The challenge for us as disciples is to have a spiritual perspective when it comes to suffering. The following article offers some great insight on the perspectives we should have regarding sufferring.

Psalm 119:71 (NLT) - “The suffering you sent was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your principles”

Satan’s immediate taunt when we face hardships is usually: “How can a loving God allow (fill in the blank)...” Suffering comes in all forms, it hits individuals and it strikes families and churches. We will never escape suffering; we cannot run from it, it is a reality of life! It is promised to the Christian and the non-Christian alike.

Matthew 7:24-27 (NLT) - “Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse, because it is built on rock. But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will fall with a mighty crash.”

The storms and floods of life will come. It is not a question of if; it is a matter of when! They will come whether you are someone who is practicing God’s word or not. Let’s look in detail at some of the reasons we suffer:

1. To Prove Our Faith Genuine
There is a reason for suffering that is made very clear in the theme scripture above: Suffering teaches us to pay much closer attention to the principles of God and to His Word. (Psalm 119:71)

“The symptoms and the illness are not the same thing. The illness exists long before the symptoms. Rather than being the illness, the symptoms are the beginning of its cures. The fact that they are unwanted makes them all the more a phenomenon of God’s grace --- a gift of God, a message from the unconscious, if you will, to initiate self-examination and repair.” - M. Scott Peck, "The Road Less Traveled"

Just as our physical pain receptors play an essential role in warning us for our physical bodies, emotional and spiritual suffering can also be a warning that our relationship with God needs some attention! The suffering the church as a corporate group has experienced in the last few years, has taught us that we have to constantly examine the scriptures to make sure we are holding to the scriptures. We have had to re-examine, self-examine and make some repairs.

1 Peter 1:6, 7 (NIV) - “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith –of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

This scripture emphasizes that we will have many trials. They happen in order to prove our faith genuine. What is a genuine faith? It is when we learn to stay the course and hold on to the promises of God even when all around us may be in tatters. It is when we hold on despite the fact that we cannot answer the question “why?”

• “Why does false doctrine prosper so much?’
• “Why does a three year old child get cancer?”
• "Why does a young mother of two get killed while out riding her bicycle?”
• "Why are wicked leaders allowed to rule?”

Is it not better to find out here on earth that our faith needs some work rather than arriving at the “pearly gates” only to discover that our faith is not genuine after all! Think for a moment if there were no challenges to our existence!

2. To Develop and Grow in Our Characters
James 1:2-4 (NLT) - “Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything."

James remarks “whenever trouble comes your way”; we must and can face it with joy because it will help us to grow to have a strong character.

What would you say God is working on right now to develop in your character?

• Relationship troubles can teach us to be kind and respectful in character.
• Having a difficult child teaches us about unconditional love.
• Chronic illness teaches us to persevere.
• Weakness teaches us that our strength must be in God.

3. Suffering is a Form of Discipline
Hebrews 12:7, 8 (NLT) - “As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Whoever heard of a child who was never disciplined? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all his children, it means you are illegitimate and are not really his children after all.”

Sometimes we suffer because we are sinful beings and we need discipline. God is our Father. Those of us who are parents know the consequences of allowing children to run wild. God will not allow His children to run wild. He will step in and discipline.

Hebrews 12:11 (NLT) - “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening ---it is painful! But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”

• Being in debt is not pleasant but God may be using it to discipline you and teach you to be self-controlled with your money.
• Having a disciplinary hearing at work could be that God is teaching you to be more punctual and organized.
• With a chronic illness, God may be using it to teach you to take care of your physical body with good eating habits and exercise.
• Your feelings of loneliness may be God teaching you that it is time to change your independent character and selfishness in relationships.
• Your two year old child’s tantrums and blatant disregard for any authority may be because you are neglecting to discipline.

4. Suffering for Being a Christian
Matthew 5:11, 12 (NLT) - “God blesses you when you are mocked and persecuted and lied about because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted, too.”

We are going to go through suffering just by virtue of the fact that we made a decision to follow Jesus Christ. We will be persecuted for our faith. Jesus was hated and he told us to expect that we will be hated.

The recurring theme in every scripture about suffering is to face it with joy! Rejoice! Yet everything in us cries out: “How do I rejoice?” We don’t naturally run after suffering, our instinct is to run from it! So, how do we rejoice?

1 Peter 2:21 -24 (NLT) - "This suffering is all part of what God has called you to. Christ, who suffered for you, is your example. Follow in his steps. He never sinned, and he never deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted. When he suffered, he did not threaten to get even. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. He personally carried away our sins in his body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by his wounds.”

We can rejoice because we are in God’s hands and must leave “our case” in his hands and focus our eyes on the cross of Christ. We have to find our comfort in God, which is the only way we will be able to rejoice in times of difficulty.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 (NLT) - “All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation! For when God comforts us, it is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in his suffering, you will also share God’s comfort.”

We will receive God’s comfort in all our troubles. He doesn’t promise to remove us from troubles, He promises to comfort us in our troubles. Why? Do you realize that suffering is part of our evangelism and discipleship? So that we can use it to benefit others by comforting them, with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. Suffering helps us to share our faith in God!

“It is by those who have suffered that the world has been advanced.” - Leo Tolstoy

Suffering may endure for a season
And we wonder when relief will come.
Is thus for a time of testing
A really deep trial for some?

Day by day we endure our heartaches,
Often questioning why,
We don’t seem to fully understand
And we come before God with a sigh!

“Just quiet yourself in my presence,“ He says,
"I have blessings for you in store,
This time with me will be precious,
Even more than ever before.”

The wonderful promises in God’s Holy Word
Bring comfort, encouragement and peace,
And as we nestle up close to Him.
Our faith brings sweet release.

So let us joyfully praise the Lord,
If, through the suffering we learn,
Truths that will help to guide our way,
And His Word more clearly discern. - Elsie K. Young

For another article on what kind of suffering these disciples are going through, click HERE to go to another DisciplesToday article with inspiring and heartbreaking stories.