For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us.
Short answer
The Bible does not give one tidy answer. It rejects the idea that suffering is always the sufferer’s fault, lets people bring their pain to God in prayer, shows God entering suffering in Jesus, and promises a day when “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
The honest answer
Scripture does not give one explanation for why God allows suffering. It does several other things instead. It rejects the idea that suffering is always a punishment for the person who suffers. It gives sufferers words to complain to God. It shows God entering suffering Himself in Jesus. And it promises that suffering will end. Christians of every tradition draw on all of these, and none of them claims to dissolve the mystery.
Not a punishment for the sufferer
As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “This man didn’t sin, nor did his parents, but that the works of God might be revealed in him.
The disciples assume that the man’s blindness must be someone’s fault. Jesus says it is not. He gives the same answer about people killed by violence and by a collapsing tower: they were not worse sinners than anyone else (Luke 13:1–5). The book of Job makes the point at length. Job’s friends insist his suffering must be deserved, and at the end God says they have not spoken rightly (Job 42:7).
Job: an answer that is not an explanation
When God finally speaks to Job “out of the whirlwind” (Job 38:1), He does not tell Job why he has suffered. He shows him a creation far beyond his understanding (Job 38–41), and Job is answered by meeting God: “now my eye sees You” (Job 42:5). Readers have found this ending both hard and consoling.
The best thing Job’s friends did came first, before they began to explain: they sat with him seven days, “and no one spoke a word to him” (Job 2:13).
The Psalms of lament
How long, Lord?
Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
having sorrow in my heart every day?
How long shall my enemy triumph over me?
Many psalms are prayers like this: complaints addressed to God, kept in Scripture. Bringing pain to God, even angrily, is itself a form of faith. See the guide Trusting God in difficult times and the question Is it wrong to be angry at God?
God in the suffering: the cross
Christians do not claim to know why God permits each sorrow, but they point to where God placed Himself. Jesus wept at His friend’s tomb (John 11:35), prayed in anguish in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:38–39), and on the cross prayed the opening of Psalm 22: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). The Letter to the Hebrews draws the conclusion:
For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.
Romans 8 and the hope ahead
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us.
Paul describes a whole creation that “groans and travails in pain” (Romans 8:22), says the Spirit prays for us when we do not know how (Romans 8:26), and insists that nothing, “neither death, nor life,” can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38–39). The often-quoted Romans 8:28 says that “all things work together for good for those who love God”; it does not say that every suffering is itself good.
In 2 Corinthians 4:17 Paul calls his troubles “our light affliction, which is for the moment,” set against “an eternal weight of glory.” He wrote this after beatings, shipwreck and danger (2 Corinthians 11:24–27); the comparison looks forward, and it does not make light of pain. The Bible’s last word on suffering is a promise:
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things have passed away.”
Where Christians differ
Christians describe God’s role in suffering in different ways. Some traditions, especially Reformed Protestants, emphasize that nothing happens outside God’s purpose, pointing to Joseph’s words, “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). Others, including much Catholic and Orthodox teaching, speak of God permitting evil that He does not will, out of respect for the freedom of His creatures, while bringing good from it. Catholic tradition also speaks of uniting one’s sufferings with Christ’s, drawing on Colossians 1:24; many Protestants read that verse as about Paul’s own ministry and are more cautious about this language. All hold together what Scripture affirms: God is good, God is sovereign, and suffering is real.
If you are suffering now
Scripture’s first response to sufferers is presence, not argument: “Weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). The Grief and loss page gathers passages for mourning. A pastor, priest or counselor can walk with you, and asking for help is not a failure of faith. If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, in the United States you can call or text 988 at any time.