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What is the word, that if we knew its answer, would make us know as much as God?  What is the word that righteous souls who believe in God and in God’s government of the world have spoken as they looked out over the world and saw the reign of injustice and wickedness?  What is the word that believing and afflicted souls have pronounced when God’s hand lay heavy upon them? What is the word that mothers have spoken over the lifeless bodies of their children?  What is the word that Gideon spoke when he saw Israel devastated by the Midianites?  What is the word that Job spoke when he was stripped of his possessions, his wealth, his health and was left desolate?
That word is “why”.  The word why is a symbol of the unknown and unknowable.  It is the cry of the human heart when calamity strikes.  It is associated with why me and why now.  The word is often asked of people who are in despair and who feel powerless in the face of difficult circumstances.  The word was asked by Gideon and also by Job.  Let’s consider each of their circumstances and see if we can discover the answer to this haunting question.

Gideon’s Why?
In Judges 6:11-13, a verbal exchange takes place between an angel of the Lord and Gideon.  “And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Oprah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon thrashed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.  And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, whey then is all this befallen us?  and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”  Israel was oppressed by the Midianites.  They raided the crops every year and so none dared to thresh his grain openly.  In a hidden glen under the oak of Oprah, Gideon was secretly threshing out the grain of his father’s farm.  An angel stood by him and said, “The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.”  Gideon’s response indicated his keen sense that God had abandoned them and left them in despair.  He felt that God had forsaken His people.  However, on Gideon’s father’s farm, there was an altar to Baal– a clear indication of apostasy in Israel and even in Gideon’s own house.  God’s people had forsaken Him!  God is not to blame for Israel’s problems.  When Gideon asked, why?, he failed to see his own culpability.  Sin separates us from God.  The worship of Baal was prominent in Israel.  The sense that God had forsaken Israel was strong, but God was still where He always is and His power was the same as at anytime in Israel’s past.  The problem was not God.  The problem was sin in the hearts of the people.  Still, the question, why? remains.  The human soul often cries out why? The question probes what is unknown to us.  God does not answer the question.  He commissions Gideon.  God’s answer to Gideon is a command to action–a test of faith.  When faith in God is restored, then, God will fight for His people.  God told Gideon to destroy his father’s altar to Baal and build an altar to the LORD God.  Gideon did this proving his faith in God.  Then, God used Gideon to destroy the Midianites–120,000 of them (Judges 8:10).  This victory manifested God’s presence and power among His people.  Gideon’s question, “why then is all of this befallen us?” is answered.  God has not abandoned them, but they had abandoned God.  But, when faith in God is restored and the sin barrier removed, God will fight for His people and victory is assured.

Job’s Why?
In Job 3:11, Job says, “Why died I not from the womb?” Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of my mother’s belly?  Job is an eternal symbol of the mystery of human life.  Job was a man of Uz who feared God  and lived an upright and righteous life.  He had seven sons and three daughters.  His substance was great–seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred donkeys. Job was a great man.  He was blessed.
Job was put to a severe test of his faith in God.  Satan believed that Job served God because God had blessed Job so abundantly.  Satan reasoned that if all this prosperity were taken away from Job that he would turn away from God.  Swift calamities befell Job.  The Sabeans drove off his livestock.  His servants were slain with the sword.  Fire fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the shepherds watching them.  The Chaldeans drove of the camels and slew their drivers with the sword.  A whirlwind struck Job’s eldest son’s house and killed all of his children and their families.  In a single day, Job lost his possessions and his family.  Job’s response was, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb and naked shall I return thither.  The LORD gave, the LORD taketh away, blessed be the name of the LORD.”
Another test came.  Satan believed that if Job was afflicted personally, he would turn away from God.  “Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life” (Job 2:4).  God permitted Satan to afflict Job but restricted him from taking Job’s life.  Job’s body was covered with boils from head to toe.  Job’s wife told him to, “curse God and die.”  Job said, “What? shall receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil?  Job maintained his integrity.  Job’s three friends come to visit him–Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.  They sat in silence for seven days.  Then, Job lamented the day he was born.  “Why died I not from the womb?” (Job 3:11).  Job’s three friends could not answer the why?  Neither Elihu nor Job could answer the question why.  Then, God speaks to Job and God does not directly answer the question why.  But, God does affirm His sovereignty.  God extolled His glory and asked Job a series of questions Job could not answer.  The answer to Job’s why was twofold.  There is a sovereign God and He is worthy of our trust no matter how difficult the circumstances of life may be.  God’s promise to us is: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”  God will never fail nor forsake His beloved people.  In the end, the mercy and grace of God was shown to Job and all of his possessions and his family were restored (James 5:11).

