Loaded Questions | Part 2: If God Is So Good, Why Is There So Much Suffering?

Well, I am certain that every person in this room has at one time or another Taken medication for something on every bottle or box of medication. There are two distinct labels One describes the benefits of that medication and what it will provide How it will ease your pain how it will solve your issues How will alleviate your discomfort and for that we are all eternally thankful But on the other side of the bottle or the box is a warning label This label explains all of the side effects that this medication can potentially produce dizziness nausea or worse But we always end up taking it anyway, because the reality is in order to experience the blessing You must be willing to risk the burdens as well In order to experience the blessing you must be willing to risk the burdens as well I mention it because I am convinced that life should also come with both of these labels attached Somewhere stuck on every newborn baby Should be these two labels It's one that says get ready. This life will produce fun adventure excitement love and joy But warning this journey also has the potential to cause illness and betrayal and sorrow and loss and Disappointment and pain and struggle if you have lived any length of time at all You know and know well that life is not all honey and no bees it is full of unexpected twists It is full of unexpected turns and struggles and pain and difficulty And the truth is God actually did give us a warning label for life in John chapter 16 in verse 33 When Jesus was straight up with us very up front and clear with us when he said this he said I have told you all These things so that you may have peace in me Because here on earth you will have many trials and sorrow not you may not you might Not you not if you if not You may be able to escape it you will if you're gonna live in this earth You're gonna know pain and struggle and difficulty and sorrows, but I thank God he finished it But don't lose heart because I have overcome The world well welcome to canvas Church and to the second week of our series that we are calling

Loaded questions and if you're with us for the first time today, let me tell you why we're calling it that we're calling it that because we're taking four weeks and tackling some of the most controversial and Frequently asked questions that people have had about God and faith and religion for centuries and quite honestly are still asking today And if you weren't with us last week I want to encourage you to go back and listen to the very first one because we tackled the question is Jesus really the only way to heaven and the only way to God out of 4,200 religions and out of five major denominations which compile those 4,200 religions Really is Jesus really the only way and what proof do we have last week? We tackled that and talked about it and I want to encourage you to go watch it this week We're gonna we're gonna tackle another one that I've probably heard I don't know maybe more than any of the ones that we're gonna have during our series Maybe you've asked it yourself and it's this one if God is so good if God is so good Then why why is there so much pain? And why is there so much suffering in this world? In fact a national survey was conducted about nine years ago and people were asked if you could ask God one question What would it be by far of those that were polled? This was the question that people wanted to ask God Why do you allow so much suffering in the world and it's not a new question It's been asked for thousands and thousands of years even in the Bible itself by some Old Testament Characters people like Job asked it people like Isaiah Asked it people like King David asked it in the Psalms people like Solomon his son I mean if you just look back over just the last recent history Let's say a hundred and twenty years of our lives or our generations. You don't even have to go back thousands of years Just just just look at what we've witnessed. We've witnessed two world wars The Holocaust famines in Africa the killing fields of Cambodia the emergence of AIDS the genocide of Rwanda the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo attacks of 9-eleven and even if you turn on the news today you're going to always see unrest around the world including what's happening right now in Sudan and Japan if you have never really asked this question before you will Eventually and if you live long enough you will struggle with this question on some level and let me just drop down into it and say I really think and believe one of the Problems that we have when we talk about this question is that we are just though limited as human beings.

The Bible actually says in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 12 that while we are relegated as humans to live in this world, he says it like this. He said, we see things dimly. We see things darkly. In other words, the Bible is giving us indication that there are just some things that are beyond our finite human capacity and perspective to fully grasp. In other words, there will just be some things God said that you will never fully be clear to you or that you will fully understand. Some things may always be a little hazy and a little hard to figure out. But I want you to listen to this carefully. While no human can fully answer the questions that arise in our mind about the pain and the suffering in this world, this is so important to understand. There are some things, there are some things that we can understand about suffering and about tragedy and about pain that actually can help us do what Jesus said we could have, peace that passes understanding. That even in a world where we wonder about certain things and always will, Jesus told us that if we did it right and if we trusted him completely, there are some things that we can do to still have peace in a restless world, to still have joy in a dark and difficult world. About 20 years ago, 18 years ago,

