IF you have ever played "donkey", you will know that it can be a lot of fun. A huge drawing of the animal is pinned up, minus its tail. The tail, a piece of material or rope, has then to be pinned on by the players. The snag is that they are blindfolded first. The tail can finish up in some unlikely places, and especially if the donkey is moved around a little too!
I am always reminded of this game when people talk about suffering. "I cannot possibly believe in a God who allows such dreadful suffering;" I hear people say. "How can there be a God if He lets such things go on?" "If there is a God, why doesn't He do something about it?"

These are understandable questions, but they are a bit like the tail of the donkey. They cannot be properly understood until the whole picture is in place.

Once we appreciate more of God's purpose and love, it becomes easier to understand the place of suffering. And it becomes easier to accept what we cannot understand or explain.

The Reason For Suffering
True love does not mean giving in to every whim. Love cares. It is concerned with what is best for the one loved. If we really love someone we sometimes have to tell them things, for their own good, that may be painful. We have to "be cruel to be kind", we say. Flattery is a deceitful thing as is plain from this proverb:-

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful."
(Proverbs 27:6)

God disciplined Israel in that way. He allowed them to suffer famine circumstances. Then He provided food for them. The Bible tells us why Israel had to suffer in this way.

"...the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. So he humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna…"
(Deuteronomy 8:2-3)

The love of God sometimes involves suffering and sadness therefore. Look at these seemingly strange words about Jesus from which it is clear that God's love is different from the way we think:-

"Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was."
(John 11:5-6)

Jesus did not rush to be at Lazarus's bedside. Instead he deliberately stayed where he was and allowed Lazarus to die. It did not mean that Jesus loved Lazarus any less because of this. It means that this is a love we do not always readily comprehend.

From this we must conclude that suffering and grief often have a purpose. In the lives of those who love God they may often have a part to play. God's love is more concerned with our eternal well-being. He may use things which we regard as dreadful and tragic as part of our training. By these, He may test, and shape, and prepare for eternal life, those He loves.

There is much suffering, however, which is not of God at all. Indeed, by far the greatest suffering is brought about by man. It was because Adam sinned that corruption first came into the world. It was man's sin that caused the advent of disease and death. It is because we too are sinners that we are subject to such things.

From God or Man?
Man's inhumanity to man is easily the major cause of suffering. Famines and disasters are often the result of his greed and folly. It is his hatred and avarice which lie at the root of all wars. The huge arsenals of weapons testify to our foolishness. We may say we desire peace, but the evidence in every nation is all the other way.

Even though there may occasionally be a truce in the stockpiling of weapons, it is only temporary. All the peace agreements in the world are doomed to failure ultimately. True peace can only be based on righteousness, and man is not righteous.

"The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever."
(Isaiah 32:17)

Why doesn't God do something about it?
He has! God has intervened by sending Jesus. God will put a stop to this headlong rush to destruction in which man is involved. It is the righteous life of Jesus Christ which has ensured that eventually our world will have peace. Jesus is coming back to disarm forcibly the nations and create the peace we need.

"For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, And shall rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, And their spears into pruning-hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war any more."
(Isaiah 2:3-4)

It is no use then to use suffering to pretend that there is no God. We cannot have it both ways. We cannot question God's existence and at the same time blame Him for the state of our world. Suffering is largely man's responsibility. It may sometimes be used by God to discipline or train His people.

The Need For Repentance
This does not provide the complete answer to every cause of sadness. Sometimes there are apparently "innocent" victims for which no explanation is immediately available. Nor must we suppose that suffering is in any way a direct punishment for sin. Severity of suffering in no way reflects degrees of sin as Jesus himself said:

"Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."
(Luke 13:4-5)

It is our repentance that is paramount here. One way or another we are all doomed without trust in God's ability to deliver. Those who pour scorn on a God they cannot understand or accept, have no solution to suffering themselves.

Our need is to come in humility to the One who can save. We shall then find that suffering is the tail end of a complex story. If we can accept the love of God we shall wait in faith for the coming of the Lord. Then we may understand the whole of His purpose. 