The Vineyard Church of North Grand Rapids, MI

Why Does God Let Horrible Things Happen?

Ray Befus Romans 8:18-28 (TNIV, p. 773) October 5, 2008 The Shack Series #4

1. Welcome to The Shack-Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity. It's a wildly popular little work of fiction that tired, frustrated, often unchurched Christians and even non-Christians are buying up by the thousands and finding hope, renewing faith, and even discovering some a deeper measure of peace and purpose. It's terribly frustrating for many fundamentalists because it presents God in a manner that is pretty far outside the box-anyone's box! I admit, parts of the book are pretty imaginative-God sends Mack a note in the mail, God chooses to appear (at least for a couple days in human history) as a woman. A few things do seem to be a stretch-like wisdom personified as Sophia, almost a fourth person of the godhead. But, remember-The Shack is a piece of fiction, much like one of Jesus' own parables.

2. As a life-long student of the Bible and theology, I think The Shack does provide a very biblical and sound starting point for dealing a disturbing question that most everyone asks at some point in their life: Why does a good and all-powerful God let horrible things happen to relatively good men and women and children who are all but innocent? It's a deeply philosophical question. It's a disturbing faith issue. It's often a painful, personal cry in the middle of someone's dark night. Part of The Shack's popularity is that it responds to this often-angry question with real subtlety and honesty. The book gives a sensitive voice to Scripture's teaching on the problem of evil and suffering in our world. Our Bible text is Romans 8:18-28. Let's read it together.

3. The Apostle Paul underscores the problem of evil and suffering in our world in unblinking terms when he writes that the creation-from plants to human beings, from animals to families, from planets to people groups-were subject to frustration (v. 20). Frustration includes-meaninglessness, emptiness, pointlessness, purposelessness. Some days, when it is obvious that even good people and innocent children are preyed upon by evil and suffer harm, life doesn't seem to have much purpose at all. There are some moments in life that make no sense-that seem to have no purpose, that seem to make faith and hope and even love pointless. If it weren't for the possibility that there really is a good and wise God working to redeem this mess at the end of the day, there are times when life is completely frustrating!

a. Paul has in mind the first book in the Bible-Genesis-where the parents of Mankind decided that God isn't trustworthy. Adam and Eve rebelled against their Creator, deciding that they themselves-independently-could chart a better course through life than the one God marked out for them. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, God himself made a judgment against mankind and all creation-that man would not have his way, that life on planet earth would not work out as it was created to work, that sandwiched in between ever simple cause and effect there would be an element of craziness or meaninglessness. Mankind's decision to live independently of God and his ways would result in deep frustration. There is no magic, there are no formulas, there are no hidden keys that can guarantee a completely happy, healthy prosperous, safe life. In this world, because of man's sin and God's judgment on sin, bad things happen to good people all the time and it's almost impossible to know why in any specific instance. It's very frustrating.

b. We don't really have a problem with suffering. We're inspired by courageous men and women who take risks and suffer for noble causes-soldiers, fire-fighters, police officers, great humanitarian leaders who sacrifice and suffer to save and change the world for the good. We're inspired by single mothers who work two jobs and provide for their children's needs ahead of their own. We're inspired by political leaders like Martin Luther King (and his family) who paid the highest personal price to bring about deep change for generations. What bothers us is senseless suffering.

c. ILLUS: my own home group has been praying for a family in which mom and dad went through difficult and costly fertility treatments, finally to welcome a dearly-loved daughter into the world, only to have her now succumb to Leukemia. It's so frustrating. We naturally wonder, "Why didn't a good and all-powerful God prevent this from happening to an innocent child and her loving parents"? It all seems so pointless. What sort of answer to you give to people in this situation? It's not like they're suffering for a great cause!

TRANS: You're a Christian, right? You trust God? You've been a Christian for most of your life? How do you answer the question, "Why does a good and all-powerful God allow bad things to happen to good people? PRAY.

