We often get challenged with the question, why? If God, loves us so much, why does He allow us to suffer? Why does He allow bad things to happen to good people? There are, of course, many variations on a theme. Some even accuse God of causing suffering and pain. While I don’t agree that God causes suffering and pain, I do believe he allows it to happen.
When we look all the way back to the beginning, when God created Adam and Eve, he intentionally left the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden and then commanded them not to eat from that tree. Did he create the temptation? No, the devil did that. What God created was a choice; to follow Him or to follow our own desires. Choice gives us the right to take God’s love and never return it. While it pains God, when we do not return it, He wants us to choose to love Him so that our love is genuine. He could have created robots, pre-programmed to automatically love Him but that love is not genuine.
Here’s what I believe. God wants us to experience situations that seem like they are too much, that are too overwhelming, because that’s where we turn to Him. When we reach the end of ourselves, we learn to turn to God in everything and let God take over. That not only demonstrates trust in God but also demonstrates a deep love for the Father, when we give ourselves over to Him.
We have also heard that God never gives us more than we can handle but that is a misquote of 1 Corinthians 10:13 which says, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” He only protects us from overwhelming temptation, not from overwhelming suffering.
Next time you enter a season of what seems like overwhelming suffering, remember to lean into God and let Him take care of it for you.