I had a speaking engagement in South Florida and one of my friends is a pilot and owns his own small private plane. And he agreed to fly me to South Florida, just he and I for my speaking engagement. We flew down in great weather and in the daytime, but when we came back, we came back in really, really bad weather and we came back at night, about nine or 10 o'clock at night. As we were making our slow descent about 20 miles out, we not only were in bad weather at night, but we hit clouds and heavy, heavy, heavy fog. Again, it was night and you could not see anything. When I say you couldn't see anything, bro, I mean you couldn't see anything. The only thing that we could see was the weather hitting the windshield and that little plane was being tossed around like crazy. Now, you may know this, you may not, but when pilots learn to fly, there are two categories that they learn to fly by. One is VFR or visual flight rules and one is IFR or instrument flight rules. In other words, under ideal conditions, pilots can navigate easily by simply seeing visually where they are and then adjusting the plane accordingly. There's not a lot of guesswork to it. There's not a lot of trust involved because all they have to do, through the luxury of being able to see,

is clearly visualize what they're looking at and then make their adjustments accordingly. It's wonderful. But when the conditions are dark, when the conditions are difficult and all of your ability to visually assess your surroundings are taken away, they must completely trust what the instruments are telling them. No matter what they feel about spatial orientation or whether they feel they're sideways or feel they're upside down or feel how far from the ground they are, no matter how they feel, they must rely completely on what the instruments are telling them. I'm not gonna lie to you. It was highly uncomfortable for me. It was extremely unnerving for me. It was incredibly unsettling to me. But that panel, that instrument panel, was lit up like a Christmas tree and was constantly conveying information to my friend, that accurate information. And as long as we followed closely to what it said, it didn't matter what we could not see, we could trust that we were safe and we were at peace, even though the conditions were not ideal. There were navigational points that allowed us to remain calm,

even though we were blinded to certain things that we wished we could see clearly. Now listen carefully. As believers and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, there are going to be many, many, many, many moments in this life that we are going to have to live and navigate by IFR. Or let me say it this way, BFR. Biblically, biblical flight rules. There will be many dark nights, there will be many treacherous moments, there will be many confusing times that we will not be able to see what we wish we could see or understand what we wish we could understand, and we are going to have to rely completely on the information the Word of God gives us and put our trust completely in it. And if we do, no matter how inclement the weather around us in life is, no matter how dark, we can have what Jesus said is peace, that passes understanding, not because of what we see or understand, but because of His promise and because of His Word. Now, I'm telling you, this is the truth. Most of our lives that we live in this world, we are going to have to trust God's Word. That's why He said, Is that when we walk he's talking about walking by faith. He says we don't walk by sight We walk by faith when we walk in this life following Jesus You if you only walk by what you see and what you feel and what you can fully understand

You will never not walk along with Christ because there will be so much in this life that we will not fully understand There are key biblical truths that can guide us and while we will not ever be able to see everything perfectly clear if we stay close to these navigational points We can still again have peace that passes understanding and confidence just as Jesus said We could so today what I want to do if I could just take the illustration that I gave you I want us to look as we tackle this loaded question today at four Navigational points that we need to keep close at all times in order to find peace Even in the pain and the suffering of this world. Remember what we're talking about. Is there going to be things? You're not gonna understand in life. You're not gonna understand why that happened why this happened why that happened to me how this transpired? Why did all this occur? But there are four navigational points like instruments off that planes and analogics that if they can Give us the the confidence that we need if we live our life by them. They will help us find peace Let me give you the first one. This is the first one you have to settle right now Navigational point number one. It is vital to remember It is crucial to remember that God is not the creator of Evil and God is not the creator of suffering. I have heard so many people ask Well, I mean, why didn't God just create a world where suffering and pain and struggle did not exist? The answer is he did He did Genesis chapter 1 and verse 31 in the very beginning of it all when he was creating the world Then God looked over all that he had made and when he looked at it, he saw that it wasn't just good It was really good, bro. It was very good. Everything was great Everything was perfect. There was no sin. There was no evil. There was no pain. There was no disease. There was no dying There was no betrayal. There was no brutality. There was none of that in the garden He put man in a perfect environment. Well, if he didn't create evil or pain, then where did evil and pain come from? Hmm Look at your neighbor and just point at them say you sucker you did it. All right, that'll say that I'm just kidding But it's the truth If you really want to know where pain and suffering came from it came from us God created human beings with free will because it was the only way for there to be true exchange of love and fellowship

