Why Would a Good God Allow Suffering?

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Sooner or later, nearly every one of us asks this question, often through tears: Why would a good God allow this to happen? Few questions have caused more people to struggle with belief in God than the problem of evil and suffering.

Sometimes we ask it after watching the evening news. Other times we ask it from a doctor’s office, a funeral home, or in the night hours of our own bedroom. Why did God allow this? If God loves us, why doesn't He stop evil? Could He have prevented it? Does He care?

I vividly remember studying this problem in my late teens and early twenties. But the question became far more raw weeks after my marriage when my father-in-law was diagnosed with brain cancer.

For centuries, philosophers have summarized the challenge like this:

  • If God is all-knowing, He knows about evil.

  • If God is all-powerful, He can stop evil.

  • If God is perfectly good, He would want to stop evil.

  • Yet evil exists.

 As a result of this so-called “Problem of Evil,” many conclude that the God of the Bible simply cannot exist.

 At first glance, that argument seems compelling. But the Bible answers the question in a very different and far more hopeful way.

A DIFFERENT DEFINITION OF GOD'S GOODNESS

To be clear, the Bible never says that suffering is good. Death is an enemy. Disease, abuse, violence, and every form of evil are the result of living in a fallen world cursed by sin. God never calls evil good, nor does He delight in suffering itself.

So where does the “Problem of Evil” go wrong? It assumes that if God is good, His highest purpose must be to remove suffering immediately.

The Bible defines God's goodness differently.

God's goodness is not measured by how quickly He removes suffering. Rather, it is seen in what He is doing through it.

Sometimes God accomplishes those purposes through seasons of blessing. Other times He accomplishes them through seasons of suffering.

That doesn't make suffering good in and of itself. It means that God is so wise, so powerful, and so sovereign that He is able to accomplish His good purposes even through the very evil that grieves Him.

We see this truth in the lives of Joseph, Job, and Paul.

JOSEPH: GOD'S PURPOSE IS GREATER THAN EVIL

One of the clearest examples is Joseph.

After being betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and forgotten in prison, Joseph eventually stood face-to-face with the very men who had wronged him. He didn't pretend their actions were acceptable. Instead, he said, "You meant evil against me…" (Genesis 50:20). Can you imagine the weight of those words?

Yet, he immediately clarifies more was happening than his suffering: “…but God meant it for good.”

Notice what Joseph doesn't say. He doesn't pretend his brothers weren't guilty. He doesn't minimize what they did.

He calls it exactly what it was—evil. Yet in the very same sentence he says, "God meant it for good." Think about that for a minute. Joseph understood that two things were happening at the same time. His brothers were acting out of sinful motives, while God was accomplishing His good purposes through those very same events.

JOB: GOD'S PURPOSES ARE GREATER THAN WE UNDERSTAND

The book of Job teaches a similar lesson, but from a different angle.

Job and his three friends all began with the same assumption: if you live a godly life, God will bless you; if you suffer, you must have done something wrong. The entire debate revolves around that overly simplistic view of God's justice.

As readers, however, we are allowed to look behind the curtain into heaven. Job is not. When Job suffers, his friends assume there is some hidden, ongoing sin. Job knows he is not guilty of such a sin. All the while, we know that Job's suffering was not punishment for some hidden sin. God was accomplishing purposes far greater than Job or his friends could imagine.

Throughout the book, Job longs for God to explain his suffering. God never does.

Instead, God reveals Himself.

By the end of the book, Job still doesn’t know why he suffered, but he knows God better than he did before. That’s one of the great lessons of Job. His suffering expanded his theology. He learned that God's purposes are much bigger than the simple equation, "Good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people."

PAUL: GOD'S GRACE IS SUFFICIENT IN WEAKNESS

The apostle Paul experienced the same reality.

In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul describes receiving an extraordinary vision of heaven. What a blessing! Yet, almost immediately he tells us about a "thorn in the flesh" that God refused to remove. Three times Paul pleaded with the Lord. Three times the answer remained the same.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness."

Paul wanted the thorn removed. Christ had something better in mind. Instead of removing the thorn, He taught Paul to depend upon His grace. Sometimes that's exactly what God does with us.

That is why Romans 8:28 has brought comfort to Christians for generations. The verse does not say that everything is good. Cancer is not good (which my family knows all too well). Abuse is not good. Death is not good. Sin is not good.

Rather, Paul tells us that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him. In other words, Paul isn't saying that everything is good. He's saying God is able to accomplish good even through things that are not.

THE CROSS: GOD'S GREATEST GOOD CAME THROUGH THE WORLD'S GREATEST EVIL

Ultimately, every one of these examples points us to the cross.

The greatest example of this is the cross. No event in history was more evil than the crucifixion of the sinless Son of God. Yet no event accomplished more good.

If God could accomplish our salvation through the greatest act of evil ever committed, then we can trust Him even when we cannot yet see what He is doing in our own suffering.

Will we always receive the answers we want? No.

  • Job didn't.

  • Joseph waited years.

  • Paul continued living with his thorn.

Joseph eventually saw what God had been doing. Job learned to trust God's wisdom instead of demanding an explanation. Paul discovered that Christ's grace really was sufficient. They all arrived at the same place. God was accomplishing purposes far greater than they could see.

That is why Christians can face suffering with hope. Our confidence isn't that every question will eventually be answered. Our confidence is that we know the God who already knows the answer. He is wise, sovereign, and good, even when His purposes remain hidden from us.

One day Christ will return and make all things new. Until then, we walk by faith, trusting that the God who accomplished His greatest work through the suffering of His Son is still accomplishing His good purposes in our lives today.

REFLECTION & APPLICATION

  • The "Problem of Evil" assumes that if God is good, He would immediately remove suffering. How does the Bible's definition of God's goodness differ from that assumption?

  • Joseph, Job, and Paul each suffered in different ways. What does each of their lives teach us about God's purposes in suffering?

  • Read Genesis 50:20, Job 42:1–6, 2 Corinthians 12:7–10, and Romans 8:28. What common theme connects these four passages?

  • Is there a hardship in your life that you have viewed primarily as an obstacle rather than something God may be using to deepen your trust in Him? How does this article challenge your perspective?

  • If a friend asked, "Why would a good God allow suffering?" how would you answer after reading this article?

 RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

  •  D.A. Carson, How Long, O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil — Perhaps the finest evangelical treatment of suffering available. Carson combines careful biblical theology, thoughtful apologetics, and pastoral wisdom to help readers understand how God's sovereignty, goodness, and the reality of evil fit together. This is the most theological and challenging of these three recommendations, but it is well worth the effort.

  • Jerry Bridges, Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts — A deeply practical book that encourages believers to trust God's wisdom, love, and sovereignty during life's most difficult seasons. Bridges consistently points readers back to the character of God as the foundation for enduring suffering with hope.

  •  Philip Yancey, Where Is God When It Hurts? — A compassionate and accessible book that addresses the emotional and spiritual questions suffering often raises. God used Yancey's writing to help shape my own thinking about suffering during my teens and twenties, and I continue to find this one of the most helpful introductory books for those seeking biblical comfort and encouragement in the midst of pain.