A Chicago anesthesiologist named Dr. Robert Singleton II is answering one of the hardest questions people ask about God: why does a good God allow sickness and tragedy, and what he shares is worth hearing.
Many of us have asked this question at some point. Maybe it came up when we lost someone unexpectedly, or while watching someone we love fight through an illness, or even just scrolling the news and seeing innocent people dying in war. And most of the time we just push that question out of our minds with a sigh, haven’t we. But the scripture actually has an answer to that very question, and Dr. Robert Singleton II breaks it down in a short video.
Dr. Robert Singleton II is a board-certified anesthesiologist from the Chicago area. He is also a former middle school science teacher, and now he spends his free time sharing his faith online through videos, prayers and reflections for his followers.
When a follower sent him a direct message asking about the goodness of God in tragedy and sickness, he responded with a short video message.
“I don’t pretend to have all the answers,” he said. “Suffering is one of the most difficult and hardest realities of our existence.”
But he did not stop there. He went straight to scripture. The Bible tells us we live in a world broken by sin, pain and death. Jesus himself said in John 16:33 that in this world we will have trouble. So hard times are not a sign that God has forgotten us or that He is not good.
What Dr. Robert really wanted people to understand is that God did not stay far away from our pain. He stepped right into it. Jesus felt grief. He was betrayed by people close to him. He suffered and died.
Isaiah 53:3 says Jesus was a man well acquainted with grief. “God’s goodness is not proven by the absence of tragedy, but by his presence in the middle of our suffering,” Dr. Robert said.
Psalm 34:18 promises that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted. Dr. Robert also noted that many believers say their deepest experiences with God happened during their hardest seasons.
He closed with Revelation 21:4 which looks forward to the day when God will wipe away every tear and there will be no more death, no more crying and no more pain.
We may never fully understand the why behind our pain while we are here on earth. But we can trust the One who does. If you are going through something painful right now, God is not distant from you. He is right there with you.
WATCH: Doctor Explains the Goodness of God in Tragedy and Sickness
