Why Suffering?

“God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

Why suffering, then?

God never intended for there to be pain or suffering or death in this world. Sin is the source of the problem, not God. What God did was good. Actually, it was very good. There was a perfect environment, perfect creatures, perfect relationships. All the bad stuff would come later as a result of a few wrong choices. But, the original plan was amazing!

Before you blame God, consider another explanation.

God loves people, His ultimate creation, but love isn’t love unless it is freely given. You can’t force it or compel it. Love requires choosing, not just a feeling or emotion or duty. Thus, God gave us free will, hoping that we would make the choice to love Him. Unfortunately, Adam and Eve made the wrong choice, and sin entered the world with death and suffering following close behind. (Oh, and don’t get mad at Adam and Eve. You would have done the same.)

Amazingly, our bad choice didn’t stop God from loving us anyway.

That’s how good God really is.