Suffering
Why would a good God allow suffering?
No answer takes the pain out of this question. If you're asking because of something that happened to you, it's fine to skip the arguments and talk to someone who will listen.
- FreedomIf people can really choose, they can choose to hurt each other.
- A broken world"The whole creation groans" (Romans 8:22). The world isn't as it should be.
- Not your fault"Neither did this man sin, nor his parents" (John 9:3).
- Not the endGod means to end suffering, not explain it away.
What the Bible says
The Bible gives no single reason. It does say suffering is wrong, that it isn't a punishment for the people who suffer, and that it won't last forever.
- Jesus wept at His friend's grave (John 11:35).
- He was arrested, beaten and executed.
- He rose, and death lost its grip.
God came into it
Christians say that in Jesus, God didn't watch suffering from a safe distance. He went through it Himself.
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us.
From someone who knew pain
Paul wasn't writing from comfort. He had been flogged, stoned and imprisoned when he wrote this.
How the story ends
The Bible's last pages describe a world where every one of these is undone.
Suffering is real and it is wrong. God didn't stay far from it: in Jesus He went through it, and He promises to end it.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more.