God allows so much suffering in the world.
True or False?

From single cell amoebas eating up passing bacteria, to dictators imposing terror on entire nations, life on earth is unfair and in many cases cruel.

A microscopic amoeba absorbing and
killing a scrap of life

At first sight it seems that in this world, one life has to suffer for another to thrive.

And then there are the forces of nature which cause so much misery and death. Flooding, drought, earthquakes, tsunamis and epidemics devastate so many lives and they appear to be getting worse.

When God created the universe 13.8 billion years ago (the Big Bang) and time as we know it began, tremendous forces were unleashed.

One of the 100 billion galaxies in the universe
Eventually life evolved on this planet, but its very existence was precarious. At first, early life forms survived by sucking the goodness out of other early plants and animals that crossed their paths. When colonies of life managed to establish themselves, storms, volcanoes and undersea earthquakes destroyed many of them. Survival was even more harsh than it is now.

There seems to be an inevitability about unfairness and pain, but according to Christianity this doesn’t have to be the case.

When the great ape known by its Latin name Homo Sapiens had evolved to the point where its mind was capable of thinking spiritually, God declared that Man (“Adam”) had arrived, a creature in God’s own image. At last there was life on God’s earth capable of being aware of the existence of the Creator. God had great plans for mankind. He looked forward to a thriving relationship with us.

Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!
Genesis 1,31

Man, unfortunately, soon had other ideas and rebelled. He decided he didn’t need God. He felt perfectly capable of looking after himself, the animal kingdom and the environment without any help.

Let’s get one thing clear: God does not cause our misfortunes - nature, other people and random events do that and sometimes our own actions can bring us trouble too.

After having waited millions of years for spiritual Man to evolve, would it make any sense for the Creator to look for new ways to make life miserable and dangerous? Having made Man the only creature in the animal kingdom to have a soul, would God deliberately make life soul-destroying? That wouldn’t make any sense.

In fact God did the opposite. Knowing that the world was a very dangerous place, He gave Man a number of major advantages over the animal kingdom to help prevent or alleviate suffering, including

The ability to talk (allowing knowledge to be shared)

Choose knowledge rather than the finest gold.
Proverbs 8,10
Large, versatile brains (allowing people to develop medicine, the arts, teaching, science, technology, etc.)

Intelligent people are always ready to learn.
Their ears are open for knowledge.
Proverbs 18,15
The ability to domesticate animals (horses for transport, sheep for wool, dogs for protection, etc.) with the responsibility to care for them

Good people are kind to their animals.
Proverbs 12,10
A conscience (essential for living in harmony with others)

Treat people the same way you want them to treat you.
Matthew 7,12

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Matthew 5,9
An awareness of the environment (the environment is a gift from God and must be treated with great respect)

You must not pollute the land where you live.
Numbers 35,33
Talents (everybody is born with talents. God is very pleased when people use them and less than pleased when they don’t. In Jesus’ day a talent was an extremely valuable gold coin. He told a story about people using the coins they had been given. Some used the money wisely, but one of them wasted his. The person who had given them the coins was very pleased with those who had used their talents, but angry with the man who failed to use his.

Talented people, i.e. everybody, have a gift. The existence of a gift means there must be a giver. Have you ever wondered who that Giver is?)

If we were to use our God-given abilities and talents and combine them with our God-given consciences (here I’m thinking about politicians world-wide), might we perhaps be able to eliminate a lot of the humanity’s suffering? The world’s charities are showing the way, but they don’t have the power politicians have.

Finally, knowing that in the hostile world we wouldn’t always be able to cope by ourselves, God gave us the power of prayer. No animal is capable of prayer, but every human culture throughout history shows evidence of people praying. This is not a coincidence. I’m convinced that whatever religion they practise, God looks favourably on all people who call out to Him.

Now that people are forgetting how to pray they ask, “Where is God when we need Him?” Previous generations, used to praying at least once a week (Sundays), and used to having their prayers answered, would have thought that was a strange question.

I was ready to answer my people’s prayers, but they did not pray.
Isaiah 65,1

In answer to the original question, “God allows so much suffering in the world. True or False?” I’m sure the answer is “False” - The universe, our planet, and some sections of society are often hostile and dangerous. God recognises this and has given us the means to make life a lot better, not only for ourselves, but also for those less fortunate than us. He is always there to help us fight the suffering, to solve the problems and to supply us with good ideas. God is not against us - He is for us. So much more can be achieved in partnership with God than by fighting Him!

Science helps us to understand the world around us so we can then devise ways of protecting ourselves from nature’s more dangerous aspects. Our God-given consciences are there to stop us treating our fellow human beings, animals and the environment badly. Our God-given souls urge us to reach out to people (and animals) in need and give them love.

Because so much of the problem is the fault of humans (crime, war, climate change, corruption, etc.), He expects us to work at the task, but is more than happy to help us if we only ask. 😊