Why Must Christians Suffer Trials?

By

Jeffrey W. Cormany

Today, thousands of people lost their jobs. Thousands of people were told they are terminally ill. Tonight many people will be awakened by a phone call telling them a loved one has been killed or severely injured in an automobile accident or has finally passed away after the torment of a long, painful illness. Trials and suffering such as these occur to many people from every walk of life every day.

Each day the news is filled with stories of terrorist bombings, earthquakes, tornadoes-- "natural" disasters and man's inhumanity to man. It's commonplace to see film of people lying dead in the rubble of their former home or work place, innocent people going about their daily lives, killed or wounded through no fault of their own other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Behind each such story is a family that is going through a severe trial in their life. They are suffering terribly, they cry out in their grief, "Why, God? How could you allow this to happen?"

Trials and suffering are a reality we all face during our lives. It’s difficult to watch this happening to others, it is another thing when it strikes us personally. Some with whom we used to worship with are no longer with us; they have faced the ultimate trial, the one we all must meet sooner or later, and that is death.

Trials come in all sorts of packages. There are problems from A to Z. And it is not uncommon to hear people ask “Why does God allow the trials with the suffering, the heartache and death that happens on this earth, especially to people who are trying to live according to the Bible?”

Sometimes, our own actions cause the trial and the suffering, but other times, we are simply a victim of circumstances. Others suffer at the hands of evil. But whichever way it happens, it is terrifying when you are the one facing chemotherapy, a high-risk operation, or death.

Many question why a loving God would allow parents to lose their young children. Others may ask, "God, why me? Why won’t you answer my prayers?"

When we go through trials, we may feel frustrated, angry or guilty. When we go through the death of a loved one, we feel grief, sadness and despair.

Again, we wonder why God didn’t intervene in something that was so important to us. We know he could have prevented it, so we wonder why he didn’t. Was it something we did, or didn’t do?

We ask, “God don’t you love me?” Is there any difference between me, and someone who could care less about pleasing you?

And it is important to understand that, it is not necessarily wrong to ask these questions of God. God is not the type of Being who refuses to let you question why things are the way they are. Some people feel you should not question God, and if you have faith, you will not question God, but will accept whatever happens to you without questions Him.

But is that correct? Our own savior questioned God as he was dying. With His dying breath He questioned God as He cried out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” He even asked that if it be possible to let the cup that He would have to drink, to pass from Him.

If we are not allowed to question God, why is the Bible filled with examples of His people doing just that? Read the Bible, it is filled with stories of people, righteous people such as Job and David, crying out to God in their pain and suffering, asking, "Why? Why me God, why my little child?" Much of the book of Psalms is about David crying out to God for deliverance from suffering and problems.

“O God, why don’t you intervene and stop the pain and the suffering? Why do you hide your face from Me? How long must I cry out to thee?”

They were not disrespectful, but they still questioned God. It is not a statement that you do not believe, just the opposite, you believe and you are crying out to your Father, asking when all the pain and injustice of your world will finally end.

You are not hardened to the pain you see in the world and in your life, you feel the pain and are asking, “Why doesn’t God put a stop to all of this? Why must it go on and on?”

Our cries to God do not show a lack of faith, it shows we are human and are asking our Father why. We are full of grief and want relief. And Christ understands fully. It states in Isaiah 53:3 about the Sufferings of Christ.

Isaiah 53:3(KJV)- "He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
V. 4- Surely He hath borne our grief and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted."

Jesus is fully aware of our grief. He grieves with us.

God hears our pleas, just like he heard his dying son as He cried out. However, we don’t always understand His answer, and why He is allowing us to go through this specific trial. However, the problem is, we do not always see what He sees.

I recently read a good analogy regarding this. When someone embroiders a design onto a piece of cloth, the backside of the cloth is all twisted and tangled with knots of thread. But if you look at the other side, the picture is lovely.

In the same way, when we look at God’s plan for our life from our perspective right now, all we see are tangled threads and knots. Someday, when we see that same picture, this time, however from God’s perspective, we will see the same beauty that God does. At that time, there will be no knots and tangles. No more trials and suffering, but rather the life we all seek.

