Why does God Allow Pain And Suffering?

Consider the question…Why does God allow pain and suffering? It can be difficult to understand this when you find yourself in long seasons of waiting for your suffering, right? Learn from seven biblical stories found in the Bible about how God uses pain and suffering to show His Glory.

Doubts can creep their way into your mind and leave you with more questions than answers. Such as…

• Do you know what you’re doing, Lord?
• Hasn’t my circumstances lasted long enough, Lord?

The following verses warn us:

• Trouble will come
• Heartache will come
• Suffering will come

The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

Let the Word of God be your guide when you find yourself in difficulty. I have to be honest with myself and you. When someone who has lived their whole life serving God to the fullness of their ability suffers so much, I question why.

Satan loves to have your mind so bogged with lies that you can’t find your way around them. So, with this being said, why does God allow pain?

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Pain and Suffering, What You Want To Know

Human hearts simply can’t comprehend why God allows pain and suffering sometimes. Working in the Oncology field has opened my eyes to this even more so.

A cancer patient will come in after being diagnosed, and they look fairly healthy in the beginning, but once treatment starts, I can not stress enough how it wreaks havoc on their bodies. They’re questioning why does God allow pain?

why does God allow So much suffering

Sweet friend, I watch cancer patients daily basis to skin and bones. What it does to their physical bodies is tough. I have found myself in my lab bay fighting tears more often than I’m willing to admit.

I will practically BEG God, if they are not gonna get better, to PLEASE end their suffering.

If they are ready to be called to Heaven, hurry up and get on with it. Help them to receive a new glorified body and be rid of the pain.

The sad part is that’s not my call to make. I often wonder why God allows pain. I’d be lying if I didn’t wonder.

But I cannot make the calls! Trust me, God knows what he is doing, and he sure doesn’t need my help.

God’s ways are not our ways

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9

You Can NOT See The Whole Picture from a Human Perspective

I can admit that in my “hard times,” is when I learn most because, during these moments of my life, I’m drawn closer to God than ever before. I seek his face wisdom, comfort, prayer, peace, and understanding, all the more.

It is the only way in those forever seasons to make it through. You can’t find the strength you need on your own strength. Instead, you must look to our Lord and Savior to pull you through. It would be best if you were doing these things all along anyway.

You see, when life is going all hunky-dory, you tend to think I’m good to go and in a good place. I can conquer anything that comes against me. Don’t get too cocky cause you can find out in a hurry how quickly things can change for you. So Pray.

In Pain and Suffering, We realize our need for God

When you are enduring suffering in your lives, it’s only natural to ask why God is all pain, right? It forces us to rely on and trust God more than ever, instead of being focused on the question of why God allows pain.

Sometimes, God has to really get your attention to open your eyes to the fact that you can’t do this life without Him. There is a reason for everything you go through and face.

God wants to teach you something, if only you will get off your high horse long enough to listen.

OUCH!

Sorry if that offends you but you know as well as I do that it is plain TRUTH. It’s called Pride. All of you have pride in your heart but the thing is you have to admit it and repent of it and ask God to keep it from your heart.

Let’s return to my Oncology patients. Do they deserve what they face? No! Have they done something wrong, and this is their punishment?

NO!

But I truly believe God is using their situation to change the lives of those around them. It has definitely changed me.

Cancer Patient’s show their faith in action

When you see someone who is clearly suffering but can still say:

• God is with Me
• God Loves Me

You see, God is working miracles through them to reach others who need to see and hear God’s power working in the lives of others.

Cancer Patients say:

Does God want His Children to suffer?

When you see someone who is clearly suffering but can still say, “God is with me. God loves me.” You see, God is working miracles through them to reach others who need to see and hear God’s power working in their lives. They’ll say, “God, can use ME and MY struggles to show YOU his Love.”

When I see how much these patients go through on a daily basis and can still say ALL these things with big smiles on their faces, I know that my friends are a testimony of God’s Grace.

God allows pain for our good and His glory

I feel ashamed to say anything about my struggles with health I deal with. However, you may never know who you come in contact with, and that you may be inspiring while going through a season of hardship.

You may never know or understand why you’re going through what you are on this side of Eternity, but rest assured, God does. The Bible contains many stories of people who suffered but still had Peace in God’s Sovereign plan.

I found this article by Author David Peach. It explains the sufferings of many but also shows God’s power in and through them, which will also give hope to you and me.

7 Stories on Why Does God Allow Pain And Suffering in the Bible

When you go to the Word of God, you will find numerous stories of pain and suffering. God doesn’t promise you an easy life, but he does promise to be with you through it all!

You can also understand that peace can be found when you question why God allows pain and suffering. However, at the time, it doesn’t feel that way.

Joseph

At the end of his life, Joseph said to his brothers who had horribly mistreated him, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.” Joseph was sold into Egyptian slavery by his brothers.

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. Genesis 50:20

Though he had earned his master’s trust and was allowed to work freely in the house, the lies of a woman thrust Joseph into prison. God granted Joseph an understanding of dreams while he was unjustly serving his time.

Joseph interpreted a dream one day that could have been his way out of jail, but the man who should have spoken for Joseph’s freedom forgot about him for two years. When Joseph was released from prison, he was given an elevated position in the government.

