Atheists have long pointed to the suffering in the world as “proof” that God cannot exist – claiming that if God were all powerful and all loving, he would not let suffering occur.  But to find the very simple answer to this dilemma of why suffering exists, we need only take a step back from the question and ask why do humans exist? 

The Scriptures make it clear that humanity exists because God wishes to share everything he has with his human children (Romans 8:32) – for all eternity (John 10:28).   But as C.S. Lewis wisely pointed out, God will not give eternal life to anyone who will make themselves and others eternally unhappy.  The only way this can be achieved is to have a physical world in which people are born but cannot live forever unless they choose to live in a way that would make them and others happy – and then those people are given eternal life by God (1 Corinthians 15:49–52).

Once we understand this great purpose of human life and see that a temporary physical existence is necessary before we can be trusted with an endless spiritual existence, it is not difficult to see that while we are physical beings, we have to be capable of experiencing pain.  If we were not, we would unknowingly put our hands on burning hot objects, or injure and destroy ourselves in any of hundreds of other ways.  We have to be able to experience pain – suffering – in order to live in a temporary physical world. 

Some may ask, “Wouldn't it be better if people were not born rather than being born into a life with the potential to experience pain or suffering?” But we should ask ourselves if a newborn baby that has to be slapped on the bottom by the delivering doctor – in order for the sudden pain to jolt it into breathing – would choose not to experience years and years of potentially happy and fulfilling life just to avoid that initial few seconds of hurting? 

In exactly the same way, our experience of pain during the relatively brief years of our physical lifetime will be ultimately well worth enduring for the painless eternity we are offered in the life after this one. This is what the apostle Paul meant when he wrote, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18 ).   Paul goes on to explain this in more detail:

"For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us" (Romans 8:22–24 NLT).

So suffering had to be for a short time if we are to live eternally without causing ourselves or others ongoing pain. But we must also realize that in this life we bring much suffering on ourselves – we all sin, and sin inevitably leads to suffering. Other suffering is accidental, or caused maliciously by others. 

But God does not just allow us to suffer and ignore the fact that we do. He understands that suffering may try our faith. But he knows that if we trust him and endure, our faith is made stronger for being tested (James 1:2–4).  He even uses our suffering to help us. God may allow pain to help us turn to him, to examine ourselves, and to become more like him.  Also, we cannot really learn true empathy and kindness by simply deciding to have these qualities – they often come only by seeing how we need them ourselves when we suffer. Paul says this explicitly: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3–4).  Even Jesus learned through what he suffered (Hebrews 5:8) and was able to become an understanding helper to us (Hebrews 4:15–16).   When we experience suffering, we also learn more of the depth of the love of Christ who endured immeasurable suffering on our behalf.

And there is yet another, extremely important dimension to the suffering that the Christian may endure. From John the Baptist, who was beheaded (Matthew 14:1–12), to Jesus and the early apostles, the New Testament is full of examples of those who suffered righteously. But if we suffer as a result of our faith – through persecution of some kind – then, as Peter wrote, “you share the sufferings of Christ” (1 Peter 4:12). And as Paul reminds us, we will be rewarded for this: “we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory” (Romans 8:17).

Of course, even those who are spared persecution in this life encounter suffering in one form or another – we all do. And when we do, we can not only be confident that this is the only way God could make the world for our eventual benefit, but also that God will use the suffering we endure, if we ask him, to guide and grow us now, and to bless and reward us in that future time when he will end humanity’s temporary suffering, and he “will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4 NLT).  Our present sufferings are, indeed, nothing compared with what God plans to give us as a result of them.

The book of Job has such a powerful and memorable storyline that it is possible to focus on the story and miss its point.  At its heart, Job is a book of questions, but sometimes we do not see the questions for the story.

When we think of the book of Job we usually think of the narrative stream of events:  righteous Job; God giving Satan permission to afflict him; Job’s troubles; his discussions with his friends; God speaking to Job; and finally, Job’s restoration.  We see this story-stream, but we don’t always focus on the questions in the stream.  Yet when we look closely at the questions in Job, we can see the underlying lesson of the book much better because the questions in Job actually provide the structural “skeleton” of the story – they are the “bones” which support the body of the narrative, rather than the other way around.

Once the stage is set, the book of Job begins with questions: “Where have you come from?” (1:7), “Have you considered my servant Job?” (1:8), “Does Job fear God for nothing?” (1:9), ““Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?” (1:10). These questions quickly propel us into the story proper, and it is here that Job begins to ask an ongoing string of questions that form the heart of the story.  Notice just some of these questions:

-  “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?” (3:11)
- “Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul?” (3:20)
- “Why do you hide your face and consider me an enemy?” (13:24)
- “Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?” (21:7)

When we put Job’s questions together in this way, we immediately see a clear pattern: Job asks “Why?”  over and over again.  In the course of the book Job asks this same question many times as he grapples with his situation. At the heart of Job’s many “Why?s” is the central issue of why God allows him to suffer undeservedly –  a question explicitly stated in his words: “I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me” (Job 10:2 ESV).   

