Eight Explanations for Suffering Found in the Bible

Eight Explanations for Suffering Found in the Bible If we are going to understand the purposes for suffering, we must start with three Biblical principles or axioms. . . Suffering is real. -- Some religions (such as Hinduism, Christian Science) believe that suffering is just illusion.

But the pain, grief, and sorrow that we experience in this life is not imaginary. It is real. We cannot talk about suffering in some detached theological manner. Anguish, distress, torment, and agony cannot be reasoned away by some appeal to a few Scriptures taken out of context. Suffering was so real that our Lord Himself came to live in it, experience the full depth of it, conquer it, and redeem it.

His suffering was real. So is ours. Suffering came into the world as a result of the fall of man. -- Death, pain, grief, loneliness, and all other types of suffering were not part of God's original world (Genesis 1:31; 3:17-19; 5:29; Romans 5:12,14,18; 8:20-22; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22; Revelation 21:3-4). Hence, God is not the author for all the bad things that happen in the world.

It is not fair, nor helpful to blame Him for the origin of our pain. Adam and all sinful human beings who prove themselves to be children of Adam are the ones to blame for the curse that the world is under. God is in control and sovereign over all events. -- Suffering is real, but it is not the only reality. There is more to the universe than pain.

God is in charge and nothing happens apart from His involvement at some level (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6-9; 1 Chronicles 29:11-12; Proverbs 16:4; Job 2:9-10; Ecclesiastes 9:1; Isaiah 45:7; Jeremiah 18:1-23; Lamentations 3:37-38; Daniel 2:20-21; 4:17,25,35; Matthew 10:29; Luke 1:53; Acts 1:7; 17:24-26,28; Ephesians 1:4-5; Colossians 1:17; Revelation 4:11). [For more on God's sovereignty see Who's In Charge Here?] God has co-opted the suffering of this world for His own purposes. The King of all the universe uses trials and times of suffering for His own ends. What are God's purposes for suffering? Sometimes God reveals His purposes to us immediately. Sometimes it is not until years later that we can look back and see some good come from misery.

And sometimes our pain remains a complete mystery to us. There is some pain that we will not understand until we see Him face to face and understand everything completely (1 Corinthians 13:12). When we don't understand why we are suffering we experience a doubly difficult burden. Ultimately, we must trust in the God who loves us and has promised that "in all things God is working for the good for those who love Him" (Romans 8:28). Our trust is in a Person, not in formulas, principles and explanations.

When we are ignorant of the reasons for our pain, we must place our confidence in a God who has demonstrated throughout history that He is wise and loving in all that He does. But is it God's will that we should never know the reason for our pain? Absolutely not! Spiritually speaking, it should be enough for us to simply trust our Creator, but the Lord knows our human weakness and infirmity. So in the Scriptures God reveals to His children eight possible explanations for their trials, pain, and hardships. The God we love is a reasonable and purposeful God and He has demonstrated His love for us by revealing to us reasons for our pain. If you are going through a trial today it may help you to know that there is an explanation for your suffering.

Read these Scripture passages. You may be able to specifically identify the purpose for your pain. And if you can't specifically identify the purpose for your pain, you will find yourself in good company. Job and many other brethren didn't know either. Yet we can get a glimpse behind their pain and see that the Lord was there.

He had a purpose and was working rationally in all their lives, even though they didn't understand. And in this we should find much encouragement. There is rationality to your adversity, because God is a rational God. He has not abandoned you. He is working.

God is not obligated to tell us why He does what He does. But by His grace God has revealed to us in the Scriptures the way He works in the lives of His saints. He does this so that we might have greater confidence in Him. Our Lord said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). And Peter said, "Cast all your cares upon Him, because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

Two thousand years later we can still trust these words. Four Types of Suffering Which Are For Our Own Benefit 1. Consequential (sowing & reaping) -- Much of our suffering is a result of the spiritual, moral, & natural consequences of our own actions and choices. Many things get blamed on God which simply are not His fault.  If you jump off a ten story building and kill yourself, you can't blame that on God.

The law of gravity is the same for everyone. When you violate the natural laws of the universe, then you pay the consequences Just as there are natural laws in the universe, so there are moral and spiritual laws. These laws are the same for everyone. If you violate them you will suffer the consequences of your actions. That's not God's fault, it is yours.

A woman sits in my office and complains about the verbal abuse she has to endure from her husband, because she is a Christian and he is not. "Why does God make me suffer like this?" she asks. "Were you a Christian when you married your husband?" I reply. "Yes," she says. "Did you know that your husband-to-be was not a believer?" "Umhm," she tells me, a little quieter this time.

