Daily Devotional

One of the most common objections I hear from people regarding christianity is “why does a good God allow suffering?” I think it’s a question that a lot of people wrestle with and struggle to answer, often resorting to things like, “well, God’s ways are higher than our ways.” Or “God works in mysterious ways,” or even more simply, “I don’t know.” While the question does sound perplexing, especially given what we know about God, I have come to think that the question itself is wrong. You see we are asking the question from a human perspective, as if we are the center of the universe. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but as the teenagers might say today “it’s giving main character energy.” I guess I’m old enough to be referring to “young” people now! Anyway, when we make ourselves the main focus instead of God we are bound to ask questions this way. So let’s take a look at this from God’s perspective.

How many times have you sinned in the last twenty four hours alone? I don’t mean big dramatic sins (although maybe you did that too) but have you lied, have you used God’s name in vain, have you thought any impure thoughts, have you hated anyone, have you treated someone badly, have you taken advantage of someone? If you’ve done any number of these things and more you have sinned! If you just found out you’re a sinner, welcome to the club, we made jackets. But I think most of us know we are born in sin and sin on a regular basis, as much as we try not to, we do. The Bible is very clear on this, that the wages of sin or the penalty for sin is death. Not a time out, not fine, not a slap on the wrist, but death. So you ask in your human nature, why does God allow suffering, and from God’s perspective it’s more like, why are you still alive! I remember our Pastor would say if God were to stamp out sin at midnight would you still be around at 12:01AM?

The answer at the end of the day is that this world is broken as a result of sin that has entered it through Adam and Eve, and the continued sin of all of us. The fact that we are even around to endure suffering is a demonstration of God’s mercy, His patience with us in the midst of our rebellion against Him. Every day you wake up is another example of His mercy for you, you who He should have stamped out the moment you sinned. You see we cry out to God to remove the sin, the suffering, and the problems of the world, but He doesn’t. He has mercy, because if He did, we’d be gone, we are the problem, we are the ones who are rebelling against Him.

So praise God in the midst of your suffering and problems, because He is demonstrating His mercy and patience with you. Instead of instantly removing your unworthy self from His presence, He calls you to turn from your sin, repent, and follow after Him, time and time again. God is faithful, even when we are not. Praise God!

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.