On Suffering

"For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings." Hebrews 2:10 (NASB, 1995)

"You may have experienced adversity or trials in your past. Perhaps you've had more than your share of setbacks and heartaches. But today is a new day! By following the principles I'm going to share with you in Your Best Life Now, you can be happy and fulfilled, starting today." Joel Osteen, Your Best Life Now

The world has taken up the notion that pain is to be avoided at all costs and pleasure is to be sought at all expense. Pain and suffering have no purpose in the life of an unbeliever in this paradigm today, and if you are experiencing suffering, it is because of a negative attitude, cosmic karma, or you are just "unlucky". How sad! We have seen this mentality creep into the Church through the 'name it and claim it' prosperity gospel preached by many of today's most prominent pastors. These charlatans preach a one-sided gospel that reduces God to a genie in a bottle that wants nothing more for your life than for you to be healthy and wealthy. Suffering against this framework is not be part of a Christian's lifestyle, and certainly couldn't be from God. When real suffering comes, such as the death of a child or the loss of a job, the people who buy into this flavor of gospel have nothing to rest their hope upon. They may even turn away from God altogether since their god is a god of prosperity and not a God that endorses (or causes) suffering. The true God, the God of the Bible, ordains suffering of many types, and for many reasons.

The Bible has quite a bit to say about suffering and trials. The majority of suffering in the Bible, as it relates to believers, has to do with suffering for the cause of God. In the Old Testament, the Prophets suffered persecution and execution as a result of the preaching of God's Word (Genesis 39:20, 1 Kings 19:10, 1 Kings 22:27, 2 Kings 2:23, 2 Chronicles 16:10, 2 Chronicles 36:16, Jeremiah 20:1-6, Jeremiah 26:23, Jeremiah 37:15, Hebrews 11:36-38). This suffering for the cause of Christ did not stop in the New Testament, but rather intensified (John 19:17-18, Acts 4:1-3, Acts 7:57-60, Acts 11:2-3, Acts 14:5-6, Acts 16:22-23, Acts 23:12, 1 Thessalonians 1:6, 1 Thessalonians 2:14, 2 Timothy 1:8, 2 Timothy 2:3, 2 Timothy 3:1-8, 1 Peter 1:6, 1 Peter 4:12, 2 Peter 3:3-4, Revelation 1:9). This suffering came to believers as a result of their profession of faith in God and His Son Jesus, and their preaching of the Word of God to a sinful and rebellious world.

There are other types of suffering that occur in the Bible. There is the suffering caused by rebellion to God (Genesis 3:16-19, Genesis 4:10-12, Numbers 14:28-30, Judges 16:21, 2 Samuel 12:10-12, Jonah 1:15-17), Divine judgment on unrepentant sin (Genesis 19:24-25, Amos 4:11, Jude 7), and correction and sanctification of believers (James 1:2-12, 2 Corinthians 1:8, Philippians 4:12)

When faced with suffering of any type, we as believers must first always remember Romans 8:28. Given this promise, we must then ask ourselves if there is any unconfessed sin in our life (2 Samuel 12:13), any forgiveness that we need to impart (Matthew 18:21-35), any bitterness in our hearts that we are harboring (Matthew 5:22), or any word that God has given us that we have not obeyed (Joshua 7:1). Jesus promises that He will prune us as the Vinedresser prunes the branches of the Vine in order that we may produce more fruit (John 15:2). Praise God for His divine purposes! "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him." (Job 13:15). Sometimes we can clearly see God's purpose in our suffering in the midst of our suffering, but mostly we must wait, sometimes years after trials, for us to see God's purposes (Genesis 45:4-7).