The Existence of Suffering & the Goodness of God
It is common for Christians to encounter doubts about the goodness of God. As we learn and grow in our knowledge of God, we often come across questions that we struggle to reconcile in our hearts. Christians and unbelievers alike may encounter doubts about God’s goodness in the midst of suffering, asking questions like “If God is good, why does suffering exist?” Often, this thought is paired with a disbelief that a good God could allow people to experience pain and heartache. It feels unjust and highly emotional to think that a good, all-powerful God would allow us to suffer on this earth. Does the existence of suffering prove the lack of God, or at least the lack of a good and loving God? What are we to make of hard times, and why would a good God not remove pain and suffering from our lives? As believers, we should turn to God's Word as the ultimate source of truth. Instead of allowing these doubts to make us uneasy in our faith, we should boldly approach God with these questions and allow him to reveal the answers through the Bible. When we search His Word, we will find that the existence of suffering does not diminish the goodness of God.
An underlying idea that arises when asking If God is good, why does suffering exist?, is the assumption that a good God should eradicate suffering to make our lives more comfortable. After all, if God is all-powerful, why not just wipe all suffering and evil from the earth? The Biblical response is that God is absolutely powerful enough to wipe out suffering if he so chooses. However, wiping out suffering would not necessarily make him good. When God created the world, he declared every part of creation to be good. He created man and woman, and called them good. (Gen 1-2). In his good and perfect design, before sin and evil entered the world, God created man and woman with free will in their hearts. He perfectly designed them to be able to make their own decisions, to name plants and animals, to rule over creation, to love each other, and most importantly, to choose to love God. In God’s good design, he created man with free will, so that they would not be forced to follow God mindlessly, but so they could instead choose to love God. God’s perfect design is one of friendship, love, trust, and obedience to God. Would God be good if he had only created us to be mindlessly obedient to him? If we had no choice in loving God, would that be true love and allegiance? Absolutely not! God gives us the option to love him or rebel, the same way he gave the first humans the choice in the Garden. They freely chose to disobey, introducing sin and suffering into the world by distancing themselves from God. (Gen 3). From the Garden in Genesis to today, God gives us the option to choose him. Jesus warns his disciples, that although they followed him faithfully, they would still experience the hardships of this fallen world. “I have said these things to you, that hin me you may have peace. iIn the world you will have jtribulation. But ktake heart; lI have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). Pain and suffering exist in the life of the believer, because the world is corrupted by sin. Choosing to follow God does not remove the pain and suffering from our lives here on earth. Sin has destroyed God’s perfect design on earth. However, choosing to love and follow God gives us hope, because God has overcome evil, and will soon make all things right on heaven and earth. We have a beautiful hope of salvation, but for now on earth, suffering will teach us to rely fully on God, and choose to love him. Paul explains the theology of suffering beautifully in his letter to the Romans. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us… And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:18-28). James explains this idea in James 1:2-4, saying, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” So, because God is good, he allows suffering in this present age, because free will allows us to choose to follow him, and gives us hope of a promised future free from pain. The very existence of suffering is proof of the goodness of God!
Another underlying idea we can see from the question If God is good, why does suffering exist?, is the idea that suffering and a good God cannot coexist. It is the notion that suffering disproves not only God’s goodness, but that it disproves God’s total existence! I would argue, however, that the existence of God is made evident through of the opposite existence of pain and hardships. How do we know that war, famine, cancer, poverty, social injustice, and abuse are evil? Because we have a moral standard and example of goodness. We inherently know good vs. evil because the goodness of God is written on our hearts. We recognize injustice because we have witnessed a just and loving God. We recognize imperfection in morals and character because we have a perfect God to mirror. If God does not exist, why would we see any of these things as wrong? In the absence of goodness, what is evil? What is darkness if not a lack of light? In the same way, good vs. evil is the very proof of God’s existence.
We cannot hope to understand God’s ways fully. Coping with pain and suffering is difficult in this life. It is no easy task to follow God in the midst of persecution and heartache. However, in our weakness, God remains strong and omnipotent. I love the way Timothy Keller describes the mysterious ways of God in The Reason for God: “If you have a God great and transcendent enough to be mad at because he hasn't stopped evil and suffering in the world, then you have at the same moment, a God great and transcendent enough to have good reasons for allowing it to continue that you can’t know. Indeed, you can’t have it both ways” (Keller 25). Indeed, we cannot understand God’s ways fully, but he has revealed all we need to know to choose to love and trust him with confidence. I’m grateful for a God who loves me, desires a relationship with me, and gives me hope in the midst of great trial.
Works Cited
“ESV Study Bible.” Crossway, www.crossway.org/bibles/esv-study-bible-case/. Accessed 28 Nov. 2025.
Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. HarperChristian Resources, 2008.