Throughout the central part of the book, Job’s friends also ask questions –  all of which are aimed at Job himself.  But, one after another, Job – rightly - discounts the speeches of the three friends and returns to his unanswered questions of “Why?”

Finally, at the climax of the story, God himself steps into the scene with questions of his own –  introduced with the words “Brace yourself like a man and I will question you and you shall answer me” (38:3, 40:7).

Throughout four full chapters God then pummels Job with some seventy questions of his own, (Job 38-41).  When we look carefully at God’s questions, we see a pattern, also. God does not ask “Why?” Instead, God proceeds to ask Job  “Where?” “When” “What?” “How?” “Which?” and “Who?” along with questions such as “Can you…?” “Have you?” “Did you?” and so on.

But God is not really asking Job for answers to all these questions – he does not give him the opportunity to try to answer them. They are rhetorical questions God knows Job cannot answer.  But God’s questions make it clear that Job doesn’t know the answers to the when, where, what, how, and other aspects of God’s works.  The clear point of God asking Job every type of question other than “Why?” is that of a rebuke to Job: why does he question why God does what he does and allows what he allows, when he clearly does not understand any of the aspects of God’s works regarding the inanimate and animate elements of creation.  In other words, God asks Job:  Why question the “why?” of my will when you cannot comprehend the “How” and any of the other aspects of what I choose to do?  That is why, when God has finished questioning Job, the patriarch exclaims:

“You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (Job 42:3).

Job came to realize that if he is not qualified in any way to comprehend the basic aspects of God’s creation and sustaining of all there is, then he certainly was not qualified to pass judgment on how God directs the events of human lives or allows what he does allow.
  
This was Job’s epiphany, his moment of understanding at the conclusion of the book’s dialog when he says to God: “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:4-6). Job realized that although he had not done wrong, he still had no reason to question God’s wisdom and judgment in allowing his suffering.
​
The questions found throughout the book of Job reveal the true nature of Job’s situation and God’s purposes.  It is in the questions in Job that we find the answers to the underlying message of the book.

Ironic as it might seem, the further we progress along the way to which we are called as Christians, the more it seems we see the failings and errors  of our own nature.   That can be discouraging at times, but when it happens we need to remember something. 

The Bible gives us two stories that speak to this situation, though we might not realize it unless we give the matter some thought. The first story, in the Old Testament, relates to a vision of the prophet Isaiah:

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple… “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 6:1,5).

Isaiah’s very clear reaction on seeing God in this vision was one of understanding his own spiritual inadequacy and “uncleanness.”   Now compare this story with another in the New Testament  – how Jesus revealed his divine power to Peter and the men fishing with him:

“One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret … he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”….   When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break …. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”  (Luke 5:1-8).

Although these two stories may seem very different on the surface, Peter’s reaction to seeing even a small glimpse of Jesus’ divinity was not unlike the effect of the vision of Isaiah – it was a realization of his own unworthiness and sinful nature.   Admittedly, these events occurred at the beginning of the careers of the two servants of God, but the principle remains the same – the more we come to understand of God, the more we are conscious of our own failings. 

It was many years after the conversion of the apostle Paul that he wrote: “What a wretched man I am!” (Romans 7:24), and “… I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle…” (1 Corinthians 15:9). Yet Paul continued this same thought to the Corinthian Christians: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect” (vs. 10).  Despite his painful awareness of his own failings – after many years  of God working with him – Paul could still say near the end of his life: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).  Both statements were true! Just like the rest of us, Paul doubtless realized his own spiritual failings all the more as the years progressed, yet he knew that God was changing him and completing a purpose in his life.  

To use a simple analogy, before conversion we live in spiritual darkness – like living in a dark room – and cannot see any of the “stains” and “black marks” of sin that cover us.  As we are converted and move  toward the “light” (remember, God is spiritual light), the more we begin to see those black marks on ourselves – and the brighter the light becomes, the more we see even the smallest stains.

It is a  simple truth of the Christian life that the more we grow and come to see God, the less we like what we see of ourselves. Yet this can be encouraging – looked at the other way around, the less we like what we see of ourselves the more we are probably seeing of God and moving closer to him! 

This is not the same as living our lives in a despondent spiritual attitude that focuses on how unworthy we are.  It is just an honest realization of our own spiritual inadequacy and a heightened awareness of ways in which we do fail – sometimes in small things that we would never have noticed earlier in our Christian lives. 
 
Perhaps we can say that our occasional discouragement with our own failings can be turned around.  The more we see the failings of our own nature, the more we can be encouraged that we are doubtless moving closer to God who is enabling us to see those things.  We can rejoice that just as we see ourselves more clearly as we move closer to God, he can continue the process of helping us to see him and making us more like him. 

