QUESTIONS FOR GOD: "God, why is there suffering?"
We’ve just read through Genesis 3:8-24 about the cause of suffering.
A quick summary:
o Cause of suffering: Disobedience to God caused all this.
§ E.g. God made creation with a rhythm. We play out of rhythm, and it sounds awful.
§ The decision to disobey was the decision to bring about death and suffering, as God said – Genesis 2:7.
o Who’s in charge?
§ God is still in charge. He wasn’t caught be surprise. Notice the wording, v16 – “I will make your pain very great…”. He isn’t the cause, but he’s still in charge.
o Who does it affect?
§ All creation.
§ Everyone – including our relationships with each other AND with God AND with creation.
o Sin is rejecting God, who gives everything good. We all sin, should should we expect anything good from God?
§ No. God STILL gives us many good things to enjoy, even though we’ve all rejected him.
§ When shocking things happen, we shouldn’t actually be that surprised. We humans have broken the world.
§ We should be surprised by God’s continued grace that sustains life, even though we’ve broken his world.
Suffering isn’t God’s fault. It’s humanity’s. We’re responsible for it.
Now let’s think about some of the other BIG questions around suffering.
Click on a question you’d like to investigate below. Then read the verses and consider how you’d answer the question from what you’ve learnt.