Why does God allow suffering? ............. Parables 764

September 4, 2002

Nancy* tearfully shared that her father was in the hospital with pancreatic cancer. The doctors said he would live only a few months at most. Nancy asked people to pray.

In two weeks, the doctors noticed her father was not showing the same symptoms as he had earlier. They decided to do more tests; first a MRI scan, then a second one. The cancer they had seen with their eyes in surgery had disappeared. They could not explain it, and within days they sent the man home with a clean bill of health.

Nancy and her parents suffered considerably for a few weeks. The father’s suffering was both mental and physical. For a while, he was on life support. The two women suffered emotionally as they tried to adjust to his condition. Everyone was glad the suffering came to a happy ending, but why did God allow it in the first place?

The answer is found in another story about another man. This one suffered all his life; he had been born blind. The theology of the day said he was being punished by God because he or his parents had sinned. (In other words, life would be perfect if everyone behaved themselves?)

When Jesus’ disciples saw this man, they reflected this current reasoning by asking Jesus who was guilty, this man or his parents. Jesus replied, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened that the works of God might be displayed in his life.”

At that, Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes and told him to go wash in a certain pool. When the man obeyed, he “went home seeing.” Those who knew him were amazed. They could not explain what happened. The religious folks accused him of being an imposter, then threw him out of the temple. They were not willing to admit that Jesus healed him, or that this healing was a miracle from God.

While this story has many implications for our faith, most important to the topic of why God allows suffering is Jesus’ answer to the disciples. This man suffered, not because of his sin, or because someone else had sinned, but that by healing him, God was going to be glorified.

What does a person do with this story? We could ask a logical question: How would we know that God conquers sickness if there were no sicknesses for Him to conquer? Would the man have ever discovered the power of Jesus Christ unless he had been blind?

Bring it closer to home. In the above situation, Nancy, her family, and her friends prayed knowing the story about the blind man. We also know that Jesus is “the same yesterday, today and forever.” We know He can do the impossible all over again. He once fixed what medical science was unable to fix, and He hasn’t changed. While we cannot assume to know the mind of God and presume He will heal, we do know He can do it.

Nancy’s father was healed, not by prayer but by God. Even those who believe in God and believe that He hears and answers prayer shake their heads in awe when He does it. We must give Him glory for He is powerful and good.

Sometimes people do suffer as a result of their own foolishness. Sometimes suffering is a punishment for sin. Sometimes suffering is the result of someone else’s sin. But sometimes God allows suffering so He can do a miracle in response to our prayers. The only way to find out is to pray, knowing He has the power to do the impossible, and see what happens.

(* The name is changed, but the situation happened this summer!)