Why Does God Allow Suffering?
There is no Christian who has not asked this question at least once. Of course, not all believers ask this question out loud, because they think that it would show the weakness of their faith. However, this question is important, because through it our knowledge of God increases, and Satan cannot then lead us astray by not knowing the answer to this question.
All Christians agree that God is powerful enough to do anything. God can bring us out of all difficulties, whether they be physical, spiritual or financial problems. But God does not help in all cases. Why?
There are believers who think they know the answer to this, and this has led to a strange trend, such as:
- God heals everyone, you just have to believe in Him
- God wants to give wealth to all His believers
- God wants to give a carefree life to all His followers
Well, it is certain that those who know God in this way worship a different god than I do. I see the root of the problem is that those who misunderstand God so much actually forget that they should serve God, not God serving man.
Regarding the misconceptions I mentioned previously, we can easily find words from Jesus and the apostles in the pages of the New Testament that sweep them away. You just have to read them and interpret them in their place.
I have already mentioned the first most important one, which helps us understand why God allows evil. Namely: we serve Him, not God serving us. So the world doesn't revolve around us! Let us learn humility Brethren…
And secondly: we messed this up! Everything was fine before eating the forbidden fruit. Even then evil already existed, but man did not determine what was bad and what was good, but God, and man listened to that.
Here we also touch on the other most important thing, namely that evil already existed before man fell into sin. On the first day of creation, we can already read that God separated the light from the darkness.
Genesis 1:3-4
„And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.”
But we don't even read that God created darkness! We must understand that everything has an opposite side. If we don't know what is bad, we won't know what is good. We don't know what's beautiful if we don't see what's ugly. There is no sweet without bitter.
I'm not saying that we have to experience both sides of everything. There is good and bad, but we can decide which side to look for. There is one big thing that distinguishes the smart and the wise, namely that the wise person puts his knowledge into action. It is not enough to know what is good, but also to do it. Always make the right choice in every situation.
Proverbs 9:10
„The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”
The fear of God! In other words, if we fear God, then we do what he says! And whoever does what God says is not only smart, but also wise. Because he knows and acts.
Many believers experience the life of prayer as a failure, because even though they ask God with faith, they still do not receive what they ask for. They usually refer to the word that Jesus said:
John 14:14
„If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
Most people misunderstand and use the name of Jesus in their prayers as some kind of magic word. At the end of their requests, they say "in the name of Jesus". However, asking in the name of Jesus means something else. If one understands who Jesus is, one will also understand this passage. Jesus is the word of God, John testifies to this in his Gospel (John 1:14), his letter (1John 1:1), even in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 19:13). So asking in the name of Jesus means asking in the name of the Word of God! More precisely: we can refer to God's promises in His word.
If we apply the simple fact that we serve God, not God serves us, we cannot fail in prayer. Jesus also in His prayers (also in what he taught his disciples to pray - Our Father who art in heaven) includes that the Father's will be done. So whatever we asked for in our prayer, we give God the right to override it.
If God gave His followers everything they asked for in prayer, then how would God's plan be carried out? After all, the world will end one day, if He healed everyone we pray for, if He protected everyone we pray for, if He solved all the problems we pray for, then would we wish for Heaven?
Antal Farkas
(December 23, 2022)
