Why Does God Allow the Innocent to Suffer? Understanding Why Even Children Suffer

In the last study, I covered the topic of original sin. We saw that the Bible does not support the idea of guilt being passed from parents to their children. That leaves us with some very important questions.

If guilt isn’t passed on to children, then why did God destroy innocent children in Noah’s flood? What about children with cancer? Why doesn’t God stop child abuse? If suffering and death are punishments for sin, then why do the innocent suffer at all?

These things are not contradictions. The Bible doesn’t actually tell us that suffering and death exist only as punishment. Nor does it tell us that suffering is limited to affecting only the guilty.

The Bible doesn’t try to hide the fact that the innocent suffer, sometimes even at the hands of God Himself.

The question is why. How can a loving God allow the innocent to suffer? Why is there no difference between the suffering of the wicked and the suffering of the innocent?

Suffering Has Many Purposes

God is not unrighteous for allowing the innocent to suffer. There are actually many good reasons for it.

Suffering Provides Exercise

Solomon plainly tells us that one reason suffering is given to us is in order to exercise us. Conflict causes us to grow. In fact, suffering can be good for us.

When God said the ground was cursed “for thy sake,” the phrase can be understood in two ways. First, and most obviously, it can mean “because of Adam.” But it can also mean “for the good of Adam.”

Without the suffering that comes through hard work, we would be very different. Imagine a world where no one had to work. Imagine everything being handed to us on a silver platter. It sounds appealing in theory, but it would actually be a disaster.

Our bodies would become weak. Our minds would grow dull. We would feel entitled to everything. And our rebellion against God would appear to have no consequences. The result would be people who live carelessly. And careless living results in destruction.

Suffering Teaches

Suffering teaches us. It helps us learn that our actions have consequences. That, in turn, encourages us to choose good over evil. We learn to obey rather than rebel. Instead of becoming complacent, we are exercised through suffering to discern the difference between good and evil.

This is one of the purposes of suffering. It comes to all of us to prevent us from becoming even more rebellious and wicked. The suffering of both the wicked and the innocent is not always punishment.

Consider how your own suffering has perhaps caused you to take pity on others. When the innocent suffer, we learn to have mercy on others. Even Jesus suffered and can therefore understand our frailty.

Sometimes suffering serves the purpose of strengthening us to do what is right. Sometimes it serves the purpose of causing our compassion to grow. And sometimes suffering simply keeps us from becoming ungrateful toward God. But suffering is not always the result of guilt being punished.

Suffering Is Unfair

But even if suffering can be good for us, it still doesn’t seem fair, does it? After all, how does the death of a child cause that child to grow as a person? Obviously, suffering isn’t given merely to make us stronger.

God doesn’t punish the innocent, but He doesn’t always shield them from consequences either. Sometimes those consequences are caused by the actions of others. No, suffering the consequences of someone else’s sin is not fair to the innocent, but it isn’t meant to be. And that’s the real point.

Sin is never as contained as we think it is. The effects of sin spread to families, communities, and even nations. They ripple outward, and their consequences continue for generations. When the innocent suffer, it is often because of the consequences of another person’s sin.

I’ve heard people say many times, “I’m not hurting anyone else,” when trying to justify their sin. We tend to think our sin affects only us. But our sin also hurts others. It’s not fair, and seeing the suffering of the innocent helps us understand that when we sin, we are not being fair to others either.

Many times, we blame that suffering on God, but the fault is our own. We bring about the consequences of sin. God is not being unfair in allowing consequences to come to pass. We are.

Sin has effects that God never intended to be part of our world. He created a perfect world with no sin, no death, and no suffering. It was our choice to sin that introduced all of those things into the world. Suffering and death are not merely punishments; they are also the consequences of throwing a perfect world into chaos.

Death is the result of a self-sustaining world being forced to break down. Suffering is the result of that perfect order becoming imperfect. Suffering exists because something is no longer the way it should be.

God didn’t create the world this way. Our sin unfairly ruined it. We caused it, not Him. He simply allows us to experience the world as we have changed it—a broken and imperfect world where the innocent are forced to suffer because of the actions of others.

