WHY IS THERE SO MUCH SUFFERING?

Pastors, priests, and religious teachers often say that it is God’s will that people suffer. Some may say that everything that happens to a person, including tragedies, has already been decided by God and that we can never understand why. Others may even say that people, including little children, die so that they can be with God in heaven. But that isn’t true. Jehovah never causes bad things to happen. The Bible says: “It is unthinkable for the true God to act wickedly, for the Almighty to do wrong!”​—Job 34:10.

Many people blame God for all the suffering in the world because they think that God rules the world. But as we learned, the real ruler of the world is Satan the Devil.

The Bible tells us “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19) The ruler of this world, Satan, is vicious and cruel. He is “misleading the entire inhabited earth.” (Revelation 12:9) Many people imitate him. And that’s just one reason why the world is so full of lies, hatred, and cruelty.

There are other reasons why there is so much suffering in the world. After Adam and Eve rebelled, they passed sin on to their children. And because of sin, humans cause other humans to suffer. They often want to be more important than others. They fight, they go to war, and they bully others. (Ecclesiastes 4:1; 8:9) Sometimes people suffer because of “time and unexpected events.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11) When they are in the wrong place at the wrong time, accidents and other bad things can happen to them.

Jehovah never causes suffering. He’s not to blame for war, crime, and mistreatment. God does not cause disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods. But you may wonder, ‘If Jehovah is the most powerful person in the universe, why doesn’t he stop those terrible things from happening?’ We know that God cares deeply about us, so he must have a very good reason for allowing suffering to continue.​—1 John 4:8.

source: jw.org

Thank you,
Arwin