There is a saying that goes like this, “there are two things in life that no one can escape: 1) death, and 2) paying taxes. From one point of view this maybe true. We must all die, and we must all pay our taxes.
However, from another point of view we don’t have to pay taxes. We could refuse. Of course, the consequences of this could lead to jail. And as far as dying goes, well, we are told in scripture that not everyone will experience death. Some people will be alive when Christ returns. So, I guess one could say that we can actually escape death and paying taxes.
But to be more realistic there is one thing in life that no human being can avoid. And history has proven that.
No matter who we are, where we come from, or how young or old we may be, the one thing that we all have in common is we cannot escape “Suffering!” Every human being has or will experience some form of suffering in their life.
I can say without hesitation that there is no one today who can say they’ve never suffered. I know that everyone can share a story or two about the hardships that life has dealt them. And when it comes to suffering, whether in our own lives or someone else’s,
I am sure we have all asked that same question from time to time – Why?
Why do I have to suffer the way I do?
Why do innocent people suffer?
Why do little children have to suffer?
Why does God allow suffering?
We can find the answers to these questions by looking into the word of God, but before we do, we need to be aware of a couple of truths: 1. Suffering is, and always will be, somewhat of a mystery. We will never fully understand the whole concept of suffering; and 2. there is so much we can learn from Scripture about suffering that a full week of sermons would only scratch the surface.
But we will learn this much. The bible tells us that God, in His mysterious wisdom, allows suffering for a reason, and that suffering is as much a part of a person’s life as is the air we breathe and the food we eat.
And probably the biggest mystery of all when it comes to suffering is that suffering is something that is supposed to be a part of a Christian’s life.
Suffering, whether we understand it or not, is a part of God’s complete and perfect plan for our lives. It says so in the Bible:
1 Peter 4:12-19 “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed. If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; so then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”
It is the will of God that we suffer! And as strange as it may sound we Christians would not grow in our faith if it were not for the trials that come our way.
Suffering is a real part of our lives and always will be – that is no mystery! But why does God allow suffering in our lives? Especially in the life of one who is a child of God? Why does God allow suffering to be a part of His plan for our lives?
We may never fully understand the purpose and meaning behind this question but God does enlighten us a little. He does give us some insight into this mystery of why we suffer.
And there are at least three reasons why we suffer:
- Because of sin in our lives.
- Because suffering is a test to our faith, and this testing brings with it spiritual growth.
- To bring Glory to God, which is the highest calling of any Christian.
In order to understand these three points, we must go back to the beginning of time to learn how suffering first came about.
The Garden of Eden
So, all the way back to the Garden of Eden where once lived a man named Adam and a woman named Eve. They lived in a perfect world and at that time Adam and Eve knew nothing about suffering. They knew no experience of pain and hardships. They knew nothing of what it was like to go through trials.
As a matter of fact, we are told in Genesis 2:8-9 that even their food was provided for them. “And God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.”
But things changed. Eve was tempted by the serpent. Adam was tempted by Eve, and both Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the tree that God specifically told them not to eat from.
Now, listen to the “results” of their disobedience towards God: Genesis 3:16-19 To the woman God said, “I will greatly increase your pain in child bearing, with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you!”
To the man God said, “Because you listened to your wife and
ate from the tree I told you not to eat from, cursed is the ground because of you, through “painful toil” you will eat of it all the days of your life – by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken, for dust you are and to dust you will return!”
These passages of scripture give us the answer to the question, “where did suffering come from!” It came from God who ordained suffering into humanlife because of one man and one woman’s disobedience towards Him.
Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.”
Suffering and death come from sin. And sin occurs whenever we do something outside of the will of God.
Before Adam and Eve sinned, suffering did not exist. But from the time they disobeyed God, suffering has become a part of our everyday life. But some may respond with the question, “Well, that isn’t fair, why should I have to suffer because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience towards God?”
And the answer God gives to this question is found in Romans 3:23 and in Romans 3: 10-12. “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away; they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one!”
The truth be told, we all are no different than Adam and Eve. For just as they were-we are! Every person has, at one time or another, disobeyed God. And we continue to do so day after day after day. Sin is within us and we constantly have to battle temptation. Also, the truth is, most of the time we lose the battle and give in to temptation that leads to sin and our disobedience towards God.
Therefore, the curse of suffering that was bestowed upon mankind back in the Garden of Eden has carried over to mankind today simply because we continue to disobey God.
We make decisions, and sometimes willingly, that are contrary to the will of God, and our decisions bring with it consequences that have a negative affect on us, those around us, and the world we live in.
