What role does suffering play in the believers life

What role does suffering play in the life of a believer?
by Jacqueline Lackney

As Christians, it is our responsibility to teach others about God’s love for us. It is our commission to tell others how much God loves us. We are quick to tell people that don't know Jesus of John 3:16. It is one of the most widely quoted verses from the bible. It is often called the "Bible in a nutshell" because it is considered a summary of some of the most important doctrines of Christianity:

For God so loved the world... -God is a God of love and this love motivates his action in the rest of the verse. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

But unfortunately often the response to this wonderful message from God is the question, “Why does a loving God allow people to suffer”? Therefore, the basic message from God becomes one of the most difficult questions to answer.

This is one of the greatest arguments that an Atheist wishes to deposit in the mind of the believer. It is an argument that untrained Christians can’t answer. Without knowledge we may not understand why we suffer as Christians. That is why it is so important for the new believer to get into the word of God.

It is important to educate ourselves, so as Christians we understand why there is suffering. We need to realize it was never God’s plan to have us live in a world of suffering. It began with Adam and Eve and their disobedience to God. Gen. 3:7-19 Because of that act, sin was brought into the world and the future of suffering was pronounced on man. Not just on Adam and Eve but on every human being after them.

Rom 5:12

However, God showed his compassion and love toward us with the first promise in the garden. The promise Adam and Eve received was the hope of a savior. Gen 3:15 As Christians we know this savoir is Jesus Christ. Suffering will not end until Jesus comes to claim his church to dwell with God. Then, God himself will take away all of our pain and suffering. Revelation 21:4

When we suffer it reminds us that we are not in control of our own lives. Living without God, our lives can get out of control. Educated Christians know that often God uses suffering to draw the unbeliever to Himself. This is just one reason God allows suffering. It could be someone who felt rejected, had loss, financial problems or anything that causes us pain. With some it is the pit of the lowest feeling. Some call it “hitting rock bottom”. That is when we are thankful for that person we used to call a Jesus freak who told us about Jesus. Our memory flashes back to what that holy roller quoted, "Jesus came into the world not to condemn it but that the world might be saved". John 3:17 As we remember bits of what that bible thumper said, we try our best to address God in prayer and ask for that promise of being "saved". We are filled with this new hope as a Christian. We are now God’s children, the new life begins for us. 2Co 5:17

So, one may wonder, why then as Christians, does God allow suffering for his children? There are many reasons God allows suffering in the Christians life. But know God has a purpose and we need to trust he knows what is best for us. But Jesus taught us that daily we are to pick up our cross and follow him. Luke 9:23 We share in the terrible sufferings of Christ, but we share also in the wonderful comfort he gives. 2Co 1:5,6 (CEV) When we come through a trial, we develop a strong spiritual walk with God. We're growing as Christians. Rom 5:2-5

God will highly honor those who persist during suffering especially when we suffer persecution because of the Gospel. One of the reasons for persecution for believers in the early years of the church was to spread the gospel. Persecution caused believers to scatter and go into other places to start new churches. Act 8:1, Act 11:19

But we read in many books and listen to many preachers out there that say we shouldn’t suffer. There are many doctrines out there that lead us to believe that “our best life is now” or God will not allow hardship come to us. Unfortunately there is a danger of teachings that proclaim that we don’t need to suffer at all. In the book of Jeremiah we can read where people didn’t want to hear bad news. Instead of changing their lives around to live for God, they chose to listen to false prophets that told them only good news. We need to examine ourselves to see if a particular trial is because of sin. Eph 5:6-9

We need to stay on track with the Father. God loves us like a father and our pain might be because He is correcting us. Heb 12:6

But some teach if we do suffer as Christians; it is somehow due to our own fault other than sin. Instead of unanswered prayer not coming about because of sin or of the wrong desires in our hearts, some teach that unanswered prayer is because we are not praying hard enough, we don’t have enough faith or we didn’t sow enough money to get our request. This doctrine takes the truth of scripture and takes it out of proper perspective. Such thinking can shipwreck the believer. It is vital to understand why we suffer as Christians or we may become shipwrecked in our faith or worse yet turn away from God and fall back into the world. God wants a great future for us Jer 29:11 and he may put us in an uncomfortable circumstance to get us to that point. At the time though we may lose hope and satan enters the scene tells us that God is not truly our Helper. KNOW THIS: God is our Helper Heb 13:6, our refuge Psa 9:9 and knows all our needs. Mat 6:8 It is very important to stay focused in scripture to understand what is happening to us. The word will help us in our suffering and lead us in all truth. The bible is something you can trust in because it is from God himself. 2Tim 3:16 Scripture will reveal what we need to change in our lives to commit ourselves to God and to wait patiently. We need to walk in His ways, then we will have the desires of our heart answered. Psalm 37:4-9. That is why it is so important to stick to the bible in times of trouble. Be patient and wait upon only the Lord. Psalm 62:5 God’s trials for us only last for a moment, but know that He promises us that joy will come in the morning! Psalm 30:5 God thru His word encourages us to press on, pressing on is to READ ON! Seek God’s face, not just His hand.

We as Christians need to trust in God and stop relying on every self help book, just because they are written by a Christian author. Trust in God and not in everything that you read or what people tell you. Psa 118:8 God may not have the same plans for you that He had for them.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe we need to help each other. In fact it is our job. One way is to encourage each other. Col 3:16 But always encourage in wisdom and that Wisdom comes from the word of God. A good start in learning Wisdom is in the book of Proverbs.

Some trials we will never find the answer to. People ask themselves questions like why does God take a baby's life while the mother was praying for a healing? We can try to figure the whole matter out and never understand. Our own thoughts start to condemn us for an already forgiven sin. We can search all the great teachers of our years and never find the answer we seek. But sometimes we lean on our own understanding of things. Sometimes we think we figured it all out just to go in the wrong direction. In our own wisdom we can be a very proud people. We think to ourselves, I’m sure this is what God intended, yup, I'll go this way! Traveling in ways that lead so far from God's truth. But God loves us always and I’m guessing he is crying when He reminds His child of His words that brought us to this pain. (as a mother I know I do, when I told my child what to do and he does the opposite and it causes hurt) But God's word says in Isaiah:

Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

Take heart though, we may not know why something is happening but your in good company. You can just about open your bible to any page and it won’t take long before you see someone went through something just like you. Whether you have the Wisdom of Solomon, you can fail, if you have the strength of Goliath, you can become weak, even if you have a heart like David’s, you can sin. Yes, you will relate to someone. In all the cases in the bible with someone going through something, we read that God worked it all out to the good. Rom 8:28 It is hard to keep the faith sometimes but just keep walking by faith, not by site.

As I finished this article over the weeks it went in different ways. I myself went through a trial during this time. I just wrote what I know to be God’s promises in this paper. They have faithfully gotten me through. But, I seemed to forget in the moment, the truth that I had yesterday. It still hurts and the pain is real. All the knowledge I’ve achieved, yet I still ask “why”? The same cycle I went through many times before I start again. I open my bible to a scripture that contains a promise to start me off.

As I read;

John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

I feel the comfort....I will get through this.........

So my conclusion to this paper is the fact that I know what I know but I still need to grow. For now, just knowing God is better than having to know the answer. So, I READ ON