First, let us be clear: there is no simple answer that can erase the profound pain of loss, especially the loss of a child.

Platitudes are empty in the face of real suffering.

The Bible does not shy away from this pain; it is a book filled with lament, grief, and people crying out to God in their anguish.

1. The Question of the Choice

The most honest question a hurting person can ask is: Why would God even allow the choice that led to all this pain? Wouldn't a world of puppets who could not choose evil be better than a world with this agony?

The answer is found in one word: love.

True, genuine love cannot be programmed; it must be chosen. For love to be real, the option to reject it must also be real. God desired to create beings who could genuinely love and fellowship with Him, not robots who were forced to obey. The unspeakable tragedy of our world is the consequence of that freedom being used to rebel. God did not desire the evil that followed, but He desired the freedom that made genuine love possible.

2. The Promise of His Presence

In the midst of the world broken by that choice, God does not promise a life without pain, but He does promise His presence in the pain. He is not a distant God, unfamiliar with grief.

“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” (Psalm 34:18, KJV)

When His friend Lazarus died, Jesus did not offer a theological lecture; His response was deeply human and compassionate:

“Jesus wept.” (John 11:35, KJV)

He is a God who draws near to the suffering and weeps with those who weep.

3. The God Who Suffered

The ultimate proof of God's goodness is not an argument; it is the cross. God did not remain separate from our suffering; He took on flesh and entered into it completely.

Jesus Christ, the only truly innocent person who ever lived, was betrayed, tortured, abandoned, and murdered. He willingly suffered the most horrific evil imaginable. On that cross, He took the greatest act of evil and turned it into the greatest possible good: the salvation of all who will believe. He is not a God who is unfamiliar with your pain; He has endured it at its absolute worst.

4. The Final Victory

Because Christ has conquered death, the pain of this broken world is not the end of the story. The suffering we endure now is temporary, but the victory of God is eternal. He has made a final promise to all who trust in Him, a day when the war will be truly over.

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Revelation 21:4, KJV)

This is our ultimate hope: not that we will understand all the reasons for our pain in this life, but that we will one day enter a reality where it has been defeated and removed forever.