BIG Questions: How Do We Make Sense of Suffering?

Introduction — The Question Every Heart Asks

Good morning Mosaic family — and a very warm welcome if you’re visiting us today.

This morning we come to one of the hardest and most personal questions in our BIG Questions series:

How do we make sense of suffering from a Biblical perspective?

This is not just an academic question — it’s a deeply human one and a deeply personal one.
Every single person in this room has been touched by pain and has suffered in some way. AND, if you have in some way avoided suffering so far, I am sorry to say it will come.

-Maybe you’ve lost someone you love.

-Maybe someone has done something terrible to you.
-Maybe you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, or illness.
-Maybe you’re watching someone you care about walk through something unbearable — and you don’t know how to help.

On top of personal pain and suffering, there is the reality of seeing suffering everywhere we look on TV and social media. Whether its the suffering of innocent children, soldiers at war or nations in famine. Suffering seems to be everywhere and part of being human.

This topic dear friends, cuts me deep and I’m sure you feel it too.

And if you’re anything like me, you’ve quietly or sometimes, not so quietly, wondered, “If God is good, and God is powerful, and God loves us, then why is life so hard sometimes?”

I think it’s important to say clearly, that God is not angry with you for asking those questions. In fact, the Bible is full of people asking them — Job, David, even Jesus on the cross.

I particularly find the complaints of Jeremiah to God in chapter 12 comforting to me:

1 Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive? 2 You plant them, and they take root; they grow and produce fruit; you are near in their mouth and far from their heart. 3 But you, O Lord, know me; you see me, and test my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter. 4 How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? (Jer 12:1-4)

So today we will try to give you good understanding of suffering, consider the different ways to respond to suffering, and ultimately point ourselves to a real and living hope — a God who doesn’t stand apart from suffering, but steps right into it.

Let’s get into it.

PRAY

1. The Reality of Suffering — A World That’s Not as It Should Be

The Bible doesn’t ignore suffering — it explains it.

In Genesis 1 and 2, God creates a world that is good — a world without pain, without death, without tears.

After every act of creation, we read: “And God saw that it was good.”
And when He finishes His work:

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Gen. 1:31)

So how did we get from “very good” — whole, complete, healthy — to the pain, death, and suffering we see in the world around us?

The Bible’s answer is simple but profound: 

when humanity chose to live apart from God, everything broke. When Adam and Eve choose to follow their own wisdom and idea of what is good for human flourishing instead of trusting their creators original plan and purpose for them, the Bible says, ‘sin and the consequence of sin, death, entered the world’.

Sin entered the world, and with it came suffering, shame, and death. Our relationship with God broke, our relationship with one another broke, and even creation itself was thrown into chaos.

This is what theologians call the problem of evil — not that God created evil, but that evil is what happens when people turn away from their source of life, from their source of goodness.

To understand this, look again at the creation story itself:

-“And God said, ‘Let the earth sprout vegetation…’” (v.11)
-“And God said, ‘Let the waters swarm with living creatures…’” (v.20)
-“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image…’” (v.26)

-When God created plants, He spoke to the earth. When you remove a plant from the soil — it dies.
-When God created fish, He spoke to the water. Take a fish out of the water — it dies.
-But when God created humanity, He spoke to Himself.

That means our life and wholeness come from being connected to God Himself.

So when Adam and Eve — representing all of us — chose to live independently of God and His wisdom, we were ripped away from the very source of our life.

Like a fish out of water or a tree torn from the soil, we began to die.

And when humanity turned from God, everything broke — our relationship with Him, with one another, and with creation itself. Death, pain, disease, and heartbreak entered the story with that choice.

So suffering isn’t proof that God doesn’t exist or doesn’t care — it’s proof that something has gone terribly wrong.

It’s like a beautiful painting that’s been vandalised. You can still see the beauty, but it’s been defaced.

When you suffer, it doesn’t mean God has abandoned you — it means we live in a world that’s not the way it was meant to be.

