Pain & Suffering

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16

That verse holds the key that unlocks the answer to one of the most difficult questions in all of Christianity. "Why does a loving God allow pain and suffering in the world?"

Our church is having another youth group night in three weeks. By design we are turning our teaching in an apologetics direction - preparing our kids for life outside of their bubbles.

Turn your Bibles to Romans 9 and we'll look at a couple of questions that Paul asks the church. His questions turn into answers for our question about pain and suffering. Verses 22-24.

"What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction? ²³What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the vessels of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory— ²⁴including us, whom He has called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles?" - Romans 9:22-24

Think about it. This is from my February Bible study for our church kids . . .

It is the beauty and brilliance of your hearts, in Jesus Christ, that witnesses to a dark and dying world, the glory and majesty of God, who sent His Son Jesus to die a death that we ourselves deserve to die. That’s called grace, and mercy, and the Gospel.

Here’s one last question for you to think about. Why does a holy God, who hates sin, even allow us to live? John 3:16. “For God so loved."

God allows pain and suffering in order to draw us closer to Him. This phenomenon is repeated time and time again in the Old Testament. When we feel wonderful all the time, we tend to ignore God. It's in our nature. We were created to worship Him. Our pain and suffering draw us near to Him. But take heart. God has also promised us this . . .

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” - Revelation 21:4