Hope in the Valley: A Biblical Theology of Grief, Suffering, and Lament

Three Biblical Truths About Suffering and the Sovereignty of God

By Davis Wetherell

Christianity faces a difficult question when we consider the relationship between the Bible’s teaching on God’s sovereignty and the reality of human suffering. This question can be asked in different ways—from skeptics’ challenges to saints’ laments. In this article, written more for the saint than the skeptic, we will consider one weak answer to this question and then look at three better biblical truths.

A Robotic Answer

An answer given to me early in my Christian education appealed primarily to God’s desire for humans to have free will.

The argument goes something like this: suffering is a result of sin and the fall. Sin was necessary in order to set up a choice for humanity—to love God or to be sinful. If not for this choice, God would be making people choose Him, negating the possibility of genuine love. God does not want robotic love but real love. Therefore, all suffering can come back to this—God’s desire to have some people truly love Him.

This is an inadequate answer for at least three reasons.

Overlooks the Bible’s Emphasis on God’s Sovereign Choice

First, it looks past the positive statements the Bible makes concerning God’s choosing people. Scripture consistently sheds a positive light on God’s sovereign action in salvation. One does not need to look any farther than Ephesians 1:4–6:

He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace.

The emphasis in this passage, and others like it, is clearly on God’s action that alters man’s state. God has a plan, and He will accomplish that plan. It has nothing to do with how man responded, but everything to do with “the purpose of his will.”

Therefore, the robotic answer assumes God’s choosing would be negative, but that is not how the Bible sees things. Scripture does not seem troubled by God overwhelming man’s choice. Rather, it presents His sovereign grace as glorious.

Overcommits God’s Involvement in the Origin of Sin

Second, in asserting that God allowed evil in order to establish the choice to love Him, this answer walks too far into matters beyond our understanding. Namely, to what extent was God involved in the origin of sin?

First John 1:5 says clearly that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” And yet, given the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, we know He must have allowed evil to exist as it came to be. To complicate matters, John 1:3 says, “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Scripture presents us with a mystery that has not been fully revealed. Ecclesiastes 3:11 reminds us that there are realities we glimpse but do not fully understand. This tension is part of the Christian life.

But the robotic answer goes a step too far by arguing that God allowed evil primarily to present a choice to mankind. That oversteps biblical revelation and assumes we know intentions of God that Scripture does not clearly reveal.

Overcomplicates the Hope of Everlasting Life

A church member once asked me how it could be that the new earth would be free from sin. If true love depends on the choice between good and evil, would not the choice of evil continue in the next life, with some people inevitably choosing it?

This is one example of how an unbiblical emphasis on man’s choosing can complicate the glorious hope we have in Jesus Christ.

True love of God does not depend on our choosing God, but on God’s choosing to redeem us, to love us, and to dwell within us by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we can know there will be no sin in the life to come because we will have been fully redeemed, loved, and welcomed into God’s presence.

If we emphasize our choosing God above God’s saving work, we may begin to live as though our connection to Him depends on our ability to keep choosing Him. That undermines the fullness of joy, peace, and assurance that God intends His people to have in Christ.

Three Biblical Truths About Suffering

Therefore, when we answer the question of why God allows suffering, we must do so in a way that cherishes God’s sovereign choice, stays within biblical boundaries, and maintains full peace and assurance of salvation.

Suffering Produces Christlikeness

One clear answer the Bible gives is that, for Christians, suffering produces hope, fruit, and Christlikeness (John 15:2; Romans 5:3–5; 1 Peter 4:12–13). Notice that Scripture does not merely say suffering presents an opportunity for humans to choose to be hopeful, fruitful, or Christlike. Rather, suffering itself is used by God to produce these good things in His people.

God uses trials to prune, refine, and shape believers so that they become more like Christ.

Suffering Calls Humanity to Repentance

In Luke 13, Jesus is asked about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices, and He also refers to those who were killed when the tower in Siloam fell. His listeners seemed to think such suffering had something to do with those people’s personal choices in life, but Jesus corrected them:

Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

One reason God allows suffering is to call all humanity to repentance. That does not mean this is the primary reason for every instance of suffering in every circumstance, but it is one clear biblical purpose Jesus Himself identifies.

Suffering Will One Day Be Removed

Revelation 21:1–8 gives believers a wonderful glimpse into the life to come. In that day, there will be no more sin, sorrow, pain, or death. Jesus will make all things new.

This gives Christians a humble and hopeful response to suffering. We may not be able to explain fully all that God does and why He does it, but we can say with confidence that He promises to wipe away every tear from the eyes of His people. Those who believe in Christ will see suffering undone forever.

Conclusion: Trusting God in the Valley

The question of suffering cannot be answered with simplistic formulas. Scripture does not reveal every detail of God’s purposes, and there remains mystery in how God governs a fallen world.

Yet the Bible gives us firm ground to stand on. God uses suffering to shape His people into the likeness of Christ. Suffering calls sinners to repentance. And suffering will not have the final word.

In Christ, a day is coming when the curse will be removed, death will be defeated, and every tear will be wiped away. Until then, believers walk through the valley trusting the sovereign God who promises that suffering will one day be no more.

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