A Deal with the Devil

Why does God use suffering and Satan?

One of the first things that happen after Adam and Eve leave the Garden of Eden is Cain murdering his brother Abel. Abel dies, Cain is exiled and punished by God, and Adam and Eve lose both of their sons in a tragic way. Moving forward in history a little bit, during the time of Noah, God flood the earth in a cataclysmic natural disaster. A little later in the time line, a man named Joseph is sold into slavery, wrongly put into jail, and thrust into a role of leadership during a seven year long famine. Skip ahead to Job, we see a peek behind the curtain as God allows Satan to take Job’s family, his home, his possessions, and even his health. Walking through history, both the history recorded in the Bible and history recorded other places, we seem to jump from one form of suffering to another. People get sick, there isn’t enough food, people die, natural disasters happen, plagues happen.

We don’t even need to look to history. I doubt that any of our lives are truly untouched by suffering. We all went through the COVID-19 pandemic (plague), we experience people that we love dying, we experience broken bones and pain and sickness, we live in a world where people battle with themselves - where mental illness makes every day a battle. People lose their jobs, relationships end, and plans fall through.

We think of all this suffering and it brings up a fair question that people have of our faith. If God is all powerful, and God is good, then why is there suffering in the world? But we look at the book of Job and it goes even deeper than that - because it certainly looks like more than just suffering existing, it looks like God works with suffering and with Satan. We do know that God loves us, we do know that God is good, we do know that God wants us to spend eternity with Him in paradise, but that brings up an even harder question, and one we have to deal with. We know He loves us, we know He forgives us, so why does God use suffering and Satan?

To Punish or Discipline

One answer that I think makes sense to us most directly is that God works with suffering and with Satan to punish or discipline us. And there’s Biblical evidence that this happens - when He flooded the earth during Noah’s time, it was to punish the sin and evil of humanity. But if we think that every instance of suffering is punishment, our response can very quickly become “that person didn’t deserve that.”

But that line of thinking starts in the wrong place, so it ends up in the wrong place. That line of thinking assumes that people are good on some level, good enough anyway. But if we look to a biblical standard for what is “good,” the standard is perfection. So even the best person you will ever meet deserves punishment and wrath from God. So when we see or experience suffering and think of it as punishment, instead of thinking “that wasn’t deserved” we really should be thinking “why is God being so merciful in limiting His punishment.”

And, to be fair, punishment can also be part of discipline. When a small child puts their hand on the hot stove, it hurts - the laws of thermodynamics have punished that child. But, for most kids, they will learn to not put their hand on the stove. So sometimes when we ask “why does God use suffering and Satan” the answer that it could be punishment, it could be discipline seems fair enough.

To Test or Demonstrate

But in Job 1:1 we learn that

Job 1:1 (ESV)

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

And we know that there was probably still plenty to punish Job - we just talked about how no one is fully righteous, but then there’s God’s conversation with Satan and it really doesn’t sound like God is punishing or disciplining Job. In fact, it seems like God is using Satan to test Job and demonstrate his faith. Maybe that seems ridiculous, but there are a couple of ways to think about it that might be helpful.

First, roller-coasters get tested before the public is allowed to get on them. That’s done so that when it really matters, when it really comes down to it and regular people like you and me (well, not me, I don’t do roller-coasters), they know the coaster is safe - because they tested it. In the same way, God might test our faith with suffering, He might use Satan to test us, so that when it really comes down to it and we’re facing something that could break us - we can look back at that suffering and say “I won’t break, I’ve got this.”

Second, think about the impact of someone witnessing your suffering and your response. Imagine you got some terrible news at the doctor and you maintain a mostly positive attitude and still have the faith to declare “God is good.” Now imagine the nurse or doctor who sees that, or someone close to you who knows what you’re going through and sees your faith. They see that you aren’t motivated by what the church or what your faith does for you in the here-and-now, but that you’re motivated by the eternal promises and love of God. You might never know it, but you have demonstrated the confidence of the Gospel in a way that words could never express.

So sometimes when we ask “why does God use suffering and Satan” the answer that our faith is being tested, for our sake or for someone else’s, seems fair enough.

To Redirect or Strengthen

But I want to suggest one other reason that God might use suffering and Satan, and that is to actually strengthen and direct our faith. I want you to imagine a plant in a garden. Sometimes there will be parts of that plant that need to be pruned so that more nutrients can get to the fruitful parts, so that the plant is more healthy. Sometimes, that plant will need to be caged so that it doesn’t fall under it’s own weight, so that it grows in a direction that will be ultimately best for the garden.

Suffering can strengthen and direct our lives in a very similar way. Sometimes different parts of our lives can draw our focus away from where it needs to be - so God removes them. And that can hurt when it’s happening, that can be an experience of suffering, but in the long term it will be for our benefit. Sometimes we need something to keep us from falling under our own weight, sometimes we need something to shape us in a way that’s best for the community of faith we’re in. And that can hurt when it’s happening, that can be an experience of suffering, but in the long term it will be for the benefit of God’s people.

So sometimes when we ask “why does God use suffering and Satan” the answer that it is to strengthen or direct us, seems fair enough.

Conclusion

So if the question is “why does God use suffering and Satan,” we have a handful of possibilities. It could be to punish and discipline, it could be to test and demonstrate, and it could be to redirect and strengthen. In Job we get a relatively clear answer - God was testing Job’s faith. In Noah’s case we get a relatively clear answer - God was punishing humanity. In the New Testament, in Paul’s case - God was using it to direct him in the way he should go. But, unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t provide a specific answer key for our lives. It doesn’t tell us “you’re going to suffer in this way for this reason.” We keep all these different answers in mind, knowing that they’re all possibilities, but not quite sure which one is the reason in any given circumstance.

All we know for absolute certain is this, that God loves us and that His wants each of us to spend eternity with Him. And that love drove Jesus to enduring suffering beyond anything we can imagine. He sacrificed His place beside the Father to come be with us on earth, He felt more isolated and hurt than humanly possible, He was mocked and beaten and crucified. And He did all of that for us, He did all of that to pay the price for our sins. So when we are in the midst of our own suffering, we look to His suffering as a reminder of how much He loves us, and we take comfort in the fact that God is working to help us finish the race, to keep the faith, even to life everlasting. Amen.