Suffering! It’s all around us in the area of violence and abuse, divorce and war, natural disasters and disease. And bewildered millions want to know why. We gasp at the wreckage of a tornado and the broken bodies scattered about. We walk through a hospital corridor and see the faces of fear and misery. We shed tears over loved ones we have lost. It takes a strong heart not to cry out, “If God is a God of love, why is there so much suffering? Why doesn’t He do something to stop it?” Once again His word contains the answers.

Note: “It was generally believed by the Jews that sin is punished in this life. Every affliction was regarded as the penalty of some wrongdoing, either of the sufferer himself or his parents. It is true that all suffering results from the transgression of God’s law but this truth had become perverted. Satan, the author of sin and all its results, had led men to look upon disease and death as proceeding from God; as punishment arbitrarily inflicted on account of sin. Hence one upon whom some great affliction or calamity had fallen had the additional burden of being regarded as a great sinner.” Desire of Ages, p. 471. This was the main reason why Jesus did so much healing. He wanted to dispel this error and show the mercy and compassion of God on all suffering humanity. Satan causes suffering but God can allow or overrule for purposes of mercy.

Note: Because of the promise that God had made, there is always a conflict between Satan (the prince of this world) and those who follow Christ. The real conflict was magnified with Christ shown as bruising the serpent’s head (destroying Satan) and Satan bruising Christ’s heel (causing suffering). It was God’s plan to come and offer Himself up for a sacrifice for us all. Some question why God did not destroy Satan as soon as he rebelled. There was no way to explain sin to a universe that had never experienced it, and God would not, could not have a kingdom in which His subjects served Him from fear instead of love. So He had no alternative. The plan of rebellion must grow until all could see the kind of fruit it bore.

Note: Whenever the Bible talks about the love of God, it specifically uses the Greek word, “agape.” This word is used to convey a love higher than we humans can produce on our own. The other words of love denote a brotherly love or a romantic love (Phileos and Eros). Whenever we try to label God’s love for us as a kind of human love it perverts the gospel of Christ. His love is much higher and broader than ours.

Conclusion: Not only does God set limits beyond which Satan cannot go, and promises us power and help from heaven, but He also assures us that from our ordeal He will work ultimate good. We may not understand how this can be, but in the hereafter it will become clear. Even in this life we may often see God’s hand in our trials. It is God’s purpose to develop our character and lessons are often learned in adversity.

You are God’s masterpiece. He has a goal and purpose for you and He uses your lifetime to produce it. Only through Christ can God make you the way He wants you to be.