The Silence of God: A Test or A Trust?
For thousands of years, people grappling with faith have sought to bridge the gap between belief in a benevolent God and the harsh reality of evil and pain. These attempts are called “theodicies.” This article, the third in our series, examines some key approaches faith can teach us to understand God’s apparent silence.
The ‘Free Will’
God, out of immense love, gave humans a truly precious gift – the ability to make real choices. This isn’t just about picking ice cream flavours. It’s the foundation for genuine love, deep relationships, moral courage, and even our connection with God.
By essence, real freedom means we can choose even wrong. If God stepped in every single time someone was about to cause harm, stopping every lie, every act of violence, every betrayal – then our choices wouldn’t be free anymore. We would be like robots, programmed only for good. The terrible things humans do to each other, like war, abuse, and greed, are, sadly, the dark side of this incredible gift of freedom. Our choices, good and bad, prove we are free.
But what about earthquakes or babies dying from fatal diseases? They are not caused by human choices. That’s the big question for this view. This leads us to other ideas.
The ‘Soul-Making’
This world isn’t meant to be a perfect, pain-free paradise. Instead, it’s more like a ‘soul-making Khānqah. It’s a place designed not for constant comfort, but to build and strengthen our character and spirit.
Imagine, how could we learn true compassion if we never saw suffering? How would we develop courage if we never faced fear? Where would resilience come from if life were always easy? Suffering, while deeply painful, isn’t a meaningless punishment. It can be the necessary ingredient for growing these deep, valuable qualities and virtues that shape who we become.
Think of a world without any challenges. Love might feel shallow if it never required sacrifice. Bravery wouldn’t exist. Patience wouldn’t be needed. Let’s try to see suffering not as proof that God isn’t there or doesn’t care, but perhaps as a tough, even brutal, training ground for developing a deeper, richer spirit capable of a profound relationship with God.
The Divine Wisdom
God’s perspective is infinitely bigger than ours. We see life like looking at the back of a tapestry – a tangle of knots and loose threads, messy and confusing. But the weaver sees the whole design, knowing every thread is vital for the final, beautiful picture.
Isn’t it a hard truth that we simply can’t know everything? God’s reasons for allowing certain painful events might be part of a plan too vast and complex for our human minds to grasp right now. This isn’t about dodging the question. It’s about humility. If we believe in a God who is powerful and wise enough to create the universe, perhaps that God also understands things on a scale we can’t understand. God’s “silence,” then, might not be absence, but the quiet of a deep mystery, a wisdom working on a level beyond our sight.
The Consequence of Disobedience
Among faith traditions, the Semitic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, point to a foundational story, a time when humanity was in perfect harmony with God and creation, and a moment when that harmony was broken, often called “the Fall.” This view suggests that much of the suffering we see isn’t God directly causing pain, but rather the natural consequence of man’s disobedience to the original, good design.
Just as a machine breaks down when misused or a garden becomes overrun with weeds when neglected, environmental destruction and deadly wars, including the tragic loss of innocent lives, are natural consequences of humanity’s failure to uphold the divine balance, reminding us of our deep responsibility for the suffering we help create.
Living with the Mystery
But honestly, do any of these explanations truly heal the wound of suffering or answer every “why?” The sheer scale of pain in the world is overwhelming, and to claim complete understanding can feel more like arrogance than wisdom.
For many believers, accepting that the full answer remains a mystery is actually a step deeper into faith, not out of it. It shifts the focus. Instead of demanding an explanation for every tragedy, it becomes about cultivating trust. Faith isn’t about having all the answers, but about holding on to hope and purpose even when life is dark and painful.
Redefining “Good” and Our Role
This struggle with suffering often changes how people understand God’s “Goodness.” It moves beyond the idea of God as a cosmic bodyguard who prevents all ill actions and broken hearts. Instead, it introduces a profound image of a God who is present in the suffering.
This is a God who doesn’t watch from a distance, untouched. This is a God who enters into the pain with us, understands it deeply, and offers comfort and strength right there in the middle of it — a God who walks beside us in the “valley of the shadow of death,” rather than magically removing the valley.
Divine goodness transforms from being solely about preventing hardship to being about sustaining us through it. The greatest pain we must all face is death — yet, paradoxically, without death, the burden of pain might be even greater. Though unwelcome, death is not without its wisdom.
If God does not prevent all suffering, then we are called to respond. Suffering becomes not just a mystery to ponder, but a summons to act, with compassion for the hurting, justice against cruelty, healing for the broken, and resolve to build a more just and peaceful world.
In our response to suffering, in our acts of kindness, our pursuit of justice, our willingness to help carry another’s burden, we often find the most real, tangible evidence of the divine. It shines through human hands and hearts.
So, is God’s silence a test of our faith? Or is it an invitation to trust a deeper wisdom?
Perhaps it is both. But, more importantly, it is also an invitation to act. The silence isn’t just an empty space. It’s a space waiting to be filled – filled with our voices speaking out against injustice, filled with our hands reaching out to help, filled with our hearts opening in empathy. God’s apparent silence can become the catalyst that transforms faith from a passive belief into an active force for good in a hurting world. It asks us: How will you respond to the silence? How will you answer the call of suffering?
Next: Rethinking the Epicurean Paradox
Dr. Nazir Ahmad Zargar is a scholar of Islamic Sciences and Philosophy, and Comparative Religion, currently working on a comprehensive book addressing atheism from an Islamic perspective. He is a Faculty at the Department of Religious Studies, Central University of Kashmir.
