Why Did God Allow that to Happen?
Today, I begin a new message series called Why? The seed of this series was a question I posted on Facebook a few years ago: “What question would you like a sermon to answer?” After just a couple of days, there were around 100 responses.
Clearly, I can’t preach a series with 100 sermons, but there were some questions that popped up over and over again from different people. So, I decided to create a series around these common questions because chances are you have the same questions.
I kick off this series with what is perhaps the most common struggle of faith: Why did God allow that to happen? Or “Why do bad things happen to good people?” or “If there is a God, why do people suffer?” The world of theology calls it the theodicy question. The underlying angst of the question is this: If God can’t stop suffering, then he is not great. If God can stop suffering and doesn’t, then he is not good. So, if God is great and good, then why is there suffering in the world? Why does he allow all this bad stuff to happen? Ever wondered that?
The theodicy question is one of the biggest reasons why so many people choose not to believe in God. It is a huge roadblock to faith.
In fact, you may struggle with it. Maybe you have experienced unspeakable pain and tragedy in your life, and the suffering you have been through keeps you from believing that a good, loving God exists. Or perhaps you have friends and relatives who have experienced great suffering, and the theodicy question has kept them from going to church and believing in God. Or maybe you believe in God, but the theodicy question has lingered within you for a long time, and at times, it causes you to struggle with your faith.
Well, you can take comfort from the fact that the theodicy question can be seen throughout the Bible. The Psalms ask it. Job asks it. Lamentations is full of it. The prophet Habakkuk complains to God about it. The prophet Jeremiah questions God about it: Why do the wicked prosper and the innocent suffer? Look at what Jeremiah says to God in the 12th chapter, verse one:
“Righteous are you, O LORD, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?”
Many of the biblical writers cry out with this same burning question that we ask today. So don’t be afraid to express your anger and complaints to God. It seems like half of the Old Testament is filled with complaints against God. There is more faith in complaining to God than there is in being silent. And quite often, a season of anger and complaint will lead to a deeper understanding of God and faith.
But what is the answer to Jeremiah’s complaint and our complaint? I believe what I am going to share today will help everyone who struggles with the question of God and suffering.
Let me begin by saying that one of the biggest problems with this question is how some people answer it. In fact, the way many Christians answer the question of suffering is not only unhelpful but harmful.
A popular way folks respond to the theodicy question is “Everything happens for a reason.” How many of you have heard that one? Usually, this platitude is said in the context of difficulty or adversity. We get bad news. We are disappointed. Life takes a bad turn and we have a well-meaning friend say to us, “Everything happens for a reason.” Now, this phrase comes in other forms: “God must be testing you,” or “It must be God’s will,” or “Things don’t happen to you; they happen for you.”
All of these religious phrases could fall under the heading of “Everything happens for a reason.” And they all mean that your trial, difficulty, bad news, problem, or adversity was planned by a higher power, the universe or God. It was supposed to happen to you. There is a larger reason why it happened to you. It was intentional. When Christians say it, they mean God orchestrated or planned your adversity for a purpose. God has predetermined everything. We are the puppets, and God is manipulating the strings. We just go by the script. Everything that happens, even tragedy and difficulty, has been scripted by God.
I guess some people are comforted by what this platitude implies, but do we really believe that EVERYTHING happens for a reason? Do we really believe that God has orchestrated all the pain and tragedy in our lives? Do we really believe that? Do we really believe that God plotted 9/11 for a purpose like testing our country? Do we really believe that public shootings in happen for a reason? Do we really believe that God is behind the bloodshed and tragedy in the world? Do we really
believe that God intentionally plots suffering to see if we can pass a test? And if we do believe all this, what does it say about the God we believe in?
I recall doing a funeral for a man in another church I served. After the funeral, I attended a reception at the family’s home. I was having refreshments in the living room with some of the family of the deceased. Sitting next to me was a middle-aged woman who was a member of the family. I didn’t know her. I had just met her that day. She was a very honest person. She looked at me and said, “I’m not a big fan of ministers.” I smiled and said, “Me either. I have a problem with many ministers as well. I asked, “So, why do you have issues with ministers?” I was not prepared for what she said. Under normal circumstances, I don’t think she would have been so forthcoming, but grief can instill liberating honesty. She said, “When I was in my twenties, my mother died of cancer. It was devastating because I was very close to my mother. At the time, I had a friend who was a strong Christian tell me that “everything happens for a reason.” She said I needed to accept this as God’s will and move on. When she said that, I decided I would never have anything to do with God, religion, or the church.”