Think about the worse trial you have ever gone through. From God’s perspective, something good will come of it; however, at that time we did not see that. The hard part of our life is trying to get through our current viewpoint until we can finally view our life from God’s perspective.

Some will tell you that trials are the exclusive domain of those who consider themselves Christians. But if you really think about it, that is simply not true. Non-Christians also suffer, perhaps even more because they don’t live according to God’s commandments.

Oh, it is true that people are persecuted for practicing Christianity, but then again, people in other religions are also persecuted because of their religious views. But the truth of the matter is, both the Godly and the ungodly have problems throughout their lives.

Others may feel that being a Christian should keep them from having to go through trials, that because they are faithful and obedient to God, they can have a trial-free life. Ecclesiastes 9:11 tells us“……..but time and chance happeneth to them all.”

The fact of the matter is trials and suffering happen to everyone, from the most righteous to the most unrighteous. No one gets through this life without trials and suffering, although some have it rougher than others. God allows trials to happen to everyone, however, sometimes He will intervene to prevent or remove a trial. Sometimes, however, it is the ultimate trial that results in our death.

Trials draw us to God, at times it may cause some to turn from God, and for others God never enters their mind when they are going through their personal trials. They just consider it “bad luck”.

The difference between us as God’s children and others should be how we react to these trials.

One of the first things we have to realize is that one of the reasons we have trials and suffering is that God gave us free moral agency. The freedom to follow Him, to choose to obey Him. On the flip side, everyone also has the freedom to disobey God, to choose to go their own way.

And there are consequences to both of these choices. This is how evil entered the world, people made the wrong choices.

But if you think about it, it had to be this way. Oh, He could have created a bunch of robots who did everything according to how they were programmed, but what was the real purpose of creating man? It was to eventually have man become the children of God.

But sin, which brought pain, suffering and trials into the world, was one of the consequences of us having free moral agency, of having a choice to obey or disobey God.

The Bible states that the world was created in perfection, for the benefit of mankind. It was our freedom of choice, and our decision to make the wrong choice that brought pain and suffering into the world. God did not create sin or evil, however the possibility was there because He gave man freedom.

Satan was the First to Rebel Against God

 

Satan chose to rebel against God, and has been trying to convince mankind to also rebel since creation. Because of his evil influence some people choose to do evil, causing others to suffer in their rebellion. It started with Cain, when he murdered Abel, his brother, and evil continues to this day, with mankind trying to destroy each other, some actually practicing genocide.

We know some of the reasons there are trials and suffering, but why do we as God’s children, who have decided to follow and obey him, have to suffer along with those who chose not to obey Him?

In this article, I would like to go through the Bible to show why we have trials and suffering in our lives, and why God allows this even after we have accepted His Son as our Savior, and what we can do to endure through these trials and come out of them, a stronger and more faithful person.

The first thing we must realize is that God never promised us an easy life, especially after we become Christians. Some people mistakenly believe that once they accept Christ and agree to follow God’s laws, that God will bless them with good health, riches and happiness. However, this is not always the case, and the Bible is filled with the examples of the trials of the righteous.

Many of us look up to the Apostle Paul as an example of what we would like to be. He was probably one of the most devout Christians of all time. He went from persecuting and causing the murder of Christians, to being one of the leading preachers of the gospel, preaching that Jesus was Messiah and the Son of God. But did his life become easier after he was called? Was his life one of riches and good health and happiness? Did God place a wall of protection around Him?

Notice Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 11:(RSV)

v.23- "Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. V. 24- Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. V.25- Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea;

v.26- on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; v. 27- in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

V.28- And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches. V.29- Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant: v. 30- If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness."

How many of us have gone through what Paul went through? Yet what was his response? Did he blame God for not making his life easy? Or did he continue with his calling despite his trials?

Notice in 2 Corinthians 12:7(RSV):

"And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. V.8- Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me: v.9- but He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. V. 10- For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

Think about some of the famous men of the early church. People like Paul, Peter, Stephen and James. What did these devout men of the early church get for being followers of Christ? Was it riches here on earth? Was it wealth or success?

On the contrary, from an earthly point of view, they got nothing but misery, and all were eventually martyred for spreading the gospel and preaching Christ.

So, what can we learn from trials, why does God allow his children to suffer? We could probably come up with several dozen reasons, but I have chosen these.

