Change starts with…

Why does God do nothing about all this suffering in the world?

I was asked that question again this week in a conversation. It is a question that comes up quite often in conversations I have with others. Sometimes out of anger, sometimes out of grief, sometimes out of helplessness. And honestly: war, injustice, poverty, abuse, loneliness, it all piles up, and at times it seems as if no one intervenes.

My answer was not a theological argument, but a counterquestion.

What would happen if we, as humanity, stopped blaming everyone and everything—including God—for all the suffering?
What if we stopped saying that “someone else” is doing nothing?
What if we no longer avoided our own responsibility?
What if we dared to look honestly at the consequences of what we do to one another?
And what if we ourselves gave everything we have to stop that suffering? Not hiding, not passing it on, but actually doing something.

Do you think the suffering in the world would not become less?

After that, it became quiet. Very quiet.

Because if we are honest, we already know the answer. Much of the suffering in this world is not a natural phenomenon. It is man-made. Adam, Eve, and an “apple.” Modern words call it choices, power, selfishness, and looking away. The core remains the same.

We, as humanity, often do far too little to stop evil. We prefer to point fingers. If only that politician would do something. If only that other person behaved differently. If only God would finally intervene. Meanwhile, we keep our own hands clean and our conscience at a safe distance.

But responsibility does not work that way. Not in relationships, not in societies, and not in faith. Perhaps the uncomfortable truth is that God has long since entrusted us with something to stand against suffering? Not by solving everything for us, but by calling us to account for who we are and what we do.

The question, then, is not why God does nothing. The question becomes: what are we doing?

And do we dare to answer that question honestly?

He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8, NASB)