THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING

1 PETER 4:12–13

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ

(1 Peter 4:12–13).

The new life in Christ we have been studying in Romans 8 does not eliminate the problems of life as we saw last week. Nor does our new life prevent suffering. For the next several days we shall consider this problem. Christians suffer—often intensely and sometimes for long periods of time. This is a fact of our lives, and one about which the Bible has much to say.

One of the things that makes me angry (with righteous anger) is to hear a teacher or preacher say that suffering, pain, and death do not come from God but from the Devil. Not only is this grossly untrue to the Scriptures, but it also removes all comfort from people who are in pain. Basically, such preachers are saying that people who suffer are in the hands of Satan!

This is not the case at all. God allows suffering and pain to come our way and He has reasons for it. We are not to count it as some “strange thing,” as Peter tells us, but to understand that “it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God” (1 Peter 4:17). As the author of Hebrews tells us, “The Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son” (Hebrews 12:6).

The Purpose of Suffering

The belief that our labor is in vain, and that it has no purpose makes suffering hardest to bear. Usually we cannot see what the purpose of our pain is, and perhaps in this life we will never know what purpose God has in mind in taking us through such trials. But the Bible shows us a God who is involved with His people in their suffering. It shows us a Jesus Christ who is the “Man of Sorrows, and familiar with suffering” (Isaiah 53:3).

It is impossible that any pain should be without purpose. If God really exists, there is no such thing as meaningless suffering. The sovereign God of the universe has a good purpose in all that He sends our way.

CORAM DEO

Isaiah says the Suffering Servant will see the travail of His soul and be satisfied (Isaiah 53:11). His substitutionary atonement had the purpose of effecting our salvation. The Cross and therefore our suffering are not in vain. Express your trust in His good purposes as you pray about this today.

For further study: Job 1–2, 42; Hebrews 12:1–13; James 1:2–4; 1 Peter 2:18–25

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