Why Suffering?

This is an age-old question that continues to plague us.  Maybe we can cognitively understand how we can grow through it, and yet, especially for survivors who have experienced so much suffering, it feels hollow.  Sometimes we feel like we can’t handle anymore.

I have been confronted on this recently by a client as well as my own experience.  If God is so powerful and so good and loving, how come He allows so much suffering to continue?  I don’t believe these questions can be answered from a philosophical perspective, although we could give one.  It is deeply personal and I believe each one of us have to hear from God Himself about this. 

I don’t like the typical explanation of “God allows free will.”  To me, it then makes God weak and subject to man’s sin.  And we see instances in Scripture where He clearly intervenes sovereignly even when no one is asking Him to.  I do believe that there is a flow of free will that He does give us within the framework of His overall plan for the restoration of all. 

In the last few weeks, I faced some crisis and what felt like wasted time and effort more than I had capacity for.  House hunting triggered stress and memories that were extremely difficult.  Why of all times did this have to happen?  Yet, through it I got in touch with some deeply buried memories that I don’t know if I could have gotten to without the circumstances that pressed them to the surface.  I felt squeezed and what came out wasn’t pretty.  But it needed to happen. 

I have to believe in the incredible sovereignty of God, His plans for restoration that go beyond me and mine and that He really does work all things together for good.  This includes suffering.  This past week, in Community Connection, we were exploring this passage in Colossians 1:24-27 NKJV:  “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.  To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

What?  What is lacking in the affliction of Christ?  How does this relate to the mystery of “Christ in you, the hope of glory?”  So many questions we get to sit and ponder with True FAMILY.  I’m staying rooted in my faith that I don’t have to understand it all or make sense of the suffering, but going deeper in trusting True FAMILY and the good plans They have for me, even when it is hard.  What do you think?  How are you processing your experiences of suffering?  Share in the comments if you would like to!