No 10

(Why is there death and suffering?)

As true Christians, the only answer to this question is that death and suffering exist because of sin. But when we witness to our friends, our co-workers or our family who are unbelievers, more often than not they will ask the following question: “If there is a loving God as we say there is, why does He allow all the pain and suffering in the world?” The above answer does not always fit the circumstance.

Why did the World Trade Centre towers fall to the ground? Why did hundreds of thousands Hutus and Tutsis die in a civil war in Rwanda? Or, closer to home, why does a loved one die prematurely? For people who do not believe in a holy God, it is sometimes very difficult to answer these questions. So with patience and a loving attitude we approach the suffering person and tell him or her that God loves them; the concept of sin being the direct cause to their suffering would be inappropriate at this point. God has placed in all human beings the thought of eternity (Eccles 3:11) and in Romans 8: 22, we read “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers…”. From the beginning, God created everything and saw that “it was good” ; but He also knew that man would rebel so He came up with a contingency plan – Jesus Christ.

When Jesus was on earth, He spoke of another tower that fell and killed many people – Luke 13:4 says that 18 people died because the tower of Silome fell. Jesus, in this passage, was explaining that bad things that happen in our lives are not necessarily related to our personal sin. Of course, Jesus also said: “ if you do not repent, you shall likewise perish” (vs 5). We spoke about Lazarus and the rich man not long ago (study # 245) and there are lessons to be learned of that incidence also.

Here’s the thing – sometimes difficult situations push people towards God and only in those times would they seek Him as a last resort – praise the Lord that He uses us to preach the Gospel to those who truly seek Him and “…and the one who comes to Me, I will not cast out” (John 6:37b) because God wants everyone to be saved “…not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9b). And in the same way, God sends us trials so that we may rely on Him even more; what other reason could there be?