“I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Few things from my high school’s required reading list left an impression on me, but Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl did. This short book, written by a holocaust survivor, details one man’s experience of in a Nazi concentration camp and focuses on the meaning of life amid suffering. Millions of copies have been sold.
Which raises the a question: why has a book which that details such horrid events been so successful? The answer, perhaps, is because it offers a way to deal with something we all share have in common:, namely, human suffering.
We all have deep wounds, often caused by terrible tragedies. When others cause these wounds, it is easy to become bitter and resentful. We may even be tempted to despair and question if there is such a thing as a good God; after all, it may legitimately be asked, if God is good, why do we suffer?
Rather than offer an apologetic for how we can be sure God is real, and how we can believe that he is good, allow me to assume, for the moment, God’s existence and goodness. Having assumed these things, I’d like to explore the Christian response to suffering. Should Christians despair or become resentful when they suffer wrongdoing, or is there another response they should offer? What about when Christians see the sufferings of others? What is the proper response? In fact, there are at least four responses to such questions, which I’ll briefly discuss next.
Response #1: Abandonment
The first response to suffering involves an abandonment to God’s providence. The French spiritual writer Jean Pierre de Caussade is well– known for his classic work Abandonment to Divine Providence. He focuses on a holy resignation to God’s will as a means to sanctity. Much like Our Lord, who abandoned himself to the will of the Father on the night in which he was betrayed, disciples of Christ are to abandon themselves to God’s will, especially in times of need. After all, if God controls everything by his providence, it is comforting to know that one can rest in God’s his providential will.
Summarizing the apologetic for such a holy resignation, de Caussade says:
Do you know better than God? As he ordains it thus, why do you desire it differently? Can his wisdom and goodness be deceived? . . . …Do you imagine you will find peace in resisting the Almighty? (Abandonment to Divine Providence, p. 10-11).
As anyone who has practiced abandonment to God’s providence knows, there is an incredible liberation from suffering in the knowledge that nothing happens without God’s permission, and if a good God permits it, who are we to contest it? Having considered this, perhaps the next time we encounter a situation that feels hopeless, we can find comfort in an abandonment to God’s will.
Response #2: Redemption
The second way a Christian should offer respond to suffering involves the concept of redemptive suffering. One of the most beautiful aspects of the Christian faith is that it transforms suffering into a means of redemption! This is because of the work of Christ, who used the atrocious act of crucifixion to bring about the salvation of the world. On the cross, Christ transforms suffering into a means of redemption, and thus, he takes a gruesome symbol of torture and transforms it into a symbol of eternal life.
Moreover, since Christians are members of the body of Christ, it is fitting that they emulate what the head of the body, i.e., Jesus, did amid suffering. This means that God has also graciously allowed human acts of suffering, if united in intention to Christ’s suffering, to be a means of redemption for ourselves, and others.
This is why St. Paul states in his letter to the Colossians: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,” (Col. 1:24). In other words, if we take our sufferings, unite them to the sufferings of Christ, and ask to apply them to someone we care about, God will use these holy acts of piety to bring about their redemption.
What an incredible miracle this is: the God who made the universe out of nothing can take human suffering and transform it into something salutary! Perhaps the next time someone persecutes and slanders us, we should offer our sufferings from such injustices for their redemption!
Response #3: Good from evil
A third Christian response to suffering recognizes that God brings good out of evil. The book of Genesis is filled with incredibly dramatic stories that would make any movie scriptwriter envious.
One such story concerns the life of Joseph, who was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery. Though he became a slave and was later imprisoned in Egypt on false charges, he trusted God, and was elevated eventually to the right hand of the Pharaoh. Upon meeting his brothers many years after their act of betrayal, he told them:
As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Gen. 50:20).
In other words, Joseph recognized that the God who brought the universe out of nothing can bring good out of evil. This is a principle that is later confirmed by St. Paul in his letter to the Romans, where he says: “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
Consequently, Christians can always maintain hope that God will bring good out of evil and suffering; it may not readily be apparent how this may happen, much as Joseph may not have seen God’s intentions when he Joseph was sold into slavery, but there is a divine promise that he will most certainly do so. This is why, for instance, parents who witness their children lose their faith and live a profligate life can have hope that God will bring about good from the child’s bad decisions.
Response #4: Free will
The fourth response to suffering concerns the rejoicing of God’s triumph over all evil, including human suffering. So far, we have seen how faithful Catholics are to respond to their own experiences with suffering. But what about friends or even family members who do not follow God and end up separated from him for all eternity? Is there any purpose in their suffering, and, if so, how are Christians to respond to it?
These might be some of the most difficult questions to answer, and before we attempt to do so, it’s helpful to try to understand why a person would spend eternity separated from God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church offers an explanation:
To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God‘s merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called “hell.” (1033).
In other words, those who are separated from God in hell are there by their own free choice. Tragically, they have chosen to isolate themselves from God for eternity, due to an inordinate love of self and hatred for God and neighbor. Thus, it is not the case that people in hell are there because they have been damned by an angry God; rather, they are there by their own free will.
Yet, some may ask, what is the proper response of faithful Christians to the sufferings of those who spend eternity in hell, especially if some of its occupants are revealed on the day of judgment to be friends or family members? It most certainly can be said that the righteous do not rejoice directly in the sufferings of the damned. However, those who love God certainly rejoice in God’s just condemnation of evil. After all, if God is good and loves that which is good, he must hate evil, as should his followers.
This is why Sacred Scripture refers to the smoke of the torment of those who rebel against God as ascending before the angels and the righteous in heaven rejoicing over God’s just judgment (see Revelation 14:9-11; , 18:20, 19:3). The righteous do not rejoice in the condemnation of the wicked, as such, but in the condemnation of the wickedness that evil people committed.
St. Thomas Aquinas confirms this distinction, saying:
A thing may be a matter of rejoicing in two ways. First directly, when one rejoices in a thing as such: and thus the saints will not rejoice in the punishment of the wicked. Secondly, indirectly, by reason namely of something annexed to it: and in this way the saints will rejoice in the punishment of the wicked, by considering therein the order of Divine justice and their own deliverance, which will fill them with joy (Summa Theologica IIIa:94:1).
It is in this way that God triumphs over evil. When the saints see his mercy magnified by his justice, they will rejoice at their own gracious salvation from sin. Stated differently, in the same way the beauty of a diamond is more evident when examined against a black background, so too it is that God’s mercy for sinners is more radiant to the saints when considered against his justice. It is in this way that an apprehension of the glorious radiance of God’s mercy leads to rejoicing in God’s triumph over evil. Perhaps the next time we witness the downfall of a wicked person we should delight, not in the death of the wicked, but in God’s gracious sparing of our own lives.
It is certain that in everyone’s lives there are times of trials and suffering are to come. When they come, one we may wonder how a good God could allow evil things to happen to us or the ones we love. The Christian response to suffering is not to despair, but rather, to practice a holy resignation to God’s will, apply their sufferings for the redemption of others, be hopeful that God will bring good out of evil, and rejoice in God’s eschatological triumph over evil. If we do these things, we will find the sweet joy of God’s comfort in the midst of pain.