God and Suffering (Pt. 2): One Counselor’s Perspective
In part 1 of this series on God and suffering, Peter Ruffini, LPC expressed wisdom learned from his own experience of pain, as well as a theological framework for why suffering exists in the world. In Part 2, Peter will continue to build our understanding of how God views suffering, and how he views us as we experience it.
“Jesus wept.”
(John 11:35)
What does God think about my suffering?
When we are in the middle of a difficult season it may be hard to believe that God still cares for us. This makes sense on an experiential level—if God saw we were suffering and cared about us, wouldn’t we expect him to take it away?
Just because we are in pain does not mean that God has abandoned us, no longer loves us, or is punishing us. "I will never leave you nor forsake you" is found multiple times throughout the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments. When we turn to God and are born again through Christ, God has made his promise clear to us. Romans 8:38-39 reminds us, “I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
To better understand what Paul is saying here, let’s replace the word “nothing” with suffering words like “affliction, pain, woe, turmoil, sadness, or consequences of poor choices.” We know these things well: financial situations, job dissatisfaction, chronic health problems, depression, anxiety, panic, eating disorders, grief, loneliness, low self-esteem, stress, obsessive thoughts, or addictions. Paul is, in part, saying these are not the cause of or the result of God no longer caring for you.
Suffering is never a direct punishment for our sins, although both are understandably connected in a universal sense. Rebellion against God can cause us grief, but suffering is not directly proportional to our sin. God is not purposely afflicting us. Jesus suffered and died for us so that we do not have to pay the penalty of our sins. Think about it: if we can perform our way through life by doing good works, then what is the point of the Gospel?
God’s comfort in trouble
When we are going through difficult times, God cares—he wants to comfort us. He is not indifferent to our trials and pain. In 2 Corinthians 1:3, Paul writes, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” God weeps when we weep, he holds us when we are sad, and he carries us when we are at our weakest.
The Bible is clear that suffering is not evidence of God no longer loving us, changing his mind about us, or giving up on us. Just because God doesn’t purposely cause our pain, this doesn’t mean he doesn't have dominion over it. He made creation and everything in it. It’s still his world.
Coming up in Part 3: How can our suffering be redeemed?
So if he still has lordship over our suffering, why does he allow it to happen? Since God’s ways are higher than ours, and he knows what’s best for us, then suffering must have a purpose, a reason, right?
We’ll look at this in the final part of this series on suffering and our relationship with God.