I. LET'S BE HONEST: There's a lot we don't know.

A. It's not wrong to want answers. I'd like to know why God allows so much evil and suffering in life. I think there are some important philosophical and theological insights to be gained from deep thinkers.

1. For instance, if a loving God wanted real relationship with human beings, he would have to give them real freedom to choose him or to reject him, to follow his ways or to rebel against them. Real love is born out of a free choice. Wanting our love, God gave mankind real freedom to choose good or evil. Much of the evil and suffering in our world is caused by selfish, stupid, prejudiced, greedy, deceitful, and violent people. We even now know that many sicknesses-physical and psychological-are influenced (if not caused) by industrial and technological pollution of one sort or another that we ourselves produce in our pursuit of greater power and wealth.

2. And, the Bible reveals that God really does have an enemy-Satan and his demons-who are active in unseen dimensions of our world, working to destroy us for no other reason than human beings are the pinnacle of God's creation. The whole book of Job has been given to us to help us wise up about this spiritual source of evil and suffering. There's a lot more to our suffering than what we can see and examine under a microscope.

B. An important distinction: it's not wrong to DESIRE answers. It's another thing altogether to DEMAND answers. When we demand answers, we say to God, "If you do not make sense of this for me, I will not trust you, worship you, serve you, or follow your ways". When we begin to demand answers, Proverbs 3:5 warns us that we are in danger of leaning on our own understanding and may soon lose our way.

Men and women who demand answers from God actually set themselves up as judges over God-something Mack, in The Shack, did without even being conscious of it. Because God gave him no solid answers for why his daughter Missy was murdered, Mack judged God as untrustworthy, careless, foolish, even evil. He says to Papa, "If you couldn't take care of Missy, how can I trust you to take care of me?" For years, Mack lived with a Great Sadness that was rooted in bitter judgments against God.

C. No one wants to admit that they don't have a clear answer to an important question, but the truth is that we really don't know why any one has to suffer in any particular instance. We can make some sense of why there is suffering in the world, but we can't say why a four year old girl with loving parents is dying of leukemia.

1. Moses was the greatest prophet of the OT. He spoke face to face with God, but even Moses said that God has secret purposes and reasons that he keeps to himself. Deuteronomy 29:29, "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and our children forever".

2. The Apostle Paul was visited by the Lord Jesus himself on several occasions, and the Holy Spirit revealed most of the NT to Paul. But even Paul wrote that his knowledge of God and his ways was limited. I Corinthians 13:12, "Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror . . . all that I know now is partial and incomplete" (NLT).

3. It's not wrong to want answers, to cry out for answers, or to grieve over a lack of answers. But when we begin to demand answers that God hasn't given, we risk losing our way . . . even losing our connection with God.

TRANS: Why do innocent children suffer tragedy? Why do people who do their best to trust and follow Jesus still sometimes suffer great harm and evil? God hasn't given us specifics. At best, our understanding is cloudy; our answers are only partial. Because of mankind's rebellion against God, the world isn't as it was created to be. Life has become mysterious, complicated, frustrating. Some days, life even seems pointless. There are never enough answers. But that doesn't mean there is no comfort in suffering. We do know some things that matter a great deal to anyone who is suffering (cf. "we know in (vv. 22 & 28).

II. LET'S EXERCISE OUR FAITH: There are a few things we do know!

A. God is not the source of our suffering.

1. The Bible begins with Genesis: a good and wise Creator gave us life and put us in a perfect environment. All of creation has now become diseased with our sinful independence and it's cascading consequences. Paul says that creation is in a bondage of decay. In many cases, mankind is it's own worst enemy, causing suffering upon suffering. We have enough money and natural resources to eliminate extreme poverty around the world. We self-righteously rage against God and cry out, "Why does a good and all-powerful God allow 30,000 children to die daily of starvation and preventable disease?" God might ask us, "Why do the richest people on earth selfishly spend most of their income on themselves? Why are you raging against me?

