.png)
As you know, we open our worship with the response:
God is good… and all the time….
Have you ever wondered if this is true? When things aren’t going well and things in your life seem unfair or unjust, do you still believe that God is good? When you see good and innocent people suffer through the devastation of storms or the destruction of war, do you still think that God is good all the time? If you are experiencing financial setbacks, job loss, or the fear of losing your marriage and family even though you are working hard in all these areas and striving to be faithful, can you still say God is good? If you have ever questioned the goodness of God, then I pray this message, and this new series will speak to you.
We are starting a series called Ever Wonder Why?, and today we are going to reflect on one of the most difficult questions we all ask at times. Why did God let it happen? Why did God let the rains of Hurricane Helene wipe out whole communities in Western NC? Why does God allow ongoing war in a land that is so important to Him? Why does God allow those we love to battle cancer? Why do children suffer abuse and abandonment? Why does God still allow hunger and starvation? Why?
This is not a new question. 300 years before Jesus, the Greek philosopher Epicurius asked similar questions, and these were some of his observations:
If God is not able to prevent evil, then God is not all powerful.
If God is not willing to prevent evil, then God is not all good.
If God is both willing and able to prevent evil, then why does evil exist?
Epicurius asked the same question we do. If we believe God is all powerful and always good, then why does evil exist and why do bad things happen to people. The presence of evil does not mean there is no God or that God is not good and powerful, we know this because the story of God, the Biblical narrative, is full of evil and suffering.
In the Old Testament, King David, who was known as a man after God’s own heart, asked God where He was in the presence of the injustice and suffering he was facing. The prophet Jeremiah cried out to God when evil was all around him, and in the New Testament, John the Baptist, whose mission and purpose was to point people to Jesus, was unjustly arrested and then beheaded. John was in prison with Jesus not far away and Jesus knew the bad situation John was in. I have to imagine that John asked God why He was allowing this to happen? Where are you God? Where are you Jesus? Why are you letting this happen?
Another person in the Old Testament who asked this question was a man named Asaph. Asaph was a poet and prophet who led the choir in the Tabernacle. There are 12 psalms that we believe he wrote, and this is from one of them. Psalm 73:11-14
What does God know? they ask. Does the Most High even know what’s happening? Look at these wicked people—enjoying a life of ease while their riches multiply. Did I keep my heart pure for nothing? Did I keep myself innocent for no reason? I get nothing but trouble all day long; every morning brings me pain.
Does God know what’s happening? Does God know that evil people are prospering? Does He know that good people are suffering? And if He does, why does He allow it? Why is evil getting the upper hand? Why is there so much injustice and suffering if God is so good and loving?
As we wrestle with this issue, let be clear, I am not going to have a good or precise answer to this ancient and ongoing question. What I hope to provide are some reflections and thoughts that can carry us through our questions and pain to a place of hope and faith.
So again, the question we ask is:
If God is love, why is there suffering and pain and evil?
One way to answer this is to say that there is suffering and pain because God is love. It’s not that God chooses to have some suffer, but if love is a choice then suffering is a possibility. Since God gives each of us the choice to love Him and others in response to His love, when we choose not to love, it opens the door for pain and suffering. When we choose hate or indifference over love, when we choose to do what is wrong over what is right, we bring suffering into the world.
It’s not that all suffering and pain in the world is caused by our choice, but some of it is. God knew this was a possibility when he gave us the freedom to choose love or hate, goodness or evil. In theological circles this choice we have been given is called freewill. God gives us the freedom to choose how we will respond to His love. The reason God gives us this freedom is that didn’t God didn’t want robots adoring Him, He wanted a relationship with His children. God loves us enough to give us the freedom to respond to His love- or not, and God did this knowing that at times we might choose not to love Him. Choosing to not love God is called sin and sin is what opens the door for pain and suffering in our lives and in the lives of others.
God loves us enough to give us freewill knowing that the consequence could bring pain and suffering into the world, but He also gave us this freedom knowing that the only truly good and innocent person who would ever live, His son Jesus, would suffer and die because of it. While we often ask why bad things happen to good people, the only truly good and innocent person to ever live was Jesus, and Jesus chose to take on all the bad that the world had to offer so we could be counted as good. Jesus took on our sin, our failure to love God and others, our evil and unfaithful choices, and paid the price for it all.