Our Why?
We may find ourselves in difficult circumstances that test our faith in God.  This world is a vale of soul-making.  God is working and satan is working.  God works to help us develop the qualities that will glorify Him.  Satan works to bring us to condemnation before God.  Every test must be met with faith in God!  God will never forsake those who love Him and are committed to His Will.  Let us permit God to be God and let us put our trust in Him in all things.  We may not know the answer to every why question.  But, we can answer every why question with faith in God: “I will trust in Him!”

The problem of suffering is a universal dilemma.  Many do not resolve the problem in an acceptable way.  When faced with extreme suffering, our faith in God is tested.  The classic example of patience in the face of suffering is provided by Job (James 5:11).
Three Ways of Solving the Problem of Suffering That Fail
Consider Hinduism.  In Hinduism, suffering is the result of sins committed in a previous life (Hinduism affirms reincarnation). Karma–where the good and bad deeds performed by human beings in the present determine the quality of their lives both now and in future births–such that the suffering we experience now is seen as the punishment for bad things done in previous lives.  Karma is an impersonal, cosmic principle at work in the universe.  In Hinduism, suffering is the result of bad karma.  Hinduism fails to resolve the problem of suffering because reincarnation is a false concept (Heb. 9:27).  Karma does not exist.
Consider Buddhism.  Buddhism’s central teaching is based on the problem of suffering.  The Four Noble Truths are:  (1) The truth of suffering (Dukkha); (2) The truth of the origin of suffering (Samudaya); (3) The truth of the cessation of suffering (Nirodha); and (4) the truth of the path to the cessation of suffering (Magga). For Buddhist, suffering comes about because of the mismatch between what we desire and what we receive. The solution–we must get rid of desire.  If we can desensitize ourselves sufficiently, then,  nothing can hurt us.  The problem with this view is that it is not possible nor practical to turn off all desire.  Some desire is good and profitable (Matt. 5:6).  Buddhist believe that suffering is the result of bad desire.
Consider Atheism.  To the Atheist, the material universe is neither good or bad.  In a blind physical universe, some people are going to get hurt, others are going to get lucky.  We have only blind, pitiless, indifference.  Suffering is the result of bad luck.  However, luck itself does not exist except as a false god created by people to describe the unexplained (I John 5:21).
All three views described above are bad news for sufferers.
The Christian Viewpoint.  When we ask, “why?” the question reveals that we believe in God and not blind chance.  Let us turn to the book of Job for an answer that will address the problem of suffering.  The central question in the book of Job is: “Will Job still honor God when all his prosperity is taken away from him?”  Does Job truly worship God or does he worship what God has provided?
Job’s Suffering.  After Job suffers the loss of his ten children, and his source of wealth, he declares: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: The LORD gave, and the LORD taketh away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job. 1:21).  In spite of all that Job suffers, including the loss of his health (ch. 2) he still trusts in God.  Job’s wife tells him to curse God and die.  Job rebukes her with these words, “What, shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). In all of this, Job did not sin with his lips.
Job’s Friends’ Bad Theology.  The majority of the book of Job is given to the bad theology of his friends.  Bad theology does not solve the problem of suffering.  Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu fail Job.  They believed that he suffered because of his sins.  In Job’s case, this was not true.  It is true that some suffering that human beings experience is the result of sin.  However, in Job’s case, suffering was the result of testing (Job 1).  Job’s faith is tried in the fire (I Pet. 1:6-7).
The Answer to the Problem of Suffering.  The only answer to the problem of suffering in the book of Job is to reflect on the universe and observe the power, skill, and wisdom of God demonstrated therein.  God asks Job many questions that Job could not answer.  God never directly deals with Job’s suffering.  He asks Job to consider His glory as demonstrated in the created acts.  If God is able to create and order the universe, then, God is more than capable of overseeing the details of our lives.  When God asks Job to reflect on His being and nature, He is asking Job to develop confidence (trust, faith) in His credibility and qualifications to rightly guide Job’s life.  Job must resolve the problem of suffering in love, trust, and devotion to God.  He must see the connection between suffering and worship.
The End of the Story.  At last, Job is vindicated by God (Job 42:8-9).  Job’s friends were condemned by God.  God was gracious to Job and doubled Job’s possessions and blessed him with seven sons and three daughters.  God glory and God’s grace provide the answer to suffering.  Job lived 140 years after this period of testing and died being old and full of days (prosperous).  God is great and God is good.  Blessed be the name of the LORD!
The Application.  God desires genuine human relationships based upon love and trust.  Job was an innocent sufferer and his experience points to another time when an innocent would suffer on a cross for the greater good of humankind and bear tremendous suffering out of love for God and us.  God has not been passive about evil in the world.  He has provided redemption through His Son, Jesus Christ.  God deals with suffering by sending His own Son to suffer for us that we could one day be liberated from all suffering and taken to a heavenly place where there will be no more suffering. (reference: Paradoxology by Krish Kandiah, pp. 85-111).

