GOD’S PLAN FOR SUFFERING

A PAPER PRESENTED TO
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR

BY

GOD’S PLAN FOR SUFFERING
The Desire for Answers
When exploring the major hurdles of the Christian faith, Lee Strobel appointed George Barna to create a survey that inquired of respondents a single question they would ask God if they were guaranteed to receive a response. The leading question asked by those surveyed was, without surprise, “Why is there suffering and pain in our world?”
The occurrence of evil – demonstrated through suffering, pain, moral wickedness, and other similar things– signifies a challenging subject for anyone desiring to defend the existence of a true God. For non-believers, suffering and evil present an intimidating blockade to ever recognizing the reality of a God whom is both all-good and all-powerful. This is what William Lane Craig states as being “atheism’s killer argument” .
For Christians, the issue of pain and evil has great prospective ability to upset the faith of the most proven saint, particularly when pain lands directly on them or their loved ones. How can a God who declares to be the epitome of love, all-good, and all-powerful allow pain and suffering to, ostensibly, have such power on this earth and affect those who seem innocent or those He calls His children? This issue, for the believer, becomes one of not if a God exists, but what type of God exists.
While it is uncertain that an easy answer will ever be found that fulfill the human and emotional response to evil, Christian apologists must be prepared to offer responses to those who use the existence of evil to refute God’s existence. For these non-believers, assertively providing substantial evidence for the concomitance of God and evil on this earth will overcome a main barrier that disables them from believing in the One who died for them. For the Christian, proving that God does undeniably have a design for suffering helps steady faith, defeats the concepts that suggest God cannot be good if he allows anguish to exist in the world, and delivers hope that suffering and pain will someday see their end.
Responses on the Questions of Suffering and Pain
Before one can jump into the topics of why and if God uses suffering and pain to develop His people, there are typical questions on the topic of evil that can cause confusion for anyone. Everyone needs answers to questions such as where does evil get its origin; how can evil’s presence be compliant with the reality of an all-powerful and all-good God; if God created evil; and what kinds of evil exist in the world.
The Origins of Evil
The usual place to begin is to define what evil is. People commonly think of evil as something which should not be. Yet, God called his creation “very good” in Genesis 1:31, so something must have gone wrong to bring these things that should not be, into being.
The most accurate way to describe evil is a corruption or privation in something that was initially good, but is now omitting something. The Greek word for evil, Ponēros, suggests a distortion, which is in keeping with the idea of corruption. From a privation perspective, evil can be perceived, for instance, as the definition of darkness, which means ‘lacking light’. When one comprehends what evil is – a privation or corruption of something that, initially, was perfect – it becomes straightforward to respond to the question of whether God created evil. As Norman Geisler summarizes: *
God created the core of every substance.
Evil is the lack in a given substance.
Therefore, evil was not created by God.
So evil was not created by God, but evil exists. So how did these corruptions or privations witnessed by every person on this earth come to be? The source can be tracked back to free will that God imparted on His creation. All of God’s created beings were given the free will to have a choice of one action over another. By its very nature, a choice suggests at least two possibilities. One wouldn’t have a choice if they were given one option. So with this idea, God allowed the existence of evil, but did not create evil itself. It was His created beings that represented evil through their sinful rebellion.
Types of Evil
Once sin came into this world, evil was then actualized and acquired two general forms, natural evil and moral evil. The majority of the time, when the subject of evil comes up, moral evil is typically the focus of the conversation. Moral evil establishes itself in the way humans choose not to or choose to do something. It is worth taking note that moral evil is not just what a human being does, but, just as easily, what they are not doing. For example, a man may make the choice of murdering another man or woman, which is morally evil. Another man may make the choice not to stop the murderer’s actions although it is perfectly possible and safe for him to do so, which is also morally evil through inaction.
If evil is a “lack” of something, then exactly what privation causes moral evil? A complete list is outlined in Galatians 5:22: “And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.” If evil is presented, it can almost always be tracked to the elimination of one of the fruits of the Spirit.