"Did you know that God said not to be unequally yoked to non-believers?" I inquire. "Yes, but I thought I could marry him and God would change him." Is God making this woman suffer or is she suffering the consequences of a sinful choice? Our children often experience consequential suffering. We warn them not to touch the stove, but they just have to see why. We plead with them not to swing the baseball bat when other children are around, but "whap!" And as a parent I sometimes allow my children to suffer the natural consequences of their actions.

It's the best way for them to learn. "Katie, don't swing your flashlight around like that. You may break it." "Katie, you shouldn't use your flashlight to hammer with. It may break.

" "Katie, what did I tell you about that flashlight?" A few hours later, she comes to me with tears and a broken flashlight. Do I replace it? Not on your life! If I do she misses the lesson of natural consequences. In the same way, God often allows His children to experience the natural consequences of their actions. The results are painful, but God is not obligated to deliver us from our wrong choices. Taking responsibility for our actions instead of blaming God is a step toward maturity.

Here are some passages for you to read which illustrate the principle of consequential suffering: Galatians 6:7-10 -- The creation principle of sowing & reaping stated by Paul. Numbers 14:41-45 -- God said to the Israelites, "Don't go. I won't go with you." Israel said, "We'll go anyway." They experienced the natural consequence of their action.

Deuteronomy 28-30 -- In these chapters God sets before the Israelites a moral choice. If they love and follow God, He will prosper and protect them. If they abandon King God, then He will no longer be their protector and they will suffer all the consequences of life without God as their king. 2 Samuel 11:1-5 -- David's adultery results in an unplanned pregnancy which brings must suffering to himself, his family, and his nation. 1 Kings 11:1-5 -- Solomon ignored God's warning of intermarriage with unbelievers.

This introduced the nation to idolatry and division. Solomon himself lost fellowship with God until near the end of his life. Acts 20:7-12 -- Eutychus' death is a result of natural consequences. Of course, the amazing thing is that God in His mercy sometimes delivers us from even the hurtful consequences of our actions. That's grace.

That's undeserved mercy. 2. Correctional -- This type of suffering is a little different than the law of sowing and reaping. The suffering we experience here is not a natural consequence of our sin. This is suffering brought into our life by God to stop a pattern of sin before we experience natural consequences.

God sees a specific sin or habit pattern which needs correcting in our life and says, "I better administer some correction before this thing really gets out of hand." This is called God's discipline or correction. The mother who spanks her child to stop him from running into the street is administering correctional suffering. She administers discipline so that the child will change his actions and not experience the natural consequence of those bad actions. God disciplines us out of love in the same manner.

Of course, we experience this discipline as suffering. God sees it as short term pain for long term gain. [See The Difference Between Punishment and Discipline.] Here are some examples for you to read about: Psalm 32 -- God ordained illness (v.4) as a result of a specific sin in David's life.

James 5:14-16 -- A Christian brother experiencing illness as a result of an unconfessed and undealt with sin in his life. 1 Corinthians 11:29,30 -- Weakness, sickness & death as a result of improper participation in the Lord's supper. Acts 5:1-11 -- An example of God's discipline and correction in the early church, so that the rest of the church would not lie to the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 -- In this case, the church is disciplining the individual in place of God. Suffering is being imposed so that "his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

" 3. Educational -- Educational suffering is not a consequence of an immediate sin. Educational suffering is a challenge (we call it a 'trial') that God brings into our life to help us develop and grow. Education suffering is meant to bring spiritual fruit and positive character traits into our life. I remember when I was sent off to summer camp for the first time.

To me that was suffering. Why would my parents send me away? Didn't they love me? Sure they did. They loved me enough to know that I needed to grow up--to be challenged to face new people and new experiences on my own. Likewise God often puts us in situations that initially seem to be beyond us. "Why should I have to go through this? I didn't do anything to deserve this in my life? This doesn't seem fair, God.

" God puts us in these situations to help us become mature. Educational suffering is a little like military boot. It gets us in shape and makes us a warrior for God. Read the following Scripture passages. You will find a key word repeated in each of these passages.

It is the word "teach" or "learn." Deuteronomy 8:3 -- Why did Israel have to go through the wilderness? To teach Israel that man must live by God's words as well as bread. Hebrews 12:5-11 -- God places us in suffering situations that we might share in His holiness (v.10) and righteousness & peace (v.11).

