InterVarsity Press

Conversations: Overwhelmed by the World's Suffering

Teresa:

My husband constantly struggles with all the bad things that happen in the world. He is a believer of God and we go to church very frequently, learning as much as we can and working on building Christian relationships and so forth. But my husband still tells me on a regular basis that he has trouble with his faith. He says it's not that he doesn't believe in God but he has trouble when he sees or hears of really bad things that happen to truly innocent people. You know, like all the little children that lost their lives in the tsunami in East Asia. Or like when a sweet, innocent little girl becomes the victim of rape and possibly tortuous murder. My husband knows that God does not CAUSE these things to happen, but he doesn't understand why God ALLOWS them to happen. I have had a very difficult time trying to explain to him. I could really use some help with this.

Ruth:

You raise the age-old issue: How can an all-good and all-powerful God allow awful things to happen in this world?

Some people have an easy answer by going back to the sin of Adam and Eve and the Fall. But I'm not sure that's helpful. I can understand why sin is behind the rape of a girl. There is human freedom, after all, and it is an evil person who rapes this child. But when you raise the issue of a tsunami, there is no sin involved here. As much as apologists have tried to answer this question, in the end, there simply is no answer. I struggle with it myself, but I mostly set it aside because it is such a deep, dark mystery.

I would encourage your husband to also set aside this problem and follow the Lord in seeking to remedy some of the evils of this world. It might be no more than reaching out to some neighborhood children who don't have good role models or it may be helping build a house for people who would otherwise be destined to live in poor public housing or it may be sending money or volunteering for tsunami aid. Sometimes our doubts and questions hold us back from reaching out in love.

Blessings.