God's Problem

GOD'S PROBLEM

A book title I recently ran across had the phrase in it "God's problem." The subtitle then complained that the Bible fails to answer our most important problem: why we suffer.

Is this true? Does the Bible really fail to answer this admittedly important problem? Obviously, the author of that book thinks so. Or could it be that the Bible does answer this thorny problem and that he just doesn't like that answer?

This is far more common than often is realized. When, for example, we object to not knowing what lies ahead and demand that God show us what awaits us hidden behind the door of the future, the question needs to be asked, "Why do you want to know? Is it because if the future holds suffering or something you do not wish to go through, so you can pull back and refuse to go through that door and choose your own path instead of following God's path chosen for you, for your own growth and benefit, even if it involves suffering for a while?"

Another example: Suppose a terrible tragedy occurs in your life--say, a loved one is murdered--and you, in your understandable grief and anger, cry out to God that inevitable question, "Why?" And suppose further that God, in his mercy, deigns to answer that question and, further yet, lets you become aware that this really is him talking to you and really is his answer as to why this happened. You would think that such a situation is exactly what you were crying out for, right? Yet what if, after these assurances from God himself that you are about to receive the real truth about why this one you loved so much died--what if after this you found out that the answer to your passionate plea to know why, to know the answer, is that God allowed this loved one of yours to die at the hands of this merciless murderer in order to save the life of that very criminal? That is God's answer to you: that he allowed your loved one to die so that this wicked person could come to know Him as Lord and Savior and be saved? Suppose that were true. Suppose that was God's answer. Would you be satisfied? Would you then put aside your anger at God and replace it with rejoicing that your loved one was allowed to die for the cause of Christ, the cause of love for all the lost in the world? Or would you hold on to your grief and anger and turn your back on God, saying, "That's not much of an answer, God. Is this how you treat the ones you say you love? If so, I want no part of it."

I have actually heard a non-believer voice such a view, only he did it in regard to the Father's giving up of his own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, on the cross for us. He said, "If this is the kind of God the Bible offers, I don't want it." He could not accept this kind of love because to him, it was wrong for God to choose us who are wicked, sinful beings over his own pure and sinless Son. Yet that is what God did on the cross, giving up the One he loved from all eternity and with all his heart, so that we could share in that love. Such love as this was beyond this unbeliever's capacity to fathom--and so he rejected it, preferring to cling to his limited human idea of what love is instead of looking up to the higher and perfect love of the God who is love (1 Jn. 4:16).

These examples are just two of many that could be given that illustrate the sad fact that many people do not accept God's answers to those mysteries of existence that are revealed by him in his Word, the Bible. Many people have a problem with what Scripture says about many such things. Jesus had no such problem, however, and he bore far worse sufferings than any other human being has ever suffered. Therefore, if we really want to get to the bottom of this problem of suffering, we should turn our attention to Jesus and how he handled it.

Jesus is God (Col. 1:15-19, Jn. 10:30-33) and he had no problem with anything that Scripture said, including those scriptures that said that he himself must suffer on the cross for the sins of the world (Ph. 2:5-8).

"From that time on, Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things . . . and that he must be killed" (Mt. 16:21).

"The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him . . ." (Mt. 26:24).

But some would say that because Jesus was God, he could handle such suffering. But actually, that only makes his suffering all the worse, for on the cross, and in his life, Jesus not only had to deal with the attacks of the evil one upon himself, but also had to shoulder the weight of the entire world's sin upon his own body and being on the cross, and then be abandoned by God himself on that cross (Mt. 27:46), a burden he bore so that it would not have to be borne by another human being--unless that person so chose to be abandoned by God and go his own way to hell.

We must remember that though he was fully God, Jesus was also fully human. His suffering on the cross and in his life was as fully real as is ours.

"He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Is. 53:3).

Jesus knows full well all about suffering. Yet this knowledge by experience never caused him to abandon God and reject his ways. He came down from heaven to earth to become one of us and be completely like us in every way, except for sin.

"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity" (Heb. 2:14).

"Although he was a Son, he learned obedience from what he suffered" (Heb. 5:8).

"It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering" (Heb. 2:10).

It is our lot as human beings living in a sin-infested world to suffer.

"Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward" (Job 5:7).

Jesus lived through our world of suffering with us. As God, he could have sat far off in heaven, undisturbed by our own suffering. But he did not. Instead, he humbled himself and became one of us and shared in our suffering--and still does. Given all this, how Jesus dealt with suffering holds the keys to solving the mystery of suffering. One such key is the attitude Jesus held towards Scripture.

One reason Jesus had no problem with what Scripture says about suffering, even his own, is that he loved God, loved him more than his own human desire to escape suffering. He trusted his heavenly Father, trusted in that Father's love for him, even if it meant suffering and death. In this, he was of one mind and heart with Job, who also suffered much but who said of God, "though he slay me, yet will I trust him" (Job 13:15).

By now you should be beginning to see  pattern here. There is a connection between one's view of God or perception of him and his character and your relationship with him, and one's view or perception of suffering. The key to it all is love of God. If you love God, no suffering, however great, will be able to separate you from God and his love.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, 'For thy sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Rom. 8:35,37).

It is important not to skip over that last phrase in the above passage from Scripture: "through him who loved us." Otherwise, one could get the false notion that it is up to us somehow to find a way to make it through a time of suffering or to understand it.

