Many years ago, I conducted a weekly Bible-study. It was with a young man who lived in an assisted-living facility. His name was Ron. He suffered greatly from mental trauma. This was due to past emotional and physical abuse as a child. He was limited to the point where he couldn’t care for himself on his own. He had the mental maturity of a ten-year-old at most. He couldn’t progress much beyond some basic understanding. Being honest, the bible study became more of a way to pass time for me. But it was something Ron eagerly anticipated each week.
There was one thing Ron would ask each week which has stuck in my head to this day. It was a simple question. Those who believe they’re operating with all their full mental faculties would easily dismiss it. Yet it was also profound in its simplicity.
With all the thoughts twirling in his head, the question he always asked was this:
“Is God, okay?”
The quick and obvious answer was always “Of course, Ron. God is okay and doing fine.” Then, I’d move the discussion along to whatever Bible lesson we were on that week. Sometimes he’d ask multiple times during my visit, and I’d always reassure him the same.
I was a young man myself. Studying with Ron was an event for me. It is a thing that makes you appreciate how good you have it. We were born in the same generation. I would imagine him as a cool friend if life were different. In time, as life goes on, things change. I eventually got married and moved away. In all the bustle, someone else took over studying with Ron. Over the years, I lost track of him. But his simple question still haunts me from time to time. I can still picture the sincere concern in his voice: “Is God okay?”
Lately, I’ve been asking the same question. Only now in a more philosophical way. When I ponder all the hurt and pain in this world. The cruel, endless wars and the resulting loss of so many innocent lives. Children who are victims of abuse, not unlike Ron, suffer lifelong consequences. Women and young girls and boys treated as property and sold to wicked and perverted men. Rampant crime. Drug abuse. Violence. The list can go on and on.
The way of the world raises many questions. Here’s a couple that come to mind:
Why doesn’t God do something?
Can’t God see how creation is suffering?
Finding Hope in waiting
These aren’t just theological questions. They arise in hospital rooms. They occur during sleepless nights. They also dwell in the hearts of people who wonder if they can make it one more day.
Now, I understand that some readers do not believe in God theologically or religiously. That’s okay by me because regardless of what we believe we all share the same in the sufferings.
We all ask the question in one form, or another, be it to God, nature, humanity, etc. I refer to all these collectively as God in a higher power sense of the word.
It feels as though God is slow to act. But what if what looks like delay is space—for healing, for growth, for someone’s breakthrough? Sometimes what seems like silence is mercy at work on a timeline larger than our own.
Pain reshapes us. It deepens compassion, strengthens resilience, and teaches us empathy in ways comfort never can. Many of the strongest people you meet carry with them stories of wounds that have become wisdom.
We live in a reality that is not yet whole. Our flaws and struggles are only temporary chapters in an ongoing story. We find hope in trusting that renewal is coming, not in pretending everything is fine.
The most powerful truth is this: God doesn’t stay distant but steps into our pain. God grieves with us, carries our burdens, and offers strength when we can’t carry on.
A Different Hope
Suffering is real, but not final. Waiting is hard but not wasted. We will not get all the answers we want. But if we are open to it, we get something even deeper: wisdom.
I never came to understand the exact reasoning behind Ron’s question. He was in search of some truth. With all he didn’t understand, what he understood was that truth is real; it’s sustaining.
When life feels overwhelming, think of which truth sustains you the most? That answer is the best thing at that moment for you.
Resilience begins here: not in escaping suffering, but in learning to walk through it with truth, wisdom and hope.
Is God, okay? I think so, but what do you think?
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