Once past the science debate the discussion moves to a more philosophical tone. This is when one of the most divisive of all questions is posed by the skeptic. This one question is solely responsible for many people never accepting Christianity and for others leaving the faith altogether. The skeptic will look at the Christian and smile as if a light just turned on.
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Joanne Harris With the grin upon his face he will then ask, "If God exists why does he allow suffering and pain, especially on good people?" The skeptic will then take his hands, clasp them together behind his head and lean back in his chair as he lets out a sigh of victory.

The Christian then feels tiny sweat droplets form at the top of her head. Those droplets of sweat slowly cascade down her forehead into her eyebrows. She clinches her teeth as she attempts to answer the question, but she feels defeated because she has been dealing with that very question herself. This question can often break the debate and leave the Christian stuttering and thanking the skeptic for his time. Some will make up something, but the skeptic can see through the thin veneer of fabricated answers.

I've been there and I have dealt with this very topic on many occasions. Here is what I have learned.

First off, let's look at the basic concept behind the Christian faith: God created humans in His image – perfect and with the ability to choose – complete freedom. Humanity (Adam/Eve) chose sin (to be evil) over God and therefore became slaves to sin in place of being children of God.  God gave law to humanity to define sin and give us a way to shun evil and turn to back to God. He also imposed the ritual of offering a sacrifice (giving up something) in place of the sins. Humanity continued to serve sin. God came to earth as a man – Jesus Christ – and sacrificed Himself to remove the penalty of the sin that we impose upon ourselves. Simply put, God offered payment to buy us back – giving us a chance to cease being servants of sin and once again become children of God.

Pain and suffering are the result of sin. This was never God's plan for humanity, but we made the decision to become servants of evil and therefore suffer the consequences. We cannot put the blame on Adam and Eve because we have all done evil.

Here is a passage that sums it all up:  "This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished." – Romans 3:22-25

I defined why pain and suffering exist – not because God wanted to watch us suffer but because He created us with the freedom to choose our master and we chose poorly. With that said, the question arises as to why Christians still experience pain and suffering.  The skeptic will point out that our own scriptures say that Jesus Christ died for our sins and our healing. They will point out Isaiah 53:5 "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." [An interesting thing – when they bring this verse up they are pointing to a prophecy about Jesus Christ – years before he came to earth. It makes a great side conversation.]

I can get into a very controversial subject about healing and the Bible. I will put it like this; I believe in healing and know that God still heals because I have personally witnessed it. I am not going to address the whole topic about whether or not God always heals Christians who have enough faith. I will make this point, we all die – even the disciples died – so physical healing is still based upon the will of God to what extent he allows us to live.

Christians do still suffer.  Christian people lose their children, die in disasters, are tortured, etc. We suffer alongside those who do not believe in Jesus Christ. How do we explain this? Salvation is not a free ticket to a fun filled life with no pain, its freedom from sin. This really should be sufficient. If God did nothing on the cross but release us from the prison of sin, wouldn't that be adequate? We get to spend eternity with God and shun hell. That is reward enough, not matter what trials we face while on this planet.

It's not a question about why God allows suffering but why God allows us to experience joy, hope, peace and contentment in the midst of the chaos on planet earth. The question of why God allows pain and suffering is from the wrong perspective because it focuses on a selfish motive. God gives us a wonderful gift in rescuing us from the clutches of evil and that should be more than enough.

Here's the question for the skeptic – Why is it that Christians maintain hope, comfort, purpose and peace in the midst of tragedy?