How can a good God allow suffering?

When disaster strikes—whether it’s a flood, mudslide, earthquake, hurricane, or some other event—some people still refer to it as an act of God. But more and more, observers are rejecting that description. As the idea of a good and loving God becomes more universal, it becomes less possible to think that He or She would ever send evil.

That’s a wonderfully progressive view, but sometimes during the aftermath—when one has to deal with the nitty-gritty of rebuilding one’s life, home, community—evil can seem pretty overwhelming. When your whole community has vanished under a mudslide, or a flood like the one that swamped New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of the United States, the question lingers:

Even if God doesn’t send evil, is good powerless to help us?

Here’s the answer that spiritual thinker and healer Mary Baker Eddy gave in her book Science and Health: “Evil is not supreme; good is not helpless; nor are the so-called laws of matter primary, and the law of Spirit secondary.”

This statement is a powerful tool for discerning what can and should be done about evil. It makes clear that God never made evil, approved it, or sent it. Rather, the nature of the universe is good and is meant to function with peace and order.

As the Bible puts it, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.” In other words, our lives are meant to have glory, not suffering, grief, and agony.

But even if one accepts the idea that evil is not supreme, one still needs an antidote to its effects. Sometimes when the words “God’s law” are mentioned, people think of an angry God who keeps track of our every failing, however small. But God’s law is a law of Love; it doesn’t need to be feared.

God doesn’t keep score, or decide to wipe out a nation because it is primarily Muslim or Christian or Jewish or Buddhist. Science and Health explains: “In divine Science, where prayers are mental, all may avail themselves of God as ‘a very present help in trouble.’ Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals.”

Love never condemns. But to gain the benefit of its law, it is important to identify with good and to let good thoughts and actions predominate in one’s life.

It’s legitimate to ask, “Well what about all the people who die in disasters of one sort or another? Are you saying that they weren’t trying to be good?”

Definitely not. It’s impossible to stand in judgment on anyone else’s life. And Jesus specifically warned against judging others. What those of us left behind need to deal with are feelings of loss and doubt. In that regard, there are two key things we can do: One is to recognize that these individuals are still in God’s care, and the other is to know that healing is possible for their families and any others who have been traumatized by a disaster.

It’s useful, too, not to neglect one’s own thinking when praying in general about world events. Sometimes the feeling that the whole world is in a mess, with no hope of recovery, can hang over an individual like a threatening thundercloud. Cynicism, anger, frustration, even despair, can become habitual. Such mental conditions need to be addressed just as directly as if they were a burglar who had come into one’s home.

One way to deal with such issues is to become conscious of the good that is going on, even if it can only be seen in small ways. An intelligent decision by a school committee, a road improvement project that’s working, more peace in the neighborhood or in one’s family.

Even tiny examples of God’s law of love are evidence of healing, and they can renew one’s hope for the rest of the world. Delving deeply into the Scriptures can also refresh one’s spirit and reveal God’s promise to be with people in times of disaster as well as of joy.

Giving Spirit precedence over matter, even in the face of disaster, begins with one’s own daily walk with God. Simple efforts to hear God’s guidance, and obey it, build a foundation of trust and develop spiritual intuition.

But these steps also provide a conviction that no matter what situation one may find oneself in, God will be there to sustain and support. Mary Baker Eddy put it this way: “Remember, thou canst be brought into no condition, be it ever so severe, where Love has not been before thee and where its tender lesson is not awaiting thee. Therefore despair not nor murmur, for that which seeketh to save, to heal, and to deliver, will guide thee, if thou seekest this guidance” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, 149:31-2).

Some years ago, I was at work when the governor of the state declared an emergency because a hurricane was heading our way. Although everyone was released from work, some of us had to stay behind to finish up essential duties. My best friend, a former Floridian, was quite anxious about my safety and phoned me a few times to remind me to “get home.” Throughout all this, I felt a peaceful conviction of God’s guidance and direction, and while I was grateful for my friend’s concern, I was also unafraid.

As I left the office, I met a young woman who needed a ride home. To take her there didn’t involve going far out of my way, so I did that and then headed out of town. The closer I got to home, the fewer cars there were on the road and the higher the winds were.

There is nothing like driving through what is normally a very busy city of over a hundred thousand people and seeing no cars at all on the road. Without hurrying, I had just enough time to get home, put the car away, and walk into the house. Then the storm hit.

Was I glad I hadn’t stayed any longer? Yes, of course. But I was also grateful that I had helped the person who needed a ride and that I had let God’s presence, not fear, be my guide.

Each individual needs to make his or her decision about what to do in any given situation. And no one else can judge the validity of that decision, because only God and the individual can truly know every aspect of it. Fear always needs to be guarded against, but if one has felt Spirit’s presence in one’s own life, that spiritual reality helps to eliminate fear and provides a base or foundation for decision making.

In the end, however, it’s crucial to know that divine Love is always present, in the good times and in the ones that seem terrible and frightening. This Love is what sustains all people during a disaster, no matter what the outcome may be, and it continues to care for all afterward as well.

At present, we may not be able to fully understand the natural forces that bring about earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and fire, but we can be confident that a God who is Love has never sent them and never will.

From that standpoint, no one is ever helpless before evil; the power of God’s goodness and love is with us all.

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