If God is all powerful, why is there suffering?

Suffering. There is no shortage of it. Starving babies in Africa, floods in Ontario, hurricanes in the Caribbean, planes colliding in mid-air, are just the tip of the suffering iceberg in the world. If God is all powerful, then why does He allow suffering? I have experienced divine intervention that protected me from untold suffering, yet I suffer every day with pain in my hands. We hear testimonies of where and when God’s power kept suffering from coming to their house. Yet just down the street, we can hear the story of horrific suffering visiting that family. Is God unfair? Some would conclude that God does not exist because of the existence of suffering. Actually, I believe just the opposite. Suffering suggests the existence of God and our need for Him in our lives.

Antony Flew, a noted professor of philosophy, announced in 2004 that after decades of writing essays and books from the vantage point of atheism, he now believes in God. With the backdrop of suffering in the world, he makes the argument for God in his book, “There Is a God: How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind.”

The question that he pondered for decades; how can, “merely physical and mechanical forces – forces without mind, without consciousness – give rise to the world of purposes, thoughts and moral projects?” set him on a course of the acceptance of a higher being.

The question that demands an answer: If we are simply atoms, protons and neutrons banging around inside of us, why do we us humans cause suffering and why do we think suffering is wrong and try to alleviate it? Why do we even care?

We care because we were created by a God who cares, who stepped into the world of suffering and suffered Himself, so he could bring healing and comfort to those who suffer. As it says in the Bible, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4  who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5  For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

We possess a consciousness that is not materialistic, but spiritual.

Abraham Varghese makes Flew’s point with the aid of an everyday example: “To suggest that the computer ‘understands’ what it is doing is like saying that a power line can meditate on the question of free will and determinism or that the chemicals in a test tube can apply the principle of non-contradiction in solving a problem, or that a DVD player understands and enjoys the music it plays.”

We are created with the capacity to feel, to have compassion, to be angry at injustice, and do something about it. Since this exceeds material characteristics, former atheists like C.S. Lewis, Flew, and others have determined there must be a God.

So then, if God is all powerful, why is there suffering in the world is a question we will endeavor to answer this Sunday in our continuation of the sermon series, Demystifying God, Questions that deserves answers.

For This Sunday is Communion Sunday. It is when we come together as a family to eat at the Lord’s Table.

For the entire series you can visit Kootenay Christian Fellowship website, now mobile friendly. All sermons are a free download.

We look forward to seeing you this Sunday.

Pastor Jim

May 16, 2019