I.Trials Purify us and Increase our Faith.

If life was always a bed of roses, would we need faith? Remember the definition of faith? It is:

a- (1) belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2); belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion

b -(1) firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2); complete trust
( 3:) something that is believed especially with strong conviction, especially: a system of religious beliefs

In Hebrews 11:1(RSV)- "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

In Genesis 22:1-2 we have an excellent example of one man’s faith.

v. 1- After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.”
v. 2- He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."

Here we have Abraham who waited what must have seemed like an eternity for the promise God gave him about having a son, and what is the first thing God asks of him? It was to sacrifice his son. Talk about suffering. I personally do not believe for a minute that God would have ever allowed Abraham to actually slay his son, but he had to know how faithful Abraham was, and to what extent Abraham would go to show that faith.

Notice Peter’s word in I Peter 1:3(RSV)- "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. V.4- and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, v.5- who by God‘s power are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. V.6- In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials. V.7- so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

The New Living Bible translates I Peter 4: 6-as such: “So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. V. 7 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 honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world."

When we go through trials, hopefully we are strengthened and have become more equipped for the work God expects of us, and for future trials when they come.

God does not allow you to go through the trials to destroy you, but rather to strengthen you. Trials can purify us, and make us more Christ like. When gold is refined, they use fire to remove the impurities.

God wants us to be pure, and trials are the heat that removes our impurities, and sometimes as the heat goes up, we may start to think we can’t handle this trial. That is where faith comes in. The only way we can make it through the trials is to have faith in God; faith that He is leading us and that He is allowing this trial to purify us so that He can use us in His Kingdom.

We read in Job 23:10(KJV)- "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold."

God wants to know what we are made of, that we will remain faithful through the severest trials, and the trials we go through refine us like gold. We become purified in God’s eyes, we become more Christ like in our faith and trust in God. And hopefully, we are stronger at the end of the trial.

People are like tea bags…if you want to know what’s inside them, just drop them into hot water! God needs to know what is inside of us.

II. Our suffering gives us the ability to comfort others when they suffer.

Notice 2 Corinthians 1:3 (Living Bible)- "What a wonderful God we have – he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does He do this?

v.4- So that when others are troubled, needing our
sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us. v.5- You can be sure that the more we undergo sufferings for Christ, the more He will shower us with his comfort and encouragement.

v. 6-7 We are in deep trouble for bringing you God’s comfort and salvation. But in our trouble God has comforted us – and this, too, to help you: to show you from our personal experience how God will tenderly comfort you when you undergo these same sufferings. He will give you the strength to endure."

How many times has someone told you, “I know how you feel”, when you know they really don’t. Like the saying goes, unless you have walked a mile in my shoes, you don’t know what I am going through. But if that same person has gone through the same type of trial at some point, they now have the right to say “I know how you feel”, because they too have experienced a similar trial.

One of a parents biggest fears is the death of a child. And unless we have been through that, we can’t really imagine what the pain must be like. But if we have, who then is better to comfort someone who has also lost a child in death? Who is best to comfort someone who has lost a spouse, is it not one who has lost a spouse?

This not only helps us now, but in God’s Kingdom we will be dealing with people who will be going through many of the trials we have already experienced. God wants us to be loving, sympathetic helpers to guide and teach these people, just as we seek the love and counseling of others as we go through severe trials.

III. Our trials can be a witness to others.

The way we handle ourselves can be as big a witness to all people, to both believers and non-believers. All of us are happy and smiling when things are going our way, most people are like that, we are on an emotional high when things are going well. Life is good!!!

But if someone can still be upbeat while going through a trial, people will want to know what makes this person so happy, as many people are devastated when this same trial happens to them.

I Thessalonians 1:1-7

v.1 "Fom Paul, Silas, and Timothy, to the congregation of the Thessalonians in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Gracious love and peace to you. v.2 We always thank God for all of you. We continually mention you in our prayers. V.3 Before our God and Father, we remember the effort that from your faith, the hard work that from your love, and your endurance which from the hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

V.4- Brothers, God loves you. You know He has chosen you. v.5 How did our gospel come to you? It came not only with talk, but also with power, the Holy Spirit, and with much conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. V.6- You copied us and the Lord. Even during much suffering, you accepted the message with the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. V.7- So, you became an example to all of the believers in the areas of Macedonia and Achaia."