Joseph knew the region would experience a devastating drought. He made preparations to help save the people. In doing so, he was able to rescue his brothers, who had treated him so badly. 

Joseph trusted in God’s promises. He knew that God had a plan for his life. Because of his faith in God’s Word, Joseph endured difficulties.

Moses

Certainly, there were highlights in Moses’s life. He spent time in God’s presence and was the instrument God used to lead the children of Israel from Egypt.

But there were trials along the way. At one point in Moses’ life, he prayed that if God really loved him, then God would kill him as a show of compassion.

Moses had enough of the whining and complaining of the people that God asked him to lead. The Israelites complained so much that Moses thought it would be a show of mercy by God if God would just kill him instead of making him live with the complaints.

If you will treat me like this, kill me at once if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness. Numbers 11:15

Naomi

In the much-loved Story of Ruth, we meet Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi. This lady followed her husband to a foreign land and lost everything she held dear during their time away from home.

There is much debate on whether the family should have moved away from the land of God. Whatever your thoughts, we would not have the beautiful story of Ruth without Naomi’s tragic loss. 

After the death of her husband and sons, Naomi returned to Israel. She took Ruth with her. When they arrived in Bethlehem-Judah, Naomi was pretty discouraged. Though her name meant pleasant, she asked her friends to call her Mara, which means…bitter

She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. Ruth 1: 20

I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” Ruth 1:21

Yet, nowhere else is she ever referred to, by that name. God restored her hope and pleasantness. In the end, she and Ruth had a wonderful relationship because of God’s goodness. Naomi experienced trials but emerged victorious through the hand of God.

Job

Job writes in the opening chapter of his story:

And he said, Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 1:21

Job lost his houses, riches, cattle, and even his own children, yet he still chose to praise God for His goodness. He recognized that everything he had in life came from the hand of the Lord. If God had chosen to take that away from him, then who would Job have been to complain to?

Then his wife said to him Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die. Job 2:9

However, Job continued to maintain his trust in the faithfulness of God.

David

In the last two verses of Psalm 27, David wrote:

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:13-14

David saw God’s good hand throughout his own life. He acknowledged some of the trials, tribulations, and enemies he had encountered. Yet he concluded that God is faithful and that He is good.

David saw the good hand of God throughout his own life. Everyone did not love the beloved King David.

David endured trials from the leadership over him and followers behind him, even from his own household. Yet, David chose to see the hand of God in everything that took place in his life.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah is known as the Weeping Prophet because he cried and grieved much for his people. They were unrepentant and continued in sin, though they were warned to repent.

Though Jeremiah’s trials were not physical in nature, he suffered great spiritual anguish because of Israel. In the end, they refused to listen to the warnings of God through Jeremiah. The people were carried away as captives by the Babylonians. 

Oh, that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! Jeremiah 9:1

Oh, that I had in the desert a traveler’s lodging place, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, a company of treacherous men. Jeremiah 9:2

Paul

We know the Apostle Paul suffered many trials at the hands of men. But beyond that, he suffered some type of trial with the permission of God. Paul called it a messenger of Satan and begged God to remove this “thorn in the flesh.”

Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, countless beatings, and often near death. 2 Corinthians 11:23

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 2 Corinthians 11:24

Three times I was beaten with rods. Once, I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea. 2 Corinthians 11:25

On frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers. 2 Corinthians 11:26

In toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food. In cold and exposure. 2 Corinthians 11:27

And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 2 Corinthians 11:28

Yet God chose to allow Paul to suffer from this affliction. There are many speculations about what this problem was, but we are not told clearly in the Bible.

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 2 Corinthians 12:7

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 2 Corinthians 12:8

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8

Whether we know the exact nature of the problem, there is a lesson to be learned that can apply to each of us.

Paul endured this trial, which caused him to depend more upon the Lord. God told him that the affliction was to show the power of God through a weakened life.

When we are weak, sick, in need, persecuted, or distressed for Christ’s sake, then God can show himself strong for our benefit and for His glory.

God told Paul that His grace was sufficient. It was sufficient for Paul; God’s grace is sufficient for us today. Though it’s possible he questioned why God allowed pain in the beginning, Paul kept praying.

Though We Walk In The Valley, God Will Always Be With Us

1. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
3. God restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Pain and Suffering Quotes

The pain you hide leaves the deepest scars.

 Marty Rubin

To live is to suffer; to survive is to find meaning in suffering.

Victor Frankl

Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but –I hope– into a better shape.

Charles Dickens

The strong usually suffer without complaining, while the weak complain without suffering.

Pierre Claude Boiste

It is only when you suffer that you really understand.

Jules Verne

At the end of my suffering, there was a door.

 Louise Glück

Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.

 Helen Keller,

Don’t hide your scars. They make you who you are.

Frank Sinatra

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Your Turn

What’s your opinion on why God allows suffering? Did the seven biblical stories in the Bible teach you about pain and suffering? The simple truth is that these examples testify to long seasons of trials, but they also prove God’s hand in all of them. Even though they endured much, they also had the peace of God during all things. You can turn on focus on why God allows pain and instead focus on how God shows his power through you, in your weakness, and in return, God receives the Glory in ALL things.

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