One bite of the fruit in Eden was enough to bring pain and suffering upon everything and everyone. Like throwing a small wrench into a machine filled with countless gears, one small act brought the entire system to ruin.

So another reason God allows the innocent to suffer is because sin is not contained. Adam and Eve brought sickness and death into the world, and now we have children with cancer who die far too young. That is the result of a perfect world cast into chaos, not a punishment from God.

It teaches us that sin destroys not only the sinner but everyone and everything around them as well. The suffering of the innocent sometimes serves the purpose of showing the guilty the depth of the destruction that sin brings.

Punishment vs. Consequence

Let’s make sure we understand the difference between punishment and consequence. Too often, we blame God for punishing the innocent for the crimes of the guilty. But there is an important distinction between punishment and consequence.

Punishment — the deliberate infliction of suffering upon someone because of a crime or offense.

Punishment is directed against someone because they are guilty of a crime or offense. Guilt is a necessary part of punishment. If there is no guilt, then whatever suffering occurs cannot truly be called punishment.

Consequence — the result, outcome, or effect that naturally follows an action or condition.

A consequence is not always negative, although it is often spoken of in that context. It does not require guilt or judgment.

The main difference between these two concepts is that punishment happens only to the guilty, while consequences can affect even the innocent.

Imagine a criminal standing before a judge. He is guilty of a crime that will be punished with a long prison sentence. That is punishment.

Now imagine his wife and children sitting in the courtroom as they hear the sentence. They break down in tears, realizing they will never have him in their lives as they once did. They are suffering. That is a consequence.

The court is not punishing his family. They are suffering because of the consequences of his actions. The court is not being cruel or unfair to them. It is carrying out justice for a crime that he committed. The blame for the suffering of his family lies with him, not with the court.

It is important to understand this distinction between punishment and consequence. If we fail to distinguish the two, we may accuse the judge of punishing the innocent instead of recognizing that their suffering is the consequence of another person’s sin rather than a punishment directed at them.

A Perfect World With Imperfect Prisoners

Suffering helps us grow and learn, and it is sometimes the result of another person’s actions rather than our own. But why would God allow something so unfair?

What if God did not allow the sins of others to have any effect on the world around them? What if every sinful action were immediately stopped? Murderers could never kill, thieves could never steal, liars could never deceive, and the worst of humanity could never harm another person. Sin would have no real effects on others.

That sounds wonderful. Surely that’s the kind of world a loving God should have created, right?

Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple.

A world like that may look like paradise from the outside, but the hearts of people would remain evil. We couldn’t hurt others, but we ourselves would remain unchanged.

That’s not a perfect world; it’s a prison. We lock away criminals to keep them from harming others, but many of them would still commit crimes if they were given the opportunity.

We may think there would be no more suffering, but that isn’t true either. It is easy for a righteous person to do what is right, but for an evil person, doing what is right can itself feel like suffering.

We don’t need a world where evil is merely prevented. We need a world where evil is eliminated.

The Real Problem with Evil

That brings us to something called “the problem of evil.” It is often argued that if God cannot stop evil, then He is not all-powerful. If God doesn’t know evil is happening, then He cannot be all-knowing. If God can stop it but chooses not to, then He is not all-loving. That is the argument known as the problem of evil.

But that isn’t actually the real problem. God can end evil, He does see it, and He will stop it. The problem with evil is not with God. The real problem is that the possibility of evil is necessary for love and mercy to be possible as well.

Notice that each description of love requires a choice to act in love. Love is not merely a feeling. Love is a choice. That is something many people have forgotten today. We used to understand that feelings come and go, but love requires commitment even when we don’t feel like it. You may not be able to control your feelings, but you can certainly control your commitments.

Love is so special because the person receiving it recognizes that they have been chosen. They know they are valued. The person who loves them sees worth in them.

The problem is that choice requires at least two options. You cannot choose love if there is no alternative. For you to be able to choose love, you must also have the option of choosing evil instead.

This is the real problem. You cannot have a world with genuine love without the possibility of choosing not to love. And you cannot prevent people from making an evil choice without also taking away their freedom to choose.

