Why do we suffer?
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| Portrait of Martin Luther as an Augustinian Monk (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
However, God sometimes brings suffering to glorify Himself. When we suffer, we should first ask if our suffering is corrective. When we observe another person suffering, we should first ask if their affliction is for God’s glory. The blind man in John 9 is an example of one who suffered many years so that God’s power would be shown forth. Mercifully, this man saw the reason for his suffering. For many, the glory which God desires to manifest through their ordeal may never be seen on this side of the kingdom of God. The life of Job is such an example. Ultimately, God was glorified through Job’s travail. But Job never learned the reason. The glory God intends to show through your suffering may be reserved for the cloud of witnesses, not for your earthly eyes.
Finally, suffering is intended to produce growth in Christian character. Romans 5:1–5 and 8:18, 24–25 show that perseverance, patience, and ultimately hope are the products of suffering and tribulation. This is why more than four hundred years ago, Martin Luther said, “Until a person experiences suffering, he cannot know what it means to hope.”
In the face of severe tribulation, many are tempted to give up on God. In my own life, and in speaking to many others under affliction, I always return to Peter’s question in John 6:65–69: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.” Ultimately, our response should be reverent worship.
God is less interested in answering our questions than in other things: securing our allegiance, establishing our faith, nurturing a desire for holiness.… God tells us a great deal about Himself; but the mysteries that remain are not going to be answered at a merely theoretical and intellectual level.… Ultimately, the Christian will take refuge from questions about God not in proud, omniscient explanations but in adoring worship.” Jerry Bridges in Trusting God adds, “As we bow in worship before His almighty power, we can also bow in confidence that He exercises that power for us, not against us. So we should bow in an attitude of humility, accepting His dealings in our lives, but we can also bow in love, knowing that … however severe and painful they may be, [those dealings] come from a wise and loving heavenly Father.”
Peter gives us the model for worship in the closing words of his first letter: “And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 5:10). There is hope in the unfailing promises of our loving heavenly Father.
