The question of suffering

It is my hope that this blog, like the devotionals I do at Lunch at Angie's, give you something to think on. I like my chin to be tilted up, to see a bigger picture than just this carpool, this evening's dinner plans, tonight's homework, tomorrow's meeting. I also hope that you can share some of these ideas with others who have questions. Questions are good.

I am teaching a class called Understanding the Times to two homeschool students (one is my own daughter), and there are indeed some interesting ideas therein. (I just used the word "therein" in a sentence. Let's pause while I take a moment to feel smart.) I was talking to my best friend about one of the featured authors, and she told me I should blog on it. So here it is, best friend.

This author presented the Biblical perspective on why there is evil in the world in terms of past, present, and future. He said that this question (Why do bad things happen to good people, and all its forms) has two components: the general philosophical question of what this means about God and the universe, and the more personal, ie, why did something bad happen to me? The personal is harder to deal with--there is pain attached to that one, so it's not a matter of simple reasoning; we require healing--but having the philosophical answer in place can be useful.

First, consider the past. God created the world to be good. He was very pleased with all of creation, including the man and woman He made and blessed. Suffering came when man messed up; Adam disobeyed God and all sorts of suffering entered the world as a consequence of his rebellion. Do you remember your parents ever telling you, "You brought your suffering on yourself"? To a degree, that's true of mankind. We rejected God and His ways, and the consequences don't just hurt us, they hurt those around us, like a drunk behind the wheel. The world is messed up, and evil is bouncing around like a pinball.

Why doesn't a good God set things right? The answer is in the future: He will. Just because He hasn't solved the problem yet doesn't mean the answer isn't provided and everything won't be set straight..eventually. I honestly look forward to judgement and the end of the world. I love justice, and I'm tired of my own hangups being part of the problem. I want righteousness to reign and all this junk to stop. But 2 Peter tells us that God is patient, wanting all men to come to salvation, and so He is delaying judgement. We're waiting, God, and we trust You.

The next part really struck me: so if God made everything good, but He won't fix things until later, where does that leave us now? The answer is: He is with us. One of the names of Jesus is Immanuel, "God with us." He came to walk alongside of us, to not leave us alone while we're waiting for it all to be sorted. Remember the story of Lazarus dying? Jesus waited four days to come, knowing Lazarus would die, knowing He would raise him from the dead. When Mary fell at His feet and said, "If you had been here, my brother would not have died," Jesus wept. Why did He do that? He knew in mere minutes she would hug her brother again. But in her suffering, He was with her. No other religion promises a Comforter to be with us in all of our troubles. God didn't just tell us to suck it up through the hard times; He is with us in our hurt.

Thanks, Jesus. Thank You so much.