The result is that, in order for love and mercy to exist, evil must also be allowed to exist. To demonstrate love, people must be free to hate. To demonstrate mercy, God must not immediately destroy every evildoer. The reality of the situation is that God must sometimes allow people to sin—even when their actions harm others—rather than stopping them immediately.

Are All Things Possible with God?

You may be asking, “Can’t God give us a choice to love without giving us a choice? Aren’t all things possible with God? Can’t He make a square circle?”

Let’s think about that. How do you give people the ability to choose love while making the choice for them? You don’t. It isn’t possible.

Of course, saying something is impossible for God may delight the skeptic and make the Christian uncomfortable. After all, Matthew 19:26 tells us all things are possible with God. But the reason it is impossible is not because God can’t do it. It is impossible because God will not do it.

He is the God who determines the nature of reality. He determines what is and is not possible. If it’s not possible that is because He has chosen to make it that way.

If He were illogical, then yes, He could have made a universe where up is down and drawing a square circle is easy. But that is not His nature. He will not change who He is simply to fulfill an illogical demand. He has chosen to create a logical reality, and that is why such things are impossible. It’s not because He can’t. It’s because He won’t compromise His nature.

Instead, God gives us the ability to choose between good and evil. He does not prevent our choice, and He does not always stop us. He makes both options genuine possibilities.

That is why God allows evil to exist. It is not because He prefers evil over love. It is because He knows that the possibility of evil is necessary for something even greater to exist. In His wisdom, He even turns evil into something that ultimately brings about good.

Why God Doesn’t Stop Evil

Watching someone commit evil isn’t easy, especially when it is directed against the innocent and you could do something to stop it. Even children suffer at the hands of people who choose to act like monsters. God sees it happening, yet He doesn’t always stop it.

When we think about such things, we often let our emotions overtake us. We put ourselves in God’s position and say, “Why doesn’t God stop it? I would!” But our emotional response to suffering is not always the wisest response.

What we often fail to realize is that if God always intervened immediately, all of creation would be doomed. That includes those who choose to do evil and those who choose to love.

If God judged sin the very moment it was committed, there would be no opportunity for repentance or forgiveness. Every sin would be met with immediate judgment. It would be a world with no mercy.

Sadly, when we think only with our emotions, we don’t stop to consider the full consequences of what we are asking. We say, “That person doesn’t deserve mercy,” without realizing that none of us do. When we condemn them, we condemn ourselves.

God allows these things to happen because He cares—both for the innocent and for the guilty. He doesn’t want either to perish. His patience is not indifference. It is mercy.

In our emotions we may say, “It doesn’t seem merciful to the child crying out to be saved from abuse.” But that child will one day sin and need that same merciful God. It isn’t easy, but it is necessary. To understand that, we must set our emotions aside and consider the bigger picture.

God Himself is not indifferent to the suffering of the innocent. He suffered with us and continues to care for those who suffer. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, nor in the suffering of the innocent.

Jesus entered a fallen world, suffered injustice, was rejected by His own creation, and died at the hands of evil men. The cross shows that God is not indifferent to our suffering. He willingly shared in it for the greater good that would come through His suffering.

It is painful to see the innocent suffer, but this is also the only kind of world in which love, obedience, sacrifice, courage, forgiveness, and repentance can truly exist.

God does not promise to prevent every evil act. He does not promise a life without suffering. He promises that all things work together for good for those who love Him.

And that brings us to the heart of the matter. All things work together for the good of those who love Him. That includes the suffering of the innocent. It includes the things we find so horrifying that we question how God could possibly allow them. We may not always understand how something so terrible can ultimately work for good, but God does.

Even so, God does not intend to allow the world to remain in this condition forever. He has a plan that will preserve the freedom to choose love while also bringing evil to an end. But that plan requires a season of mercy before the final judgment.

He allows these things to happen now for our sake. But when no more good can come from delaying judgment, and when no one remains who will choose love, He will bring evil to an end.

In the next study, we will see the penalty of sin. Death is the judgment God promised would come upon sin. What does that really mean though?

Continue To Unit 2:11 – What Is Death? (and the Second Death) OR

Return To Christianity 101 Unit 2 – Sin and Eternal Judgment