Why Is There Suffering?
Draft, under review
For everyone · Tell us where you are
Why do the righteous suffer?
- Job 1:20–22
20Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, 21saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” 22In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.
- Job 38:1–11
1Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: 2“Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge? 3Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me. Keep reading
- Rom 8:18–28
18I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us. 19The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope Keep reading
- Job 1:20–22
Why does God allow evil?
- Gen 50:20
20As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.
- Rom 8:20–22
20For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.
- Rev 21:4
4‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”
- Gen 50:20
Is my suffering a punishment?
Scripture refuses the simple equation suffering = punishment. Asked whose sin caused a man's blindness, Jesus said it was neither his nor his parents', but so that God's works would be displayed (John 9:1-3). Job's friends insisted he must have sinned, and God said they had not spoken rightly of Him (Job 42:7). Jesus said those killed when the tower fell were not worse sinners than others (Luke 13:1-5). For those in Christ, the punishment for sin was borne by Him, and there is no condemnation (Rom 8:1). Heb 12 speaks of the Father's discipline. That is loving training for our good and our holiness, and a sign that we are His children (Heb 12:5-11), not that He has rejected us. Some suffering does come from our own choices, and God invites us to bring that to Him too (1 John 1:9). But you may not assume your pain is God's verdict against you. If you are suffering, He is near (Ps 34:18).
- John 9:1–3
1Now as Jesus was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth, 2and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him.
- Luke 13:1–5
1At that time some of those present told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2To this He replied, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered this way? 3No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Keep reading
- Job 42:7
7After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.
- Heb 12:5–11
5And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. 6For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.” 7Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? Keep reading
- Rom 8:1
1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
- John 9:1–3