Suffering and the Sovereignty of God
Why is there suffering? What is God doing? These questions will continue to be pondered by scholars and laypeople alike. If God is good, surely He would want to remove suffering; if God were all powerful, surely He could remove all suffering. Yet, there is suffering.
This entry is not meant to solve the puzzle…it is merely meant to help us navigate the mysteries of life regarding the issue of suffering.
It is helpful to realize there are multiple types and categories of suffering. In fact, there appears to be between 7 and 9 commonly understood types of suffering, all with their own theological issues. For the sake of time, I am going to share with you 4 broad categories that hopefully you will find useful and helpful.
1) Corporate Guilty Suffering. This is where a group of people (a body/collection of people) are all suffering as a result of consequences for their own sin. An example would be a company run by a group of people that is really a scam, and out to steal money from others. When justice prevails, these people end up in jail…and suffer the punishment for their sin. This is Corporate Guilty Suffering (a group of people suffering as a result of their own guilt).
2) Corporate Innocent Suffering. This is where a group of people are all suffering as a result of no fault of their own. This would be like when the Jews were being persecuted for being Jews; or Christians being hated and persecuted for being Christians. They did nothing to deserve the persecution and suffering, yet they are suffering unjustly at the hands of others.
3) Guilty Individual Suffering. This is where a single person (an individual) is suffering as a result of their own sin. An example would be a person being arrested for robbing a store and going to prison. They are suffering just punishment. Yes, if the individual had an accomplice, and both went to jail, it would still be guilty individual suffering, as both are individuals who are guilty (and no, there is no clear line dividing individual from corporate…that is why these are “general/broad” categories; and to complicate things more, all corporate sufferings include individuals who suffer…now you see why there 7+ types of suffering…but allow these 4 to simply exist in order to assist us with the issue at hand).
4) Innocent Individual Suffering. This final category is where one person is suffering at no cause of their own (unjust/innocent suffering). The perfect example is Jesus, who was perfectly innocent, and yet suffered at the hands of wicked people. This category is for individuals who are persecuted usually for the cause of Christ, but can also be persecuted for other reasons at no fault of their own (ethnicity, for example).
What do we do about this suffering? Why does it exist? What is God up to?
1) first, if it is suffering as a result of sin, then the suffering is just. The people involved should respond with repentance, and then deal with the consequences (which can last days, weeks, years, or in some extreme cases a lifetime). Consider this due punish for evils/crimes/sins committed.
2) What about the corporate innocent sufferers? If at all possible, right the wrong being done. Working toward true justice reigning should be done as peaceful as possible, and with treating all people involved with as much respect and dignity as possible. This is especially true for Corporate Innocent Suffering (we should try to remove evil treatment of others, correct injustices taking place, etc.). Why doesn’t God directly intervene? Because He tends to work through people (hence the entire book of Judges, and the deliverance of Jewish persecution resulting in Moses’ delivering of God’s people).
3) What about the innocent individual sufferers? If injustices can be corrected, it should be done (just like with the corporate innocent sufferers).
4) What do we do when the suffering is out of our control? Where is God then? According to 1 Peter 1-3, God is still in control. Your suffering, in this instance, is not outside of God’s will. God is going to use this temporary time of suffering to grow you, mature you, and perfect you more into the image of Christ.
5) last note…in all suffering, do not respond with sin. In your righteous anger, do not sin. In your regret, do not sin. In your suffering…do not respond with sin. Do not resort to name calling, vengeance, fear mongering, gossiping, repaying evil with evil and insult with insult (1 Peter 3). If you are in a position to correct the injustice, do it in a God-honoring manner. If you are not, then in your temporary time of suffering, suffer as Christ did, who was a blessing to his persecutors.
For all of our lives, this will be an on-going tension: honoring Christ in a fallen world, trying to serve Him in an ungodly society. May the Lord strengthen you during your trials, and may any suffering that enters your life unjust so that you may be blessed (rather than just deserved as a result of your own sin).
In Christ, John.