Because God is love, He gave us the choice to love Him or not. God knew that at times we would choose not to love and that our choices would bring evil and suffering into the world and because of that, God knew someone would have to come to set things right. The only one who could do that was going to be God Himself, so God gave up the glory of heaven to come to earth as a man. Here on earth, Jesus was rejected by his family and community, He was falsely accused by His own leaders and people, He was arrested, abandoned, imprisoned, flogged, and finally hung on a cross to die. The only good person to ever live took on all the suffering and pain of the world and cried out with the very question we wrestle with today. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Jesus was asking God, Where are you? Why are you allowing this to happen? God watched all this happen, we might say he allowed it, because He knew it wasn’t the end of the story. The cross was not the end of the story. A resurrection was coming. New life was coming. Healing and wholeness was coming. While Jesus felt forsaken, and in a moment when the sin of the world was laid on Him, God did turn away, it was not the end of the story. God had not forsaken Jesus, in the end God raised Him to a new life.
Let me be clear and say that God doesn’t allow suffering to happen so something better can come, but I will say that in moments of suffering, good things can still happen because God is at work and God is love. Too many people want to look at pain and suffering and say there is no God or that God isn’t loving. I want to say that in those moments of suffering, God is still with us and God still loves us and God is working for something good.
The resounding message of the Bible is that God loves us and God is with us - always. In the presence of evil and suffering we see in the Bible; we see that God is right there. Isaiah 43:2 says
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
God’s love is so powerful that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Suffering and pain is never the end of the story. During the darkness of Friday, with Jesus on a cross, God could see the light of Sunday and Jesus walking out of a tomb. God knew something better was coming. No matter what suffering we face, we can be assured that something better is coming, here in this life or in the life to come. The Bible says:
He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever. Revelation 21:4
In every situation of suffering and pain, we need to be reminded that God’s love is still with us and that God is working for something better. Even in the midst of the destruction and devastation we see in NC and TN, good things are happening.
It’s been difficult to watch all the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. I heard someone say that in most floods the waters rise and then fall and everyone is left mucking out and cleaning up. This flood rose and swept everything away. Homes, churches, schools, businesses, hospitals and even cemeteries were completely wiped away. There is nothing to muck out, nothing to clean up, nothing to restore. Entire towns have to rebuild or people need to move to new areas. Why did God let this happen?
I don’t have a good answer, but here is what I do know. God is still with these communities and something good is taking place. During an election when we are so polarized and divided, it is great to see people coming together to help one another, to support and care for one another, and to love one another. Our political differences don’t seem very important in the face of suffering. Maybe something good can come out of suffering and pain. God didn’t cause this destruction to bring about something good, but God can bring something good from it.
While God can bring something good out of suffering and redeem all bad situations, for many of us, we aren’t there yet. We still see evil in this world and experience loss and hurt and pain.
While we might not have a good and clear answer for why these things are happening, we can say with confidence is that:
God is still with us. God is with us and He gives us the strength to keep going
God still loves us. God loves us and He always will
God is still strong. In fact, God is strong enough to bring something good out of the pain. The Bible says,
God works for the good in all things through Christ Jesus. Romans 8:28
Because God is with us and still loves us and is still strong, God is able to bring good into all situations, even situations of suffering and pain. So let’s go back to Asaph who asked God why there was so much pain and why evil seemed to be prospering while the faithful were suffering. While he didn’t come up with any good answers himself, this is what he said. Psalm 73:16-17, 23-26
I still belong to you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.
When we come to God, the problem of evil and suffering don’t disappear, but we still have hope. So if you are hurting now, if you are living in the “not there yet” of pain and suffering, and if you are wondering where God is to wipe away the tears, know this - God is still with you and something better is coming. God is still with and He will stay with you. God still loves you and He always will love you, and because of God’s love and presence and power, even in the midst of suffering and pain He is working for your good.
That’s why we can still say…
God is good…. And all the time…
Next Steps
Why did God let it happen?
What situations of suffering, injustice, and pain cause you to ask, Why did God let it happen?
How have you wrestled with these questions in the past?
Some might argue that injustice, suffering, and pain is a sign that God is not present or that God is not love.
● How does God’s love actually open the door to the possibility of suffering and pain?
● Why would God choose to love us if this were a possibility?
● How do our choices to love God, or not to love God, lead to suffering and pain?
Jesus was the only truly good and innocent person to ever live and bad things happened to him.
List some of these bad things.
Why did God allow these bad things to happen to Jesus?
How did these bad things lead to a better future for Jesus and for us?
How can the injustice, suffering, and pain of Jesus give us hope when we see or experience injustice, suffering and pain today?
If God can work for the good in all situations (Romans 8:28) how can we look at bad situations and start working for good.
Where can you start working for good and a better future in situations of injustice, suffering or pain you see today?
How can the storms and floods of Hurricane Helene lead to a better future for us, our church, and our world?
How can you give right now to create this better future?
(A Hurricane Relief offering is being held this month.)
If you are hurting and wondering where God is in your life, lean on God’s promises and find support among God’s people.
● Pray.
● Read God’s word.
● Join a small group.
For help with any of these things, contact one of our pastors or reach out to the church office.
