1. CLarify

To understand where your friend is coming from, here are some questions you may ask:

·       When you ask about disasters or disease, are you thinking of something you’ve personally experienced, or are you expressing a more general concern?

·       In concrete terms, what do you think a good and powerful God “should” do about disasters and disease? Which do you doubt: God’s goodness, God’s power, or both?

·       Would a world without suffering necessarily be a better world?

·       Are you wondering why suffering exists at all, or why God doesn’t stop it every time?

 

2.    Explore (Context) 

Your friend is grappling with what philosophers call “the problem of evil”. The problem of evil involves trying to reconcile two premises:

(P1) A good and powerful God will never allow anyone to suffer.

(P2) Suffering exists and the world is broken. 

This dilemma leads some to conclude that God is therefore either unwilling or unable to stop suffering.

People often ask such questions when they see tragedy in the news or when they or their loved one face illness. Therefore, this question isn’t just intellectual but often carries grief, fear, or disappointment.

Another assumption exists beneath this question – that a loving God should prioritise our immediate comfort, rather than work through suffering for our deeper good.

 

 

3.    Agree 

Show empathy and agree wholeheartedly with your friend that natural disasters, disease, and other tragedies are devastating and painful realities. The world is not as it should be.

The Bible is saturated with lament: “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1). Jeremiah wept. Job cried out. This shows that even people of faith wrestle with the silence of God amid suffering.

At the same time, Scripture affirmed that God is not indifferent to their pain. Psalm 34:18 declares, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

Christianity has common ground with the premises of the problem of evil. It affirms that suffering is real, and feels overwhelming and unfair. It also affirms that God cares for those who suffer and draws near to those who have been hurt.

 

 

4.    Reveal

Christianity doesn’t stop at acknowledging suffering. However, it reframes suffering within God’s bigger story.

 

The Bible teaches that God gave humanity free will, which we used to choose to live apart from him. The consequence is a broken world marked by disasters and disease. Romans 8:20-22 describes how creation was “subjected to futility” and now “groans”, long to be free from its agony. 

 

If a broken world resulted from our free will, why did God give us free will? Because any loving relationship must be freely chosen. If God had forced us to love Him,  that wouldn’t have been a genuine relationship. Moreover, by allowing to experience separation from Him, God was respecting our choice.

Still, God didn’t abandon us to the consequences of our decision. Even in a broken world, He remained involved. He sustained creation, spoke through prophets, and ultimately entered into our suffering through Jesus.

Jesus, who is fully God and fully human, experienced pain, grief, and death. This means that God knows suffering from the inside. He promises that suffering will not have the final word and proved it when Jesus rose from the dead.

Revelation 21:4 declares, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, not pain anymore.” Suffering is real but Christianity offers a distinct hope: suffering is temporary, God is near, and one day He will restore creation itself.