Causes of suffering

The ultimate cause of suffering is sin

Genesis 3:14–19 ESV

The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

It need not be the result of particular sins:

Job 1:1; Jn 9:1–3

Job 5:6–7; Ro 5:12–14

Suffering as a result of human wickedness

Murder

Genesis 4:8 ESV

Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

See also Ge 49:5–7; 1 Sa 18:10–11

Injury

Matthew 26:67 ESV

Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him,

Hatred

Psalm 109:3 ESV

They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.

See also 2 Sa 13:15; Tt 3:3

Jealousy

Genesis 37:4 ESV

But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

See also Ge 4:4–5; Ge 16:6; Ge 21:8–10; 1 Sa 18:8–9; Mt 27:18

Persecution

John 15:20 ESV

Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

See also Je 38:6; Da 3:4–6; Da 6:7; Mt 5:10–12; Mt 10:35–36; Re 6:9–11

Cruelty

Psalm 71:4 ESV

Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.

See also Jdg 1:7; Ps 54:3; Am 1:13; Mt 2:16–18; Lk 10:30

Rioting

2 Ki 7:17; Ac 16:22

Warfare

Jeremiah 50:22 ESV

The noise of battle is in the land, and great destruction!

See also Ge 14:1–2; Ge 14:11–12; Ex 13:17; Jos 6:20–21; Jos 10:22–26; Jdg 1:4–7; 1 Ki 22:35; 2 Ki 17:5–6; Zec 14:2; Lk 21:20–24; Re 6:4

Injustice

Ezekiel 9:9 ESV

Then he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see.’

See also Ge 39:19–20; 1 Ki 21:11–14; 2 Ki 21:16; Ps 58:1–2; Ps 64:6

Oppression

Ecclesiastes 4:1 ESV

Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them.

See also Ex 1:11; 1 Ki 12:1–4; 1 Ki 12:12–14; Ps 12:5; Jas 5:1–6

Adultery

2 Sa 12:9; Mal 2:14

Theft

Matthew 6:19 ESV

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,

See also Ge 31:19; Job 1:14–15; Job 1:17; Job 24:2

Broken relationships

Job 19:14–19; Ps 27:10; Pr 16:28; Ac 15:39

Suffering as a result of misfortune

Accidents

2 Sa 4:4; 2 Ki 1:2; Lk 13:4

Sickness

Genesis 48:1 ESV

After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

See also 2 Ki 20:1; Job 2:7; Ps 42:10; Mt 8:6; Ac 28:8; Php 2:27; 2 Ti 4:20; Jas 5:14

Hunger and want

Ge 12:10; Job 30:3; Is 5:13; Mt 25:42–43

Natural disasters

1 Ki 22:48; Job 1:16; Job 1:18–19; Is 29:6; Joe 1:4; Zec 14:5; Mt 24:7; Ac 27:18–20

Suffering through old age and death

Ageing

2 Sa 19:34–35; Ps 71:9; Ec 12:1

Bereavement

Ge 23:1–2; Job 1:18–19; Lk 7:11–13; Jn 11:33–35; Jas 1:27

Suffering through anxiety

Proverbs 12:25 ESV

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

See also Dt 28:65–67; Lk 21:26

Suffering through foolishness

Psalm 107:17 ESV

Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;

See also Jdg 11:34–36; Pr 10:1; Pr 11:15; Pr 14:1; Pr 23:29–30; Lk 15:17

Suffering through Satanic activity

The influence of Satan

Genesis 3:1 ESV

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

See also Job 1:12; Job 2:6–7; Lk 13:16; 1 Jn 5:19; Re 2:10; Re 20:7–8

Demon-possession

Mt 8:28; Mt 12:22; Mt 15:22

Suffering brought about by God himself

All suffering comes within his will

Jn 9:3; Eph 1:11

Some suffering is for his immediate glory

John 21:19 ESV

(This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Jesus Christ’s suffering produces salvation

Isaiah 53:10 ESV

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

See also Ac 2:23

Christian suffering produces good fruits

Ro 5:3–4; 2 Co 1:9; Heb 12:11; Jas 1:2; Jas 1:3

God’s people must be disciplined

Hebrews 12:7 ESV

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

See also Ex 32:35; 2 Sa 12:13–14; Ps 119:67; Ps 119:71; Pr 3:11–12; Heb 12:8–11

The wicked must be punished

Romans 6:23 ESV

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

See also Ge 6:5–7; Jn 5:14; 2 Th 1:8; Re 9:4; Re 20:15

Suffering accepted voluntarily

By Jesus Christ

1 Peter 2:21 ESV

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

See also Is 53:3–5; Is 53:10; Lk 9:22

By his people

2 Corinthians 12:15 ESV

I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?

See also 2 Co 4:10–12; Php 3:10; Heb 11:35

For the good of others

John 15:13 ESV

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

See also Ro 5:7; Phm 18