“Doubting Thomas.”  There is no doubt about it, most Christians regard him as something of a failure. The apostle who said he would not believe in Christ’s resurrection until he had seen him with his own eyes and touched him with his own hand has become synonymous with those who do not believe.
​
Even those of us  who believe faith should involve the head as well as the heart have not embraced Thomas as the poster-disciple of reasonable faith, but why is this – why do we doubt Thomas?  Looking at the story – which is found in chapter 20 of the Gospel of John – is instructive:  

“Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:24-29).

Although the account is often repeated as an example of unbelief, there is really nothing in it to say that Christ chastised Thomas in any way. We should remember that doubt had marked the response of all the disciples from the very first reports of the resurrection.  Although Mary Magdalene, who had gone to the tomb and found it empty, reported this to Peter and John (John 20:2), apparently even John himself did not believe the resurrection had occurred till he saw evidence with his own eyes: “Finally the other disciple [John], who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed” (John 20:8).

More importantly, John tells us that all of the disciples – except Thomas who was not present – were given the opportunity to see Christ, and at that time “he showed them his hands and side” (20:19).  Luke adds further details, and tells us that when Christ appeared to them at that time:
​
“They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet” (Luke 24:37-39).

So every one of the disciples had opportunity not only to see the resurrected Christ, but also to see the marks of his wounds.  This helps us to understand Thomas’ specific mention of wanting to see the same things, but we can hardly judge Thomas as a doubter of the resurrection any more than the other disciples who thought they saw a ghost and had to be given the opportunity of visible evidence before accepting the resurrection as fact.  

​When Jesus did appear to Thomas and the others later, he did not chide Thomas as “you of little faith” in the way he had so often rebuked the disciples when they beheld the miracles of his ministry; he simply gave Thomas the same opportunity to see him that the other apostles had already been given. We should realize that Jesus’ words: “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29) were given for us, not for Thomas.

We should also remember the importance of belief based on seeing for all of the apostles.  In his great sermon of Acts 2, Peter himself stressed that the proof of the resurrection was that all the apostles were witnesses – they had seen Christ with their own eyes (Acts 2:32) – and there is no indication any of them would have believed if they had not seen him.
​
Tradition tells us that after seeing the resurrected Christ, Thomas’ firm belief led him to do extensive and powerful works in preaching the Gospel until his faithful martyrdom as far to the east as India. He was never called “Doubting Thomas” in the early Church,  and the Scriptures clearly indicate that, along with the other original apostles, he will have an honored position in the Kingdom of God (Revelation 21:14). Thomas’ belief, once he established it, was a full and powerful faith – and there is no reason to doubt that.

William Riley is a relatively new Christian blogger whose work we are pleased to feature today.  In his article "Why God Why?" he takes a candid look at a question that puzzles many people – Why do some believers lead comfortable lives while other, equally sincere, believers suffer in their Christian service?  Life can produce its share of difficult questions, and "Why God Why?" is one that is often asked.  Is there an answer to this perplexing question – or at least something that we can understand to render it manageable?   To find out, read his article "Why God Why?" here.

LINCOLN’S BATTLE WITH GOD: A PRESIDENT'S STRUGGLE WITH FAITH AND WHAT IT MEANT FOR AMERICA   By Stephen Mansfield.

Christians, agnostics and atheists alike have claimed Abraham Lincoln as their own – how can this be? Historian Stephen Mansfield’s book examines the complex life of this great man and assesses the information we have that might support claims of Lincoln’s faith – or lack of it.

A masterfully written and fascinating book, Lincoln’s Battle with God puts the life of the sixteenth president in a clearer perspective than is often found and shows not contradictory evidence, but the road to faith of a man who was first an unbeliever, then later perhaps an agnostic, but finally a man of faith. See our Review here.

Does your faith always run at 100%, or do you experience cracks and strains in your belief at times?  Are you able to maintain a steady trust in God whatever happens, or do you sometimes falter when things get bad?  The answer to these questions is the same for all of us.  All Christians experience occasional times of weakness in our faith, but what does this mean –  does such faltering indicate that we really don't have faith at all, or is it something else?  The answer is clear. The Bible gives a number of examples of individuals whose belief faltered – but who still went on to accomplish great deeds of faith.

Take a look at our new short article "When Faith Falters" in the Faith Survival Kit section today.  The article may deal with wavering faith, but its lesson is actually very encouraging.

Our Book page has multiplied!  Now that we are beginning to add more books to our review section, we will utilize a central index page having all the titles together – with each review on its own page.  Newly uploaded is a short review of John Ortberg's fine book, Know Doubt,  of a few years ago.  If you didn't read it then, consider it now – it's a very worthwhile and encouraging book.  Also, we have a review of Craig Blomberg's  important new study Can We Still Believe the Bible?, which was published just a few days ago.  Check out these titles and others on the new Book Reviews page here.