God has set up a system that is designed to bring on-going health, prosperity, peace, and happiness into our lives if, and only if, we continue to obey Him on a regular basis. However, we never “continue” with that “on-going” obedience and therefore, whenever we act outside the will of God we reap the consequences of His curse – which is suffering. In this particular case the suffering we experience is initiated from our own disobedience towards God.
Look at it through this example:
Assume that you are standing on a mountaintop that is thousands of feet high. That mountaintop represents God’s will for your life. Everything you need to live a happy, peaceful, fulfilling life is provided to you by God on the top of this mountain, and there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING of any good that exists beyond this mountaintop. As long as you stay at the top you will please God and be doing His will. God tells you that everything to do with life, and you living it, will be provided as long as you do not step over
the edge of the mountain, because if you do, says God, there is nothing there that will benefit you, and there will be severe consequences because of YOUR actions.
On this mountaintop God has set the boundaries for your life; your safety, well-being, and happiness; and a fulfilling relationship with God can only be attained as long as you remain on the top of this mountain. However, if you step off the edge of the mountain – or in other words – you go outside of God’s will and plan for your life, you will suffer serious injury, and/or death. And to know that there is nothing of any good for you if you leave the mountaintop, other than suffering and maybe death, then why would you leave?
Now some of you are probably saying to yourselves right about now, well, I wouldn’t leave of course, why would I? But don’t be so sure, because this imaginary mountaintop is actually your life today. This mountaintop is the will of God for your life, and it is the plan that God has for you – not to harm you, but to prosper you, yet, we still step off the mountain and bring harm to ourselves and others every time we do something that is disobedient to God.
Although we say, time and time again, we will not step off the mountaintop – or, in other words, we will not do anything that will disobey God, and although we know the difference of what we should or should not be doing – we still do it, knowing that the consequences will lead us straight into suffering because of our disobedience. And that is one reason as to how and why we have suffering in our lives. It is a form of suffering that is brought upon us because of our own wrong doing.
Some may also challenge the theology that God would never allow suffering. Well, we were already told in Genesis what God did after Adam and Eve disobeyed Him. He “commanded” into existence a life style that included suffering for anyone who disobeys Him, and that does not “exclude” His own people.
Also, we are told in Hebrews 12 that God does discipline those He loves. And if you were to study the Old Testament, you would discover rather quickly that every time God’s people, Israel, disobeyed Him, He disciplined them by way of suffering, and sometimes even death.
Sin brings with it suffering and death. It is NOT God’s desire that we experience this suffering caused by our disobedience, but God is a just God who has to, and says He will, punish sin!
So, there you have it clearly; part of the answer to the question, “Why Do We Suffer?” is because we bring it upon ourselves because of our sins.
But this is not the only reason why we have suffering in our lives. The suffering we just spoke of is a form of suffering that God does not desire we experience because, has mentioned, it is brought on due to our own disobedience towards a Holy and Righteous God.
However, Scripture also tells use that our suffering is sometimes permitted by God in order to “test our faith!” and “to bring Glory to Him!” That, by itself, is somewhat of a mystery; but in order to have some understanding of why God would use suffering to test us and bring glory to Him we must first know that God’s will consists of two parts; and they are: First, God has a “creative” will – meaning – that God makes things happen because He wants it to be.
(Example: Creation )– God created all things simply because He wanted to. He “willed” it into being, and it came into existence. A “creative will!” He did it because He wanted to.
Second, God also has a “permissive” will – meaning – God will sometimes “permit” things to happen for a reason! For example, it is not God’s desire that we disobey Him and go outside His will. However, when we do, He may sometimes “permit” something to happen in order to teach us something about Him, ourselves, and our relationship with Him. In other words, “to test our faith!’
(Example: Job’s Suffering.) God “permitted” suffering
in Job’s life as a ‘test” to his faith, as well as, to teach Job something about himself, God, and his relationship with God.
We are told that Job was a man who was “blameless and upright. A man who feared God and shunned evil.” God was pleased with Job’s way of living; therefore, Job’s suffering was not due to his sins but rather it was due to the testing of his faith in God.
So, God will sometimes permit suffering in our lives in order to “test our faith!” But just a minute! If God is “All Knowing” why would we have to have our faith tested in order to prove to Him that we are faithful enough? Wouldn’t He already know that?
Wouldn’t an “all knowing” God already know the status of our faith – whether or not, we were faithful enough?
