Recently I was reviewing some older books and pamphlets in my library. I came across one that was entitled Answers to Suffering by Harold J Sala, copyrighted 1968. We all go through tough times. We suffer to certain degrees. When it becomes intense or prolonged, we might ask God why. I would like to present to you a summary of this pamphlet for all of us to deal with emotional and spiritual pain. We know a partial answer to this is in Romans 8: 28 that says, “We know that God works all things for good to those who are continually loving God and are called according to his purpose.” This verse is comforting. Yet we would still like to know the specifics of why God allows us to suffer.
- Suffering may be the result of our faith in Christ. Even before Christ ascended and certainly thereafter, his believers were subject to suffering. There are multiple verses of the Bible that offer encouragement and blessing while we are in the state of suffering. ( Matthew 5:11-12) to this very day persecution comes from organized government and individuals who inflict persecution.
- Suffering can be a means in which God offers discipline to his children. God may use difficult times as a means to give us a wake-up call. Even without realizing it in our conscious minds we could be demonstrating a rebellious spirit leading to a lack of trust and commitment to God. It is not his intention to punish us but as a loving Father he wants to remind us not to go astray. We might say that God wants to either prove his people or improve them.
- Suffering can be allowed by God’s way to refine ourselves. God might be wanting us to realize that those serious things that occur in our lives are to improve our nature in the same way that silver and gold is refined in the fire. He could be using suffering to energize us. God knows we might be approaching a turning point in our lives, and we need to be prepared for what is ahead.
- Suffering can provide us with a new insight into our lives. It could be that the schedule and routine of our lives needs to be cast aside so that we might rethink who we are and why we do what we do. Instead of lying on a hospital bed feeling sorry for ourselves, we could have an excellent opportunity to review the meaning, purpose God has in mind so that we discover what really counts to us in life. This is a time of meditation.
- Suffering could be the result of our behavior that requires punishment as a father would discipline his child. Not all suffering is punishment from God! However, if we have sin in our lives, it might be that God is using suffering as the best way to draw us up short. How many times do any of us as believers examine our lives whether or not we need to confess sin? Just because a person asks God to forgive them of their sin when they first become a Christian does not mean they no longer have to pray a prayer of repentance. God once forgives us of our sin but first we must ask for it. If we allow sin to remain in our heart, it will stymie our spiritual growth and usefulness for the Lord.
- Suffering may be for the purpose of God’s glory. When the disciples asked Jesus about a man who was physically afflicted, they asked if the man had sinned so that he would be born that way or had his parents sinned. Jesus said that neither of these things were true but that through that man God would be glorified in his healing. There may be a time in our lives in which we suffer and cry to the Lord. Afterwards our testimony is that he heard us!
It could be that the predicament in which we find ourselves is beyond our own human comprehension. This is a time in which we must rely on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In human thinking, there may be no logic to our experiences. When we truly trust God, he is not obligated to explain his motives and we must except that. Whatever God’s reasons are, through faith our soul can gain a new beauty and a tighter relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Christian Writer 