Nielsen’s Nook

The Purpose/Place of Suffering
There is mystery and incomprehensibility as to why God allowed evil and suffering to be even a possibility in this world; however, the sovereignty of God is the great hope in the midst of suffering. Evil sets its foot no further than the Omnipotent Lord allows it. Evil does not befall upon anyone by chance, but according to the very counsel of Holy God. In light of all that God has revealed about Himself, His goodness, love, and mercy for example, we are forced to conclude that there must be some ultimately good and holy purpose within the counsel of God for evil and suffering in the world. One such reason appears to be that it shuts the creature up to confine the hermeneutic of his life to his relation to his Creator. Ultimately, however, no creature can presume to know the mind of his Maker.

The fact of the matter is that we are all shut up to believe or to not believe – that is the question all must wrestle with in times of prosperity and in times of bitter pain. Consider Joseph, a faithful Hebrew, who was probably about the same age as Wiesel when he was struck down into the cistern by his own brothers and then sold into slavery to the Ishmaelites out of sheer hatred. He served Potiphar faithfully, only to be slammed into prison on account of the lustful desires of Potiphar’s own wife. Yet the Lord tells us that He was with Joseph in all of His suffering (Gen 39:20-21). Joseph notably navigated this evil and injustice by way of belief.

It is also clear from the biblical account that this was not an easy feat. It is apparent from the biblical account that Joseph dealt with significant emotional pain (Gen 43:30, 45:1-2). In Joseph’s case, quite unlike that of Wiesel, the purpose his suffering is clear:

7And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. … 19But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (Gen 45:7-8; 50:19-20 ESV)

Joseph looked upon a tremendously painful experience and embrace the fact that it was not by accident but by the very hand of God Himself that those things happened to him. His reassurance is on the basis of God’s character and decree. It is in the humility of submission to a plan for his own life, which transcended all comprehension that Joseph is exalted to a place of peace and blessing equally as transcendent.