In many ways we are like a person who is on the first chapter of the first book in a seven-book series. Something tragic happens to the protagonist and we read on in horror wondering why the author had the event happen in the first place. The author, having already written the entire series, knows why the event had to take place as written. It was part of a much bigger story and the story would not be the same without it.
God exists outside of time and space. More aptly put, time and space exist inside of God. Every moment, from the very first moment of time until the very last moment of time, is the same moment for God. There is no past, present, or future. There is only now. God has written the book. He knows how the story will end. Only he can see the bigger picture. No matter how tragic an event is in our lives, it is all part of God’s great and mysterious plan.
So why is suffering part of God’s plan? Suffering is the currency of love. Without suffering, love could not exist. It is said that God is love. God is not just any type of love. He is the greatest and highest form of love. God is sacrificial or agape love. Sacrificial love always puts the good of the other before self. Sacrificial love is a love freely given without condition or demand for return. There are three rules for love to exist that even God imposes open himself.
The first rule for love to exist is that there has to be a lover and an object to receive that love. This is one of the reasons why God manifests himself as the Trinity of the three persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God did not create us to be the object of his perfect love. If God were dependent upon his creation to exist then there would be something greater than God and he would cease to be God. The three persons of God love each other perfectly which allows for both lover and receiver of that love in the one entirety that is God.
The second rule for love to exist is that love has to be freely given. You cannot be forced to love someone. It is charity, an act done out of love, when I give money to a homeless person. It is not charity when the government forcibly takes money from me in taxes to give to a homeless person. One is done freely, the other by force.
The third rule for love to exist is that there has to be a choice. Just as someone cannot be forced to love, you also cannot be forced to be loved. There is a term for love forced upon another that comes with a jail term. God placed the tree of life in the Garden of Eden to give Adam and Eve a choice so that love could exist. They had a choice to walk with God in the garden for all eternity or they could eat of the fruit of the tree of life and live mortal lives. Like Adam and Eve, we have been given the choice to live in a state of grace or a state of death. We freely choose death when we sin. Sin is taking that which God does not freely give. Sin is what is taken. Grace is what is given.
Suffering is the proof of love. If love required nothing from us it would be easy to love. There really would be no choice in the matter. And without choice there is no love. The amount of love we have for another is measured in the amount we are willing to suffer for them. How much are you willing to suffer for God? Yet, there are things we suffer from that we get no choice over. How is that suffering about love when there is no choice?
When we suffer for something beyond our control, like from a disease or a natural disaster, we are presented with a choice. Do we continue to love God and put our trust in him or do we abandon God and put our trust in ourselves? The best proof of love is trust and someone who truly loves God keeps their trust in him regardless of the suffering they are made to endure.
Why does bad things happen in this world? We’ll just have to read the book to the end to find out. Until then we can trust that everything is part of a greater plan got does not choose to share with us now. We have a God of love who wants nothing but the best for us. If we are made to suffer for a time now it is so we can love him in perfection later.
