If God Loves Us… Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world if God loves everyone?

The Bible teaches us about God’s love in verses like John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NLT).

In the beginning, when God created the world, there was no pain, suffering, or death. The world was perfect, and God provided everything humans could ever need. He entrusted a man and a woman, Adam and Eve, to take care of it and fill the earth.

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31 NLT).

But everything changed when they disobeyed God. The Bible says that the woman desired wisdom, and that brought envy and greed into the world. Once they realized their mistake, they felt guilt and shame for the first time. They also experienced fear—fear of God—and when Adam blamed Eve, blame itself became part of human life. From that moment on, death entered the picture. Humanity was cast out of the garden, and life became a struggle.

“And to the man, [God] said, ‘Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it'” (Genesis 3:17 NLT).

Generations of greed, blame, and fear followed, and the world became filled with suffering—nothing like God originally intended. The very traits we see in humanity today, in every corner of the globe, are responsible for much of the pain, including famine, conflict, and injustice. None of this was part of God’s design; it resulted from humanity choosing to reject Him and His simple guidelines.

You might wonder, “Why did God allow this? Couldn’t He have stopped it?” God desires that we choose to love Him freely, not out of compulsion. If He forced us to follow His will, we would be no different from robots, lacking the freedom that makes us truly human. Our ability to choose is central to who we are, and with that comes the potential to make wrong choices.

But there’s good news: God did create a way for us to return to Him and repair the brokenness. That way is through Jesus Christ. Through faith in Jesus and by choosing to follow Him, God offers us a path back to the relationship that was lost with Adam and Eve. This begins by asking for His forgiveness and turning away from our sin.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NLT).

The journey of reconciliation starts by seeking God’s forgiveness and following Jesus. It’s a simple but profound path that helps us overcome the fear, shame, envy, and blame that cause so much suffering. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection show us that death is no longer the end—it’s been defeated. While we can’t fix the world’s problems overnight, we can trust that the Holy Spirit will guide us back toward the life God intended for us.

“The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” (Galatians 5:22-23 NLT).

For more guidance on how to repent and follow Jesus, explore the rest of the “Q&A” section or reach out to a good church to help you take that next step.