Tag: Suffering

It is common for us to think of suffering as a curse. Because we do so, we often think of suffering as the opposite of blessing. However, the Bible teaches us that suffering can function both as a curse and a blessing. While much has been written about suffering being a curse (or think of punishment due sin), I want to explain how suffering is a blessing. In order to demonstrate that suffering is a blessing, I want to explain Romans 5:3-5.

Romans 5:3-5

Romans 5 begins by stating that because we have been justified by faith, we have peace and grace from God and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Verse three begins with “not only that,” meaning not only do we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, but because we have been justified by faith, we can also rejoice in our sufferings.

Rejoicing in sufferings doesn’t mean that we go around with a smile while we are enduring pain or tribulation. It doesn’t mean that we break one arm and say “thank God I didn’t break both arms”. We can do that. But rejoicing in suffering is more than an external measure. It’s an internal joy. Not a rejoicing at what is happening to us necessarily, but a rejoicing at what it will produce.

Suffering Produces Endurance

The first thing that suffering produces in endurance. How can suffering produce endurance? Perhaps the best illustration of this is physical exercise, especially running. It is the beginning of the new year and many will be setting resolutions about fitness and cardio health. They will begin to run. As they do so, they will discover that they can run only to a certain point before their body starts to hurt – their lungs burn, their legs feel like rubber – and their brain tells them they should stop. However, we know that many do not stop there. They persevere; they endure. They override what their body and brain are telling them and they keep running. When they do that, a crazy thing happens – they grown in endurance. Slowly, but surely, they can run a little longer than they used to be able to do so.

In the same way, when we go through tribulations and trials (isn’t it interesting that Paul doesn’t say “if”, but just assumes suffering will happen?) and instead of stopping or giving into bitterness and complaining, we look to Jesus as our joy and hope, our faith endures. It perseveres. It grows. And we can go just a little further than before. We don’t break. We don’t stop. We endure. But the only way to gain this sort of endurance is to go through the pain that would cause you to look to Jesus.

Endurance produces character

What is interesting to note here is that Paul uses the word dokimē, which means “proven character”. The key word is the word “proven”. This is in reference to steel or metal. As you probably know, when you are strengthening metal, you put it in fire. As it sits in the fire, the impurities come out. The metal worker then scrapes away the impurities and hardens the blade. The end result is a proven blade. A proven blade can be trusted because the impurities have been removed and what is left is strong metal.

When Paul speaks about producing character, he is not talking about an inherited character, but the character we become. Suffering serves as a refining fire. Through our endurance, we become stronger. We become pure and proven. Because the impurities of our lives were revealed and removed, we are stronger than before we entered the fire.

Endurance produces hope

As we read that, we may wonder how that can be the case? But I think the answer is as simple as reading the last part. We are stronger. We are proven. We have confidence that we really are children of God. In other words, one of the obstacles that we face as Christians is wondering if we are really living up to what we say we believe. We wonder if we are hypocrites. Suffering produces endurance, which produces character – it reveals to us the genuine nature of our faith. So, we grow in hope. It gives us hope that we really will inherit the promises. It gives us hope that we really do want the glory of God.

But also, we realize that God has been there with us. He never left us. In fact, he got us through the suffering. So our hope in him grows. We know we can trust Him.

When I was a kid, I knew that God was our provider, but I never experienced God as our provider. Then my dad went through a period when he did not have a steady job. Life was hard. There was a time when my family and I could not live together for a season. And, even after we were able to live together again, we were struggling financially. I remember once seeing my mom crying on the couch because of our inability to pay the bills. But when we got the mail that day, a check from the insurance company came. My mom had been in a car wreck years earlier and they were just discovering that she had not received the full payment. The amount allowed us to pay our bills! It came at just the right time. God had provided!

I knew about God providing in theory, but that taught me about him being our provider in reality! My hope in Him grew because I saw him keep his promises. But it was only in going through the trial that I was able to see that truth revealed. He teaches us hope.

And that hope doesn’t disappoint. It’s a hope that teaches us we can trust him, that we are saved, and that he does deserve glory.

But to see this, we had to suffer. We had to go through the fire. Not to be punished but to be blessed. Because suffering produced endurance, endurances produced character, and character produced hope. There’s not a plan B. There’s not an option of getting the endurance, character, and hope without the suffering. The suffering is necessary.