Real love can only exist when the choice not to love is also present and there came a time when man indeed chose not to not to honor God not to love God not to follow God and not to obey God and when this Happened two kinds of evil entered into this world moral evil and natural evil moral evil is the immorality and pain and suffering that comes as the result of human selfishness and self-centeredness and pride for example Sometimes I hear people say about why would God allow so many billions of people in this world to starve to death or to go? Hungry every night and they wonder why God wouldn't just fix world hunger. What is happening? well, let me give you a little bit of insight to moral evil and an estimate was done in 2001 and in 2001 a study came to the conclusion that the world produces enough food for all 7.2 billion people to have at least 3,000 calories of food a day, but they don't why? because there's still too many people on this planet that wants way more than seven than 3,000 calories a day and Because they want more than 3,000 calories a day that inner desire for more that comes from our broken human condition It causes people somewhere else on the other side of this planet to starve every day So what I'm saying is listen carefully We must be careful when assigning blame to God for things that actually we have the potential to fix but won't I Know thanks that one person one person the other people are like this dude's making me mad already. I don't even like this sermon Hold on. It's gonna get worse for it gets better probably I Hear this all the time and it's such it's such bull People's people say this all flippantly and off the cuff when I get to heaven I'm gonna ask God some questions and one of the questions I'm gonna ask God is why did you let so many people suffer? Why'd you let so many people go hungry? You better be careful with that question because God's gonna look right back at you and said that's the question I've had for you for years Because I gave you all that you needed on the planet to fix some of the things that you constantly been blaming me for But you wouldn't do it you wanted me to snap my fingers, but it was gonna take a little bit of effort From you, but you wouldn't See we're gonna have to be careful

And by the way, you won't be thinking about no questions when you're standing in line Anyways, let me just go ahead and tell you that You're going to be just hoping the questions come clean and clear for you on the other end But but but there's moral evil moral evil is is that there's a selfishness inside all of us including me There's a pride inside of us including me. There's things inside sin has done that and then there is natural evil These are the things that happen in our world like earthquakes tornadoes hurricanes fires natural disasters that cause death pain and suffering These two are the results of sin and rebellion that entered the world through us I was reading behind one author last week a guy by the name of john ortberg and he he he's basically talking about What genesis and revelations say about this very thing? And and he said this i'm going to show it to you John ortberg said when man told god to leave us alone and mind his own business He partially honored our request nature began to revolt against man the earth that once produced only good fruit, which is absolutely true The earth that only produced good fruit began to immediately spring up with thorns and thistles. You can read that in genesis Genetic breakdown and disease became a part of man's new existence and pain and death became a part of the human experience Did you know that the bible says in romans chapter 8 that the earth groans? Waiting for the day when god will come and make all things new It gives us this picture of a world that is wailing in pain Wailing in pain waiting for the redemption of itself through what god will do in revelation when he purges this earth So we live in a world that when sin entered into it Not only did our sin and our moral evil cause pain for other people and for each other But there are there are natural pains that come as a result of the earth groaning Waiting for the day of god when all things will be made new So god isn't the author of pain and suffering it is in one way or another related to the initial fall and rebellion of man from god Now here's another question. I gotta hit it. I gotta hit it a glancing blow before we move on Some some people i've asked i've heard asked this question. They said okay pastor. I get it sin did it But let me ask this if god is sovereign If god knows everything from the past and the future Couldn't god have seen and foreseen that all of this was going to happen and stop it The answer is of course of course

But if you're a parent in this room today, you know better than anyone and understand better than anyone why he did not How many of you got children? Let me see your hands. All right, that's a bunch of us You love your children you you thank god for your children the joy they bring to your life But if you haven't thought about killing them at least three times in your life, you're a liar Especially when they're like 16 You start thinking about how to hide a body and could I actually get away with it When children come into your life We prayed for them we asked god for them. They're a blessing to us They bring such joy, but listen sometimes isn't it amazing how deep they can hurt you? Isn't it amazing how how much they can break your heart how angry they can make you how? Disappointed at times you are with their actions, but even armed with that knowledge They're in a parent in this room who would who would who would hesitate to do it all over again? Because of the incomparable joy and love that our children have brought to our lives Of course god knew that some people were going to spit in his face Of course god knew that some children would turn and never love him But he also knew that there would be many that would that there would be many that would honor him and choose him and love Him and to him like any good father. It was Worth it navigational point number two Though pain and suffering isn't good. I love this and thank god for the scriptures that teach us this God knows how to leverage it to produce something good in our life Not only does the bible tell us that but i've lived long enough now to absolutely testify that this is one hundred percent True pain has the potential to produce some of the most powerful and beautiful things that our lives have ever seen There are many but let me just give you two that stand out to me in life Number one pain has the potential to draw us to god. I can tell you that's how I came to god I can tell you that god used it He wasn't the author of my sin or the author of my pain But he allowed me to get painted into a corner where I was so miserable and I was so Overwhelmed that it drove me back to god c.s. Lewis once said this He said god whispers to us in our pleasure and he speaks to us in our conscious

