What Religion Gives Us A God Who Suffers With Us?

a sad young woman praying to God — AI-Generated Image from Canva Pro (Magic Media)

Why is there suffering? What can we do about suffering? Will there ever be an end to all the suffering in the world?

Suffering forces us to face what we think about life. It propels us to search for the meaning behind our pain and the remedy that can alleviate our agony.

Some spiritual beliefs may see suffering as the consequence of defying the rules of the universe. Others may see it as a test given by God. Still others may understand it as the result of our attachment to fleeting objects and desires.

When it comes to suffering, however, even our strongest beliefs are put to the test. We may be able to explain suffering theoretically for as long as we are not a part of it, but once we taste suffering ourselves, even our highest ideals may fall.

What good is it to know how suffering entered our world long ago when we can’t even lessen our pain for a moment? How do we trust in God’s wisdom when we’re at our wits’ end and the only thought screaming at the back of our minds is, “How can a good God allow so much suffering?”

When we suffer, paradise seems so far away and we have no luxury of time to think about deep philosophical beliefs. Every moment brings us closer to hell and our eventual death. What good is religion during such a time? When we are sinking so fast in our misery, is there a hand we can hold before we drown?

While we may not get all the answers we need at once, Christianity can offer us that hand by giving us the pierced hands of Christ.

Indeed, with Jesus Christ, we are given God Himself who did not remain distant in heaven, safe from all suffering and pain. We have a God who became a true human being without losing His Divinity, and in being human, shared our anguish and pain.

Why is it so important to know that God Himself entered our world and suffered like we did?

It is important because without this great event, God would have remained a distant figure we’d find too difficult to trust when faced with our worst suffering.

On the other hand, because we know that God became a suffering human being, we can start to believe more in His love for us.

We may not always understand, but we can think, “If God can willingly undergo so much suffering for me, then He must really love me.”

In this way, we can learn to trust Him. And in trusting Him, we start to have hope.

In Christianity, we are not left to our own devices to seek solace for our pain. We are not merely told a set of rules that must be followed to avoid suffering. We are instead given the very presence of Him who loves us and holds the remedy to end all the evil and suffering in this world.

What Christianity Tells Us About Suffering

1. The cause of suffering

Christianity tells us that the main cause of suffering is not God’s intention. He made everything to be good and eternal, but suffering and death entered the world through sin.

“…because God did not make death,
and he does not delight in the death of the living.
For he created all things so that they might exist;
the generative forces of the world are wholesome,
and there is no destructive poison in them,
and the dominion of Hades is not on earth.
For righteousness is immortal…
But the ungodly by their words and deeds summoned death;
considering him a friend, they pined away
and made a covenant with him,
because they are fit to belong to his company.
– Wisdom 1:13-16 NRSVCE

2. The remedy to suffering

Although humanity has sinned, God planned for our salvation, which culminates in Jesus Christ’s suffering and death on the cross. Through His death, He invites us to have eternal life in heaven where there will be no more suffering, sickness or death. There, He shall wipe away every tear.

Even in this life, God helps us either with grace to endure suffering or some means for our pain to be alleviated, such as in the case of miraculous healing and Divine intervention.

“For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.” – John 3:16 DRA

3. How suffering is transformed

By uniting one’s suffering with Christ’s, suffering becomes redemptive. Christ gave even suffering dignity, meaning and eternal value.

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church, of which I am a minister in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God, the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past.” – Colossians 1:24-26 NABRE

4. How we bear suffering

With Jesus, we do not suffer alone. We have a God who has entered the world, became a human being like us, tasted suffering Himself and shares our suffering.

“Yet it was our pain that he bore,
our sufferings he endured.
We thought of him as stricken,
struck down by God and afflicted,
But he was pierced for our sins,
crushed for our iniquity.
He bore the punishment that makes us whole,
by his wounds we were healed.”
-Isaiah 53:4-5 NABRE

How Did Jesus Christ Suffer?

Jesus not only allowed Himself to become a human being, subject to our weaknesses and vulnerabilities. He also allowed Himself to die an excruciating death!

He suffered from physical abuse and torture. He suffered from mental and emotional anguish. He suffered the betrayal and abandonment from the very people He considered friends. He suffered death itself!

Christianity gives us a God who suffers with us. He did not just come down as an adult for a short vacation. He was conceived and born as a child. He grew up and walked among us. And then He fully embraced the cross, taking up upon Himself our pain so that we’d never be alone in our suffering.

Sharing Our Pain

We were not given a set of rules to escape suffering. We were not abandoned so that we’d feel lost in our misery.

But God gave us Himself fully. He is that friend who stayed with you when you were sick, unable to do anything else but hold His hand.

And when He tells you He understands, you can believe Him because He suffers with you. He died for you even before you knew you needed to be saved.

If you are suffering now, try to seek Him in prayer. You may be angry. You may have so much doubt. But you can ask Him and tell Him everything.

You may not understand right away, and your pain may not instantly find relief. But you will have a friend who loves you enough to stay with you and to offer even His own life so that you can be saved. His name is Jesus Christ. The God who suffers with you out of the infinite riches of His love.

“…when pain is to be born, a little courage helps more than much knowledge, a little human sympathy more than much courage, and the least tincture of the love of God more than all.”
– C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

“And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:20 NABRE

Do you have questions about being a Catholic? See Jocelyn Soriano’s book Defending My Catholic Faith.

“Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” – 1 Peter 3:15 (NABRE)