Where does suffering come from?

As I mentioned yesterday, I am so grateful to God that many years ago, prior to my son's accident, he enabled me to understand his good purposes for sending trouble to his people.  I want to explain the many ways that God has brought comfort and courage to me and my family during the past ten years and now as we face a new kind of trouble.  Each day I will seek to explain one of the truths which he has used to help us.  I will begin today with a consideration of God's answer to the question of why do I have cancer?

Most explanations for the presence of evil and suffeirng in the world or in an individual life tend to focus on one cause, one explanation.  Hindus have their doctrine of karma where all that is happening to you, whether good or bad, is the result of things you did or didn't do in a previous life.  Many religious people from a variety of traditions want to locate all evil and suffering under the power and authority of the devil or evil spirits.  Naturalistic materialists have a difficult time talking about evil but would locate suffering as the result of entirely natural physical and chemical forces. 

However, the Bible has a far more complicated view of the causes of evil and suffering. I will begin with the book of the Bible which is written for the purpose of answering the question: why do bad things happen to God's people?  If you have not read the book of Job recently I would encourage you to read at least the first four chapters.  In reading Job it is critical to recognize that we, the readers, by God's revelation, know things that Job and his "friends" do not know.  Job and his debating partners are in the exact same situation that we are in.  Things have happened to Job that they all know about.  However, we are given a peek behind the curtain of heaven so that we know things that they do not.

Here are the facts that Job and his "friends" all agree upon.  Job has a repuation for being a God fearing, righteous man who is very wealthy and the head of a very happy and successful family.  One day calamity strikes Job and his family.  The Sabeans attacked his servants who were working his fields with his many oxen and donkeys.  They killed all of his servants but one and took all of his oxen and donkeys.  Then "the fire of God fell from heaven" and burned up all his sheep and his shepherds but one.  The Chaldeans raided his camel herds and killed all of his servants who were caring for them except one and took all of his camels.  Finally, his seven sons and three daughters, who were all at the oldest brothers house for a family get together were all killed when "a great wind came across the wilderness" and struck the house.  As if that were not enough, a few days later he is struck from head to foot with painful, festering boils.  All the characters in the book agree about these facts.  They all also agree about one other fact and that is that God is the ultimate cause of all this evil and suffering.

Chapters 3-37 are a running debate between Job and three of his "friends" followed by a really encouraging speech by a young guy who has listened in on the whole coversation.  The subject of the discussion is why have all of these evil things happened to Job?  Job insists that God has done this for no reason in him.  He does not know why God has done this to him but he knows it is not because he has done evil.  He does not claim to be sinless but he does insist that this is not God's justly punishing him for evil he has done.  His "friends" on the other hand, and the young man at the end of the debate all insist that God is a just God and would never do evil to a righteous person.  God is good and does good to good people and does evil to evil people.  Since Job has suffered all this evil, he must be evil.  It is a simple formula.

What I want to draw your attention to is the numerous agents involved in the suffering of Job.  Based on our behind-the-scenes information from chapters 1 and 2, we know that Satan, the great adversary of God's people has willed and caused all this destruction to Job.  We know that he has done this out of his desire to mock and bring dishonor to God.  He aims to show that people do not love God for his own sake but only because of what God gives to people.  However, we also know that humans have willingly participated in doing evil to Job.  The Sabeans and the Chaldeans happily attacked and murdered Job's servants and stole his property.  However, we must see that when Job gets the news of his great loss this is what he says: "Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked shall I return.  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord (1:21)."  Then the God inspired author adds this editorial comment: "In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong (1:22)."  Then after Job is afflicted with boils and his wife tells him that he should curse and God and die he says: "Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil? (2:10"  Then again the divine author comments: "In all this Job did not sin with his lips."

It is those last sentences that are shocking.  How can it be that Job was not charging God with wrong, that he was not sinning when he said that God is the one who took away his property, servants and children and gave him boils?  There was much evil done and Job said God did it and yet in saying this he was not saying God did wrong, he was not sinning.  Let me be clear, God says in his word that he never does evil but always does good.  In fact, God cannot do evil because he never wants to do evil.  He only wants to do good.  Yet, as we see here, all the evil and suffering that is done in the world is under his sovereign control.  Satan, the Sabeans and the Chaldeans all wanted to do the evil that they did.  God did not make them do the evil they did.  Yet all the evil which these moral creatures performed accomplished God's good and perfect will for Job.

So why do I have cancer?  I have eaten a lot of bad food.  I have been exposed to numerous carcinogens in my environment.  I have not managed the stress in my life very well.  I am a workaholic.  I didn't get a colonoscopy sooner, as my doctor instructed me.  Satan is attacking me and seeking to destroy my faith and the faith of my family and my friends.  But above and over all these causes of cancer stands the good and perferct will of my heavenly Father.  God has so ruled over my choices and the things to which I have been exposed and the will of Satan in such a way that he made sure I contracted cancer and yet he has done no evil.

God never tells Job why he sent all the suffering.  He does tell him that he alone is God and knows what he is doing and thus Job recognizes that his need is to trust that God is doing good no matter what it looks like.  Fortunately for us God has told us some of the reaons for which he sends suffering to his people.  Tomorrow we will begin to examine some of those.