Why Does God Allow Suffering and Pain?

If you’re carrying deep loss, chronic pain, betrayal, trauma, or watching a loved one slip away, this episode meets you there. We look honestly at the biblical story of a world damaged by rebellions in Eden, Genesis 6, and Babel—how spiritual powers got involved and turned creation into something hostile. We also see how those same influences appear in modern spiritual movements that often lead to more harm.

But the focus is on the God who loves you personally and never stays far away. Jesus stepped straight into our suffering—crying with people, healing the hurting, and taking the full weight on the cross. We’re in the “already but not yet,” and right now God meets us in the pain through prayer, through other people, through medicine, and through Scripture that has anchored countless others in their hardship.

No bullcrap answers. Just real perspective from the Bible for anyone in the middle of it.

Full length videos here https://youtube.com/@archivedrift1?si=Fpm2cuvpVCQ42-fr

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Hey y'all. Uh tonight I'm gonna do something different, uh different road. This episode is going to be a tribute to any and all who are going through very difficult times, and this is meant to bring you uh comfort along the way, uh, especially during the trial that you may or may not be going through or have gone through, and it's still hurting. Um, if you're if you're watching this, then chances are that at one or several times in your life, or even right now, you have wondered why God allows pain and suffering. Every person, and I mean every person that has walked the face of this earth has faced horrific pain, whether it be emotional, physical, spiritual, and maybe you've experienced horrible loss. Maybe you are in you're laying in the hospital bed or are sitting next to someone else that is in the hospital bed. Uh, maybe you're at hospice, maybe you're caring for someone at hospice, maybe you've received a bad diagnosis or a family member. Uh my point is the tragedy and the pain that could be listed here are literally endless. But this episode is going to be for you. Um, the one who still wakes up reaching for the person who is gone, the parent whose child was taken by cancer, the woman whose body has been in constant pain for years. How about the man or woman whose marriage ended because of a betrayal that they never saw coming, or they were rocked by abandonment? Or how about the person whose trauma from abuse or an accident plays over and over in their head every single night and they can't get away from it? And maybe you're watching someone you love slowly disappear into dementia or horrible addiction. And every day feels like another loss, and you're raging inside, you're angry, and you don't know what to do. But that pain you're carrying is real. No one needs to tell you that. And you don't need another quick answer or a ridiculous general bulk, bull crap platitude. You need the truth about why the world is this way and how the God of the Bible has never been distant from what you're going through, though you might think it be like that. Um, so so if you would just bear with me, let me let me at least try to set the table a little. Um, so the so the old biblical writers saw our world um as territory that was under hostile spiritual occupation by fallen angels that are recorded in the Bible. It was broken apart by a series of cosmic rebellions that still show up in every hospital room, every graveside, and every long night that you might have had or are currently experiencing right now. This whole thing started in Eden. And we were made to live in perfect trust with God as his image bearers, right? So, but we chose to go our own way and deny that. Death then entered, not just the end of breathing, but the damage that makes bodies fail. Relationships potentially fall apart, and joy feels completely out of reach. And this explains why your loved one is gone and why life feels so fragile and empty at times. And I will explain this. But the cruelty goes even deeper. So in Genesis 6, right before the flood, spiritual beings called the sons of God crossed lines that God had set for them. They took human wives and then taught humanity forbidden secrets that God didn't allow them to teach. They taught them, taught us how to forge weapons of war, how to practice sorcery, how to twist beauty, metals, and knowledge into tools of violence, um, domination, and control, manipulation, you name it. Ancient Jewish tradition fills in these deep these old details. And the New Testament writers clearly knew and referenced this story. Now, Peter and Jude both point to this directly. The these beings did not create our sinful nature, however, but they did take the brokenness that started in Eden and made it far more deadly and organized. They spread ways to hurt each other, um, so that ways for us to hurt each other that still show up in every act of abuse, every war, and every system that wears, I mean, that destroys people, and then comes Babel. Humanity was not trying to make or it was trying to make a name for itself by building a tall tower or a ziggurat. It's a massive tower, which is inevitably was a stairway to heaven. And this aimed to call God down to their level so they could then manipulate him for their own selfish, selfish purposes, just like the