Why God!? Why!?

What is God doing?  Children are starving.  Women are raped.  Sons and daughters are killed in war and on the streets of the ghetto and of the middle-class suburbs.

Look to the left here... Is this picture correct?  Are we just the latest expansion pack on God's favorite MMORPG(video game) - "Smite the Humans."

God is all-good.  God is all powerful.  Why doesn't he, in his goodness, come down in his power, and put a stop to pain, suffering, and evil?

I'm not sure if we can do better in our answer to the questions above than the ancient Jews did.  Habakkuk (one of the prophets in the old testament with his own book - pg 1719 in my bible  :)) asked:

                                                                O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
                                                                   and you will not hear?
                                                                Or cry to you "Violence!"
                                                                   and you will not save?   (Habakkuk 1:2)
                      What was God's answer?
                                                               "Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
                                                                    but the righteous shall live by his faith."  (Habakkuk 2:4)

God acknowledged Habakkuk's complaint and agreed.  Mankind is violent and creates evil and suffering.  But I'm not sure I like God's answer: "If you want to be one of my righteous ones, live by faith in me."  That doesn't answer my questions... even if doing it will bring peace and purpose to my life.

God says something similar to Job.  God doesn't deny that suffering is sometimes beyond our understanding, but he tells Job:
                             "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
                                     tell me, if you have understanding.
                               Who determined [the earth's] measurements--surely you know!
                                     Or who stretched the measuring line upon it?
                                On what were its bases sunk,
                                     Or who laid its cornerstone,
                                When the morning stars sang together
                                      And all the sons of God shouted for joy?"  (Job 38: 4-7)

Humanity lacks knowledge to understand it's own evil.  But God reminds Job who created all things.  Though the suffering is beyond our understanding, it is not beyond God's.
What is the lesson from these two books in the Old Testament?  I think it is this:
                            We can become puffed up like those in Habakkuk, or we can take God's advice
                                            and live by faith in God's goodness, knowledge, and power.

And we have a sure sign of God's goodness.  For whatever reasons he does not snap his fingers and put an end to suffering (some reasons will be discussed below), at least he takes his own medicine.  God became a man, Jesus of Nazareth, and he suffered a horrible death - taking the sins of the world into himself.  He prayed to God to alieve his own suffering, and he went to the cross anyway... for us.

 If this is a video game to God, "whatever game he is playing with his creation, he has kept his own rules and played fair.  He can [take] nothing from man that he has not [taken] from himself.  He has himself gone through the whole of human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair, and death.  When he was man, he played the man.  He was born in poverty and died in disgrace and thought it well worthwile." -Dorothy Sayers, The Greatest Drama Ever Staged.

Jesus took into himself all the pain and suffering from all the sin of all humanity.  On the cross he experienced it all.  So now we know where to find him.  He is in the hunger pains of the starving child.  He is wounded by the fear and humiliation of the abused.  He takes every beating.  He is murdered every day.  That is the God of goodness. 

Perhaps the real question isn't, "Why do bad things happen to us," but, "Why is God so humble and loving to submit himself to such humiliation, suffering, and pain for us?"

And let's not forget the hope that this good God promises us.  His suffering brought salvation to the world.  He turned his torture, humiliation, and death into hope, joy, and life for all generations.  He is able to take the worst things of our lives and turn them into real joy... if we'll let him.  We have hope.


Yeah.  OK.  But why won't he just stop the evil?  Why?
                               
I don't know... that's why I like the Bible's answers to the question!  But here is my best shot:

The answer rests on two statements of faith:

1. Humanity was created in God's image.
2. Humanity has been recreated in God's image through Jesus Christ.

1.  God created everything, and then he made humans in his own image.  God has revealed to us, by becoming a man and sending us the Holy Spirit, that He exists as a relationship of love.  God is not a singular glob of deity... he is Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three persons united into a perfect unity of love.  He is not three different gods.  Only one God.  This is where God's questions to Job come in handy... we cannot fully understand God.  We cannot comprehend how 3 can be 1.  He is beyond our understandings of measurement.  What could be heavy to a God who created all measurements?  What could be big to a God who stretched out the universe?!  Though we can measure the atom and the quark and DNA and discover exactly what makes up our physical bodies... we cannot fully comprehend the make-up of the Creator God.  But we can think about what his make-up means for us!

We are created in the Trinity-God's image.  That means that humanity is supposed to be the image of this God who exists as perfect relationship.  We are the part of the created order that is supposed to represent God.  We should exist together in perfect relationship.  In perfect love with each other and with him.

We don't.

Part of real, honest love is choice.  Some would say that choice is the very definition of love.  Of all the women in the world who want me (as large or small as that number may be) I have chosen my wife.  And she chose me.  I don't like her sometimes... my emotions tell me to hurt her or leave her.  But I don't.  I love her.  With all my heart I choose her.  She is a part of who I am.  I've chosen to give myself to her.

God will not rob us of the key ingredient of his image... the choice to love him... the choice to love each other. 

When we rebelled against God's image (sin) the created order was disrupted.  We chose to make our own way, and disrupted his way.  Even in the beginning he showed himself as the humble, loving God who allows humans to cause him suffering.  Things aren't the way they are supposed to be now.  Things went bad becuase the image of the God of creation rebelled against God.

2.  But God is good.  He didn't leave us here to destroy ourselves.  He began a relationship again with humanity through the Hebrew people to begin teaching us about his holiness, faithfulness, grace and love.  He was patient with humanity's ignorance...  And then he became a man himself.  He took the punishment for our sin on himself, took it to the grave, and then he left it there when he was resurrected. 

Now, if we will accept him as God in our lives again and accept his forgiveness through Jesus' work on the cross, we can begin operating as his recreated image.  We can come together as his body.

And that is the answer.  Why doesn't God come down and alleviate suffering?  He has.  We are just spoiling it again.

Those of us who have been recreated into his image should act as his body here on earth.  We should do his work of loving on people, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, etc.  And although we are doing soooo much good around the world... we need to do better.


If you haven't accepted Jesus as your saviour and God because you don't understand why God doesn't do more to stop suffering... take a lesson from God and don't be a hypocrite... take your own medicine... start alleviating suffering yourself.  Start living for others even at the cost of great self sacrifice.

And you'll find that this life that you know you are supposed to live sounds mysteriously familiar.  It is the kind of life that Jesus lived as an example for us to follow.  And deep down you know you need to live that life, because you have been created in the image of the one who lived that life first... Jesus Christ.  You can be recreated into that image if you will not puff yourself up and if you will live by faith in his goodness.  Give your life to him.