2. God didn't cause evil or suffering and he is not pleased with either. So, he has begun to redeem our world at great cost to himself. He came into our world himself, in the person of Jesus, to suffer with us and to suffer for us, to bring hope and redemption. Sophia (wisdom) tries to explain this to Mack . . . READ pp. 164-165. Jesus' suffering on our behalf on a cross now introduces a second thing that we do know about our suffering

B. Our suffering is temporary.

1. What could be harder than waiting for relief . . . waiting for answers . . . waiting to hold old friends and lost family members in our arms once again? Twice (vv. 23 & 25) Paul says that we're living under the heavy burden of waiting-waiting eagerly, waiting patiently. We live our entire lives in a waiting room-impatiently, eagerly tapping our feet, thumbing through magazines, checking the clock, watching the door, imagining things to come. Waiting is a real test of our faith.

2. The present pains that cause us to sigh and groan and swear are temporary . . . like a woman's labor before birth. Our present condition, our suffering is temporary. We may think that our lives are worse off or our pain is more intense than others, but everyone has a story. The whole creation is waiting with an ache in its heart.

3. Our suffering is not the final chapter. Our pain is not the end of the story. Our Great Sadnesses are just part of the pain of waiting.

a. The Shack presents some imaginative and wonderful visions of what eternity may be like, but Paul, who actually did visit the world to come wrote: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared for those who love him." (I Corinthians 2:9, NLT).

b. In that day, Revelation 21:3-4 reveals that we are going to hear a loud voice announce, "Look, God's dwelling place is now among the people and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be there God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain . . . ."

TRANS: We really don't know exactly why anyone in particular has to suffer through cancer or poverty or mental illness or divorce in any given instance. But we do know that these Great Sorrows are temporary. There's a third thing.

C. God is with us even when we can't feel his presence.

1. We are deeply bothered by senseless suffering. We also hate the feeling that God sometimes seem to disappear in our suffering. ILLUS: People do that to each other; they disappear during hard times. They don't know what to say to a grieving friend, so they don't call. They don't know what to say or do in a hospital room, so they don't visit. They feel uncomfortable in funeral homes, so they don't go.

2. It's especially confusing and disheartening when God seems to disappear in the moments of our greatest loss and pain. Where is God now? He could have healed . . . answered my prayer . . . saved my career . . . prevented this accident . . . kept me from this crisis! God's decision not to protect us from harm and loss seems like a profound betrayal.

a. In moments like these our emotions will tell us, "If you feel all alone, that's because you are all alone". And the Enemy will whisper, "That's right, God doesn't even remember your name". In seasons like these, our emotions shout, "This isn't fair; no one is watching out for you". And the Enemy whispers, "God is much too busy to care about your life". Besides, he's pretty disappointed in you. You don't deserve his help. Are you sure you want to go through life trusting him?

b. ILLUS: The OT's King David had a remarkably intimate relationship with God, but even he sometimes felt like God just walked out of the room: Psalm 10:1; 13:1; 22:1.

3. In desperate moments when we feel all alone, our emotions may be misleading us. (v. 26) The Holy Spirit, who dwells within every genuine Christian, never lets us go, never stops praying for us. Even when we ourselves stop praying or no longer know what to pray (or what to feel or what to do), the Spirit of God, with one hand on our hearts and one hand on the Father's heart, intercedes for us with compassionate sighs and groans. WRAP YOUR HEART AROUND THIS TRUTH: We who love and trust God are never far from God's heart, out of his thoughts, or away from his presence.

D. God is already at work transforming our suffering (v. 28).

1. A lot of what happens to us in life is not good; it's evil. God doesn't cause it and, he doesn't like it. But, he never abandons us. We are never subject to blind fate. He is always working to redeem our suffering-to bring good out of it-and to transform us-to make us stronger, wiser, more loving, more like Jesus himself.

2. Shack Quote: p. 102-"Mackenzie, I know that your heart is full of pain and anger . . . "

III. KNOWING THIS . . . WILL YOU WORSHIP?

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