And, because of what it produces, the suffering is a blessing.

I had been in East Africa for only a short time when the principal of our institution spoke these words during a chapel service, “Everyone is talking about claiming the promises of God, but I never hear anyone claim the promise to suffer – that’s a promise; you know?” The students responded with an awkward laugh. They knew the principal was correct; no one was claiming that promise. However, for many of them, it was probably the first time they had ever heard that suffering was a promise.

One of the worst exports from America is a damnable heresy known as the Prosperity Gospel. Like most heresies, the Prosperity Gospel takes a truth of Scripture and then twists it to make man the focus. They twist it the truth to appeal to the desires of man. In this case, they teach that God desires for man to be healthy and wealthy…and to keep him from all suffering. Therefore, if you are not healthy and wealthy, or if you are suffering, it is because you do not have enough faith.

But this is not exactly what the Bible teaches. While this article will focus on the suffering aspect, this podcast by Dr. David Jones addresses the other aspects.

Promised because of Sin

The Biblical truth is that we are promised suffering. John 16:33 says “…in this world you will have tribulation…” Suffering is a part of this world. We are promised suffering because we live in a fallen world. Because of Adam and Eve’s sin, the world was subjected to sin (Romans 8:18-22). That means that disease and natural disasters will occur. They will occur for everyone – Christians and non-Christians.

In addition to the suffering that comes from the world being corrupted by sin, mankind is also corrupted by sin. Therefore, hate, violence, and oppression exist. A result of man’s fallen state is that we mistreated each other. We cause suffering for one another. Christians and non-Christians alike face this suffering.

Sin has corrupted the natural world and humans. Christians and non-Christians face the consequences of this corruption. Sin causes disease, oppression, mistreatment through violence and oppression, and natural disasters. Because this world is fallen, because sin still exists, there will be suffering – for everyone.

Promised for Christians

However, for Christians, there is an even more specific promise of suffering. There is a promise that we will suffer because we are Christ followers (John 15:18-21). Because the world is fallen and man is trapped in his sin, they hate righteousness. They hate God. They war against God (Romans 5:10, Ephesians 2:1-3, Philippians 3:18) Because they hate God, they hate all associated with God. This is why when God became flesh and dwelt among us, they rejected and murdered him. Because they hate God, they hate all associated with God – including his followers. Since they treated him in such a way, we should expect the same. We will suffer because of our faith.

This suffering may present itself in different manners. For the early Christians, and even now for Christians living in certain areas of the world, suffering may come in the form of physical torture and even death. For many reading this, you are not experiencing that level of suffering – yet. But you may face suffering of losing your job, or being rejected by friends and family, slander from others, and mockery. While there seems to be a disproportionate separation in degree of suffering, all of these are in fact suffering. And as we strive to live faithfully for Christ in this fallen world, we expect this sort of suffering.

It is not true that our faith will keep us from suffering. In fact, it is our faith that will lead to additional suffering. Suffering will happen. It is promised. But, while we do not go looking for suffering, we do not fear it either because we know that suffering has a purpose. It is not meaningless. In the next part of this series, we will look at the purpose, the blessing, of suffering.

Almost fourteen years ago, a terrible tragedy occurred. My wife and I lost our child to a miscarriage. It was the second miscarriage we experienced. It was the second straight pregnancy that ended with a miscarriage. We felt crushed. Friends and family tried to comfort us. Some genuinely did, but others exacerbated the pain. There were many questions and comments made, but the question that sticks out in my mind, the question I can still hear echoing was: “What did you do?”

I remember that question hitting me like a ton of bricks. What did we do?? Was this our fault? Are they saying the pain we are experiencing and even the death of our child was our fault? Was God punishing us? What did we do?

Those questions are often asked during times of suffering. Often the first thought, even of the ones experiencing the suffering, is “why?” and wondering if it is the result of something they did. Does suffering occur because of our actions? Is it our fault? The simple answer is: yes….and no. Not exactly cleared up, but maybe a little more thorough examination will help. Why does suffering occur?

When we answer this question, we begin by stating: suffering is not part of God’s original design. I don’t want to say that it is not his plan, as surely he knew it was coming, but it was not part of creation originally. The Bible tells us that when God had finished creation, he looked at it and saw that it was not only good, but it was very good (Genesis 1:31). Suffering, pain, death – those things were not there. They came when Adam and Eve disobeyed God (Genesis 3:1-4).