Of course, He would! So why the test? The “test of our faith” is not for God, but for us! Our faith is tested so we will know whether or not we are acting properly in our faith. And our faith will be tested to teach us something about ourselves, about God, and about our relationship with God.
But mostly, we will have our faith tested because the testing of our faith will bring with it “spiritual growth and maturity!’
James 1: 2-4, 12 says, “Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds. The testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him!”
Somewhat of a mystery, but in His wisdom, God has chosen to use suffering in order to mature us and cause us to grow in our faith. Also, we are told in James that if we pass the test of our faith, we will receive our reward. The reward for those who love God.
Not only is our faith in God tested, but also the love that we claim to have for God is tested, as well.
James tells us that the reward for passing the test of our faith goes to those who “profess” to love God. There are many people who claim to believe in God; to know Him; and to love Him, (just like Judas Iscariot, who claimed to love Jesus but betrayed Him); yet God knows whose love is sincere and real.
Jesus said, “Not every one who says, Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of God, but only he who does the will of my Father in heaven.”
Many people can love others, or God, when things are going their way however, when something goes wrong, or someone brings us harm, we are not always so loving. And it is no different when it comes to our relationship with God.
It is easy to profess the faith and the love we have for God when all is going well in our lives, but how sincere, real, and strong our faith really is, is measured and revealed when the tough times come.
God will reveal to us, and those around us, just exactly where our faith and love in Him lies. And He will do this by testing our faith and love for Him by way of trials that will bring with it much suffering.
And although the mystery may still not be fully understood one thing is certain – and that is – that “suffering” does make us stronger and better people once we have persevered through the testing.
I am a believer that when a person goes through times of suffering, they will either turn away from God in bitterness and rejection, blaming God for the hardships, or they will turn to God for strength and direction and learn from the suffering and use it as a source of growth in one’s relationship with God.
I am also a believer that most of the suffering in this world is due to people’s refusal to acknowledge God; but I also believe that in spite of the suffering, God is using it to carry out His plan and accomplish His will.
And what is God’s will? John 6:37-40 tells us, “Jesus said, “My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
It is God’s will to make Himself known to the human race and in doing sothe human race will turn to Him and be saved.
And this brings us to the third and final reason why God allows suffering in a person’s life – to bring Glory to Him!
God will use suffering in order to have His name glorified. And the perfect example of this is Christ’s life and how He suffered. It is said that no man suffered the way He did. Yet, the whole purpose of His suffering was to bring glory to God the Father by revealing through His suffering that God loved the world so much that He sent His only Son to suffer and die so that mankind will be saved and have eternal life.
God was using the sufferings of His Son to show the world that He, God the Father, loved the world and that He was worthy to be acknowledged and glorified by all.
And God will sometimes allow suffering in our lives so that we will, in our suffering, witness for Him and bring Glory to Him.
Personal Example: Our son McKenzie had cancer. My wife and I spent much time in and out of the hospital. And during these trying times of the testing of our faith and love for God we, especially my wife, were given the opportunity to meet other parents who were going through similar ordeals. And not all of these parents were believers.
So, we were given the opportunity to share our faith in God with others. Many times, we were asked the question, “How can you believe in a God when your son has cancer?” We would always respond that if it wasn’t for our faith in God, we would not be able to get through this ordeal.
And it was during those times that we were able to share God and the love He has for them.
And these opportunities continue for us. Our son Jacob has a heart condition. There are times that we have been able to share with others how God helps us to deal with these times of suffering.
So, you see, God can and will use your suffering as a tool for witnessing to others and making His love for them known. And once they experience the love of God in their lives, they, like you, will turn right around and give God the glory and the acknowledgment He deserves.
And they will do this because they will come to realize that, like you, they cannot get through this life and into heaven without acknowledging and accepting God.
In closing, let me share this important truth with you. Suffering, in any form, is not pleasant, but through our sufferings we learn these special truths about God and our relationship with Him.
We learn that:
- God allows suffering for our own good, even though we may not always understand the purpose behind it.
- In our suffering, all things will still work towards the good for those who love God.
- During those times of suffering we can take comfort in knowing that once the suffering is over, and this life as we know it ends, we have a reward waiting for us in eternity, of which the greatest is, “to be in the presence of God Almighty!”
Jesus tells us that the sufferings of this life is temporary and are nothing compared to the rewards that await us in eternity. And as for me, I would much rather go through a life of “suffering with Christ” than to go through a life of “no suffering and without Christ.”
And if Christ was willing to suffer for us all the way to the cross, then we should be willing to suffer for Christ all the way to Glory!