Where Does Suffering Come From?

Looking at the world today, it’s hard to imagine that there was ever a time without suffering, sickness, war, plane crashes, or death. A time when man lived in perfect harmony with the earth and everything in it.

As I binge-watched various videos explaining the recent plane crashes in the US, I realised I wasn’t just looking for the “how” but the “why.” Why does suffering exist? What is it that causes such tragedies? Is there a deeper reason beyond mechanical failure or human error?

Regardless of whether you believe in God, you’d agree that life started from somewhere—and it wasn’t always like this.

Where Does Suffering Come From?

Many have tried to answer the question: where does suffering come from? Some believe it’s a form of punishment for wrongdoing in past lives. Others say that two opposing forces—good and evil—govern the world, maintaining a fragile balance, like Raava and Vaatu or Yin and Yang. Some see suffering as simply the will of a supreme being.

But what do you think? Why do bad things happen to good people?

As a Christian, I turn to the Bible for answers. What does the Bible say about suffering? It reveals that God created a perfect world (Genesis 1-2), where man had no struggles. Everything he needed was at his fingertips. Imagine that—being friends with lions and tigers, sharing stories with them from morning till night. And in the evening, he and his wife would talk face-to-face with God, perhaps laughing about how the gorilla had a crush on a lioness (just kidding, but you get the point).

There was no fear, no anxiety, no worry—until everything changed. The snake, in its cunning nature, was used and discarded. Maybe it had a history of tricking other animals out of their lunch, and this time, it was just another pawn in a bigger game.

What happened next is all too familiar: the blame game. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. Some might even say the serpent should have refused to be used. Others question why God created the serpent—or Lucifer—in the first place.

Even today, when things go wrong, we instinctively look for someone to blame. When no one else is left, we blame God—or, in rare cases, ourselves.

Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen?

This cycle breeds resentment, bitterness, and anger. Many who reject God do so not because they’ve never believed in Him but because they once did—until suffering struck. The loss of a loved one, a failed business, a deep betrayal—when faced with these, people often conclude that if God exists, He must be cruel. And if He is cruel, they would rather believe He doesn’t exist at all.

Take the Israelites, for example. When they cried out for freedom from Egypt, God sent Moses to deliver them. But instead of immediate relief, Pharaoh made their suffering worse. Imagine their confusion. “God, if You’re here to save us, why does it feel like things are getting worse?”

Or consider Job—one of the most perplexing stories in the Bible. Was his suffering just a test? Did God really allow such pain just to prove a point?

That’s probably a scary question to ask in Sunday school. But let’s be honest—haven’t we all wondered why does God allow bad things to happen?

Did Suffering Come from God, Satan, or Man?

The truth is, it’s never that simple. God’s response to Job shows that life is far more complex than we can comprehend. Trying to unravel the mysteries of suffering is like attempting to solve 7 billion simultaneous equations—impossible for a human with limited knowledge.

But here’s one thing we do know: God loves humanity and is working to restore what was lost.

Paul wrote, “For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). From the moment of the Fall, God had already set in motion a plan for redemption.

Still, a question lingers: why didn’t He just reset everything with a single command?

It’s the same question I ask when reading about Israel’s journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. Two things remained constant—man’s flawed nature and God’s unwavering faithfulness.

But if God made man, did He make him flawed? No. God created man perfectly—but with the ability to choose. Was that a good idea? Maybe we’ll get to ask Him one day.

Yet, free will was essential. Man was given authority over the earth, tasked with ruling and sustaining what God had created. But with that authority came responsibility, and with responsibility came consequences.

Here’s the reality:

1. Because man is flawed, the world is flawed. God gave man dominion over the world’s systems, and those systems reflect our imperfections. Before God can fix the system, He first works on the people running it. This is why, before leading Israel into the Promised Land, He refined their hearts. Even then, their flaws eventually led to destruction.
2. God has not given up on us. He is constantly working in and through humanity, restoring us to His original design. Only when man is fully transformed can he begin to restore the fallen systems of the world.

God’s Perspective on Suffering

When we go through hardships, they may be the result of someone’s negligence, spiritual opposition, or simply the brokenness of the world. But God often uses these trials to refine us, preparing us for something greater.

I know it hurts. I know you might feel abandoned, like God has turned a blind eye to your pain. But I recently heard someone say, “God is more invested in our well-being than we are.”

Suffering grieves Him. Loss, sickness, tragedy—none of it was part of His original design. But like Joseph, we are often too close to our pain to see what He is orchestrating behind the scenes. He sees further than we can imagine, equipping us to become who we need to be—not just for ourselves, but to help restore others and, ultimately, return creation to its default setting: God’s original plan.