animal suffering

 

Today we read from Job 31:1-33:33 in the One Year Bible. Job insists that he is innocent, and his friend Elihu gets angry. He tells him to stop accusing God of being unjust. And he points out that even the suffering that people experience is used to teach them valuable lessons. But this brings up the idea of animal suffering. And Job DID lose his flocks and herds, which arguably suffered for no other reason than to test Job. Is that really fair to the animals that died?

Animal suffering is one of the hardest questions to answer when it comes to the goodness of God. Human suffering we can understand, because God uses it to teach us things. But what good comes from animals being in pain and suffering, especially at the hands of humans? There's a terribly painful passage in Crime and Punishment where a poor horse is beaten to death by its owner because it is unable, try as it might, to pull the cart to which it's attached. Heart breaking. And just tonight I accidentally stepped on a little bird that had apparently flown into the window. It was fluttering around on the ground in apparent agony before I put it out of its misery. And word to the wise - don't google "animal suffering" to try to find a picture for your blog. You'll have nightmares.

So what are we to do with this? How can we reconcile the seemingly pointless suffering of animals with the idea of an all good, all powerful, all knowing God? Well, TODAY we can only join forces with Elihu and insist that God is right and good, and that anyone who accuses Him is in the wrong. But we don't have the answer to HOW He's right yet. That comes later in the book of Job. An answer that I think we're all about ready to hear.

God, thanks for teaching us that animal suffering is not for nothing.