pagans did. Um, they it was to bargain there with their gods in exchange for power, protection, fertility, or whatever it was that they wanted. But God, he said, no, this is this ain't no good. So he divided the nations and gave them, gave them over to spiritual powers. Now, many of those powers once again turned against God's ways and began ruling in ways that went against God's heart for us. And this is why the this is really why the world feels like enemy territory. Like we live in the middle of the fallout from rebellion at every level, human and spiritual. And when but when you're the one hurting from it, that does not take the pain away. But it but it does show you at least that this world is not the way that God first made it. Uh, you will have to look at some of my my earlier episodes to get an in-depth backstory on these angelic beings and these rebellions that I'm speaking of. But now this is where I'm gonna try to take a turn. So, in complete contrast to what I've just said or just a minute ago, the the Bible speaks of God's love for us hundreds of times. Um, there are there's different forms of the word loves, but of the word love, but it does appear 551 times, and it tells us again and again and again that God loves you personally and that he is close to you in your pain, and that his heart towards you is one of mercy and care. So then why so why doesn't he end it now is the question. Why why does the suffering keep going when your heart is already worn out and depleted and you just you're ready to give up? Well, it's because God is not a distant ruler who forces everyone to obey. I mean, God gave real freedom to us and to the angelic beings because he wants a real family, not robots, not Calvinistic robots, reformed robots. Real love means that there is a real chance to say no. But there is something even more personal. Now, the scriptures say that God is He's patient and not wanting anyone to perish but to come to repentance. He's he is holding back final judgment from the great white throne judgment, that that the big one, to give time for rescue, to give time for repentance, even while you are still hurting, and not that you need to repent for for for your pain, but it's just a biblical term that I'm using just for an example there. But look at how Jesus lives when He when He walked this same broken earth. He he did not stay back and explain suffering from far away. He stepped right into it. He saw, I'll give you a few examples. He saw the widow whose only son had died, and his heart, his heart went out to her, Jesus' heart. He stopped a funeral and he stopped a funeral and gave a mother's son back to her alive. He watched Mary and Martha cry over Lazarus, and the Bible says that he was deeply moved, meaning that he wept with them. Jesus also cried with them before he called Lazarus out. He did not scold, make sure that's still on. He did not scold their grief. He shared it. He stopped and healed the woman who had suffered 12 years of bleeding that no doctor could fix. Um he well he healed her and called her his daughter in front of everyone, giving back, giving her back her dignity. It literally in front of everyone. It was it's awesome. Um he touched lepers when no one else, when no one else would go near them. He fed the hungry crowds until they were full. He healed the blind. Uh remember the blind man on the roadside who every everyone was like telling him to shut up, be quiet. Uh, he he healed him. Um he welcomed and healed the paralyzed man whose friends lowered him down through the remember the thicket in the uh in the roof? Over and over, Jesus he moved toward the exact pain that people were carrying. And in the end, he took the worst of it on himself. Now, when the powers of darkness nailed the innocent creator to the cross, they went too far. They thought they were succeeding in their mission, but it was a trap. Now, death could not hold him. The cross became the trap that took away those rebel powers, legal right to rule, because Jesus checkmated them by rising from the dead and defeating death with the promise that death now could not hold those who believe in him. Uh their road does not end there, however. We still live with the pain. We are in the already but not yet time. So the king has won the main victory, but the removal of the rebels is still ongoing, it's still happening. Um, Jesus is rescuing as many of as many people as he possibly can from the from the inside out. So if you are in the middle of it now, like the diagnosis, the empty chair, the constant pain that you're in, the flashbacks to whatever it might be, the slow loss of someone you love, please please hear me. God has not left you alone. He sends comfort and help in very real ways, and you just might might not notice them. Now he meets many people in the middle of the night when they pray. Now the Bible tells us to stay in constant prayer. In First Thessalonians, I believe, believe it was chapter five, it says, it says, pray without ceasing. And how about Philippians Philippians 4? Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your your requests or present your petitions to God. And then it says, and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. It's a beautiful verse. Uh it's comforted many. And that's why we're called to pray constantly. Uh, because it, I mean, honestly, it keeps us connected to the Holy Holy One who can then bring real peace and strength when everything feels like it's literally frickin' falling apart. And when the grief feels too heavy, some some have cried out and felt a calm come over their mind and body that they cannot explain. Uh, and that would be the Holy Spirit. That's the comforter that Jesus had promised. Another way Jesus, uh, you can receive comfort through regular people too. It doesn't have to be uh an existential miracle. Now, the the friend, how about the friend who texts the exact right moment with the with a kind word that makes you feel seen? Not necessarily healed, but seen. And how about the person who shows up with a meal when you cannot cook? The family member who just sits with you so you don't have to be alone. Um, how about the one who holds you while you cry or prays with you, even when their own voice is is shaking? I mean, he works through doctors who are who actually listen, some of them, uh, who run the right tests and find treatments that ease the pain. He works through nurses who treat you with kindness instead of just another, instead of you're not just another number to them. Um, he works through medicine that does not may not necessarily fix everything and does not help every situation, but it does take the edge of the physical pain off enough for you to keep going for one more day. Um God sometimes sends direct help. Uh the Bible shows angels being sent at his command to care for those who are suffering. It happens all the time. He can give you strength that you did not think that you had or that you you didn't think you had any left. He can bring help or provision um that seems to just show up at the right time. He can let you know deep down that you are not alone, even in the darkest hours. He speaks through his word in in the Bible. When your heart is broken, you know, Psalm 34, it says that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit, um, or downtrodden. It could say that as well. Um, in the hardest times, many hold on to Psalm 23. Um, you're this is a famous one, everyone knows it. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. It's a promise. It's not a maybe, it's a promise. Um, how about when you're worn out and you're asking why I'm so worn out and tired and I can't go on? How about Psalm 13? How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How about this? When when everything feels like it's falling apart, falling apart, Psalm 46. God is our strength, our refuge, he's a very present help. He's a very present help in trouble. And when fear takes over, how about this one? Psalm 91 reminds you that God uh will command his angels to guard you in all your ways. These are not, they're not just nice verses that just just just blurt out and they mean something. And many people who have walked through the the same kinds of loss, trauma, and pain that you're carrying have found these psalms to be real anchors in their struggle and in their and and and their pain. So uh, but your suffering does not mean that God has walked away. It is literally part of a rescue mission that is still ongoing in in a world that's damaged by rebellion, and whether it be spiritual or human, and the pain that you carry today is not the end of the story. And now, as Paul wrote, he said that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. And that same, that same Jesus who entered your your kind of pain on this earth is now coming to make all things new, and he is with you in it right now. Now, until that day, he is comforting you and helping you through, I mean, through prayer, through people who care about you. Um they come, they don't have to come in an explicit miracle. You just you have to you have to look. It could come through medical care, it could come through his word, and sometimes through the direct help that comes from him, comes from the the Lord Himself, and He sees exactly what you're carrying. He has not looked away. He he loves you with the kind of love that cried with people, touched the hurting, and healed the sick, and and died, so your story does not end in the grave, it goes on after that. So like it it's the quiet hope that we hold on to. And I'll leave this with you. It's from Acts 17, 27. It says, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. And the Bible says that that faith is a thing that's not not seen but hoped for. It's not yet seen, but it's hoped for. And if you will draw near to God, he will then draw near to you. And that's an explicit text from the scriptures. God loves you very much, and don't ever forget that. Take it one hour at a time, one day at a time. Don't look too far ahead, and don't don't don't look too far ahead where you start worrying and become and you and you become more of a frazzled mess. Life is already hard enough as it is, and God has called you has called you to stay constant, stay near him. So stay constant in prayer, bring your petitions to him, and keep talking to him, keep praying to him. Read your Bible, stay near to those that love you, and be near people, be near people that care for you, and but most of all, stay near to Christ because he loves you very, very much. Never forget that. Um, so may the Lord bless you, may the Lord keep you, may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you, and may the Lord lift up his countenance to you and grant you peace. Good night.