And that ache you feel — that longing for things to be right again — is evidence that you were made for something better.

“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” (Romans 8:22)

That groaning you feel isn’t weakness — it’s homesickness for the world God intended.

2. The Character of God in Our Suffering

But when pain hits, it raises deep questions — for all of us. Whether you’re a follower of Jesus or still exploring faith, the questions come — and they come hard.

For the Christian, when suffering comes, the cry of your heart might be:

“God, where are You?”

You believe He’s real, but you can’t always see what He’s doing.

For others, your question might sound a little different:

“If God is good, why would He allow this in the first place?”

That’s a fair and honest question — and the Bible doesn’t run from it.

In fact, the Bible welcomes it. Because God would rather you wrestle with Him than walk away from Him.

So let’s look at both questions for a moment — the why and the where.

First, the why.

As we’ve just seen, Scripture tells us we live in a broken world — that suffering wasn’t part of God’s original “good” design, but entered the story when humanity turned from Him.

Suffering exists not because God is absent, but because the world is fractured — and God is working to redeem it.

But when suffering becomes personal, the “why” quickly becomes a “where.”

When the pain lands in your home, your body, your heart — you stop asking theory about why, and start asking personally, “God, where are You?”

And here, the Bible’s answer is clear and consistent:
He is near.

-“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)
-“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.” (Isaiah 43:2)
-“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

Notice — God doesn’t promise to keep you from the waters, but to be with you in them.

He doesn’t always remove the storm, but He promises to be your anchor through it.

I’ve seen this again and again: sometimes God calms the storm; other times, He lets the storm rage — and calms His child.

So if you’re in a storm of suffering right now — of loss, illness, fear, or confusion — hear this: He hasn’t forgotten you. He is absolutely near.

And maybe this week, whatever you believe or wherever you are on your journey of faith, one simple prayer could be enough:

“God, if You’re real — be near to me.”

That’s a prayer God loves to answer.

3. The Cross — God’s Deepest Answer to Suffering

We’ve seen the reality of suffering — the world is not as it should be.
We’ve seen the character of God — He is near to the brokenhearted.
But how far does that nearness go?
Just how close is God willing to come?

The answer is the cross.

The cross of Jesus Christ is God’s ultimate response to human suffering.

Jesus doesn’t stay distant, looking down on a broken world.
He steps into it — into rejection, betrayal, injustice, grief, and even death itself.

Isaiah 53 calls Him “a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.”

At the cross, God doesn’t just watch suffering — He feels it.
He doesn’t explain pain from a distance — He enters it.
The hands that flung stars into space were pierced by nails.

Christianity is the only faith where God Himself has scars.

So when you pray through tears, you’re not talking to a God who doesn’t understand.
-You’re talking to the One who wept (ugly cry) at a grave (John 11) -Who sweat drops of blood in Gethsemane from the stress of choosing the cross (Luke 22:44)

-and who cried out from the cross:

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)

At the cross, Jesus takes the full weight of human suffering and sin onto Himself.
He absorbs it, bears it, and breaks its power.

And in that same moment, He proves that your pain matters to God —
and that your pain is not the end of the story.

Because three days later, Jesus walked out of the tomb — alive.
And when He did, He declared that suffering and death will not have the final word.

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

The cross tells you God is with you in your suffering, and the resurrection tells you God will one day end it forever.

4. The Choice in Suffering — Bitterness or Grace

Suffering always confronts us with a choice.

We can become bitter — angry, resentful, closed off — or we can open ourselves to grace.

There’s a short clip I’d like to share from someone you might not expect to hear in church — actor and comedian Jim Carrey.

He speaks honestly about pain, and how it can lead either to resentment or to forgiveness and grace through Jesus on the cross.

(Play Jim Carrey video)

Did you catch that?
He’s right — every one of us faces that crossroads.