How we react when we are going through trials is not only important to God, it can be important to others. It may help turn a non-believer into a believer, and also give a believer the boost of confidence they need to continue on when they endure trials.

Think about how people would react if we tell them they need to turn to Christ, that He will comfort them and give them hope, and then for us to fall apart when that same trial comes upon us. We must practice what we preach.

This does not mean we are not sad when a loved one dies, but that we have faith in God and trust Him that someday that loved one will live again. Our focus should be on making it into his Kingdom, not just for our time here on earth, and if these situations happen to occur, we must also look to Him for comfort.

IV. Trials help us grow spiritually.

Any type of growth requires work. My oldest son was skinny most of his life. I am not sure why he started, but about 2 years ago he began to lift weights. At times, you could hear him groaning and grunting as he went through his routine, sometimes for up to 2 hours per session.

Today he looks like a gymnast, and is as “strong as an ox”, with powerful muscles in his body.

Spiritual growth takes the same effort. Just studying the Bible does not make you grow spiritually, that’s only one part of it. You can’t just read about how to weightlift, learning which workouts will build up certain muscle groups, and expect those muscles to grow. You have to work out, over a long period of time. It takes effort and work to build a strong muscular body. And so it is in our Christian lives.

Going through trials is like working with weights. It hurts, it is hard work, and yes, it can be painful. But as time goes on, just like your muscles when you weight lift, your spiritual muscles begin to grow. Trials that you couldn’t overcome before, you can now overcome. Your endurance is much greater than before.

Notice James 1:2-4 (This is from the New Living Translation):

v. 2- "Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. v 3- For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. V. 4- So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything."

So we see the building of our faith is much like body building.

Romans 5:3-4 (NLT)says the same thing:

v.3- "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us – they help us learn to endure. v.4 And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation."

As we go through our lives and endure trial after trial, as we suffer keep in mind that end goal. Just like a weight lifter has a vision of themselves with large muscles, we should focus on Christ and strive to develop our spiritual muscles to be just like Christ.

However, remember one thing.

Trials defeat some people, but strengthen others. The difference is how we deal with them.

V. Trials help us focus on what is really important, and that is making it into God’s Kingdom.

It’s very easy to get wrapped up in this world and all of its trappings. I think the reason Jesus said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to make it into God’s Kingdom, is that the rich may have no desire for Christ to return with His Kingdom. They have the best of everything here on earth. The rich man that we read about was not able to give up what he had to follow Christ. He didn’t have faith to trust in God, his faith was in his material wealth.

If there was never any suffering, what reason would we look forward to Christ’s return? If we all had the best of everything, including good health, we wouldn’t need Christ. We wouldn’t need for Christ to return to eliminate pain and suffering. We’d have our own little kingdom, even though it can’t compare to the Kingdom of God.

Notice 2 Corinthians 4: 7-"Why do we have this treasure in clay jars? To show that this superior power comes from God, not from us.

V.8- We are being squeezed, but we can still move. Sometimes we are in doubt, but we don’t doubt the truth. V. 9- We are being chased, but God never abandons us. We are knocked down, but never knocked out. V. 10- We are always carrying the deadness of Jesus in our bodies, so that, in our bodies, we may make Jesus’ life obvious, too.

V. 11- Because of Jesus, those of us who are still alive are always being given up to die. Then the life of Jesus will be made clear in our dying flesh. V.12- So, death is active in us, but life is active in you. v.13- This is written: “I believed, so I spoke.” Having that same spirit of faith, we also believe and that is why we speak.

V.14- We know that God raised the Lord Jesus. He will also raise us with Jesus. He will present us, along with you. v.15- Everything happens for you, so that gracious love will touch many more lives. They will be thankful and this will overflow for the glory of God. V.16- That’s why we never give up. Even though our physical bodies are wearing out, our spirits are getting younger every day.

V.17- The troubles we now have will last only a short time. They are working out a far greater eternal glory for us, which is worth so much more than what we are suffering now. V. 18- We shouldn’t look at thngs which can be seen. Instead, we should look for things which cannot be seen. What is seen is only temporary, but what is unseen lasts forever."

