Why Does a Good God Allow Us to Suffer So Much?

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” - Genesis 2:16

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” - Genesis 3:6

It’s hard for us to imagine what this world would be like without the presence of evil, but there was a time when sin was not present on this planet and the world wasn’t under its curse. Man was created and humanity knew God, walked with Him, and delighted in His fellowship. The work we did was pleasurable, the weather was favorable, relationships were trusting, and disease and death were of no concern.

As a test of faith, Adam, the first man was told that he was permitted to eat from every tree with the exception of one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He was even told ahead of time what the consequences of eating from that tree would be, namely death. Adam should have also been faithful to share this instruction with Eve and likewise should have protected her from consuming the fruit. But instead of doing so, he let her eat of it then rebelliously ate of it himself.

 In that instant, this earth came under a curse, and the suffering we experience in the present can all be tied back to that moment. But it isn’t the only example of human arrogance toward the instruction of God that we’re given in Scripture.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” - 1 Samuel 8:4-9

For roughly 400 years, give or take, the people of Israel did not have a king in the traditional sense, but were ruled by divinely appointed leaders called judges. The Lord Himself operated as their King and the judges functioned as earthly representatives of His leadership. In time, however, the elders of Israel asked to be ruled differently. They weren’t content with this form of national leadership. It was their desire to be ruled like the neighboring nations. So God instructed Samuel, the last judge in Israel, to grant them their request and appoint Israel’s first monarch, a man named Saul.

The people of Israel thought they would be better off being ruled this way, but they didn’t realize just how good they had it. Even though the Lord warned them that they were inviting suffering into their lives and the lives of their children, they completely ignored the warning. Through Samuel, the Lord warned the people of Israel that kings would oppress them, force their sons and daughters into their service, take their grain, vineyards, and animals, and make the people slaves, they completely rejected this warning.

But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” - 1 Samuel 8:19-20

If you look at the history of Israel as it is outlined in Scripture, and you read about the kings that led them, the vast majority of men who occupied this role were evil. They rejected the Lord, abused their power, and oppressed the people. And yet I’m sure that in the midst of that torment, there were people asking the question, “Why would a good God allow us to suffer like this?” They suffered because they rejected Him and idolized their preferences over the counsel of His word.

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