Hebrews 5:7-10 -- Jesus Himself had to 'learn' obedience through the things He suffered. Hebrews 2:10 -- Jesus was "made perfect" or "became mature" through suffering. 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 -- Preventive suffering so that Paul would learn humility and rely on the Lord's power. What are some positive traits that times of trial can develop in us? Here are some of the positive traits that God wants to build in us through trials: Endurance -- Romans 5:3 Character -- Romans 5:4 Hope -- Romans 5:4 Knowledge of God's love -- Romans 5:5 Empathy -- 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 Obedience -- Hebrews 5:8 Maturity -- James 1:4 Proven faith -- 1 Peter 1:7 4. Evaluational -- Quiz Time! God uses trials to test us, to show us the level we have attained, and to open our eyes to areas we still need to work on.

These trials are often given for the specific purpose of testing our faith. Do we really trust God or do we just say we trust God? Evaluational trials tell us the answer to that question. Read these Scriptures. The key word in these passages is "test." Genesis 22:1-18 -- God tested Abraham.

Note the following pattern: Test . . . Verdict . .

. Blessing. Deuteronomy 8:2 -- Israel tested during the 40 years in the wilderness to know what was in their heart. Luke 4:1-14 -- Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tested. 1 Peter 1:6-7 -- Peter said that the purpose of the trials this church was facing was to test their faith.

"I was talking to a bishop who had retired. He was frustrated. When he was no longer in the limelight of the bishopric, he was frustrated and told me so. He wanted to know the secret of victorious living. I told him it was in self-surrender.

The difference was in giving up the innermost self to Jesus. The difference was in the texture of the things that held him. When the outer strands were broken by retirement, the inner strands were not enough to hold him. Apparently he had a case of 'limelight-itis' instead of a case of surrender to Jesus. Fortunately, with me, surrender to Jesus was the primary thing, and when the outer strands were cut by this stroke, my life didn't shake.

I need no outer props to hold my faith, for my faith holds me." -- E. Stanley Jones, Methodist missionary to India after a stroke that left him immobile and virtually speechless. Four Types of Suffering For the Benefit of Others 5. Sacrificial -- Suffering for the sake of someone else.

The first four reasons that we found for suffering were for our own benefit. But not all suffering is for us. The next four explanations for suffering are for the benefit of others. Sacrificial suffering shouldn't be too difficult for us to understand since examples of sacrificial suffering abound in the natural world: The mother who suffers to bring a baby into the world The parent who sacrifices to raise a child The living donor who gives up his kidney for a transplant recipient Numerous examples of sacrificial suffering can be found in the Bible too: Genesis 45:4-7 -- Joseph suffered loneliness, slavery, and jail in order to deliver the family of Israel from death. Isaiah 53 -- Jesus suffered for our benefit (v.

5,6,8,10,12). Romans 16:3 -- Priscilla & Aquila for Paul. 1 Samuel 20:1-33 -- Jonathan for David. Romans 14:13-21; 15:1-3 -- Stronger brother for the weaker. 6.

Revelational --God causes a situation of suffering so that He might reveal Himself or glorify Himself to others. Hosea 1 & 3 -- Hosea was commanded to do something which God knew would involve suffering for him. Hosea was commanded to marry a woman that God knew would be unfaithful to Hosea. Why did God ask Hosea to suffer with an unfaithful spouse? In order that God could reveal Himself to the adulterous nation that He loved. Hosea's marriage --> unfaithful Gomer was like God's marriage --> unfaithful Israel John 9:1-3 -- This man was born blind so that God could glorify Himself through his healing.

His suffering was an opportunity for God to reveal His mercy, power, and love. Romans 3:25,26 -- God made Jesus to suffer in order that His divine justice might be revealed. Romans 5:8 -- Christ's suffering on the cross demonstrated and revealed God's love to us. 7. Persecutional -- As we share the good news we suffer at the hands of some who reject it.

Jeremiah 20:7-10,14-18 -- The ministry God had given to Jeremiah resulted in persecution and suffering. Matthew 5:10-12 -- Suffering will come to us as a result of sharing the gospel. 1 Peter 3:14-17 -- We will suffer for doing good in an evil world. Hebrews 11:35b-39 -- All of these people suffered persecution for their faith and never saw their reward in this life. 8.

Invisible Level -- We suffer as a result of heavenly battles about which we know nothing. Job 1 & 2 -- Job never knew that the reason he suffered was because of a heavenly contest between God & Satan. Does that make Job just a pawn in God's chess game? No. We have no concern for pawns after they have served their purpose. But God does care for Job.

That's why there are chapters 38-42 in the book of Job. Luke 22:31,32 -- On the human level Peter's denial of Jesus is a lack of faith. But here we get a glimpse of a heavenly battle going on as well. Peter will be sifted by Satan. Jesus is also a participant in this heavenly battle.

He prays that Peter's faith would not completely fail. Ephesians 6:12 -- There is an invisible realm of conflict about which we know little and yet we are intimately involved in the struggle. This struggle causes suffering for us and yet is largely beyond our ability to comprehend.