Natural evil, the second form of evil, is recognized through natural disasters (e.g. earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, etc.) sickness and human disease. Natural evil occurs as an exact consequence from living in a body that has been contaminated by sin and living in a fallen world. It is worthy to take note that one manner of evil may give rise to another. For example, one’s sexual immorality can lead to a sexually transmitted disease that can eventually take his life. The moral evil can give rise to natural evil. This also showcases how personal responsibility takes a role in natural consequences. The alcoholic who is slowly dying of liver ailments should not isolate God as the origin of the evil they are suffering, but should instead look into the mirror to discover the true initiator of their current condition.
While natural evil causes very real suffering for mankind, moral evil bears the responsibility for the majority of suffering and tragedy in the world, and the form of evil that most upsets everyone. When a tragedy similar to September 11th occurs, people are inclined to hold God accountable for its occurrence. The truth is, man has become so skilled at causing destruction, tragedy, and grief, that there is little reason for divine intervention or addition.
While many examples could illustrate this point, few demonstrate mankind’s propensity to carry out evil better than the story as told by Jan Gross in his book titled Neighbors. Gross situates his reader back to 1941 when the Nazis rolled into the town of Jedwabne where Jews and Poles peacefully cohabitated side by side for many years. As the Germans arrived, the Poles inquired a simple question “Is it allowable to kill the Jews?” The quick cessation of the existing government resulted in a kind of violence and evil, few modern horror movies can depict. Summarizing only a part of Gross’s book, Neighbors, in a Newsweek article, George Will declares, “A head was decapitated and kicked around. To flee the killers, the women escaped to a pond and drowned their babies, and then themselves. Most were burned in a barn while the town was searched for children and the surviving sick that remained. ‘As for the babies, they tied a few together by their ankles and slung them over their backs, put them on pitchforks and tossed them onto fiery coals.’” Struggling to make meaning of such spontaneous evil, Will concludes the article by responding to the question that was on everyone’s mind: “Why, in Jedwabne, did neighbors kill their neighbors? It was allowed, because they could.”
Reconciling the Existence of God and Evil
“Aha”, says the critic, “there is an example of the central question! If God exists, why would he allow such things to happen? There can be no plan or coherent reason for such things!” This apparently irresoluble issue has created a barrier to God for many with the end consequence for them being “total disbelief.” The issue exists because of the way God identifies Himself. If God was not all-powerful or all-good, then mankind could comprehend why evil is so prevalent. Harold Kushner proposes this finite ‘God argument’ in his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People. In his book, Kushner believes God wants to end evil, but is not able to because it has frankly gotten away from Him and He does not contain enough power to make everything right. Conversely, God does say that He is all-powerful, 56 times in God’s word. Additionally, God states that He is all-good. If He did not make this claim, then God’s existence and evil could also be easily resolved. The well-known, Scottish skeptic, David Hume, gives a brief statement regarding the co-existence of evil and God in this way: “Is He willing to thwart evil, but not able? Then God is impotent. Is God able, but not willing? Then God is malevolent. Is God both able and willing? From where then does evil exist?”
God is undoubtedly not impotent as no impotent being can create something as complex and immense as our universe out of nothing, which is what the teleological and cosmological arguments for God demonstrate. On the other hand, being all-powerful does not indicate that God can factually do anything. An example, He cannot make a round square, He cannot deny Himself, or, more importantly, for the sake of this argument, make someone freely choose to avoid evil. Of course, the critic can object that this, still, does not add up.
God’s Plan for Suffering can be a good thing. Philip Yancey does and great job in expressing this truth in the book Where is God When it Hurts? In his book, Yancey provides thorough evidence of how the lack of pain can be a dreadful curse. He uses the example of people suffering from leprosy who have no feelings of pain. As a result of this disease, they cause significant injury to themselves due to the fact that they cannot feel things like a deep cut or a hot stove. Yancey remarks that pain is the only thing that compelled the patients to respond to danger, and settles by stating that he now appreciates how good and wise God is by setting pain out of reach. In this manner, God’s Plan for Suffering safeguards his created beings in ways that no one else can.