Let’s continue in 2 Corinthians 5:1-9

v.1- "When the earthly “tent” in which we live is destroyed, we know that we have another building which comes from God, a house in the heavenly worlds, not man-made. It lasts forever. V .2- That is why we groan, yearning to be clothed with our heavenly house. V.3- Since we will be clothed, we will not be naked. V.4- While we are in our bodies now, we are groaning because we feel burdened. That doesn’t mean we want to die; we only want a “new life”. Then life will swallow up that which can die.

V.5-God made us for this very reason and He has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. V.6- Therefore, we are always cheerful. We know that, while we are at home in our physical bodies, we are not with the Lord—where home is. V.7- We live by believing, not by seeing. V.8- But we are cheerful; we would rather leave our bodies, and be at home with the Lord. v.9- So, whether we stay on earth or go home, we always want to please God."

When we are young and think we will live forever, God’s kingdom is usually the last thing on our minds. But as we age, and begin to have trials, suddenly this world and its trappings are not nearly as attractive. We begin to realize we can’t take it with us. We begin to tire of the struggles of this life and start to look forward to God’s kingdom, towards riches that do not rust, that can’t be taken from us, for a spirit body that won’t break down.

And when things are going so great for us here on earth, then we begin to lose sight of what is truly important, if we think less of God, He may just allow some trials to come into our lives to help us refocus on what is important.

Suffering can also help us appreciate some of the blessings God does bestow on us. We may take good health for granted, but sometimes when we have a serious illness, we no longer take good health for granted.

Why does God allow His people to suffer?

(1.) Suffering gives others a chance to serve and help you. God may be using you as an example for others to follow. Paul said ‘follow me as I follow Christ’, and like Jesus, Paul had many trials.

(2.) God may discipline us through trials.

In Hebrews 12: 5-11 we read:

v. 5 "And have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons? -- “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him. V. 6- For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” V. 7- It is for discipline that you have to endure, God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

V.8- If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. V.9- Besides this, we have had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? V.10- For they disciplined us for a short time at their pleasure, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. V.11- for the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."

Revelation 3:19(KJV) states: "Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent"

(3.) We may suffer for the glory of God. If the world knows that you are trusting in God, it can be an example for them to also trust in your God.

(4.) We may have trials and suffering to keep pride under control. (remember what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:6-7. (RSV) It states:

v.6- "Though if I wish to boast, I shall not be a fool, for I shall b e speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. V.7- and to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, as messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated."

(5.) Trials and suffering help us realize how dependent we are upon God for everything.

There are many reasons why we have trials and suffering. Sometimes we bring on suffering because of our own sins, sometimes we suffer because of the sins of others. Sometimes it is just a matter of chance and circumstance. Some suffering is brought on by the evil doings of others, such as war, which brings on famine and pestilence that affects innocent people.

WHATEVER THE REASON, IS THERE SOMETHING WE CAN DO TO PREPARE OURSELVES FOR THE TRIALS OF LIFE?

We know that trials are a part of life. Just like we know that cold winters are a part of life living here in northern Illinois.

I remember one time after my wife, Cindy, and I got married, we went to Arizona for a vacation in January. It was in the 70’s the whole week we were there. The day we arrived back in Illinois, the high temperature that day was 13 BELOW zero. It made us see how cold it gets in Illinois in the wintertime.

However, since we live in Illinois, we have learned over the years to get ourselves ready for winter. We insulate, we caulk, we prepare ourselves and our house for winter. We winterize ourselves and our homes. We buy firewood for those bitterly cold days and nights.

It is the same way with the trials we know we are going to have. We can prepare ourselves so that we are able to endure the trials, but this too, takes efforts on our part.

First we learn how to trust in God to help us through our trials. We can tackle life’s problems by trusting God’s promises. God will never fail us, however sometimes He answers our prayers in His own time.

God does not allow you to go through trials because He hates you and wants to destroy you; He allows them because he loves you and wants to strengthen you. God will always provide a way of escape. With God there is always light at the end of a tunnel.

We need to learn to allow God to help us through our trials.

We read in I Peter 5: 6(KJV)- "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, v. 7- casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

Let’s notice some of these scriptures out of Psalms that reveals God’s promises to us.

