WHY DO WE SUFFER?

Are you currently experiencing a hardship? Most likely, your answer is yes, but if you are in a quiet season, praise God and get ready because a challenge of some sort is on the way. As a child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we know this is not our home and while living in this temporary place we will be tested and tried. This life is just a test; it is nothing but a test and training ground. 

The bible clearly teaches this is not heaven; this is a temporary, fallen, decaying, and sin filled world. No human is exempt from hardships and suffering. The eastern concept of karma; a concept of a clear cause and effect, teaches that if I suffer I deserve it and if I enjoy a comfortable life I deserve it; this is not taught in the bible. God teaches us there is no formula to avoid suffering. Job’s friends believed in karma and were convinced Job must have done something to deserve his suffering, and they were soundly rebuked by the Lord. 

Of course, there are natural consequences for bad choices. If I choose to live outside of God’s boundaries, I will suffer natural consequences. If I am a drunkard, a glutton or an unforgiving person, I will experience health issues and other problems. The suffering I am referring to is suffering that comes with being a human. As God’s child, He knows my name, His eye is on me, and any hardship that comes my way did not slip by Him. The challenge for me and you is how we will handle our hardships. I think the right perspective is crucial; if I know to expect problems than I am better equipped to handle the hardships. Jesus said in John 16:33 that in this world we will have tribulations, but in Him we may have peace. In fact, something to consider is a point that Timothy Keller makes; “If you rarely experience suffering it may be God’s way of judging you, allowing you to perish in your complacency.”

Consider some reasons our Abba Father tells us we suffer:

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