Our Perspective Is Limited

What’s The Real Reason Why God Allows Evil and Suffering In The World?

In this thread of articles we’ve seen two possible explanations for why God allows evil, pain and suffering in the world.  Both explanations, one biblical and one logical, center around bad choices made by people as a result of the free will God has granted us.

What about pandemics, tsunamis, earthquakes and other natural disasters?  Why does God allow pain and suffering from those events?

Regardless of whether pain and suffering comes from human choices or natural causes, here’s the real truth:  we just don’t know.  And we can’t fully know.  As a species, we’ve been debating this for millennia, coming up with all sorts of reasons that sound good at the time.  However, in the end, we still arrive at the same point – we have no idea why.  And, in reality, we’ve known this for a really long time.  We just forget as a culture or get distracted.

So here’s your reminder: We don’t know and can’t fully know why God allows evil, pain and suffering because we can’t possibly understand his perspective on the universe as a whole and we can’t possibly understand His plan for it and for us.

This is very clearly documented in the biblical book and story of Job – one of the earliest books of the Bible written several thousand years ago!  If you haven’t read the book of Job lately you might scoff and think it’s all about a battle between God and Satan for Job’s soul.  That’s not the point of the story at all.  The book of Job tells us very clearly how we should consider the question of why God allows evil, pain and suffering in the world.

The Wisdom Of God Spans All Aspects Of The Universe

Watch this brilliant 6 minute video summary of book of Job from the Bible Project.  Pay particular attention to how God responds when Job questions Him about the suffering He has allowed.

The key conclusion from the book of Job is that God is aware and cares for all aspects of the entire universe and we simply don’t have the knowledge or context to judge God’s actions.  In other words, regardless of the situation and the amount of pain it causes, we can’t possibly understand God’s purpose for how that situation fits into His plan for us and for the universe.  God never promises life will be easy, joyful and free from sorrow.  Instead, He asks that we trust Him knowing that all He does is free from evil.

Of course, this is easy to say and much more difficult to accept when in the midst of suffering.  However, it should come as some form of comfort; comfort knowing that all things happen for a reason and that reason is ultimately good.

Here is a slightly different and more in-depth review of Job also from the Bible Project.  It’s important to watch this version as well.  It’s really excellent and will help reinforce the critical points from the previous video by giving you more context into how God answers Job’s questions.  Be sure to watch between minutes 6 and 9 1/2.

As you can see in the video, Job questions God as many of us do during times of trial – especially extreme times like the ones Job experienced.  God doesn’t answer Job’s questions explicitly but instead shows Job examples of everything in the world and universe that He must manage.  And he shows Job examples of things that appear to be bad but are only bad from our limited perspective.

And that’s the key: our view of the world and our position in it are very limited and sometime even self-centered.  God’s perspective spans the near-infinite breadth of the entire universe including the billions of other people on earth, the billions and billions of other creatures and literally every other component of every planet, star, and galaxy in the universe.  We can’t possibly understand God’s Plan for all that nor can we understand how the pain and suffering we perceive fits into that plan.  Instead we have to trust in His wisdom and trust He has a plan that’s good.

Making It Real

The ancient wisdom of Job helps us understand that God has a plan for the universe and that pain and suffering may be part of that plan.  If that still difficult to accept, consider the natural world and the perspective of prey when faced with death from predators.  Neither prey nor predators understand their roles in the universe but God does.  God understands the pain and sorrow but He also knows how it all fits into his plan.

Finally, let’s bring this all back to a human perspective.  Watch this very real and very personal video from Noe Garcia, Senior Pastor of the North Phoenix Baptist Church.

Pastor Garcia explains the exact same points from Job but in a more real-world manner including a story of sorrow and doubt experienced by he and his wife.  His explanation really brings home how we should all think about the evil, pain and suffering we see and experience in the world.