At dinner a few nights ago, we asked our kids if they have any questions for God during this time of COVID-19 and suffering. They all nodded. “Why would God allow the coronavirus to happen?” William said. The girls’ echoed his thoughts, and I’ve heard from other parents whose kids are asking the same question. I imagine most of us have asked this question at some point in our lives, and probably at some point in the past few weeks during this COVID-19 crisis—if God is good, loving, and powerful, how can so much suffering exist?
No Easy Answers for Suffering
We couldn’t offer any easy answers. There’s no formula to prove God’s existence, God’s love, or God’s power. There’s no checklist that explains how those characteristics of God could work together and produce the world of suffering we inhabit.
That night, we offered some philosophical musings on the nature of love. How love is non-coercive. Powerful, but not forceful. How love works through humans, and so when humans say no to love, bad things result. Honestly, I’m not sure our answers helped our kids at all.
COVID-19 and Suffering
I’m not sure this helped them either, but later on I remembered that the Christian answer to the problem of suffering is not a checklist or an airtight argument or a set of philosophical musings. The Christian answer to the problem of COVID-19 and suffering—all suffering— is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The answer is a life of love.
We are entering into Holy Week, a week in which Jesus prepared for suffering and death. He did so with love. In this week’s episode of the Love is Stronger than Fear podcast, I talk at length about how Jesus’ final days on this earth helped to prepare him to face suffering, and how we too can enter into love in order to be better prepared for the days ahead. (You can listen to the episode via the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.)
Jesus. It’s a simple answer, but I struggle with it. I still want an equation. But I go back again and again to this person who taught us to love, who loved us through his own suffering and death, and who showed us that love is the only force powerful enough to overcome the grave. This Holy Week, I am looking for answers in Jesus.
………
Podcast Show Notes
Blog post I wrote about how Psalm 63 moves us towards hope
……..
Want to read more? Here are some suggestions:
- In Holy Week, Preparing for Loss
- Coronavirus, Suffering, and Two Questions About God
- The Foundation is Shaking: Coronavirus and Living in Love {Ep. 103}
- Reflections on Suffering… and Love
If you haven’t already, please subscribe to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and you can subscribe to my Love is Stronger Than Fear podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify, as well as other platforms.
