Hi, this is Pastor Diego. Welcome to the Daily Five. Thank you for joining us today. This podcast is designed to give you a short daily 5 minute word of encouragement to inspire you to think and act on God's word.
Hey, what's up, everyone? Welcome to today's episode. Today I want to talk to you a little bit about suffering, and everyone suffers. So I don't want to categorize suffering by saying that some people suffer more than others because as a pastor, I've learned that all suffering is suffering, no matter how big or how small it may seem.
And honestly, pointing out the fact that others suffer more doesn't alleviate the current suffering that one is experiencing. Suffering is individual people who hurt. And one of the most asked questions when it comes to suffering is, why does God allow suffering? And you've probably thought about this question quite a bit.
This question is unavoidable and it's a mystery, but it applies only in the context of religious faith. To ask, why does God allow it? Philip Yancey says, I've yet to hear critics offer a response that's consistent with their own beliefs. Why are you shocked and upset?
What else should we expect from an impersonal universe of random indifference? That's a good question that he poses to people who question the existence of God. But there's also a lot of biblical characters that ask the same thing. Here's some examples.
Gideon, while he's speaking to an angel, says, if the Lord is with us, then why is all this happening to us? Job says, though I cry violence, I get no response. Though I call for help, there is no justice. One of the authors of one of the Psalms says, awake, Lord.
Why do you sleep? Ecclesiastes, Solomon says, utterly meaningless. Everything is utterly meaningless. So the Bible is not just full of people who had faith, but also people who ask that same difficult question of God.
If you're there, why do you allow suffering? How does the Bible answer these complaints and questions? Usually with silence. In the Bible, God never addresses the why question.
God doesn't explain, he reveals himself. What answer or explanation does the Bible then give for the problem of suffering? Listen, there is no systematic explanation of suffering in the pages of the Bible. Theologians say that we live on a fallen planet.
And most of the authors of the Bible describe this world as under enemy. As enemy territory under the control of Satan, a damaged planet ruled by Satan himself. What else should we expect then from Satan besides death, destruction, chaos and suffering? Another question that I get a lot is why do bad things happen to good people?
It's the same exact question, put in different terms, the same exact question as why does God allow suffering? But this time what someone is saying is, if I behaved myself and I've been relatively good to other people, then why am I suffering? Let me read from Mark 10, 17, 18. This is what it says.
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up and knelt before him. Good Teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life? In verse 18, Jesus responds. And he says, why do you call me good?
Jesus replied, no one is good except God alone. Could the answer to part of the answer to that question be that none of us are good? I mean, in comparison to God's biblical standards, we know that none of us are good. So maybe we should reframe that question according to this biblical scripture, understanding that no matter what we do or how we behave, we will never be good in God's eyes because we can't measure up or live up to his standard.
The reality is that no answer to suffering will ever satisfy us, even if we had the capacity to understand the answer. So all we can do is trust God with the big picture. And what's that? What's the big picture?
The big picture is we have faith in God that one day all things will be as they should, as they were originally created to be. We believe in redemption, in salvation and reconciliation. Our faith is different from having a naive optimism. Our faith is in the story of Jesus, which includes both death and resurrection.
And it gives us a clue to what God will do for the entire planet, not just humanity. We don't expect that things will gradually improve over time. But our faith promises us that creation will be transformed one day. But until then, God evidently prefers not to intervene in every single instance of evil or natural disaster, no matter how severe it is.
Philip Yancey says, faith, I've concluded, means believing in advance. What will only make sense in reverse until tomorrow. God bless you. Apply the Word and make today.