Glory and Suffering
Seeing God’s Heart When We Can’t See His Reasons
“When you get to heaven, you will not complain of the way by which the Lord brought you.” — John Newton
Suffering is, for most of us, the hardest part of the Christian life to face. It’s painful when we walk through it ourselves, and it’s painful to watch those we love endure it. And no matter your background, resources, family story, or circumstances, suffering eventually finds its way into every life. It’s the one experience every human being shares: life can be brutally hard.
We can’t possibly untangle the entire problem of pain in a single post. Libraries are filled with books on this very subject—and it’s worth reading at least one thoughtful book on suffering every year. But instead of offering a neat answer, I want to give you a framework to wrestle with honestly.
If God allows suffering, we tend to assume one of two things must be true:
Either God is sovereign but not good—an all‑powerful ruler who permits pain without love.
Or God is good but not sovereign—He wants what is best for us but is unable to bring it about.
Scripture refuses both conclusions. It insists that God is fully sovereign and fully good, and our lived experience insists that suffering is real. So we’re left holding truths that seem to pull in opposite directions. One way Christians have made sense of this tension is by distinguishing between God’s revealed will and God’s secret will.
For example, in His revealed will, God desires all people to be saved; yet in His secret, sovereign will, He elects some. God hates sin; yet He allowed—indeed ordained—the greatest sin in history: the crucifixion of His Son. These categories don’t solve the mystery, but they keep us from drawing false conclusions about God’s character.
Tim Keller once said, “The cross does not tell us what our suffering means, but it does tell us what it can’t mean. It can’t mean that God doesn’t love us.” That is why the only safe place to stand when suffering raises its agonizing “Why?” is at the foot of the cross. Not with a passing glance, but with a long, steady, honest look.
Because when we behold the cross, we discover a God who enters suffering, not one who stands far off from it. And even when we don’t receive the answer we long for, we receive something better: a bedrock of peace, a reason for hope, and a reminder that the One who holds our lives is both sovereign and good.
