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Podcast
Suffering
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Transcript
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Hi, I'm Dave DeWitt, and today I'd like to talk about the question, what should we
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do about suffering?
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Most Christians writing about suffering, myself included, deal with the question, why do we
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have suffering?
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I wrote about it in my Moody Press book, Answering the Tough Ones.
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I suggested that the only way to prevent suffering is to eliminate human free will,
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which eliminates the possibility of love.
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We are suffering because we live in a cursed cosmos, because we chose, and our original
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parents chose, to disobey God.
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But most Christian analysis of suffering, including mine, does not deal with the question,
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what should we do about it?
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And I thought that question was worth some consideration.
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First I'd like to look at the answer of two of today's major philosophies, atheism and
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progressivism.
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First I'd like to look at what atheism says about suffering.
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There are two kinds of atheists, naturalists who believe that there's nothing but matter
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and energy of the material universe, and second, those who believe suffering eliminates
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the possibility of a good God.
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I'll only consider the last one here.
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The atheists tell us that a good God would not allow the suffering we experience, therefore
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no such God exists.
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The argument goes like this.
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Number one, the world is full of suffering.
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Number two, if God was good, he would eliminate suffering.
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Number three, suffering is not eliminated, therefore either God is not good or he does
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not exist.
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God would be, by definition, good, therefore God does not exist.
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There are three observations I'd like to make about the atheist reasoning.
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First the atheist logic would be nullified if we simply added the word yet to point number
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three.
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God has not eliminated suffering yet.
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Second, atheists have no moral absolutes, so where do they get the idea that something
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is good or bad?
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Morality, they can, like animals, observe that suffering exists, but cannot conclude
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it as good or bad.
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To say suffering or God is bad, they must borrow the morality of a biblical worldview.
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And third, without any exception I'm aware of, atheists believe in evolution, but their
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logic also eliminates evolution.
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Let's use the same argument they use against a belief in God.
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Number one, the world is full of suffering.
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Number two, if evolution was good, it would eliminate suffering.
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Three, suffering is not eliminated, therefore either evolution is not good or it does not
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exist.
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Evolution by definition is good, therefore evolution does not exist.
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But we should notice that in all this the atheist has done nothing to eliminate suffering.
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Atheism only eliminates God, not suffering.
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If evolution is how everything got here, then it causes tremendous suffering.
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It should either be hated or declared non-existent.
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The most recent answer to suffering is progressivism.
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The liberal answer to what should we do about suffering is to put our hope in progressive
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morality and technology.
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Morally, we should accept, that is, love everyone, such as those who promote abortion, feminism,
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destruction of the family, teaching LGBTQ to young children.
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We should also put our hope in the progress of technology, things like medical advances
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and artificial intelligence.
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But moral and theological progress, in quotes, does not seem to reduce suffering.
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CBS News reported nearly 50,000 Americans died of suicide in 2022.
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The U.S. Census of Disease Control and Prevention reported the number of suicide deaths increased
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by 5% in 2021 and then further increased by another 2.6% in 2022.
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Gallup reported this about depression.
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The percentage of U.S. adults who report having been diagnosed with depression at some point
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in their lifetime has reached 29%.
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It certainly does not seem like taking God out of schools and homes and society and replacing
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it with progressivism reduces suffering.
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To hope in suffering seems a poor answer to the question, what should we do about suffering?
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Now I'd like to look at what the Bible says about suffering.
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The Bible takes suffering head on, literally, graphically, with no modifications or apologies.
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Let's consider three predominant biblical examples, Job, David, and Jesus.
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First, consider Job.
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The book of Job is a manual on suffering, and if Job was written near the time it occurred,
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about the time or a little after Abraham, a little after 2000 BC, then it's the earliest
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book of the Bible.
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So the first thing God revealed in the form of literature was an example of suffering.
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Job lost his children, his wealth, his health, all because of a confrontation between God
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and Satan, about which Job was never informed.
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Job and his friends tried to figure out why God was causing Job's suffering.
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The consensus was that Job did something wrong, and he was being punished.
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Job agreed in principle, but he did not know what he'd done that was wrong.
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So he wanted an explanation from God.
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In the end of the book, Job got his desired audience with God.
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Instead of explaining anything about Job's suffering, God asked Job some questions like,
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where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
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Have you ever in your life commanded the morning?
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Where's the way to the dwelling of light?
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Whose put wisdom in the innermost being or given understanding to the mind?
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Can you draw out the leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord?
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Not knowing any of the answers, Job responded, behold, I'm insignificant, and what can I
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reply to you?
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I lay my hand on my mouth, and I know that you can do all things, and no purpose of yours
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can be thwarted.
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Why we are suffering seems to be none of our business.
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God gave Job no reason for his suffering.
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Job's answer was to trust in all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere-present, just, eternal,
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sovereign, infinite, unchanging, holy God who is good.
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Second, consider David.
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Although David suffered from his own sin, much of his suffering came from his enemies.
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Saul tried repeatedly to kill David.
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His own son led a rebellion against him.
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Those who he helped lied to him, and those who hated him cursed him.
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David's suffering is best expressed in Psalm 22, 1 and 2.
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My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
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Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.
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O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest.
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Did God ever answer David's request for relief?
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Not that we know of.
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But in the midst of all of this suffering, before he was relieved of any of it, David
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added this, yet you are holy, O you who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel, and
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you our fathers trusted.
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They trusted and you delivered them.
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To you they cried out, and you delivered.
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God never told David why he was suffering.
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David did not try to explain his suffering.
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He did not trivialize his suffering.
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He actually paraded it before all of Israel in the form of a song of Psalm 22.
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What David did with his suffering was to trust in all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere-present,
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just, eternal, sovereign, infinite, unchanging, holy God, who is good.
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Third, consider Jesus.
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The author of Hebrews put it, Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling,
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consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who for those in joy set
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before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and he who sat down at the right hand
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of the throne of God.
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Jesus was the divine Son of God in the flesh.
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All things came into being through him, and apart from him nothing came into being that
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has come into being.
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The Son of God created the universe.
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John 1, Colossians 1, and Hebrews 1.
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That universe was also cursed by God into suffering because of Adam's sin.
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Even the Creator, who knew no sin, immersed himself into that suffering.
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Jesus experienced shame, ridicule, rejection, persecution, bereavement, betrayal, mockery,
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scourging, and a torturous death on a Roman cross.
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In agony, Jesus repeated David's cry of Psalm 22, My God, my God, why have you forsaken
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me?
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But when he was about to die, the last thing Jesus said on the cross was, Father, into
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your hands I commit my spirit.
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What God the Son did in the midst of his suffering was not to eliminate it, but to trust his
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Father, an all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere-present, good, just, eternal, sovereign, infinite,
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unchanging, holy God who is good.
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The FBI Questions website has this significant comment, quote, When asked about how much
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God cares about the problem of suffering, the Christian God can only point to the cross
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and say, that much, close quote.
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What about the future?
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Does the Bible say that God will end all suffering in the future?
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No, it doesn't.
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The Bible says God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to
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those who are called according to his purpose.
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God will end all suffering for those who receive Christ as their Savior, but he'll intensify
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suffering for those who reject him, those who continue in their sin.
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In conclusion, the answer is to trust an all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere-present, just, eternal,
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sovereign, infinite, unchanging, holy God who is good.
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But only biblical Christianity has a God that is good, that they can trust.
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Thank you for listening.
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A longer paper on this subject with additional references is available on our website relationalconcepts.org.
