Why Does God Allow Suffering and Pain?

Why Does God Allow Suffering and Pain? A Biblical Answer

Embracing Suffering on the Journey to Intimacy with Jesus

Suffering is a subject few of us are eager to explore. It’s uncomfortable, disruptive, and often leaves us with more questions than answers. Yet, if we’re honest, pain is a central part of every human story—and a profound part of the Christian one. While many of us would prefer a faith journey marked by ease and clarity, the reality is this: suffering may not just be something we endure on the path to knowing God. I’m going to argue that it’s actually essential to it.

There’s a quote by A.W. Tozer that feels abrasive and incredibly uncomfortable at first glance, but rings true the deeper I sit with it:

“It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly, until He has hurt him deeply.”
— A.W. Tozer

Every time I read that quote, I feel like I’ll burst into tears.

It’s unsettling, even offensive to our modern sensibilities and prosperity, “name it and claim it” culture. But if we’re willing to wrestle with it, we may discover a truth that reframes our understanding of pain and invites us into a deeper relationship with Jesus.

The Hero’s Journey and the Christian Life

In narrative theory, “The Hero’s Journey” describes a storyline where a character is called out of comfort, endures trials, and emerges transformed. This isn’t just a literary device—it mirrors the Christian life.

Jesus Himself walked this path. He suffered rejection, loss, betrayal, injustice, and death—and through it, resurrection and glory. If we’re truly following Him, then our lives may also be marked by a similar arc: death before resurrection, pain before transformation.

For a deeper exploration of the Hero’s Journey in a biblical context, see our article on The Biblical Narrative through the Stages of The Hero’s Journey.

Why Suffering Draws Us Closer to God

Suffering has a way of pulling back the curtain on what we really believe. It strips us of illusions and reveals our need. Henri Nouwen wrote:

“You have to trust the place that is solid… your most precious self is hidden in God.”

In seasons of pain, we often encounter the solid place Nouwen speaks of—not as a concept, but as a Person. Christ meets us not in sanitized comfort, but in the depths of our struggles.

C.S. Lewis put it this way in The Problem of Pain:

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain.”

Pain captures our attention. It forces a kind of clarity. And in that clarity, we often see Christ more clearly than ever before. We relate at a deeper level to what he went through to know us and be known by us.

When Suffering Doesn’t Make Sense

Not all suffering is the same. Some pain clearly has purpose—what the saints called “the dark night of the soul.” This kind of suffering refines and shapes us.

But then there’s the suffering that feels completely senseless. Abuse. Injustice. Loss. Trauma. The kind that leaves us asking, Where was God when that happened?

It’s important to acknowledge: not all suffering is a “lesson.” Sometimes, it’s just evil. Sometimes it’s the result of our own sin, or the broken systems of a fallen world. Sometimes, it’s a mix of everything. But here’s the truth: God is never indifferent to your suffering—no matter the cause.

We live in a world that is still in the process of being redeemed. Jesus, in His own grief at the tomb of Lazarus, didn’t offer neat answers. He wept. If you read the story carefully, he was enraged at death. He entered into the pain.

He didn’t explain it away—He entered into it.

That’s the kind of God we serve.

The Transformation Hidden in the Dark

St. John of the Cross described spiritual suffering as “the dark night of the soul”—a season of spiritual silence and internal desolation. But even this darkness, he wrote, is a preparation for great light.

“The endurance of darkness is the preparation for great light.”

Similarly, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, writing from the trenches of Nazi Germany, said:

“When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”

This death isn’t always physical. It’s a dying to self—our egos, our illusions, our control. And through that death, we are raised into new life.

Story, Attunement, and the Soil of Calling

If you zoom out from any biblical figure’s life, you’ll see a pattern: suffering, transformation, and calling. Joseph, Moses, David, Paul—all were shaped more by hardship than by ease. Their stories weren’t side notes to their leadership. Their stories were the formation of it.

The same is true for us.

The pain in your story is not a detour from your calling. It may be the very soil in which your calling grows. The more I walk with others through their pain, the more I’m convinced: these stories are sacred. They demand our attention—and our attunement.

Attunement is simply the practice of listening well. To God. To ourselves. To others. And even to the ache and beauty of creation. But this kind of listening doesn’t happen in the quiet comfort of certainty. It happens in the fire.

In the breaking.

In the places where we feel undone.

And that’s where formation begins.

This theme is further explored in our piece, Faithful in the Fire: A Biblical View of Failure for Church Leaders.

A Personal Story

A few years ago, my wife and I became licensed foster parents. What started as a sense of Christian obligation—“care for the orphan”—quickly unraveled into something far more complex, humbling, and holy.

We eventually welcomed our daughter, Haley, into our home. Her story is hers to tell, but I’ll say this: what began as obedience became a doorway into surrender. We lost control. We were stretched and broken. And in that place, we found Jesus.

Not the version of Him we expected—but the one we needed. Tender. Present. Sufficient.

Tozer’s words came alive:

“It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly, until He has hurt him deeply.”

Because the blessing wasn’t Haley herself, as beautiful as she is. The blessing was the transformation that came through the pain of the journey and ultimately the depth of relationship with Jesus that resulted.

This story illustrates the concepts discussed in Connecting a Donor to the Value of a Changed Life.

FAQ

Final Thoughts: The Blessing in the Breaking

If you’re in a season of suffering, know this: your pain is not evidence that God has abandoned you. Scripture reminds us that “for those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28, ESV). Not around all things—through them. Even the hardest parts of your story are not wasted in His hands.

Ministry leaders feel this tension deeply. You sit with people in grief, injustice, burnout, trauma, and unanswered prayer. You carry stories that don’t fit neatly into tidy explanations. And yet, you’re still called to communicate hope. The question becomes: how do you talk about suffering in a way that is honest, compassionate, and rooted in the gospel?

This is exactly the work of StoryQuest—our narrative formation and consulting process designed to help ministry leaders listen deeply, discern God’s work in their story, and communicate it with clarity and faithfulness.

If this article stirred something in you, a helpful next step is exploring how story, formation, and calling intersect in Christian leadership. You can begin by reading Formational Listening in Christian Leadership, which unpacks the spiritual practice of attuned listening that undergirds this work.

You may also want to continue exploring how suffering and calling shape leadership through these resources:

• The Biblical Narrative Through the Stages of the Hero’s Journey

• Faithful in the Fire: A Biblical View of Failure for Church Leaders

Because the goal isn’t better marketing.
It’s deeper formation.
Clearer calling.
Truer stories.

Stories that help people see Jesus in the middle of real pain—and invite them into the work He’s already doing.

He is not far off.
He is not indifferent.
He is with us in the mess.
And in the end, He is more than enough.