This notion of goodness and wisdom leads to the moral character of God. The case for the reality of God in the presence of evil is reinforced even more through what is noted as the argument of the moral law. The fundamental arrangement of this argument is as follows: * 1. Moral laws imply a Giver of Moral Laws. 2. Therefore, there exists an objective moral law. 3. Therefore, there is a Giver of Moral Laws.
Using this structure of reasoning, anyone can argue that the acknowledgement of evil requires the existence of a God. Just like no can say that a crooked like is straight without knowing what a straight line is, one cannot begin to ascertain evil unless they have some point of reference to measure by. Without this point of reference, this idea is just a matter of opinion. The definitive frame of reference for distinguishing evil from good can only be found in the essence of God. If God does not exist, then is no ultimate basis to judge between Mother Theresa and Hitler.
When will Evil be Defeated?
To this day, arguments are made that if such a pure and moral God exists, then evil should be overcome by now, but since evil is not overcome, this supposed holy God does not happen to exist. Additionally, to those desiring for evil to be instantly removed from this world, the question can be asked, “Alright, but perhaps he start with you?” The truth is that no one is innocent when likened to the absolute purity and perfection that is in the nature of God. A need exists for an intellectual reply to the question of why evil is not subjugated yet. The answer comes by incorporating one, unpretentious word – “yet” – in the final assumption that is reached concerning God and the ultimate downfall of evil: * 1. God desires to defeat evil, and He is all-good. 2. God is able to defeat evil, and is all-powerful. 3. Evil is not yet defeated. 4. Hence, it will one day be conquered.
Such a deduction naturally ensues when one proves that an all-good God exists, and an all-powerful God exists. Nevertheless, it is normal for all to desire for the day when evil will finally be conquered. It is thought-provoking to note that the answer to the “when” part of the question may never fully be shown here on earth since it is also something asked in heaven. In Revelation, we are presented with the saints of God who have not yet received answers as to when justice be done and when evil will be overcome. It is also worthy of taking note that the subsequent verses state that God is not intruding in the affairs of the future murders of His saints, but is rather permitting them to happen for His own divine rationale.
Evil will one day be defeated, but its end will happen in the Lord’s perfect timing. Up until that point, it would behoove those who desire for the removal of evil and suffering to heed the remarks of Peter Kreft: “There is a cartoon taped to my door of two turtles. One turtle says, ‘I’d like to know why he allows injustice, famine, and poverty when God could do something about it.’ The other one says ‘I’m afraid He might ask me that same question.’”
Sources of Evil and Suffering
When a believer experiences hardship, it could be that they are facing a God-designed testing, but it could be contested that they are purely encountering the side-effects that come from living in a fallen world. Though there are more, it can be argued that two sources of suffering and evil should be considered: Satan and the fallen world.
Satan
When focusing with this source of evil, one must avoid two extremes. There are those who ascribe all suffering and pain to the enemy, and then there are those who believe that the god of this world possesses no power over the life of a believer. Concerning the first view, it will be shown that three other paths of suffering are likely for the Christian, so this stance will be nullified. As for the second notion, Scripture offers substantial evidence that Satan aggressively works against the saints of God. In 1 Thessalonians, for example, Paul laments how he desires to see the church in Thessalonica, yet Satan spoils his plans. Also, Peter cautions all believers to be alert because their enemy stalks them as a lion looks for a meal.
The fact that Satan has great power is unquestionable. In Job, Satan was the exact cause of invading crooks that stole Job’s possessions and killed his servants, a supernatural fire that further killed another gathering of livestock and servants, a tornado-like storm that killed Job’s children, and a ferocious disease that covered Job from head to foot. In Luke, Jesus heals a woman who agonized in pain from a physical ailment that was demon-caused where she could not stand up straight. From these indications, it can be noticed that Satan should not be taken lightly and has real power.
Paul cautions the believer to thwart the enemy from gaining a stronghold in their lives, which is a caution that all believers should all follow. On the other hand, each Christian should stand firm, shrouded in the full armor of God and know that the missiles of the enemy are sure to arise.