I did my best to explain to her how wrong and insensitive her friend’s remarks were, but the spiritual damage had been done. Did her friend have good intentions? Sure. Was she just trying to be comforting? Sure. But the religious platitude presented God as someone who planned that tragedy in her life, and she wanted nothing to do with a God like that. I can’t blame her.
When I was in seminary, one of my best friends in college was killed by a drunk driver. He and his girlfriend were on bikes in Austin, Texas, on their way to the hill country for the afternoon. In my friend’s pocket was an engagement ring. He was going to propose marriage to her that day. That proposal never happened. A drunk driver struck both of them, killing my friend instantly. His girlfriend suffered multiple injuries and was in a coma for two months.
I was invited by my friend’s family to read scripture and speak at the funeral. I remember going to the viewing the day before the funeral. It was an open casket. I recall looking at my friend in the casket and someone standing next to me saying something I will never forget. I don’t know who the person was, but he looked at my friend in the casket and said, “It is hard to understand God’s will sometimes.” Now, I was ready to give that man a good sermon, but it wasn’t the time or place. I thought to myself, “God didn’t do this! A drunk driver did!”
God often gets blamed for things that God did not do! We have all heard the language. It is amazing how some Christians will blame suffering on God. A baby dies, and someone says, “God needed another angel in heaven.” A young mother dies of breast cancer, leaving a husband and two kids behind, and someone says, “God works in mysterious ways.” A group of teenagers on their way to prom are killed in a car accident, and someone says, “God must have had a purpose.” We get bad news. We are disappointed. Life takes a bad turn and we have a well meaning friend say to us, “Everything happens for a reason.” She received news from the doctor that she has cancer, and her friend said, “God never gives you more than you can handle.” What?
Of course, it doesn’t help the cause of the Christian faith that we have particular Christian personalities say dreadful things on television. Some of you will remember that after 9/11, a well-known religious figure appeared on TV and told the world that God orchestrated 9/11 to punish America for its sins. And then we wonder why some folks are turned off by Christians and the church? And then we wonder why some folks don’t want to have anything to do with God? Why would they when they hear Christians say that God causes great suffering and pain in the world? Why would they want to believe in a God like that? I don’t believe in a God like that.
It is beyond me how some folks who read the same Bible I do and follow the same Christ that I follow can believe that God would orchestrate unspeakable tragedy. It is beyond me how some folks who believe that the same God who personified himself in Christ and put little children on his knee would kill children with cancer, kill teenagers through car accidents, and wipe out families in tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes.
Bottom line, folks – everything does not happen for a reason, at least not in the way people usually mean it. The God I know and love would not plot and plan suffering and tragedy. Sometimes, things happen because of the foolishness of others. Sometimes, things happen because of our own bad choices. Sometimes, bad things happen because we live in an evil and imperfect world. But let’s not blame tragedy and suffering on God.
So why does God allow bad things to happen? When God created us, He gave us free will. He loves us enough to allow us to choose to love Him back. Otherwise, we would be a bunch of robots programmed to love, and there is really no such thing as forced love. If God took away our freedom to do evil, God would also be taking away our freedom to do good. But of course, the shadow side to our freedom
is that there is room for bad choices, mistakes, bad timing, and decisions, all of which can cause pain, difficulty, frustration, tragedy, and adversity. But when bad things happen, it doesn’t mean God caused them to happen.
So, if God is not behind our tragedy and difficulty, then how do we deal with it? How do we make sense of it? If God is great and good, then why do we suffer? As Christians, we have the assurance that one day, Christ will come in glory, and all of our questions will be answered, all of the great mysteries will be solved, all of our confusion will turn into clarity, and every tear will be wiped away. But until that great day comes, we have to cope with suffering in life. So, if God does not cause tragedy and suffering, what role does God play in suffering? Where is God when it hurts? Where is God when planes crash, earthquakes come, and people die in car accidents? Where is God, and is He involved at all? How do we make sense of suffering if we follow a loving and powerful God?