But he shouts to us in our pain It is a megaphone he uses at times to awaken a sleeping world to his presence It is absolutely true because when we're happy when we're full when we're trouble-free god is Afterthought but when trouble difficulty and pain rush into our lives God is our only thought Because we know that we are over our heads and only he has the ability to redeem and rescue and save us from our plight I have learned to see pains Necessary place in my life. I'm telling you that I don't like it. I don't want it I'm not standing up here telling you that when it comes I go Whoa, what I'm telling you is is that when it does come I've lived long enough now to understand that He's such a good father that he uses that pain He didn't originate it or create it, but he uses it to draw me back to his heart I want you to listen to the scripture in 2nd Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 10 in the message Distress that drives us to God serves to turn us around and get us back in the way of salvation Watch what Paul said we should never regret that kind of pain He said if it brought us back to God if it brought us back to the heart of our father Even though it hurt and and it was difficult and it was dark and it was painful We should never regret that it happened We should be able to say thanks be to God for what it produced in my life Not only does it draw us to God, but I've learned that pain sharpens our character Romans chapter 5 in verse 3 We continue to give praise even when we are hemmed in with troubles Why because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us What's he saying? He's saying we learn we grow we mature not always through pleasure But we always mature through pain. We learn courage to press forward and not quit We learn honor to do the right thing even when it's inconvenient to do so we develop tenacity Perseverance it makes us examine ourselves and see things. We would never see any other way, by the way Did you know in Hebrews chapter 5 in verse 8 that it literally says that Jesus learned obedience to his father? through his suffering if Jesus if Jesus learned obedience through suffering Then what in the world makes us think it will not be true of us if

Jesus learned it through suffering and through pain What makes us believe we will ever be exempt from it as well? Well pain never seems good I know I know dude again. I'm not rich. I don't rejoice in pain. I don't rejoice in struggle I know the Bible even tells us we should but I know it's so difficult as a limited human I have lived long enough now To understand that God in his wisdom in his grace in his mercy Knows how to leverage it to produce something beautiful and wonderful and good in our lives And if we hold on to that navigational beacon when the dark days come they will get you through and you can know peace that passes Understanding now, I want to give you navigational point number three And I want you to hear this because this is the truth if I've ever told it to you we can actually choose Whether pain and suffering makes us bitter or Makes us better the Bible clearly tells us that we have the ability to choose We have the ability to live by faith that we have the ability for for us to just be mad at God and complain and get Bitter and get turned inside out and every one of us in this room have seen examples of it We have seen examples of how the same suffering that causes one person to turn bitter Reject God grow hard and get angry towards life can cause another person in the exact same scenario To turn to God become more gentle and merciful and be willing to use that suffering to actually help others Suffering will either cause you to run from God or it will cause you to run to God It is not the actions that life takes against us that matter as much as our reactions to those actions It is not so much the actions that life takes against us that matters as much as our reactions to those Actions, this is why God promised us and said to us over and over my grace is sufficient My grace is enough. There's gonna be some things Jesus said in life that you will never get over Maybe some scars that you will carry with you for the rest of your life But because of his grace and his mercy it will get you through you may not get over it But because of his love he will get you through it and I thank God every day for that promise Every week that I preach here I know that given the size of our church at any given time someone in this room is Enduring the most difficult pain and suffering of their life I know that they're going through the darkest days of their life somebody

