Verse 1 The earth begins to tremble, And the walls come crashing down, A wave rolls in like thunder And swallows up a town. A mountain wakes in fire, Turns the daylight into night— If You hold this world together, Why must terror have such might? Refrain Why must we suffer? Why must we cry? Why do the innocent hurt? Why do the innocent die? If You are good, if You are near, If all creation rests in Your hands— Why must we suffer? God, help me understand. Verse 2 The lion takes the zebra, And the hawk tears at the dove, Every living thing survives By taking life it loves. There is beauty in the forest, There is wonder in the sea— But beneath the song of nature There’s a strange brutality. Refrain Why must we suffer? Why must we cry? Why does one creature live Because another one must die? If You are good, if You are near, If all creation rests in Your hands— Why must we suffer? God, help me understand. Verse 3 There’s a child beneath white blankets, And her mother holds her hand, While the doctors speak in whispers Of things she can’t understand. She should be chasing fireflies, She should be learning how to dream— Not counting drops of medicine From some cold machine. And I have heard the faithful say, “There’s a reason, there’s a plan.” But standing by that little bed, Those words are hard to understand. Refrain Why must we suffer? Why must we cry? Why does a child know pain Before she knows the reason why? If You are good, if You are near, If all creation rests in Your hands— Why must we suffer? God, help me understand. Verse 4 There are fevers, there are cancers, There are plagues that cross the land, There are bodies slowly failing No physician’s skill can mend. There are minds that lose their memories, There are lungs that fight for breath, And every road we’re walking Seems to end at last in death. We build our homes and families, We love with all we are, Knowing someday we must lose The ones held closest to our hearts. Refrain Why must we suffer? Why must we cry? Why give us hearts that love If everything we love must die? If You are good, if You are near, If all creation rests in Your hands— Why must we suffer? God, help me understand. Bridge Could You not have made it gentler? Could You not have made a world Where the ground would never open, Where no deadly waves unfurled? Where no child feared tomorrow, Where no mother said goodbye, Where nothing lived by killing, Where nothing had to die? Could You not have made us different? Could You not have changed the plan? You’re the One they call Almighty— Surely You could, if You can. So forgive me for the question, But I cannot make it small: If You are love and You are able, Why is there suffering at all? Final Refrain Why must we suffer? Why must we cry? Why is this world so beautiful And yet so cruel sometimes? If You are good, then hear me. If You are there, then take my hand. I don’t need an easy answer— I just need to understand. Why must we suffer? Why must we fall? Why does heaven stay so silent When we’re calling through it all? And if someday You should answer, When I finally see Your face, Tell me why a world of suffering Was worth creating in the first place. Until then I’ll keep asking, Though my faith is hanging by a thread: Why must we suffer? And why, my God… must everything we love one day be dead?
