Whatever suffering God allows you and I to go through, is suffering that He takes us through. Meaning, He never leaves us to our own devices to deduce or figure out how to endure or tolerate it, but instead walks hand-in-hand with us in the midst of it (Ps. 23:4). God grants to His people the gift of suffering for His glory and our sanctification (1 Pet. 4:1-2). 

Over the continuum of history there have been questions that have perplexed and discomfited us as human beings. One of the more enigmatic of inquiries has been, and continues to be, why there is suffering in the world.

In contemplating this question, the noted German philosopher and cultural critic Friedrich Nietzsche opined that, “To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.” Contrast Nietzsche’s somewhat pensive perspective with that of the French poet and novelist, Alfred de Vigny, who confessed, “I love the majesty of human suffering.”

Since the Garden of Eden, uncounted numbers of God’s image bearers have earnestly inquired of their Creator – and of each other – in an incessant and seemingly interminable quest to find the definitive answer to the dilemma of human suffering. But in reflecting on why humankind has persisted for so long in contemplating such a weighty proposition as the teleology (or ultimate purpose) of suffering, it is interesting that the obverse question is never posited, that of why is there happiness, joy, and pleasure in this world.

We live in a world that unarguably is beset with sin and evil (1 Jn. 5:19b). The evidences of that reality are both ubiquitous and unambiguous. It is a reality that is magnified by the prevalence of so-called “smart devices” that not only allow us to observe the pain, hardship, and adversity of others, but to share ours with them. Nevertheless, by virtue of God’s common grace (Matt. 5:45), we also experience moments of elation, bliss, and contentment in the midst of the afflictions and difficulties we encounter. And yet, why God allows us to partake of such moments of self-satisfaction is hardly, if ever, a matter of inquiry or inspection. We simply embrace them as gifts from God as signs of His unmerited or, in some cases, merited, favor toward us.

After all, isn’t that what a loving and merciful God is supposed to do?

Among the manifold effects of sin on humanity, is that in our finite and fallen state it is our nature to internalize suffering and make it all about us and what we’re “going through”. Even as followers of Christ, seldom, if ever, is our initial response to suffering to reign in our self-centeredness long enough to prayerfully consider what is God’s purpose in allowing our suffering in the first place.

Read More