The Fallen World
The consequences of living in this fallen world can be ravaging. Natural disasters like tornadoes and earthquakes are frequently no respecter of persons, whether one’s a Christian or not. Furthermore, bodily handicaps, disease, and sickness generally assault believers or their loved ones just as they do non-believers. Jesus instructed that regardless of whether people construct their lives on the underpinning of God or by their own pretenses, the storms of life will occur against them.
Jesus’ instruction on this topic demonstrates that while God certainly has the ability to defy the evil and natural laws that occur, God’s people often experience the end consequence of His curse along with the rest of the world.

For example, when Elijah brought God’s message to King Ahab that many years of drought would visit the land by God’s judgment, the stream he was using to live dried up with all the other streams and rivers, and Elijah had to move to another hiding place. There was no divine conservation of Elijah’s stream, and though he was later miraculously provided with food through a widow at Zarephath, he originally felt the consequences of God’s judgment with everyone else.
Likewise, Christians can expect to feel the consequences of natural and other moral evil, as well. Man’s evil nature is capable of distressing God’s people with harm as demonstrated in the lives of Cain and Abel. Christians should also recognize their own personal obligation when it comes to lessening evil’s invasion into their own lives. Just as no believer should assume a divine intervention from gravity should they willingly make the choice of stepping off a roof. There are other guidelines they should abide by in order to guard their safety, health, and other such things. Final Conclusions
One should not be surprised that the poll results from the Barna survey showing that the leading most question people have for God is “Why does evil exist?” Reconciling evil with a morally perfect and omnipotent God has been a fighting effort for almost everyone who has lived. From a logical perspective, the answer to this apparently contradictory condition can be encapsulated in two ways. First of all, just because evil exists now, it does not indicate that God will not sooner or later defeat evil, since an all-good and omnipotent God can do nothing else. Subsequently, the moral case proves that the one way people can identify injustice, pain, and evil is to understand what justice, wholeness, and goodness are, and this means that some absolute and ultimate standard must exist in which these things are known, specifically God.
Responding to the problem of suffering and God from an emotional perspective necessitates more effort as the logical responses appear dry, particularly for those in the Church. However, throughout history, God has had a plan for suffering and has used it to perfect, warn and protect those that speak His name. An honest analysis of the Bible exposes many examples of this process.
Indeed, this truth delivers further evidence that the Bible is a trust-worthy choice. If every big name in the Scriptures were divinely taken up in a burning chariot by the Jordan River, then it would be infinitely challenging to justify the Bible to the excruciating existence that numerous people face in this life. Yet, the Word instead demonstrates many honest occasions of tribulation and hardship in the lives of those that talked and walked with God that precisely coordinates with today’s life.
This truth delivers great hope to those who fight with the concept of evil and suffering in this world because if God is revealing the truth about pain, then He is revealing the truth concerning the promise of the final defeat of evil and salvation. Rather than descending into eternity with their fingers crossed, Christians can assuredly look past the struggles of this world and secure their eyes on a day when all children fall asleep well-fed, every oncologist is unemployed and hurt and injustice will be eliminated.
Charles Swindoll, in a sermon on how to manage tough times, asks his congregation what they believe the best feeling human emotion could be. After ruling out things like joy, happiness, and accomplishment, he reaches the notion that the best feeling human emotion is relief. For example, a patient may anxiously wait for medical test outcomes on an ailment that could be deadly, but when the all-clear message is conveyed, the relief that sweeps over the person simply cannot be overcome by any other emotion.
It is a little sad to mention that the best human emotion that can be experienced is only noted when the threat of pain, harm, or tragedy has passed. But because an all-good and all-powerful God exists – a God that has a plan for Suffering – relief will eventually end to be an experienced emotion because, “…and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away.” What a victory that will be.

Bibliography

Craig, William Lane. Hard Questions Real Answers. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2003.
Craig, William Lane, and Walter-Sinnott-Armstrong. God? A Debate between a Christian and an Atheist. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2004.
Geisler, Norman. Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999.
Geisler, Norman, and Ron Brooks. When Skeptics Ask. Grand Rapid: Baker Books, 1996.