Sometimes people sin against us and we suffer. Sometimes situations go badly as we suffer. Sometimes we make stupid decisions and we suffer. Sometimes we hurt others and suffer because of that. Sometimes it’s just life situations, health…things out of our control.

These are all real, and therefore our responses to them are equally important.

Suffering can either harden us or humble us. It can make us cynical or compassionate.

As a pastor, remembering and quoting this phrase when appropriate has been super helpful:

‘Hurting people hurt people’

I don’t know about you, but in times of suffering, I am most likely to say and do things that I will regret later. I could blow up a friendship or a relationship with my response just because I am hurting. I could write that email!!!!! I could say things about God or about others that I regret later. 

Cynical, hard hearted. OR, I could lean into Gods grace and compassion. Always the crossroads.

And at the centre of that crossroads stands Jesus — the One who took our suffering into Himself so that grace, not bitterness, could win.

Our Story - I remember a season in my own life when that crossroads became very real.
Years ago, while serving as a military pilot, I was involved in a serious car accident. I suffered significant injuries, and doctors said I might never fly again. Flying had been my identity, my career, my dream.
People wondered what it would do to me — how I’d cope with losing what had defined me for so long.

Yet by the grace of God, bitterness never took root.

Somehow, even in the pain, I sensed that God was redirecting my life.

That accident became a doorway to something new. My Pastor at the time, Theo Reynolds said one day as we drove past the same crossroads, “This will be a crossroads moment for you and Lorette.

Through that season, God called me to ministry — to stop flying aircraft and start helping people encounter the hope I’d found in Jesus.

Suffering can take things from us — but in God’s hands, it can also give us something new.

It can shape our calling, deepen our compassion for others, and make us useful in ways we never imagined.

That’s exactly what Scripture teaches.

5. Learning to Suffer Well — How Faith Shapes Our Calling

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:3–4:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

When we suffer with faith, God doesn’t just heal us — He forms us.
He makes us into people who can walk alongside others in their pain.

James 1:2–4 echoes this:

“Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Learning to suffer well doesn’t mean pretending it’s easy.
It means trusting that God is doing something sacred, something holy beneath the surface — growing endurance, character, and empathy.

When we respond to pain with faith, our wounds become windows for Gods grace to flow in.
Our story becomes someone else’s means of grace, comfort and guide.
Our calling shines brighter, because it has been refined by fire.

6. The Resurrection — Hope Beyond the Pain

But the story doesn’t end with the cross — it rises with the resurrection.

The cross shows us love in suffering.

The resurrection shows us victory over suffering.

Jesus didn’t stay in the grave.

The empty tomb means that suffering, sin, and death do not get the last word.

“Death has been swallowed up in victory!” (1 Corinthians 15:54)

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore,
for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

Christian hope doesn’t deny pain — it declares that pain will not have the final word.

-If you’ve buried someone you love, the resurrection means the grave is not the end.
-If your body is failing or your heart is breaking, there is a future where every wound will be healed and every tear wiped away.

Because Jesus lives, so will you. And because Jesus reigns, one day everything sad will come untrue.

7. Landing in Hope — Tim Keller’s Final Words

As we close, I want to share one final clip from Pastor Tim Keller.

Tim was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and spoke these words not long before he went to be with the Lord.

Listen to how a man who has walked with Jesus for decades faced death — and still clung to resurrection hope.

(Play Tim Keller video.)

“If Jesus Christ really was raised from the dead…everything that you’re worried about, everything that you’re afraid of — everything — will be ok.”
We’re not talking only about a resurrected people; we’re talking about a resurrected world.
We feel the reality of this world, the pain and the suffering, and we cry,
but we know in the end everything will be ok.

Isn’t that incredible?

A man staring death in the face could say with peace and integrity,

“Everything will be ok” — not because of denial, but because of resurrection.

That’s not wishful thinking. That’s gospel hope.

If Jesus rose from the dead, then one day every loss will be reversed,
every tear will be wiped away, and every fear will be silenced.

On that firm and secure hope we can continue to build our lives.

AMEN