Somewhere is and my prayer is that in the middle of it that you would run smack into the middle of God's love and grace And that you would use that grace to believe that even though problems are present and pain is great that somehow because of God the best truly is yet to come, that you will come through it and come through it better and stronger than you have ever been before, but it's only up to you to believe whether that's true or not. It's a choice that God gives us to choose life or death. Whatever happens in our life, we either choose to believe God or we choose to reject God. We choose to get bitter or we choose to let it make us better. Navigational point number four and I thank God for this one more than any other. Whatever we endure here, whatever happens in this life y'all, whatever happens in this life will pale in comparison to what God has promised to those who love him and trust him. I want you to listen to the words written by a guy who was never married, who didn't own a home. He was beaten mercilessly on numerous occasions, shipwrecked and in prison more times than he could count and he did it and all that happened to him while he was doing God's perfect will in his life and I want you to hear what he wrote. It's in second Corinthians chapter four. The apostle Paul said a couple things that just blow me away. I want to read it to you in the message because I just love the way that it's worded in that translation. Paul said these hard times and they are hard. These hard times and they are hard. They're hard for you, they're hard for Paul, they're hard for me. We're all going to go through hard times. Here's what they are though. They're small potatoes compared to the coming good times. The lavish celebration that God has prepared for us and then he told the church in Rome what we suffer now because we are suffering is nothing compared to the glory that he will reveal to us later. Let me, let me, let me do it like this. Let's say that in one day in 2023, okay, on one day in 2023, you lose your job, you crash your car, a dear and trusted friend betrays you, and you fall and break your leg all in one day. Now, I don't care who you are, that's a bad day, bro. That's a bad stinking day. But then in the other 364 days, stick with me, a very close relative who loves you very, very much hits the power ball. I'm talking about the power ball. I don't mean like a million scratch off. I'm talking about the power ball when it gets a B in front of it. And they call you and they go, you ain't going to believe it. I want you to come over to my house. We're going to sit down. We're going to make a plan. And they take their winnings and they pay

off your home. All of your debt sets you up for the rest of your life. And maybe you were struggling to have a child that you've been praying for. And two months later, you get pregnant and you have your first child that you prayed for forever. Everything turns around in your life. And if you decide you do want to go back to work for some crazy reason, you get a better job with better benefits. And then they let you take a month-long vacation to a dream destination all in 364 days. If you stood in January 1, 2024, and someone asked you, hey, how was your 2023? Without hesitation, without reservation, without equivocation, you would say, oh my God, bro, unbelievable, life-changing, incredible. It was absolutely the greatest year of my life. You wouldn't even mention that one day because in the scope of it all, it would not even matter. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what the Bible and God does over and over and over and over again to try to get us to understand what eternity with him will be like. That whatever pain, whatever heartache, whatever illness, whatever betrayal, whatever difficulty that you and I ever face on this planet during this life cannot even be compared to the glory that God will reveal to us for all of eternity. And God, and if you believe that, if you believe what I'm preaching, if you believe the Bible, if you believe God, I promise you that alone will change the way you live your life here. It'll change the way you see life. It'll change the way you react to the pain of life. See it differently if you understand that this wonderful life, and I thank God for it, this beautiful life, and I thank God for it, this amazing life that is so saturated with pain and difficulty and heartache, is nothing, is nothing but a microscopic half-drop of the bucket of the eternity of joy and peace and grace and love that He will provide for us one day if we are faithful to Him. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. I love the story of British pastor Galvin Reed. Galvin Reed tells about meeting a young 17-year-old boy in Scotland who had battled leukemia nearly his entire life. He'd been on the brink of death on seven different occasions. Galvin said when he would meet this young boy, he was so overwhelmed by his resolve, by his optimism, by his spirit.

He was never down. He was never discouraged. And Galvin was just obsessed with this 17-year-old boy because of everything that he'd been through. And one day, Galvin said that he asked this young boy when they were talking, he said, young man, I've got to ask you, how many years have you spent in and out of hospitals in your life? And the boy said without hesitation, 13 and a half years. I've spent 13 and a half years either in a hospital or going to the hospital or just returning from the hospital. That's what my life has basically been. And Galvin just shook his head and he said, you know, son, some people wouldn't think that's very fair at all. Galvin said, his response changed my life. He said, well, God's got all of eternity to make it up to me. And friend, he will. He will. Because when I preach about God, I'm not just preaching about a promise maker, baby. He's a promise keeper. And whatever he said, he will see through. And we can build our lives on it. We can hang our lives on it. And in spite of the pain and the difficulty, God is good. God isn't just good when life is good. He's just good. He's not just good when I got money. He's good when I'm broke, baby. He ain't just good when I'm well. He's good when I'm sick. He's not just good when everything goes up and to the right the way I want it. No, no, no. He's just good.

And when we settle that in our heart, life changes for all of us. It's why he said in Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6, Scripture says, trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Not some, all of your heart. And don't just depend on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge God. Lean on God, and he will show you the right way. The writer of Proverbs is saying, I got a secret. When life leans hard on you, you lean hard on God. And you watch what our Father is able to do.