Why Won't God Fix My Problems?

 I have been getting this question from a number of people lately. Several individuals know are struggling with problems like illnesses or relationship issues or financial problems. Often when we suffer, we ask the question: Why won't God fix this? This is reflected by the words of the character of Lex Luther in the Batman Vs Superman movie. "If God is all good, he cannot be all-powerful, and if he is all-powerful, he cannot be all good." The argument is that a good God would not allow people to suffer, so if God allows suffering, He either isn't powerful enough to stop it, or He isn't good enough to stop it. Is this true?

The foundational flaw in this position is that we assume we know what "good" is. We assume that what is good is for us to be happy, comfortable, and not in need (or want) of anything.  Is this really good? The best example is the life and reaction of people who are in these situations. It is well established by looking at those in Hollywood and Malibu that the easier our life is, the more selfish and self-focused we are. Nothing will make a person more shallow. We see this very thing happen in the New Testament. Crowds of people were seeking Jesus because He was healing and doing miracles. Once they were fed by a miracle, they were all in. They wanted to make Him king, thinking He would continue to give them what they want. When Jesus said He would perform no more miracles, they turned on Him and called for His crucifixion.

The first and most important reason that God doesn't just give you whatever you want is that it will never be enough. We are sinful, and what we want is everything. We are more like Satan than we would like to admit. Satan was given everything as the Archangel Lucifer. He had beauty, command, and respect, but it wasn't enough. He wanted to be like God, he wanted to be worshipped. If God gave us everything we wanted, we would continue to want more until we wanted to be Him. Our greed is not satisfied by getting what we want, it continues to grow. If you don't believe me, take a child to a toy store and offer to buy them one thing. They will ask for two.

We must stop viewing suffering, pain, and hardship as things to be avoided at all cost. James says to rejoice when you experience trials.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

We need the hard times in life to make us better people. We learn compassion by struggle. We learn selflessness by having needs. We learn to share, and we learn to have compassion. We learn to have hope. Let me put it this way. If we have everything we want if life was perfect and have no struggles, why would be hopeful or long for Heaven? Why would we tell others about Christ? Why would we seek Christ? Why would we need God? We would just be content to live in our sin and in a sinful world and then spend eternity in hell. We had a perfect life in Eden before sin entered the world. Sin necessitates suffering, or we will blissfully remain in our sin until we are cast headlong into hell.

It doesn't feel like it at the time, but suffering is for our benefit. We grow, we hope, and we gain faith, hope, and love through the hard times. Hard times will build us up if we can reject selfishness and self-seeking desires. We have to decrease and let Christ increase, and we can do that in suffering. Learn to suffer well, learn to look for the rock in the waves, the shelter in the storm. Let the hard times make you better, don't allow the world to make you bitter.