Their disobedience, the entrance of sin, brought with it death (Genesis 3:3, 19), separation from God (Genesis 3:9-10), curses (Genesis 3:14-19), enmity (Genesis 3:15), pain (Genesis 3:16), struggles in personal relationships (Genesis 3:16), and hard work (Genesis 3:17-18). Sin brought with it suffering. Suffering exists because of sin. If you find yourself asking “but why does God allow it? Why is it necessary?”, you will want to make sure you tune into the third part of this series, but, for now, it’s important to note that the cause of suffering is sin.

This is important to keep in mind for a couple reasons. First, it reminds us of the goodness of God. When he created everything, suffering was not present. This is vital to recall when we are going through suffering; the goodness of God is our anchor, our hope, our refuge, and our stay. Second, it reminds us of the wickedness, the heinousness of sin. The consequences of an action, can reveal the severity of the action. The consequences of sin is a separation from God that results in death, pain, and suffering.

The Fall corrupted creation (Romans 8:22). Things are not as they are supposed to be. We live in a fallen world. Separation from God exists, therefore, death, pain, and suffering also exist. Suffering exists. That means that the suffering we experience is not always a result of individual decisions (see Mark 3:1-6 and Luke 13:1-4 for examples of those who experienced suffering that was not the result of a their own sin) . Surely, sometimes it is the consequences of our individual personal sins (see Jonah as an example of those who suffer because of their personal sin), but other times, suffering occurs simply because sin has corrupted creation.

Suffering exists because we live in a fallen world – sin has corrupted creation. That can sound discouraging. You don’t even have to do anything “wrong” to experience suffering. That sounds bleak. But, as we think of the cause of suffering, we also are reminded of the cure of suffering. As soon as sin entered the world, God, the One who had been sinned against, announced a cure (Genesis 3:15). Immediately, there was a promise of the seed of the woman (Christ) crushing the head of the serpent (Satan). And, of course, at this time of year, we remember the incarnation. Christ became flesh, and dwelt among us; he suffered for us, died for us, and rose again (Romans 5:6-6:11; 2 Corinthians 5:11-21).

Sin is the cause of suffering. But God is the cause of the relief from suffering!

In July of this year, my wife decided to go to the doctor. She had been tired and not feeling right for weeks. And then a whirlwind hit our family and our lives were flipped upside down. The doctors told my wife she had Leukemia. She was immediately flown from our home in Uganda to Kenya, and then, a few days later, to the United States, where we are currently living. 

            Over the last six months, I’ve watched my wife go through multiple rounds of chemotherapy. I’ve watched a woman who has been healthy her whole life, have her body wrecked with fevers, pain, weakness, and blood vessels bursting. On top of that, I’ve had to pull my sons, already feeling the weight of concern for their mother, from their friends and move them across the world – as we remain stranded from our home and ministry in Uganda, in a state of limbo, not knowing for how long or what the outcome will be. All the while, I sit – able to observe, but powerless to change any of these circumstances. On that hand, it has not been a great six months. 

            But, on the other hand, it has been a great six months. I’ve seen the Church, local and global, act like the Church by grieving with us, but also by encouraging us with prayer and provisions. I’ve seen my wife, my sons, and myself grow more fervent (and frequent) in our prayers to, and dependence upon, God. I’ve watched my wife suffer well and be an encouragement to others. God has taken this horrible curse and made it a blessing. 

            As I have walked through these last six months, I have spent a lot of time thinking about suffering. I don’t have to tell you about suffering. You know about it. You’ve experienced it. You’ve felt the hunger, fought the sickness, held the dying, and wept with the heartbroken and discouraged. You’ve even been the heartbroken and discouraged. 

            We all know suffering exists. The questions are “why?” and “for what purpose?”. Many answers to these questions have been given. I am convinced that the answers most frequently being given are often the least Biblical answers that we could give. Therefore, I want to try to explain a Biblical perspective on suffering. I want to give a primer on suffering. This series will consist of four parts:

• Part 1: The Reason for Suffering
• Part 2: The Promise of Suffering
• Part 3: The Blessing of Suffering
• Part 4: The Faith to Suffer

     I hope that you will read along.