I have often heard people say, “If God is a God of love, why does He allow wars, suffering, etc.?” as a kind of final proof that either God does not exist, or that He is indifferent to “us down here”. I won't pretend I can fully answer this question, but I think I can reveal some assumptions that under-pin it which may be helpful.
The first point to make is that if you do not thank and praise God for all the good things you enjoy, you have absolutely no moral leg on which to stand and blame Him for anything that might go wrong.
Secondly, the question implies that the questioner feels s/he deserves a certain standard of life. However, I don't think anyone has some kind of divine right to be able to see, hear, speak, think, co-ordinate their movements, etc. Rather, these are things which a merciful God grants to the vast majority of people, and which we therefore have a tendency to quickly take for granted. We have to humbly realise that God owes us nothing, and that everything we do have is due to Him showing us undeserved mercy.
Thirdly, and most important of all, the question reveals a misunderstanding about who God is. Just as the Jews expected the Messiah to address and solve their political problems, so we today expect God to solve our problems of war and suffering. Obviously the person asking the question feels that the proof of evidence of God's love towards us, would be if the human race was delivered from all suffering, natural disasters, and wars. The Bible which I believe is God's revelation to man, gives us a completely different perspective. It says that the evidence of God's love towards us is not that there will be an end to war and suffering (Christ himself prophesied that wars and famines would continue, and increase, until the end of the world), but that Jesus Christ came into the world and died for us: “But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5v8, see also John 3v16 and I John 4v10). The most significant event in all of history consists of the birth, life, and especially death of Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ, an individual can be forgiven, reconciled to God, and enjoy eternal life.
The only way to change the world is to change individuals. Only God, through Jesus Christ, can do that in a truly revolutionary and lasting way.
By Andrew Stewart
Four things you should know about hell (mp3)
Four things you should know about heaven (mp3)
What do you think of Westfields?
Details of 2008 houseparty:
23rd - 30th August 2008
Stanbridge Earls School,
Romsey, Hampshire
Mums and Tots
Friday morning 9.30am
At the church