Why Does God Allow Us To Suffer?
We are all suffering in one way or another. Yep, I am fully aware of how cynical that sounds!
Albeit pessimistic, the truth still stands – we live in a fallen world, and suffering is inevitable.
Because of the world’s fallen state, one might be tempted to ask the daunting question – “Why does God allow suffering?
“Firstly, let’s note that it is acknowledged that God must allow suffering!
It brings great comfort to know that God looks out for us. The enemy is not at liberty to ransack our lives all willy-nilly as he pleases. He has to be allowed by God to mess with us in any way.
Now that we have that understood – the question stands…Why does God allow it?
Well, what if I told you that our suffering is actually what God uses to develop our character! Notice how that wasn’t a question at all *wink*.
Here are three surprising explanations as to why God may permit suffering;
Suffering Drives Us To The Throne
Entertain momentarily the thought that everything in life goes your way – Every. Single. Time. Imagine that there is nothing that you need or want and nothing that interrupts your idea of a perfect life. There are no critical illnesses or job losses, wayward children, divorce, or any of the countless other life interruptions you could come up with.
How is life? Good, right?
Now, ask yourself honestly – If this were your reality, would your heart still search for God? For many of us, it’s a devastating event such as this that drove us to the feet of Jesus in desperate need of relief. Without such suffering, we might never look to God for the life-giving redemption he freely offers us.
God loves us entirely too much to sit idly by and watch us drag ourselves to hell.
Suffering Makes Us More Like Jesus
Our Savior, Jesus Christ, endured an unimaginable amount of suffering, greater than anyone who has ever lived or died. What’s even more remarkable is that He did not deserve any of it. He loved us so much that God poured out His wrath on Jesus instead of on us so that we could be set free and live with Him eternally.
Jesus’ suffering didn’t begin at the Cross on Calvary. Let us remember how he was mocked by unbelievers, and betrayed by his closest friends. We can even go back to before Jesus’ public ministry began when he was driven into the wilderness by The Holy Spirit and tempted for forty days. To walk in his image – we are called to share in his suffering so that we may be glorified with him. However, fret not, for this present suffering can’t compare to the coming joy.
Suffering Produces Character
It’s a fact that some character traits can only be developed through experiencing hardship. Though we may aspire to be more generous with our finances, it’s not until we’ve experienced what it’s like to be less fortunate that we can truly understand the impact. Good intentions alone might not be enough to bring about genuine change.
So what does God do? Instead of allowing us to die in our selfishness – He orchestrates a divine intervention involving a hit to our finances to teach us the biblical principle of giving. This is a financial example, but the lesson is similar across many life experiences. God allows us to go through different life trials to develop our character for the spiritual heights he has planned for us. Trust me, I understand as much as the next person how suffering takes its toll. But take solace in knowing that you are never alone in your grief.
Jesus is right there with you, and all of Heaven is cheering you on. It isn’t for nothing; God plans to take you from the pits to the palaces of life, just like Joseph. And like Joseph – he may be using your suffering to do it.