Geisler, Norman and Frank Turek. I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2004.
Gross, Jan Tomasz. Neighbors. New York: Penguin Group, 2001.
Hume, David. Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, edited with an introduction by Norman Kemp Smith. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1980.
Kreft, Peter and Ronald K. Tacelli. Handbook of Christian Apologetics. Madison: Intervarsity Press, 1994.
Kushner, Harold. When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1981.
Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1943.
_______. A Grief Observed. New York: The Seabury Press, Inc., 1961.
Nash, Ronald H. The Problem of Evil in To Everyone an Answer, ed. Francis Beckwith, William Lane Craig, J.P. Moreland. Madison: Intervarsity Press, 2004.
Rhodes, Ronald. Tough Questions About Evil in Who Made God, ed. Ravi Zacharias, Norman Geisler. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.
Strobel, Lee. The Case for Faith. Grand Rapid: Zondervan, 2000.
Tozer, A.W. Root of the Righteous. Camp Hill: Christian Publications,1955.
_______. That Incredible Christian. Camp Hill: Christian Publications,1964.
Will, George F. “In Jedwabne”, Newsweek, 09 July, 2001.
Yancey, Phillip. Where is God When it Hurts? Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977.

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[ 2 ]. Lee Strobel, The Case for Faith (Grand Rapid, Michigan: Zondervan, 2000), 29.
[ 3 ]. William Lane Craig and Walter-Sinnot-Armstrong, God? A Debate between a Christian and an Atheist (New York, New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2004), p 112.
[ 4 ]. Norman Geisler and Ron Brooks, When Skeptics Ask (Grand Rapid, MI: Baker Books, 1996), 59.
[ 5 ]. Ronald Rhodes, Tough Questions About Evil in Who Made God?, ed. Ravi Zacharias, Norman Geisler (Grand Rapids, MI: Zonervan, 2003), 34.
[ 6 ]. Norman Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids, MI: 1999), 220.
[ 7 ]. Geisler and Brooks, Skeptics, 62.
[ 8 ]. Ibid.
[ 9 ]. Ronald H. Nash, The Problem of Evil in To Everyone an Answer, ed. Francis Beckwith, William Lane Craig, J.P. Moreland (Madison, WI: Intervarsity Press, 2004), 208.
[ 10 ]. Jan Tomasz Gross, Neighbors (New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2001).
[ 11 ]. George F. Will, “In Jedwabne”, Newsweek, 09 July, 2001.
[ 12 ]. Ibid.
[ 13 ]. Harold Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People (Boston, MA: G.K. Hall, 1981).
[ 14 ]. Revelation 1:8.
[ 15 ]. Norman Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 396.
[ 16 ]. 1 Peter 1:16.
[ 17 ]. David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, edited with an introduction by Norman Kemp Smith (Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1980), part 10, 198, quoted by Craig, William Lane. Hard Questions Real Answers. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003), 82, footnote 4.
[ 18 ]. Craig, Hard Questions, 82-83.
[ 19 ]. Phillip Yancey, Where is God When it Hurts? (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1977).
[ 20 ]. Ibid, 20.
[ 21 ]. Geisler, Apologetics, 278-279.
[ 22 ]. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York, NY: Macmillian Publishing, 1943), 45.
[ 23 ]. Rhodes, 35.
[ 24 ]. Geisler and Turek, Faith to be an Atheist, 389.
[ 25 ]. Geisler, Apologetics, 221.
[ 26 ]. Revelation 6:10-11.
[ 27 ]. Strobel, 50.
[ 28 ]. 2 Corinthians 4:4.
[ 29 ]. 1 Thessalonians 2:18.
[ 30 ]. 1 Peter 5:8.
[ 31 ]. Luke 13:11.
[ 32 ]. Ephesians 4:27.
[ 33 ]. Ephesians 6:10-18.
[ 34 ]. Matthew 7:24-27.
[ 35 ]. 1 Kings 17:1-9.
[ 36 ]. Genesis 4:1-12.
[ 37 ]. Revelation 21:4.