It is not up to us, and that is good news, because if it were, we would fail, for we are weak and frail human beings and often collapse at the first sign of suffering. No, it is not to ourselves and our own reasoning abilities that we need to look, either to endure suffering or to understand it, but to God and his Word--to the Bible, to Scripture--that we need to turn.

But right there is the problem, isn't it? The author of the book mentioned at the beginning here did go to the Bible seeking an answer to the problem of suffering, but came way disappointed and rejecting the answer he thought the Bible espoused there. Why? As the very Word of God, shouldn't the Bible have the true and final answer to this great mystery of suffering? It does. But one must first have the right heart and attitude and spirit to see that answer and understand it: a heart of love for God and his ways.

Jesus had constant run-ins with a group of people who did not have such a vision for truth and God and his heart and ways. They were called Pharisees. They were very religious, but far from understanding the true meaning of the words of Scripture which they searched so diligently. Jesus told them:

"You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life" (Jn. 5:39,40).

Was the author of the aforementioned book as zealous to know the answer as these ancient Pharisees? I don't know. But even if he were, zealousness alone is insufficient to obtain the truth. One must also be willing to accept and obey that truth, no matter how undesirable that truth may be to us. Remember that it was said that love of God is the key to being able to accept the answer we hear.

Jesus knew this, for after saying to the Pharisees that they did indeed diligently search the Scriptures, he went on to add that they refused to accept that answer. He also went on to reveal why they refused to accept what Scripture says:

"I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts" (Jn. 5:42).

It is not by accident that Jesus also said that the first and most important commandment which God has given to us is "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Mt. 22:37).

It is first and most important because all else rests upon it, including being able to understand or at least accept suffering. Without this love of God, a person will never be able to accept that which seems to contradict his own vision or conception of God and his character and ways.

But there is yet another crucial key requirement for being able to understand the coexistence of God and evil and suffering. This additional necessity is to have the Spirit of God himself.

Well, certainly that would seem to render the whole matter useless and beyond man's reach, for what human being could possibly hope to have the very Spirit of God within him? The amazing answer of Scripture is that this is what the whole gospel or good news is about. For Scripture promises that whoever believes in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has that Spirit of God within him.

"Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" (1 Cor. 3:16).

And when we have this Spirit of the living, almighty God within us, we can actually understand things too high for us to understand in any other way. This also is the promise of Scripture:

"As it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him,' God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what person knows a man's thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit" (1 Cor. 2:9-13).

In other words, "We have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:16).

Because we have the divine mind, we can understand things, such as suffering, that those without this Spirit of God cannot understand.

"The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14).

It is no surprise, then, and not unexpected, that there should be a book with a title calling into question the Bible's answer to the problem of suffering. Such a problem is too deep to be understood by human reasoning or experience. Only through the Spirit of God, given to those who surrender their entire being or soul to the One who created it, Jesus Christ--only to them is given the power to understand such deep things. And even then, that understanding is not perfect for we are still human and not until we are raised up to be with Jesus forever will that understanding come its fullness. So until then, we must watch our heart and spirit. The writer of that book criticizing God's answer in the Bible about suffering could not accept that answer for a lack of love for God. He could not understand it for a lack of the Holy Spirit of God. But, in truth, both understanding and love come from this same source, the Spirit of God:

Love: “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Rom. 5:5).

Understanding: “The Spirit of truth . . . will guide you into all truth” (Jn. 16:13).

“But the anointing which you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that any one should teach you; as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in him” (1 Jn. 2:27).

Who can understand suffering? Or even harder, who can understand the attitude of those who have suffered for the precious name of Jesus and yet have an attitude of gratefulness rather than one of hardness and rejection? Yet that is the attitude that some early believers had after suffering for Jesus’ name:

"They beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name" (Acts 5:40,41).

How is such a thing possible? It is possible only through Jesus Christ and having his Holy Spirit living within one's heart and soul. Only this one thing enables a human being like us, susceptible to suffering, to write these incredible words in Scripture:

"Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (Js. 1:2-4).

Only God's Spirit can work in us such an attitude. It is not within the reach of our own willpower or desire to love or any other thing within our being. But what is within our reach is to change our attitude about God and his ways. The strong words of Jesus condemning a wrong attitude towards God should be a warning that we take seriously.

"He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow;  so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed?  Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth" (Mt. 25:24-30).

This is very serious indeed. Having the wrong attitude or conception of God as a Being whose allowing us to suffer at times makes him unworthy to be our God . . . such an attitude is not a minor deficiency in us but shows that we do not really know God or trust him. Such an attitude needs to be changed, and the only one who can change that attitude is the Spirit of God. But we must let him do so, give him free play to move within our heart and draw us closer to Jesus, who suffered abandonment by God so that would never have to.

Having said all this, I want to end with a confession of my own failure at times in this. None of us has perfect submission to God at all times. Especially when the threat of suffering looms, we are quick to consider drawing back from following God. This is the one thing we must not do. For in Scripture God says that "'my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.'  But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved" (Heb. 10:38-39).

It is my prayer that all who read this will not shrink back from God when following him involves suffering. For, as Peter said in reply to Jesus' question of their wanting to leave him as the crowd had:

"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (Jn. 6:68).

The words of eternal life are found in the living Word of God, the Scriptures, and they point to the living Word of God, Jesus Christ. I pray that none will reject what that Word of God says about the answer to suffering or to any other aspect of existence. For there is no other answer.

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).





Blessed be the name of Jesus.