     Recently, many people throughout the world have experienced dramatic earthquakes.  In the last 30 days, the United States Geologic Survey (USGS) has recorded several hundred earthquakes all over the world.  Some of the worst earthquakes have hit in Haiti, Chile and Taiwan.  The earthquake in Haiti was 7.0 in magnitude.  Its epicentre was 16 miles from Port-au-Prince.  It hit Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010.  Between 217,000 and 230,000 people have been identified as dead.  300,000 have been injured.  1,000,000 people are homeless.  250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings have collapsed.  The earthquake in Chile was a magnitude 8.8.  It occurred on Feb. 27, 2010.  The total costs have not yet been determined, but hundreds have been killed.  The earthquake in Taiwan occurred on March 4, 2010 (more than one quake it on this day).  It was magnitude 6.4.  Its epicentre was 40 miles east southeast of Tai-nan.  How do we explain these natural disasters? 
     Some natural disasters occur as the result of the physical design and forces necessary to the operation of the universe.  God has created the best of all possible worlds as a “vale of soul-making.”  The phrase, “vale of soul-making” was first used by John Keats in 1819 in a letter to George and Georgiana Keats.  In this letter, Keats sets aside the phrase “vale of tears” preferring the phrase “vale of soul-making.”  The phrase helps define the purpose for which the world was created.  Keats states, “Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?  A place where the heart must feel and suffer in a thousand diverse ways.  As various as the lives of men are–so various become their souls, and thus does God make individual beings, souls, identical souls of the sparks of his own essence” (www.alpheratz.f2s.com—  March  1, 2010).  Suffering develops patience (endurance), compassion, love (Parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10:30-37), good-will toward men.  Suffering also impresses each of us with the brevity and uncertainty of life.  Through suffering we learn our own helplessness and the great need we have for God, His help and His mercy and grace. 
     Some disasters are the result of God’s chastening men for their sins.  This fact is illustrated by:  the flood in Noah’s day (Gen. 6-9); the plagues brought upon Egypt (Ex. 8-10); the drought in the days of Ahab (I Kings 17:1; Luke 4:25; James 5:17).  These calamities were brought about by the miraculous hand of God and were designed to be punitive in nature.  The reason we are aware of this fact is the revelation that God made in Scripture specifically indicating His involvement.  Today, we do not have direct revelation from God concerning whether or not He is involved in the disastrous event.  God is still ruling among the nations (Dan. 4:17).  While it is possible that God is chastening a nation, it is not possible for us to know this with certainty.  We may only say “perhaps” (Philemon 15) and recognize God’s providential Will.  Christians should withhold judgment in such matters simply because they do not know with any certainty what directly caused the disaster. 
     The sufferings of this present time should cause us to reflect upon the brevity and uncertainty of life.  They should cause us to realize that this world is not our final abode.  In the face of the reality of disasters, we grow in our understanding of the need of God and of being in a right relationship with Him through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.  Whenever our soul is secure in the hands of God, we can confidently face life or death.  Christians look forward to an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled and fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us (I Pet. 1:4;  See also Rom. 8:18-25). This world is not our home, but it is a vale of soul-making!