Sunday morning Bern and I had a conversation with friends whom we are coaching through a family conflict. The husband was a bit stuck on why the world has so much pain when there is an all-powerful, professedly loving God overseeing all of creation.
I have thought a lot about this, so I shared one answer that has helped me make sense of this. It is God's grace that holds back His fury in the face of sins that are perpetrated by people all over the globe. He keeps open the possibility that sinners will repent and come into fellowship with Him, so He doesn't strike them down to stop their sinning. We each have a list of particular sinners that we wish God would stop in their tracks, but we are not wise enough to know how or when that should be done. God sees the whole picture and in His grace-permeated plan He waits and watches.
In the crises created by sin, people do turn to Him, they do repent and they do find salvation. Some of them are sinners who are sorry for what they have done; others are victims of the brutal actions of others who call out to God for help. God is not glad that sinful behavior has caused these encounters with Him. His original plan is that we come to Him out of gratitude and desire to know Him for His own sake, but He receives all who come, whatever the circumstances.
What about His sovereignty and the fact that He is all powerful?
God does reign over the earth. He reigns particularly in the lives of people who choose to obey Him. There are some societies that have been more successful in this obedience than others. I think of Mennonite communities where obedience to scripture is a paramount value. They are remarkably peaceful and benevolent--not perfect, but better than most. Families that have a heritage of faith are more peaceful and joyful than families without that advantage. Communites of believers who humbly seek to obey the Lord are more successful than those that have taken on worldly agendas.
When we see villages ravaged by AIDS in Africa, with children starving or dying of disease and neglect, we should look to see who on earth has been in charge of those villages and children. Are they people who acknowledge God as sovereign over their behavior, or are they leaders who are in rebellion against a holy God and all that He commands? Are they power-mad, greedy, brutal, self-interested people who do not love God? I can almost guarantee that the people in power over these situations are far from obedience to the holy God. (They are the ones that would be on my list for "ceasing and desisting", yet God continues to offer them the grace of life.)
All over the world there people who love and obey God who have gone out to try and care for victims and change the hearts of tyrants. They come alongside suffering people everywhere, whether those people are victims of oppression or simply the victims of illness or injury. They carry light into the world. God's grace is never more vivid than when it appears in the lives of His people working in the heart of darkness.
I am very interested in the meaning of suffering. We naturally turn away from it, abhor it and pray to escape it, yet God allows it. I am convinced that there is wisdom to be found in suffering, and an experience of God that can't be known in any other way. I tremble to say that because I don't want to invite suffering into my life.
On the other hand, suffering usually comes to us unbidden. We can't really prevent it. It's better to be open to the possibility that God has embedded treasures in those experiences than to run from them. Whatever happens, as believers we have the advantage over unbelievers. Our response to suffering may turn dust into gold if we truly let God be sovereign in all of our circumstances. Part of trusting Him with all of our hearts is to accept that what He chooses for us may not be what we would have chosen for ourselves.
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