Why Does God Allow Us To Suffer?

Jim was an elder at his local church. He’d attended there for over twenty years, and he’d poured his life into the community. 

He’d sat beside widows as they’d mourned the loss of husbands. He’d visited cancer patients in the hospital. He’d mentored young men that were leaving prison and trying to start new lives.

He was a prayer warrior that asked God’s guidance in every decision. He often stated his life’s mission was to seek God’s face.

Then the unthinkable happened.

Jim’s adult daughter was involved in a car accident. A drunk driver hit her head-on then fled the scene. Jim’s daughter and her unborn child were killed instantly.

When Jim heard the news, he felt like his heart had stopped beating. How could the God he’d served so faithfully for so many years let this happen? How would the God he knew as loving and kind allow his daughter to die on the road while the perpetrator was free to live?

“I gave You everything,” He sobbed. “Everything. I withheld nothing from Your hand, no matter what you asked. But You took her. The one person I loved most in the world.”

Alone in the night, Jim wondered how he could continue to love the God who had allowed this terrible tragedy. He felt as if God Himself had betrayed him. Could he honestly stand in front of his friends and family while still professing the same faith he’d once had?

Tragedy Strikes…

You begged God to heal your child. You prayed faithfully for God to restore your marriage. You pleaded with Him to take away your chronic illness.

You had faith. You believed God could intervene in your situation. More than that, you were certain that as His beloved child, He would. 

But as the weeks turn to months and nothing changes, you’re left with a bitter taste in your mouth. Hopes and dreams unfulfilled. Pain and illness unhealed. Marriage and relationships unrestored.

And somewhere in the middle of it all – as you grapple with this new reality, you’re left with the overwhelming question. Why does God allow us to suffer?

He didn’t change the pain. He didn’t stop the panic attacks. He didn’t prevent your abusive parent from hitting you. He didn’t keep your child safe from the overdose or the kidnapping. He didn’t miraculously heal the tumor. 

You were in the deepest pain of your life, and God seemingly did nothing. He stood silent as your tears fell. His ears were deaf to your begging. The Eyes that see all somehow overlook your pain.

And like an abandoned child, you find yourself calling out to God, “Where were You?”

The Questions That Haunt The Hurting

Many people wonder where God is in the face of unspeakable loss and horrific evil. Pain forces us to confront the ugly questions we’d rather not ask. Questions that haunt us deep into the wee hours of the morning. We ask things like…

• Do You really care what happens to me?
• Why didn’t You stop this?
• If You’re good, why does life hurt so much?
• Does my pain matter to You?
• Why won’t You just take this away?
• Why do You allow me to suffer?

Why Is God Silent?

And in response to these questions that threaten to rip at your soul, it seems as if God is silent. Insult to injury. Abandonment in the face of most profound grief. Why, oh, why is God silent? 

David, the prayer warrior, and man after God’s own heart, wrestled with similar questions during his lifetime. While hiding out in a cave, David penned these words…

The truth is it’s normal to wonder where God is during a tragedy. It doesn’t mean your faith is weak or that God has left you alone. 

Consider a child who falls on the playground in front of his father. The first thing he does is lift his eyes to see if his father noticed. He needs to know his father sees his pain and that it causes him to act.

In these moments, the father runs to comfort his beloved child. He scoops the boy up and holds him close. 

The loving father doesn’t explain the child’s pain—knowing that his boy is still too small to grasp it. He doesn’t offer a prescription for the child’s pain—knowing that wise words won’t stem the bleeding.

Instead, he offers something far more tender and reassuring. Something only a father could give. He provides the gift of His presence, and in doing so, He murmurs the same words again and again, “Daddy’s here. Daddy’s here.”

Why Does God Allow Us To Suffer?

“God could have stopped my miscarriage, but He didn’t,” Sheila whispered to her friend. “Why did He allow this?”

It’s one thing to believe that God loves you deeply and passionately. It’s a belief that can strengthen and inspire you amid discouragement and minor setbacks. 

Yet, it’s another thing to believe that God is all-powerful. It’s a truth that many Christians wrestle with. Sure, it’s comforting at first. God is in control—we want to put that on bumper stickers and cross-stitch it on decorative pillows.

But what about when there’s another mass school shooting? Only it isn’t at some other high school. It’s at your child’s. 

What about when there’s a factory explosion? Only it isn’t overseas. It’s where your spouse works. What about when there’s a horrible car accident? Only it isn’t someone else’s family that doesn’t come home. It’s yours.

Suddenly that beautiful belief that God is powerful hurts. Because He didn’t intervene, he didn’t stop this. He stood by and let it happen. 

The One who formed the Universe didn’t keep that car from careening into yours. The One who calls the stars by name, let your child be born mute and deaf. The One who breathes life into each human being didn’t stop your son from ending his life. Why does God allow us to suffer?

Would The Answer Change The Pain?

As sovereign and kind as He is, God could surely answer all of your questions. He could part the heavens at this moment, come down and explain everything if He chose to. And indeed, some have gone through trauma and can testify that God revealed His purpose to them during their trials.

But even if God gave you a complete explanation, the truth is: the answers wouldn’t change your pain. You see, understanding something intellectually doesn’t alter your emotions. It doesn’t heal your heart. It doesn’t put the broken pieces of your life back together again. 

Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, fully understood why He was about to face a horrific death. He grasped that this was God’s perfect plan of redemption, and He knew that His death would accomplish the saving of millions of lives.

And yet, the human part of Jesus wrestled with this heartbreak. Hear how His cries echo our own in Mark,

In Luke, the writer points out that Jesus isn’t just suffering mentally and emotionally in the garden. 

His pain is so intense it’s affecting Him physically, 

Where Is Everyone?

Reading through the account of Jesus in the Garden and His great suffering, one question that comes to mind is: Where is everyone?

Jesus had a band of followers known as disciples. These men followed Him from town to town, often witnessing (and sometimes participating in) the miracles that were happening.

Some of these disciples were close friends with Jesus. Hours earlier, bold Peter had sworn he would protect Jesus. Yet when Jesus needs His friends—when He’s aching in the Garden—Scriptures show us He is alone.

Where are His friends? Where are His family members? Why isn’t anyone with Him? Why isn’t His community of loved ones rallying around Him in the face of what will be the worst night of His life?

When Jesus is taken into custody, those following Him flee for their own lives. After someone recognizes Peter, he loudly denies he ever knew Jesus. He forsakes the Friend that he had promised to lay down his life for only hours earlier.

What follows after the abandonment of family and friends is not merely death. That would have been difficult enough—to face a painful end without the comfort of loved ones nearby. 

Instead, what comes next is slow and cruel torture played out over the course of hours that night. Spitting. Slapping. Punching. False accusations. Mockery. All of it happens to fulfill a Divine purpose, yet…that is no comfort at this moment.

The next day dawns, but it is no better. A spineless leader who refuses to stand up for the innocent Lamb. A public flogging. The humiliation of being stripped naked in front of the crowd. The pain of Roman spikes digging deep into muscle as blow by blow, the Light of the World is hammered to the Cross.

And at the end of it all, one question falls from the lips of Jesus. One vulnerable, very human question.

In the darkest nights of our souls, when we find ourselves facing our most profound heartbreak, Jesus understands. He’s heard the question before—because He too has asked it.

And in response to your aching soul, He gently whispers. “This moment right here? This is why I chose the Garden. So, you would know that I am always with you.”

But How Do I Hold On?

It is well and good to understand that Jesus is with us during our darkness. But when it feels like the rug’s been pulled out from underneath you, how do you right your world again? 

How does an aching mama’s heart beat again after burying her baby? How do you breathe again after that cancer diagnosis? How do you carry on when the hurt keeps coming, one overwhelming wave after the next?

There are no easy answers. There’s no checklist that someone can give you to make your life normal again. Everything’s going to feel horrible for weeks or even months to follow. That’s OK. It’s part of grieving and letting go of your old life.

What you can do is keep the communication lines open between you and God. The worst thing is to shut down during a crisis and stop talking to Him. But that doesn’t mean you have to put on a stoic face and walk into the throne room like everything’s fine.

Scripture is filled with men and women who were brutally honest with God about their feelings. Consider Elijah, who ran from an evil queen and begged God to end his life (1 Kings 19:1-5). 

Jeremiah cried out and said,

These are not the prayers of saints strutting into God’s presence with the calm assurance that everything is under control. These are broken, sobbing people begging for relief from the pain. Uttering prayers—that if we’re honest—sometimes reflect our own thoughts and feelings.

Staying connected with God and sharing your feelings with Him during a crisis is important. But don’t stop there. Reach out and ask someone you trust to step into your grief with you. This might be a dear friend that’s proven herself to be faithful to you, a pastor who loves you deeply, or even a Christian counselor.

Just because Jesus went through the Garden alone, He doesn’t expect you to do the same. God created us for community. He designed us to need the support and encouragement of one another. When you reach out, you are fulfilling your function. You are acting exactly the way He wants you to.

In Luke 5:17-26, there’s a record of Jesus healing a man who was paralyzed. The house where Jesus was staying was crowded with people, so much so there was no way in or out. 

But this paralyzed man’s community believed that Jesus could heal the one they loved. So, they hoisted their friend onto their shoulders and pulled back the house’s roof. 

Then they lowered the man in from the ceiling in front of Jesus. They were full of faith. They believed that God wanted to heal their friend, so they boldly sought Jesus out.

When you seek out others, you’re giving them the gift of supporting you. Their faith is strengthened as they carry you to Jesus and watch Him heal your broken heart.

Finally, give it time. It’s OK to not be OK. You’re walking through a deep trauma or grief, and it’s compounded by feeling as if God has allowed you to suffer. While God is with you always, it will take time for your pain to ease.

Just as a broken bone needs time to mend, it’s the same with your weary heart. You don’t have to do anything at this moment. Just know that you are held, and you are loved.

Can I say a prayer for you today?

God, I pray for my friend. I don’t know what heartache or battle they’re facing. I don’t understand why You let this happen. But I know You haven’t left them alone. Your heart aches, too. 

You cry with your hurting child. You grieve with us and for us. The whole Redemption story is that You cared enough to enter our pain and darkness. That You wrap nail-scarred hands around us. Oh, hold on to my friend. Comfort them with Your presence today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Grace and peace,

Alicia

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The first is a 7-day devotional journal that goes deeper into understanding why God allows us to suffer and includes Bible verses, reflections, prayers, and guided questions.

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