Discuss: What were some things that stood out to you from the message on Sunday?
Discuss: “Why does God let bad things happen” is often described as “the most ancient and enduring objection to God”. Why do you think this is?
Watch: As a group watch: https://www.questioningchristianity.com/resources/blog-post-title-four-yewzt-lzwmg-69gd7?rq=suffering
Discuss
“Evil is a bigger problem for the non-Christian than it is for the Christian”. – Dan Paterson. Do you agree or disagree, why?
Discuss
Can an all-loving and all-powerful God have good reasons for allowing evil and suffering? Explain your answer.
INSIGHT 1 - CONSIDER THE COST OF FREE WILL
“A loving God allows evil and suffering because he wants us to be free to choose and free to experience love.” – Dan Paterson
Read: Genesis 1
Something to think about: “In Genesis, the Christian story begins not with a world gone wrong but with a world made right. Formed from the chaos of our created cosmos, God sets about to cultivate a garden paradise in a small corner of our planet, and welcome in our first parents at the dawn of the human race to be his divine image-bearers. We were made to know and be known, to love and be loved, and were given the responsibility to subdue and cultivate the rest of Earth’s untamed capacity, building cultures that reveal God’s own creativity. This state of affairs God described as very good, meaning all was fulfilling its created purpose.”
“For love to mean anything it must be freely given. And this explains why a loving God might choose to make this world. Not a world of robots or automata who blindly follow orders, nor a world of oppressive coercion, where people reluctantly obey. No. God created a world where love was possible. A world where humans were free to love God and love others, or to do otherwise, which is the very definition of evil.”
“Our God-given freedom opens the door to the possibility of evil and suffering”. – Dan Patterson
Discuss: What are your thoughts on the above quote?
INSIGHT 2 - SHOULD WE EXPECT TO HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS?
Across the story of Scripture, a number of big names ask questions of God when it comes to their suffering. Chief among them is a man named Job, a relatively good guy who loves God but whose life is ripped apart. His family crushed by a collapsing house, his wealth stolen or destroyed by natural disasters, and his health ravaged by skin disease. Naturally, he begins to wonder why, and starts to question God’s justice. When God eventually steps into Job’s story, rather than answering his questions, God asks 64 of his own
Read: Job 28:2-5
The point of God’s questions is to help Job get some perspective on the enormity of what it means to govern a universe from God’s chair, and how by comparison, there are a ton of things that Job just does not, indeed cannot, know. In addressing our particular why questions, God doesn’t give us exhaustive answers but instead invites us to recognise and lean into his bigness. But whether you will or will not do so depends on whether, you come to trust God’s goodness, which is where Christianity offers the most hope. For although a loving God may in the big picture allow evil and suffering as the cost of creating free creatures, that is not a cost a loving God leaves us to bear alone.
Discuss: the above ideas and biblical text.
INSIGHT 3 - LOOK TO JESUS
If you want to know how God feels about your suffering and how he responds to the problem of evil, look to Jesus.
Read: John 11: 17 -36
Discuss: How did Jesus interact with people in their own experiences of pain and suffering?
Discuss: “The heart of the Christian story is a God suffering for his people” - Dan Paterson
INSIGHT 4 - HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
Read: Revelation 21:1-4
Discuss: How does the concept of a new heaven and new earth help put our current trials into perspective?
Discuss: Dan’s final statement in his youtube clip “I would much rather suffer with Jesus than suffer without him”
Pray: Spend some time praying for each other to help you persevere and grow through the challenges that God allows in our lives and in our world..