Why Does God Allow Suffering?

As a believer, this is a question I often get from unbelievers who don’t understand why a good God, a God of love, allows suffering to happen to innocent people. “If God is a God of love, why does He allow bad things to happen?” they ask.

I don’t have the perfect answer, but I do know suffering helps us get closer to God.

God wants a deep, meaningful relationship with each of us. I mean, He made us, wouldn’t He want us to be close to Him?

But as sinners, want to do things our way because we think our way is better. We always think we have everything under control. When things are going well, we forget to reach out to God. If we have the perfect job, a house, a nice car, a happy marriage, plenty of money, kids, and no struggles, why would we need to talk to God every day? “We’ve got this!”

It’s when the poop hits the fan that people start praying for help. If someone is having health issues, there is a death in the family, financial struggles, addiction, abuse from a partner, or any number of other hardships, we draw closer to God. When something is absolutely out of our control and we have nowhere else to turn, we pray.

I know this from personal experience.

• I have endured a sexual, emotional, and physical abusive relationship where I was pimped and trafficked for six years. At the time, I was broken. There was so much darkness I could no longer see the light. I stopped talking to God. I thought He had left me. All I knew was abuse, pain, and suffering. But today, as I work through the pain and trauma from my past, I cry out to God and let Him lift me up. He is healing me from the inside out.
  
  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5)
  

• I was in a car accident where I was hit by and sandwiched between two semi-trucks and I am still alive to talk about it. I suffered a shoulder impingement and a bulging disc in my neck. For two years until I could get surgery, I could barely move my left arm or turn my neck to the left. I prayed, and God helped me through it.
  
  And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. (1 Peter 5:10)
  

• I have suffered from painful endometriosis for 14 years, and I have had to endure three surgeries due to the disease. My periods were so heavy at one point that I literally had no iron left in my blood. The pain has been excruciating to the point where it has put me on the floor. I pray, and God continues to help me through it.
  
  Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4)
  

• I suffered from a three-part fracture on my right shoulder from a fall 12 years after my car accident. The pain was so severe I could barely sleep at night. Without prayer, I would have wanted to give up. I just wanted to lay in bed and take pain meds. God, however, told me to keep going because I prayed.
  
  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)
  

• My lumbar spine had a herniated disc due to degenerative disc disease. I endured immense pain while on a college swim team from my back issues. I lost my swim scholarship and had to end my swimming career due to the herniated disc. Even after surgery, I suffer back pain daily. This time, I suffered from not only physical pain, but emotional pain as well since I had to give up the sport I loved so much. Without prayer, I would have let that consume me.
  
  We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. (2 Corinthians 4:8-10)

When I share my testimonies with close friends and members of my church, they are shocked. “How did you manage to get through that?” they ask. All I can do is point to the sky and say, “God.”

If it weren’t for God, I would not have made it through those things. God kept me sane, at peace, and gave me hope for the future. He can do the same for you as well. All you have to do is pray! God has always been there holding me every time I suffer. I continue to pray, and God continues to help me overcome every challenge.

I don’t know what you’ve been through, how much you have suffered, or whether you have prayed and asked God for help. Take a quiet moment and speak to God today. What are you struggling with? Don’t be afraid to ask God for help. He is the ultimate healer.

I do know that prayer changes everything.