In Psalm 46:1- "GOD IS our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

Psalm 50:15- "And call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

Psalm 140:12- "I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the afflicted, and executes justice for the needy".

Psalm 147:3- "He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds."

In addition we read in Matthew 5:4- "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

God cares for us, and He wants us to be in His kingdom. This is His goal for us, and He will do whatever it takes for us to make it. But until that time, He will also comfort us in times of suffering.

We need to draw close to God and learn of Him. The Bible says if we draw close to God, He will draw close to us. And we can do this through studying the Bible and continual God cares for us, and He wants us to be in His kingdom. This is His goal for us, and His prayer. We draw strength from God to help us endure the trials we know we will go through. And we know we will because the Bible is filled with scriptures that show we will suffer through this life. Talk to God, He wants to hear from you. When we read the Bible, He is talking to us.

We can also obtain comfort from our fellow Christian brothers and sisters.

Notice Galatians 6:2- "Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

I spoke a few weeks ago about how our church is to be our family. And as a family, we need to be there for each other during times of trials and suffering. This law of Christ is that we are to love one another as He loves us.

So as a family we need to be there for each other, and support one another during our down periods. But probably the hardest thing for us to do is to react to trials the way the Bible instructs us. The natural way to react to trials and suffering is to weep and be sorrowful.

We read in James 1:2 that we are to “count it all joy” when we suffer, because when we suffer, we are sharing in the sufferings that Christ endured while He was on earth. And He overcame this world and we too, can overcome this world, no matter what trials and suffering we go through. And the reward waiting for us far surpasses anything we can achieve here on earth.

After he was converted, Paul’s life appears to have been filled with nothing but trials and suffering. Yet, he endured until the end, he fought the good fight, he finished the race.

When he wrote his last book that is in the Bible, 2 Timothy 4, he is sitting in chains knowing that he will soon be executed for preaching the gospel. Yet all he could think about was encouraging Timothy to continue in the faith, to continue to serve God and especially to endure the trials and suffering he knew would come Timothy’s way. He doesn’t tell Timothy to try and avoid the trials that would come, rather he tells him to join him in suffering for Jesus.

We are not alone when we go through the trials of this life. Christ is there with us, enduring the pains we feel as we go through our trials. All of the strength we need to endure our trials is found in Christ, because He first endured those trials. His life is the example we should be following. And one thing we need to realize is that all things are in God’s hands. We just need to trust Him that what He is doing is best for us. (Remember, we only see the knots and strings right now, someday we will see the whole picture.)

Yes, this world is filled with pain and suffering. The whole world groans in its suffering. And those who believe and trust in God cry out to Him to end the suffering and pain that all mankind suffers.

Romans 8:18(NLT)- “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will give us later.
V. 19-For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. V. 20- Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God’s curse. V.21- all creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay."

V. 22- "And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as His children, including the new bodies He has promised us. V. 24- Now that we are saved, we eagerly look forward to this freedom. For if you already have something, you don’t need to hope for it. V. 25- But if we look forward to something we don’t have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently."

v.26- "And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. V.27- And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. V.28- 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. V. 29- For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters. V.30- And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And he gave them right standing with himself, and he promised them his glory."

Nothing can Separate Us from God’s Love

Continue in Romans 8:31(NLT)- "What can we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? v.32- Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else? V. 33- Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? Will God? No! He is the one who has given us right standing with himself. V. 34- Who then will condemn us? Will Christ Jesus? No, for he is the one who died for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us.

v. 35- Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger of threatened with death? V. 36- (Even the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) v.37- No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us."

v 38-" And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. V. 39- Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

And we know that one day, all of this pain and suffering will finally come to an end.

In closing notice Rev. 21:1-7:
v 1-" Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. v 2- And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. v 3- I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. v.4- He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever.”

V.5- And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making all things new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” V. 6- and he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give the springs of the water of life without charge! V.7- All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children."

I’d like to close with a poem I came across not too long ago. I do not remember the title of the poem, but it goes like this…

God hath not promised
Skies always blue,
Flower strewn pathways
All our lives through.

God hath not promised
Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow
Peace without pain.

But God hath promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labor
Light for the way.

Grace for trials
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy
And undying love.

One thing we know for sure! God will always be there when we need Him!