I suggest that we blame the evil, including the suffering of children, on the decisions of men, rather than on God.

But isn’t that a cop out? Couldn’t God make us perfect, with free will, but not allow us to sin? And if He isn’t powerful enough and loving enough to do that, why should we have anything to do with Him?

No, God could not make us with free will and still keep us from sinning.

Doesn’t that make Him less than all-powerful? No, but it does mean that God cannot make nonsense. It falls into the same category as, “Can God make a rock so big that He cannot lift it?”, or, better, “Who is the bachelor married to?” Nonsense questions do not need to be answered sensibly. Unfortunately, we do not recognize that the question, “Couldn’t God make us perfect, with free will, but not allow us to sin?” is a nonsense question. Either we have free will – truly FREE will – or we do not. And if we have free will, we can sin. The only question remaining is, which generation will choose to sin? Genesis answers that question. The first generation, our parents Adam and Eve, chose to sin. And every generation since has sinned also.

Actually, there are a few more questions. Questions like, what does a loving God do about sin? Why did God create this world if He knew that we would sin? Why does He allow sinful men to torment innocent children?

About sin, God provided a way for us to be forgiven. Even though we rebelled against Him, He loves us so much that He provided a way for us to be free from the penalty of sin. And do not forget that the penalty is severe – to be separate from Him, and from all that is good, forever. But the forgiveness is severe also – for God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son in to the world, to die for the world, that whoever believes in Him need not perish, but have eternal life. And the good news is this, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with Scripture, was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with Scripture. If we accept this, we have eternal life in a sinless world.

Why create this world if we will sin? Because there is no better way to that best world where there is no sin and all serve and love God and each other. This world is neither the best world, nor the worst world, but this world is the best way to the best world (so said one of my theology professors, and so I believe). And achieving that world is worth all of the evil and sin of this world. Oh, really? Worth all the child suffering, all the wars, all the heartache of this world? If it isn’t, God is needlessly cruel. But God is love. In His love, He created this world without sin, even though He knew that it would fall into sin. He believed that the next world is worth all the evil of this world.

And if we disagree? The Bible answers this question. In Jeremiah Chapter18, the prophet sees a potter remake a ruined pot. God then points out that we are the clay, He is the potter, and He has the right to do with us as He pleases. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8, 9) His thoughts take all things into consideration, in the past, in the future, and throughout the universe. Therefore, who are we to judge God? Or are we so arrogant as to add this to our rebellion?

And, God promises to make all things right, in the end. As Dad always said, the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind incredibly fine. And Who makes the wheels of justice grind, if not God Himself?

And why does God allow sinful men, or disease, to torment innocent children? Again, how could God create free will, yet prevent its effects? He could not. Therefore, He created this world, with the potential for greatness or for sin, even knowing that we would choose sin. And He promises to set all things right, among other things by sending those sinful men to Hell, but also by giving those children crowns and glory. And that glory is so great, that the present suffering is not worthy to be compared to it. And, in the final world, He will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there will be no death, or mourning, or crying, or pain.

And I am not great enough to judge God in His intentions. But, I have experienced enough of God’s love to trust Him. And so have you. Every day of your life, the sun has risen. You have experienced the love of our mother and your wife. We have shared the love of our father, and of our brothers, and you read in this letter my love, which risks your contempt or your anger, as I try to reach out to you with God’s love. You have always had food to eat and water to drink, clothing, and shelter. These are all gifts from God.

But God has given you a greater gift – one which you cannot work for, and cannot reach except the way God offers it. God offers the gift of eternal life in His presence. This gift is extremely costly, but that cost has been paid by another. While we all deserve to die and to go to Hell, God loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus the Christ, to bear our penalty, to die in our place and to go to Hell in our place. And, after three days in Hell, Jesus rose from the dead. He walked the earth for forty days, was seen by over 500 people, and returned to heaven. All of this was to buy, then demonstrate, that gift of eternal life, for us.

It took fifteen months of having three friends talk with me about this, and then seeing two of my friends die in front of me, before I would accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. I pray that it will not take as much for you.

Since I accepted Jesus as my Savior, my professional and personal lives have been much improved. Not that I became perfect – you know that I have not. But, I became a good officer (if such exists … and some do), and then a good engineer. I have received several awards for my professionalism, which I attribute to God’s grace and favor. He caused me to become much more focused on the details of my work, and that has led to much better safety analyses, and much better communication with others. He has used my wife to encourage me in the right ways to solve serious issues, and had me contact people who helped me stand up for the right, when others did not see the right way to go. And He has helped me to stand up for the little guy when others mistreated them. And tyranny is what I am indignant about. Having seen tyranny from a commanding officer, I despise it in me and in others. God has helped to eliminate it from me – largely.

In my personal life, God has helped me to be kind and gentle, showing love rather than harsh discipline or tyranny. This has allowed me to raise two gentle and reasonably obedient and loving children. Neither they nor I am perfect, but the care I have displayed amazes me. Where I was once self-centered, I am now concerned about the welfare of my wife and children and about my brothers’ welfare. My language is a lot cleaner, I am involved in a food-for-the-poor ministry, I try to help others, and I enjoy life.

Did you notice that I didn’t enjoy life when we were growing up? I escaped into books, and into studying. I certainly did not enjoy life when I worked for that tyrannical commanding officer; but I enjoyed life when I worked for an equally tyrannical assistant manager where I now work. I have learned to deal with tyranny when I must, and to put it behind me when I leave. I am both a better person, and a better-off person, than I was without God.

As to evidence that Christianity is the true religion, there is enough evidence to convince me; enough evidence to convince two of our brothers; enough evidence to convince the roughly 2 billion Christians alive today. And enough evidence to convince the 2 billion Christians who lived and are now in heaven – including the 2 million plus who believed even when required to deny Christ or die. They died rather than deny Christ, because the evidence was enough to convince them.

If you still have questions, please let me know. Maybe we can become good brothers once again.

In either case, I love you and will be praying for you.


Love,


Greg



Note 1: Caring for our young is a necessary part of creation or evolution. But, if evolution is true, moral outrage at child suffering wastes resources. It takes energy and time away from “more necessary” activities. This is especially true if we have such outrage about suffering by someone other than our own children, but it is true for any outrage. Therefore, evolution and natural selection would eliminate any such attitudes from the gene pool.
Note 2: Therefore, the existence of outrage at child suffering is evidence that we are God’s creations. Since this outrage is universal, it is strong evidence for universal creation by a God of love.