Louise Viner

Harry is 15 and the eldest of 3 children in an ordinary family. Until he was 7 he was perfectly healthy - then he began to lose his balance and was diagnosed with a degenerative disease that will soon kill him. He is now completely paralysed and waiting to die. Why? Why do we live in a world that is full of innocent suffering? The title presupposes that God is all-powerful and could sort out the problems of the world. As a Christian I certainly don't dispute that - God can do anything. But if that's true then doesn't that make the question of suffering even more difficult? If God has the power to act but doesn't then either He doesn't care about the suffering in the world or He has chosen to do nothing to help us. If we were God wouldn't we sort it out?

Q. Is suffering all God's Fault?
A. No Mankind bears much responsibility

Let's not kid ourselves that if any one of us had God's power we would make the world a better place. Not one of us has gone through life even from the youngest age without making selfish decisions which caused pain to another - from the day we first had the dexterity to snatch our brother's toy and made him cry.

Innocent children killed in war are victims of decisions made by people like us to take arms and fight in a struggle for power - thinking that any price is worth paying for a cause. Very often they may be responding to intolerable oppression which in itself is the result of the selfish use of power - and so the cycle goes on.

Q. Why doesn't God stop Man's inhumanity to Man?
A. Because He gave us independence and we must take responsibility for our actions

But why doesn't God act to prevent evil men from causing so much suffering? If we are to understand His response we need to go back to the beginning. In Genesis 1 and 2 we see God's perfect creation - in harmony. Man and woman are created and given a choice - to obey God and enjoy relationship with Him - or not. There was no pain or suffering then. But they chose to listen to the serpent who tempted them to question God's wisdom. (Genesis 3:1-19) They then had to bear the consequences of expulsion from the Garden of Eden and a life of hardship in separation from God. Pain entered the world as a result of their choice. We are all heirs of Adam and Eve and we all demonstrate their characteristics in our lives. But the point is this - if God intervened to alter our decisions we would not be the creatures of free will he made us to be - we would be automatons or machines programmed to do His will. So our God given freedom comes at a price if we choose to abuse it.

Q. What about Natural Disasters?
A. The whole of creation is spoiled as a result of the first sin

"For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly but because of Him who subjected it , in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God"

Romans 8:20-22

We can see that not all suffering is the direct consequence of the actions of men. What about the hurricanes that hit the Caribbean this summer and numerous other floods and earthquakes? Well environmentalists would tell us that we pollute and exploit the natural world at our peril and even some of these great natural disasters are exacerbated or even caused by human interference with the natural created order.

However there is more. We read in Romans 8:20-22 that the whole of creation was affected by Adam and Eve's original selfish decision and somehow subjected to decay as a result. We live in a fallen world where the results of sin are evident everywhere even in Creation.

Q. Has God done anything about the problem?
A. He sent his only son to die in our place and take away the sin that causes suffering

"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed"

1 Peter 2:24

How can we know that God cares about the mess we have got ourselves into? He offers no quick fix to suffering now, but He has provided the long term solution. He sent His son to die on the Cross and take the punishment we all deserve for our wilful disobedience of our loving Heavenly Father. Jesus entered this suffering world and knew physical pain - no one who has watched the recent film The Passion of the Christ can be in any doubt - but he didn't just die an awful slow death for us. He provided the ultimate solution for the consequences of sin - a new relationship with God now and the certainty of a place in Heaven for Eternity.

Q. Even if we believe all this, how can we cope with the Pain?
A. Cry out to our Father who listens and cares

Firstly, we have a God to whom we can express our anguish. The book of Job is all about the suffering of one man and how his faith held up in the face of disaster after disaster. Through it all he continued to trust God - but that did not stop him crying out in pain and wishing he had never been born. Job 3:11 "Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire?" Jesus himself called out on the cross as he hung there with a cry of agony at what he had to endure "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?". Being a Christian and continuing to trust God does not mean denying the pain - or being a stoic - it's OK to weep and Jesus weeps with us.

Remember our ultimate destiny - Heaven

"So we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight and momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen."

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

So what about Harry and his family? There is medically speaking no hope. How do they live with this pain? Why has it happened to them? There are no easy answers and no glib responses but I do know that the family's trust in Christ gives them a different perspective which helps. Harry is sure of a home in Heaven. In Revelation 21:4 we are promised that in Heaven God "will wipe every tear from (our) eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or pain". Harry, his family and all Christians know that this world - with all its pain -is in fact just a pale shadow of a glorious Heaven that awaits for all Eternity where there is no suffering and no injustice. I know from my own experience that doesn't take away the pain now - Christians struggle with it just as much as others - but we do have a future and a hope which tells us that this world of tears is not all there is.