I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us, (Romans 8:18).
C.S. Lewis referred to it as “The Problem of Pain”. Others have called it the ultimate philosophical and theological question: “If God is all-good, and all-powerful, why is there so much suffering in the world?” For some it has been the issue that keeps them from coming to faith. For many, it is just baffling.
Ironically, the Bible contains the one belief system that gives both an answer to this question, and one that should always be asked with it: “In a world where there is so much pain and suffering, how do you explain love, beauty, and goodness?”
The first is a matter of understanding that the world is not the way God intends it to be. We live in a time in-between the Fall of Man and the Return of Christ. Living in a fallen world means that not only are bad things going to happen to good people; but bad things are even going to happen to God’s people.
Even the physical creation is not what it is supposed to be. Floods, tornadoes, droughts, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters are sometimes referred to as “acts of God”. It would be more accurate to identify them as consequences of a fallen world. Illness, pain, suffering, inhumanity, and ultimately death itself are all products of the world not being the way it should be.
And yet, in the unsearchable wisdom of God, he has allowed such things. One day, I believe we will see that a world that is fallen and redeemed produces an ultimate reality that is infinitely superior to one in which the fall and its consequences had never occurred. And in the midst of living in the fallen world, God is at work and is present. When someone asks, “Why doesn’t God do something?”, the correct answer is that he has and he will.
Later in the chapter from which today’s text was taken, Paul writes one of his iconic statements: “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him…” God can use the tough stuff. He can use it to accomplish the objective Paul states immediately following the first part of the above text. He uses difficulty and suffering in the lives of those “who have been called according to his purpose”. Then he states what that purpose is in the next verse: “For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…” Sometimes it takes the tough stuff to shape our character and build into our lives to make us more like Jesus.
The rest of the chapter is one of the most powerful statements of hope in the entire Bible. In the midst of struggle, Paul asks, “Who can separate us from the love of Christ?” He then offers a list of possible answers, only to conclude, “For I am convinced that neither life nor death, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depths, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
To hear more about this subject, check out: https://vimeo.com/126645226