Lee strobel why is there suffering

Why do bad things happen to good people? Several years ago, I commissioned a national survey and asked people what question they'd ask if they could only ask God one thing. The number one response was: "Why is there suffering in the world? Maybe you've never asked why our world is infected with pain and suffering, but my guess is you will when they strike you or a loved one with full force. And Jesus said they are coming. Unlike some other religious leaders who wrote off pain and suffering as mere illusions, Jesus was honest about the inevitability of suffering.

In John he said, "You will have suffering in this world. But why? If you ask me, "Why did God allow the gunman to spray the Aurora movie theater with gunfire just two days ago? I don't have God's mind; I don't share his perspective. In 1 Corinthians we're told, "Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.

Someday we'll see with clarity, but for now things are foggy. We can't understand everything from our finite perspective. And frankly, the people suffering from the Aurora tragedy don't need a big theological treatise right now; any intellectual response is going to seem trite and inadequate. What they desperately need now is the very real and comforting presence of Jesus Christ in their lives. And I'm so grateful that so many churches and ministries of this community are helping them experience that.

Yet it's still important to grapple with the question of why God allows suffering in our lives. Even though we can't understand everything about it, I believe we can understand some things.

Let me give you an analogy. We were driving up the highway in the dark, when it started raining heavily and we hit dense fog. I could barely see the white stripe on the edge of the road.

I couldn't stop because I was afraid someone might come along and rear-end us. It was frightening! But then a truck appeared in front of us and we could clearly see his taillights through the fog. He apparently had fog lamps in front, because he was traveling at a confident and deliberate pace, and I knew if we could just follow those taillights, we'd be headed in the right direction.

The same is true in understanding why there is tragedy and suffering in our lives. We may not be able to make out all the details of why certain things happen, but there are some key biblical truths that can illuminate some points of light for us.

And if we follow those lights, they will lead us toward some conclusions that I believe can help satisfy our hearts and souls. The first point of light: God is not the creator of evil and suffering.

This answers the question you hear so often: "Why didn't God merely create a world where tragedy and suffering didn't exist? Genesis says: "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. But if God is not the author of tragedy or evil or death, where did they come from? Well, God has existed from eternity past as the Father, Son and Spirit, together in a relationship of perfect love.

So love is the highest value in the universe. And when God decided to create human beings, he wanted us to experience love. But to give us the ability to love, God had to give us free will to decide whether to love or not to love.

Because love always involves a choice. When my daughter was little, she had a doll with a string in the back, and when you pulled it the doll said, "I love you. Of course not. It was programmed to say those words. Real love always involves a choice.

So in order for us to experience love, God bestowed on us free will. But unfortunately, we humans have abused our free will by rejecting God and walking away from him.

And that has resulted in the introduction of evil into the world. Some people ask, "Couldn't God have foreseen all of this? But look at it this way. Many of you are parents. Even before you had children, couldn't you foresee that there was the very real possibility they may suffer disappointment or pain or heartache in life, or that they might even hurt you and walk away from you?

Of course—but you still had kids. Because you knew there was also the potential for tremendous joy and deep love and great meaning. God knew we'd rebel against him, but he also knew many people would choose to follow him and have a relationship with him and spend eternity in heaven with him. And it was all worth it for that, even though it would cost his son great pain and suffering to achieve our redemption.

No, of course not. It was a robot, a puppet. In order for us to be able to love, we have to have the choice not to love. So, God gave us free will, and guess what? We chose not to love, we chose to walk away from God. We chose not to love each other. Or I can take a gun and shoot you. The very presence of the people of God stands as a sign that God has acted, is acting, and will act. Evangelism is speaking and living the gospel message.

In every generation, people face the challenges, questions, and concerns of the gospel message of the Christian faith. Christians seek not only to explain their beliefs but also to commend their beliefs. Apologetics helps others develop an intellectual and reasonable examination of the Christian message.

The goal of apologetics is to strengthen the faith of Christians and to attract others to the gospel. The gospel message itself is always capable of persuading. It does not need to be rendered persuasive, it already is. The gospel itself is a sensible and coherent one and answers such questions as why there is suffering in the world, whether people matter, life after death, and so on.

Evangelism can, in fact, be its own apologetic. The gospel message in itself, the truth that God died for us in Jesus to reconcile us to him for all eternity, answers many of the questions people have about reality and the meaning of life. Whether in time of the apostles or in culture of now, defense of the gospel and the gospel message itself share at the core the grace and truth of Jesus Christ. It is not so much how the two differ but rather how they are alike in the goal of bringing people to know the Lord.

At CCU we know both work together for expanding the borders of the kingdom. Please enable JavaScript or use an alternate browser with JavaScript enabled. Unlike some other religious leaders who wrote off pain and suffering as just being illusions, Jesus was honest. He told us the truth. Store Subscribe.

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