The title for today’s post comes from a national survey, commissioned several years ago by Lee Strobel, which asked people what question they’d ask God if they could only ask Him one thing. ‘The Number One Response’ was: “Why is there suffering in the world?”
An example of that suffering occurred on July 20, 2012, when 82 people inside a Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, were killed or wounded as a man in tactical clothing, set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience with multiple firearms.
Two days after the shooting Lee delivered today’s Readable at Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, dealing with the recent tragedy and a question many were asking; “Why? Why did God allow this?”
He didn’t pretend to know all the answers and even admitted “we may not be able to make out all the peripheral details of why” pain and suffering occur, but he did lay out “some key Biblical truths that can illuminate some points of light for us. And if we follow those lights,” he said, “they will lead us in the right direction, toward some conclusions that I believe can help satisfy our hearts and souls.”
He shared five points of light and to encourage you to read the entire sermon, here are two of them…
- God is not the creator of evil and suffering.
- Though suffering isn’t good, God can use it to accomplish good.
He concludes the sermon with an explanation of the gospel, which could be just what someone you know needs to hear, and perhaps by reading through Lee’s talk, you’ll be better equipped to share your faith with someone who wonders about the pain humans experience.