I want to offer some things that have helped me as I have struggled with the theodicy question. My prayer is that they will help you, too.
First, I want to lift up a passage of scripture that tells us exactly where God is when we suffer. It comes from the Old Testament, from the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah was prophesying about Jesus, and he said something that I think all of us need to remember when it comes to our own suffering. In fact, what I am about to read may bring healing to you today. Isaiah 53:3-4 reads:
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely, he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.”
Did you see that? He carried our sorrows. He carries our sorrows.
I want you to hear that today. Wherever you are, whatever you are going through, whatever pain you are in, God carries your sorrows. He shares it with you. He cries with you. He aches with you. He loves you too much for you to deal with it alone. Romans 8 reminds us that nothing shall separate us from God’s love. You see, Jesus’ death tells us that when we suffer, God suffers with us. The cross and resurrection reveal that God experiences our suffering and has the power to redeem it.
But there is another thing I want you to remember when you struggle with the question of God and suffering. Harry Emerson Fosdick once said,
“Goodness is a far greater problem for the atheist than evil is for the believer.” Instead of focusing on the evil and suffering in the world, look at all the goodness that abounds! Where does all this goodness come from? It can only come from a loving God who cares for us.
Allow the goodness in the world to lead you back to the goodness of God. And may the goodness of God lead you to help heal the suffering in the world. Because God wants to heal suffering in this world, and you know how He is going to do it? Through you and through me! When God wants something done in this world, he counts on his church to do it!
You want to see God at work in the midst of suffering, just open your eyes. He works through people all the time. And he wants to work through you!
A couple of years ago, a brain surgeon in Birmingham, Alabama, walked six miles through a blizzard to save a patient’s life. His name is Dr. Zenko Hyrnkiw. He is a neurosurgeon at Trinity Medical Center. He had just finished surgery at a neighboring hospital when someone called him to get to Trinity ASAP for emergency surgery. He tried to drive there, but there were roadblocks and snow everywhere. The hospital called him again. He said, “I’m not getting anywhere. I’m walking.”
It took Dr. Zenko about five hours to get to Trinity. At around 12:30pm, he walked in, and the patient had already been prepped for surgery. He spoke to the patient’s family, and off to the OR he went. As of Thursday morning, the patient was stable. The head nurse told reporters that without the surgery, the patient would have died. When Dr. Zenko was questioned about it, he replied, “I’m just doing my job.”
What if Christians just did their job? A lot of suffering in this world would be alleviated. What is our job as Christians? To help God alleviate suffering in the world. So often, we complain to God and wonder why He is not doing something about the suffering in the world, and I’m sure His reply is, “I am trying to do something, through YOU! You are my hands and feet in this world!”
I believe the best help I can give as we grapple with the question of why bad things happen to good people is to offer another question: What happens to good people when bad things happen to them? This is a question that the Bible clearly answers.
In the eighth chapter of Romans, Paul uses several words to describe the pain and suffering of life: hardship, persecution, distress, nakedness, peril, and the sword. Paul and the early Christians were very much in touch with unfair suffering. But what did Paul say happens to us when we experience bad things? Not only did he say that we will never be separated from God’s love, but in Romans 8:28, Paul says something truly remarkable:
“All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Wow! Paul puts it another way: “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
This means that evil and pain are never the will of God, but God can take evil and pain and use it for good. Over and over again in life, we see this. When evil attacks with pain, God uses it to build character. When evil shows resistance, God uses it to build strength. When evil cripples with tragedy, God finds a way to victory. When evil destroys with death, God restores life. God is in the transformation business. God can turn our trouble into triumph! The worst thing is never the last thing.
The ultimate example of this is Jesus’ work on the cross. Before Jesus, the cross represented suffering, shame, punishment, and death. But he came and transformed it into a symbol of victory, forgiveness, love, and life. So whenever we gaze upon the cross, we are reminded that God can take what is ugly and make it beautiful.
Here is today’s message: Everything that happens to you is not God’s will, but God has a will in everything that happens to you. And God’s will is to turn your trouble into triumph. You don’t have to be a victim in life! You can walk in confidence in the Lord. You can say, “I don’t know what this day is going to bring, but I know that God will bring me through it. I know that there is nothing I am going to face that God and I can’t handle. I know by the power of God I will be more than a conqueror!”
