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"There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold - and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honour on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world." The Bible, 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 6 and 7 |
What is God's viewpoint on the thorny subject of suffering? Why is there so much suffering in the world? The basic answer to this question is that God allows us to have free will. We make our decisions and God does not normally shield us from the consequences. If we all lived according to God's requirements for our lives, there would be no suffering.
People are not perfect so we are faced with having to live in a world which involves suffering. We are subject to accidents, mistakes, cheating, wars, disease, pain, famine, deformities, criminal activity, broken relationships, death and decay. These are all the result of what God calls Sin, which is another name for our rebellion against God, our wilful disobedience of him and our continuing disregard of his rules for us.
Suffering can be of great value throughout our lives, so that it seems as if life is designed specifically to test us! "After you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation" (1 Peter chapter 5 verse 10). So the Bible tells us that we are somehow completed by the things we suffer! But how can this possibly work?
Examples of the real value of suffering abound. Suffering people often say that they have found great value in their sufferings, that they are better people because they have suffered, and that they have learned much. From the outsider's point of view, this is sometimes very hard to understand, especially when we see some of the sufferings that such people have had to endure.
We sometimes meet people whom we have not seen for some time, and who have undergone suffering in the meantime. They may have had an accident, lost money, lost a loved one, had a rebellious child, undergone an operation, or whatever. We may have known them as aggressive and big-headed for instance, when suddenly it strikes us that such people have "mellowed"; they seem kinder and more considerate to others; they are more sympathetic; they are nicer to have around. We can easily note the same trends within ourselves when we have problems.
Suffering can also make people bitter, resentful and cynical. The value of suffering in our lives seems to depend upon how the suffering individual accepts his or her suffering. Somehow, we have the power within us to make or break ourselves in this regard.
An example of the value of having problems in our growth and development, which I find particularly interesting, is in the progress of steam power. Many years ago I read a book entitled, "Progress Through Problems." From the title you would think it was a book on popular psychology but it was actually a detailed history of the development of the steam engine and steam traction.
The main thrust of the book was that the steam engine could never have reached the glorious heights it later attained without suffering many problems in the early days. An inventor/engineer would repeatedly devise something to the best of his understanding and then put it to the test. It would repeatedly fail, and repeatedly have to be looked at again. Perhaps the boiler would explode, in which case the designer would have to work out the reason, make a modification and try again. The second boiler was a great improvement on the first, and the third on the second, and so on. More was learned each time something went wrong.
In this way, the steam engine was brought from a highly-dangerous and roughly cobbled together mechanism to a very sophisticated and beautiful piece of machinery. Such a piece of machinery almost seems to have a powerful life of its own and is a truly admirable thing. It is also a lasting monument to the essential value of problems in our lives, if we are to develop and grow in accordance with God's requirements.
Problems and suffering can be absolutely essential to our development and growth if we accept them in the right spirit. Please bear this in mind as we go on to consider some of the areas in which we suffer.
Many people suffer untold miseries with sicknesses of one kind or another. Any serious or long-continuing illness can create absolute havoc in our lives. It can wreck our plans, break our relationships, drain our money and resources, limit what we can do and generally cripple our lives.
Sickness can be so personal and intense that it can be seen as "suffering in sharp focus." Unlike losing money or suffering a burglary, sickness is something which is very personal and intimate. It stays with us and we take it wherever we go.
In addition to our sins, all the sicknesses of mankind (past, present and future) were laid on Jesus when he was crucified on the cross: "Yet it was our sicknesses he carried; it was our diseases that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins! But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed!" (Isaiah chapter 53 verses 4 and 5).
In case you are wondering whether this is symbolic, here is another quote which clearly shows that it is nothing of the sort: "That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. All the spirits fled when he commanded them to leave; and he healed all the sick. This fulfilled the word of the Lord through Isaiah, who said, 'He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases.'" (Matthew chapter 8 verses 16 and 17).
There are people around who never get sick for long because they whole-heartedly believe this. I can't say that I have quite reached that happy position yet, but I continue to "seek and feel after God" in this respect.
When I start to feel rotten and the "bugs" are about, I deliberately say, "By his stripes we are healed" (I first learned this quote in the King James version of the Bible). Strangely enough, it has a very good effect and drastically lessens whatever is going on at the time.
Jesus healed sicknesses readily and repeatedly but sometimes he could not heal "because of their unbelief." I look forward to learning more about this!
The good news about suffering is that God, because he is God, can take all these bad things and use them to further his purposes for each of us, often in ways that we cannot understand at the time.
"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them" (Romans chapter 8 verse 28). So God promises us that if we live in accordance with his requirements, he will cause everything to work out for our good!
God's viewpoint on suffering is that it had its origins in sin. Suffering entered this world when Adam decided to disobey God and suffering continues today for the same reason. God can send suffering and he can ease suffering. He has done this repeatedly throughout history, as recorded so often in the Bible.
God will turn all this apparent muddle and very real pain into something exceedingly good. That is, if we are called according to his purposes and if we do not become embittered and cynical. The choice is ours.
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Page updated 12 May 2004