6 Truths About Christian Suffering
This life can be cruel sometimes. Cancer, divorce, chronic pain, abuse, bankruptcy, death, and so much more can plague us. We wonder why these things happen. Why me? Why my loved ones?
As Christians, suffering doesn’t seem like it should be a part of our lives. We know God, and we love Him. He knows us, and He loves us. If that is true, then how could a good and loving God allow us to suffer as we do sometimes?
We get confused when it happens. We wonder if we’ve done something wrong. Is God punishing us? Sometimes we get angry or become bitter when faced with suffering.
But what should we think about suffering? What does the Bible really say about it?
Here are 6 biblical truths about suffering.
WE SHOULD NOT BE SURPRISED BY SUFFERING
We live in a sin-infested world. We see sin being brought into this world in Genesis 3, and the world has been broken ever since.
Satan is even referenced as the ruler of this world in the Bible (2 Corinthians 4:4). If Satan is heavily active and influential in this world, then we should not be surprised by suffering. Satan is also listed as the evil one (Matthew 13:38) and a murderer (John 8:44) in Scripture, so there is no doubt that he is out to disrupt people’s lives in this world.
We should expect suffering in this world, and we should expect to suffer in our own lives from time to time.
SUFFERING IS NOT PUNISHMENT FROM GOD
I’ve seen so many Christians in turmoil when they were experiencing suffering because they think that God is punishing them for something they’d done. They are convinced that they must have made God angry because of their actions or behaviors. It leaves them in a state of panic to figure out what it is and how to appease Him so that He’ll make their suffering stop.
But the truth is God is not punishing you when you experience suffering in your life. He is not up in Heaven constantly keeping watch over you, waiting to zap you when you misbehave in some way. That is not who our God is.
God is love (1 John 4:8), and He sent Jesus out of His love for us as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10). Jesus has already taken the punishment for your sins, so your suffering is not a punishment from God when you mess up.
Now to be clear, there are natural consequences for sin in this world. If you steal money from a bank, then you should expect to spend time suffering in jail. But this is different than thinking that you are being punished by God because you have cancer or because you have chronic pain in your life. He is not punishing you, you are just experiencing the effects of a fallen world that we live in.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO FAKE IT WHEN YOU ARE SUFFERING
As believers, sometimes it’s easy to think that you should put a smile on your face and fake it when you are experiencing suffering in your life. However, that is not what King David did when he suffered. Look at what he wrote in Psalm 13:1-2
1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
David was obviously going through a trial in his life when he wrote this, and he did not hold back when he was talking to God. He shared what he was feeling, and cried out to him as he suffered in this world.
When you suffer, you don’t have to hide what you are feeling. You can talk to God about it. You can share it with others. Be real. Be authentic. Don’t hold it all in.
GOD IS IN THE SUFFERING WITH US
When you go through suffering in this world, you are not alone. God is with you. He will never leave you, nor forsake you.
As you walk through suffering, God will provide for you. He will comfort you. He will give you peace in the middle of your suffering.
God will even use your suffering for your good and for His glory. That doesn’t mean that your suffering is good, and it doesn’t mean that it was caused by God. It just means that He is able to take even bad things that were caused by the enemy for one purpose and use them for His purposes.
I know people who have had horrible things happen in their lives but will tell you that it was through those things that they came to know Jesus. They’ll tell you that they would never go back and change what happened to them because it was what allowed God to change their life for the better in the long run.
God knows your suffering. He hurts with you, walks with you, provides for you, and works for your good and His glory in it.
SUFFERING DOESN’T TAKE AWAY ABUNDANT LIFE
One of the mistakes we often make when we experience suffering is to think that we have to get out of the suffering to experience abundant life.
The reason this is a mistake is that Jesus is the abundant life (John 10:10; 11:24; 14:6).
Abundant life is not found in the good situations and circumstances of our lives. The abundant life is a Person. The abundant life is Jesus Christ.
Therefore, when we experience suffering in our lives, we still have abundant life as believers. We still have His joy, His peace, and His contentment in our lives.
Our suffering does not have to end to experience abundant life because we have it in Jesus all the time.
SUFFERING WILL NOT LAST FOREVER
Perhaps the best news in the Bible about suffering is that it will not last forever. Because Jesus was willing to suffer for us and our sins, we will not have to suffer forever. We have eternal life with Him in Heaven.
In Heaven, there will be no more cancer, pain, sorrow, sickness, hatred, racism, death, or suffering of any kind.
One of the most moving descriptions of Heaven is found in Revelation 21:4, which tells us this
4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
This is our future glory.