How do you do you become “more than a conqueror” for God? What is the first step? Pray, “Lord, I hand my pain over to you. You take it and use it for your purposes and glory. Use it in whatever way you want to use it, Lord. It is yours. Do with it what you will.” You may want to keep a journal and mark the day you gave your difficulty to God. Keep track of it, and you may be amazed one day how God used it for good!
My friend Andrew’s funeral that, I mentioned earlier, was an ugly experience, but God did do something beautiful with it. The night before the funeral, I was talking with one of Andrew’s childhood friends. We were sitting on a dock looking out at a lake. He confessed that he was not very “religious.” He asked, “So, you’re a minister, huh?” I said, “Yes, I am.” He asked, “How do you deal with death and funerals? How do you get through them? That’s got to be tough?” I said, “Yeah, it is. But God gives me the strength to be able to minister in those situations. It is never easy, but God helps me.” He replied, “You really believe all that stuff?” I said, “I sure do. With all my heart.”
The next day at the funeral, I read some scripture and said a few words about Andrew. After the funeral, Andrew’s friend approached me and said, “This faith stuff is real to you, isn’t it?” I said, “It sure is.” Then he said, “I’ve never read the Bible very much. Could you recommend a translation I should read?” I said, “Here, take mine. It’s yours.” It was my favorite Bible. But a year later, I heard that he was a Christian and active in a church! Now, every time I miss my favorite Bible, I think of how God took what was ugly and made it beautiful.
The message I want to leave you with today is that God can take what is ugly in your life and make it beautiful. If you’re patient enough and open to what God wants to do, God will turn your trouble into triumph.
Daily Devotional Guide
Monday: Whenever people tell me they feel guilty for being angry at God for allowing suffering in the world, I tell them to read the Bible. It is filled with people asking God why the wicked prosper and the innocent suffer. Look at what Jeremiah says to God in verse one of the 12th chapter: “Righteous are you, O LORD, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?” It is a very honest prayer. The lesson? Don’t be afraid to express your anger and complaints to God. There is more faith in complaining to God than there is in being silent.
What’s more, is that prayers of anger and complaint often lead to a deeper understanding of God and faith. Can you find other passages of scripture that ask the “theodicy” question? What do you learn from them?
Tuesday: Can you recall what other Christians have said to you in the midst of suffering? Was it helpful? Why or why not? Unfortunately, many well-meaning Christians offer misguided and damaging responses to those who question suffering. One of those responses is, “Everything happens for a reason.” Why is that an inappropriate response? What do those words imply about God? Can you think of other unhelpful or hurtful words expressed to those who were suffering? What do you think is a more helpful response to those who question their own suffering?
Wednesday: Where is God when we suffer? Read Isaiah 53:3-4. Wherever you are, whatever you are going through, whatever pain you are in, God carries your sorrows. God shares it with you. God cries with you. God aches with you. God loves you too much for you to deal with your suffering alone. Romans 8 reminds us that nothing shall separate us from God’s love. Jesus’ death and resurrection reveal that God shares our suffering and can redeem it. Have you ever looked at the cross from this perspective? How does it deepen your understanding of the suffering of Jesus?
Thursday: Read Romans 8:28-39. In this passage, the Apostle Paul uses several words to describe the pain and suffering of life: hardship, persecution, distress, nakedness, peril, and the sword. Paul and the early Christians experienced a great deal of suffering. However, in verse 28, Paul shares something extraordinary: “All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Paul puts it another way in verse 37: “We are more than conquerors!” This means that suffering is never the will of God, but God can and does use it for good. Over and over again in life, we see this. When evil attacks with pain, God uses it to build character. When evil shows resistance, God uses it to build strength. When evil cripples with tragedy, God finds a way to victory. When evil destroys with death, God restores life. God is in the transformation business. God can turn our trouble into triumph! Jesus’ death and resurrection demonstrated that the worst thing is never the last thing. Can you recall a time when God redeemed your suffering?
Friday: Review this week’s devotional guide and what you learned from the sermon. Based on this week’s theme and lesson, write down or share what you would say to someone who is suffering. Is it different from your responses in the past? Why or why not?