Why Suffering?

By Corporal Nathan Chan of the 10th Kuala Lumpur Company

Published November 28th, 2014

Sure, there are benefits to feel pain. Sure, without pain, we could seriously injure ourselves. Yet I still wonder, why does God allow injury to happen in the first place? If God is powerful and loving, why did He create us in a world with so much suffering?

Suffering makes us who we are today. It is normal to think of ourselves in a world of suffering, then compare it to a world with much less suffering, and wonder: “Why didn’t God create us in a world, in a time with less suffering?”

The truth is that if there was no suffering, neither would there be any us. Think of it. My grandmother’s family migrated from China partly due to the suffering caused by World War II. If the world was without suffering, she could still be in China. My grandfather may be married to another. My dad would never have existed, and neither would I.

Suffering is also what makes people great. Take any person you consider great. Now consider that person’s character, and how it was developed. Think of that person’s relationships, and how they moulded that person.

Then take away all that hardship. Take away all that suffering that person went through. Take away all the suffering that made that person’s family. Take away everything that formed that person’s culture. Take away all the suffering that person helped others get through. All a sudden, that great person wouldn’t look so great after all.

Sir William Alexander Smith was born into a Scottish family. The Scots are a people invaded by many. First the Romans, then the Vikings… Sir William’s father died when he was not even 14 years old - it was because of this death that Sir William’s family moved to Glasgow.

He had to quit school at the age of 15, after only 4 months in school, to support his family financially. By the time he even thought of forming a uniformed organization, he had gone through a lot of suffering. Then he had to suffer teaching a group of extremely mischievous Sunday school students.

It was fitting that God ... should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. (Hebrews 2:10)

Suffering is what made Jesus, Our Great Captain perfect. Sure, He was already perfect when He was born in that crib. Sure, He never did any wrong during His childhood. Yet moral perfection is only one type of perfection.

To be perfect, Jesus had to go through the worst type of suffering ever. Jesus could not be declared perfect if He wasn’t tested, just as we can’t say we have perfect scores if we don’t sit for any exam. Jesus was only perfect because He did not sin in any way even when He knew of the consequences of obedience to His Father.

God loves us more than we can ever imagine. That is why He allowed for a world of suffering - so that we might exist, so that we might care for each other and so that Our Great Captain may be made perfect.

Page Created: 28th November 2014
Last Updated: 28th November 2014