Why Does God Allow Pain?

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Hi, for the Salvation Army, this is Bernie Dake. And I'm Cheryl Gillum. Cheryl, it's good to be back in the studio with you.

It is so good to have you back. This is the third episode of our series called Skeptics Welcome. And again, we are so grateful to everyone who sent in their own questions, or ones that they've had from friends and family wrestling with their faith. Ken Argot has been doing an incredible job walking us through some of the toughest questions most of us have had at one point or another.

That's right. And this week, Ken discusses a specific question a listener sent in, why doesn't God end wars? But really, this turns into the big question of why do bad things happen to good people? Now, I don't know about you, but I have friends that love the Lord and friends that don't know Him.

And I think that's a popular theme. People want to know how could a loving God let bad things happen? But we're in a fallen world.

Yeah, we are. And I mean, every single one of us has had situations and things. I mean, you just walked through something that was bad, right? But it really strengthened your faith and allowed you to come closer to the Lord, because you allowed it to. So you have a free will to choose at that point, how you're going to view it, what lens you're going to view it through. And as believers, we hopefully choose to view it through our faith.

That's right. Obviously, there's a lot to unpack here, but Ken has done a great job preparing, and we can't wait for you to hear exactly that. Well, good morning. Welcome back to our show, Skeptics Welcome.

Are you a skeptic? Well, some of you are, because you sent in a bunch of questions for us. And one of the questions that I didn't get a chance to answer last week was this issue about why doesn't God just end all wars? I mean, there are a lot of reasons that we have wars. There's this nationalism that we actually set up and we propagate, that our nation is better than every other nation and creates these jealousies and sometimes hoarding of resources and ethnocentrism.

We have to be really careful, because I love the country from which I am part of, a citizen of the United States. But how did I get so blessed just to be born here? And do I get all those rights and privileges just because I was born here where someone in possibly a third world country has no rights?

How does that all work? Religion is probably one of the other reasons why people fight, right? Because God evidently ordained some borders and are some people lesser in God's eyes so that they can't have that promised land that other people have? And the Bible even seems to set us up for this, which we're going to talk about down the road.

But how do we deal with that? And what about civil war when these minority groups rise for control or majority groups seem to seize control of other people and oppress them? What about resources and the need for people to feel like they need to expand their territory in order to get some of those resources because the other country might be hogging them from them or maybe a high tax so that they can never have it? All this is included because of God's initial command that I give you permission to rule the earth. And we talked about this last week that the selfishness of man is what creates this. And we can say all we want to about perhaps those persons in power or maybe those warmongers and we could maybe even say a few commanders or whatever at this point. But the truth is each one of us has that selfishness ingrained in us because once you've been blessed, you really don't want to give up what you already have to share with somebody else who might not be in need.

You feel like you earned it. So we need to be careful in passing judgment upon others when we ourselves are not willing to do what we're supposed to do to bring peace to the entire earth by sharing with those who don't have what they need. So if God cares, what is he actually doing if nothing is indeed changing? Well, for one, can I remind you about Jesus and the fact that God himself disrobed himself of all power and came to live among us, actually giving up his power to be raised by us as human beings, and then came and walked among us and taught us, and not only that submitted himself back to us as we crucified him on a cross. Wow, God gave up his power and selfishness so that we could be raised to life because it doesn't stop at the cross. There's the empty tomb in which God then re-gives his power back to us, and then the anointing of the Holy Spirit through Pentecost, God is using us to bring back order to the universe. He's speaking into individuals who are not undergoing trial to fight against injustice.

There's this idea of just war theory, that there are some wars that are just because someone is so selfish, some country might be so selfish in what they are trying to accomplish, that we have to go to war because there's no other alternative. Perhaps God is speaking to someone to rescue those who feel victimized, to go into those places of the poor, to go into those places of the poor. William Booth in Darkest England, when he went there to the east side and preached to those who had nothing. Perhaps you were being called to stand against leaders who oppress others or seek national gain at the expense of others. Maybe you are the whistleblower or the one who's going to stand up and say something that might be unpopular, but God has called you to do it. For those who are enduring trial, God is also doing something else. First of all, he's teaching them to endure the trial, and that is of great importance itself. Sometimes we need to be taught that we can actually get through difficulties. There's a reason why it hurts to lift weights.

There's a reason why we don't necessarily like to practice the piano over and over and over again. But the truth is those trials and that building up of muscle memory and muscles themselves will actually make us better people. So sometimes God is giving that strength to those who are in that trial so that they can show themselves approved. The other is to actually witness to others to faith when they are going under trial. So in other words, God might be putting this trial in front of you and you are getting through it by God's grace and you are seeking his power. And on the other side, you'll find victory only to find that there is someone who is in the very same place that you were in which you can be a witness to them of how to get through it. The other thing is how to grow stronger in our faith despite the trial.

The fact is that sometimes we try to, when we're in the midst of the trial, do it all ourselves, try to figure out what's the best strategy, how do I get out of this? But the Lord is actually teaching us this concept of prayer, to come close to him, to draw near. And prayer isn't just praying the prayer. Prayer is the constant communion in which in every moment we're asking, Lord, how do you want me to get through this? How do you want me to deal with this issue that's in front of me?

And the Lord does have a solution for you. He wants to be in the miracle-making business of you finding that miracle in him. Because the truth is miracles do happen and we need to continue to tell those stories.

These testimonies are something that has almost gotten lost in our churches because we've put everything on maybe a worship or a message, but it is the testimony of a group of people in which we hear, wow, they made it through, so can I. You might remember the story that I brought up a couple of weeks ago in regard to Elijah being on Mount Carmel and the miracle that happened when the sacrifice was consumed as soon as he called upon God. But we forget maybe the rest of that story where now Elijah is so insecure and fearful that he runs from Ahab and Jezebel, and he actually runs all the way into the desert too far. Mount Carmel's on the northern side of Israel.

The desert's on the southern side of Judah. It's a long way that he runs. And he hides out in a cave and he starts whining to God, Lord, oh, how helpless I am. Why have you left me all alone?

And it says eventually after the earthquake came and the whirlwind came and the fire came, that God just spoke with this still small voice. I've not left you alone. And there are thousands of prophets who have not bowed down to bail. Now get yourself up and go back to where I called you. So today you might feel victimized. Today you might feel like I can't get through this trial and I don't know where God is. I guarantee you he's there. I guarantee you if you quiet your voice, you can hear him in this still small voice saying, I have not abandoned you. I have not abandoned others. And I still have purpose for your life.

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