Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus…
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (AMPC)
Although we will never understand suffering completely, there are things we can learn about it, and it is wise to do so. When we understand something, it is usually easier to bear with it than if we are totally confused by it. When we have no understanding, it can make a burden doubly difficult to bear. I have found that a lot of the answers I sought regarding why we suffer have come to me through the process of maturing spiritually. For example, I have learned that some suffering is actually beneficial to me. Some of it I need to embrace and let it do its intended work in me, and some of it I need to stand against firmly because Satan’s intention is to destroy me. In the future, as I continue to grow in God, perhaps I will understand more, but for now, I will share with you what I have learned.
Being thankful for the many blessings in our lives is like a tonic to the suffering soul. The more we focus on our suffering, the more we suffer, but to find things to be thankful for and focus on them is quite helpful. If one believes that God is good, then even in the midst of their worst suffering they have proven that their trust in God is strong and can endure all seasons of life. Our words of gratitude in the face of suffering, especially unjust suffering, are a stronger proof of our trust in God than any other thing I know of.
Suffering is real and it is painful. It is sometimes quite horrific and seemingly unbearable. It may be physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, financial, or relational. Jesus suffered more than any of us ever will, and yet God’s Word says that He learned obedience through what He suffered (see Hebrews 5:8). Jesus was never disobedient. He remained thankful and always displayed a loving attitude. But through His suffering, He experienced what obedience to God often costs, and He was willing to pay the price in order to be equipped to serve as the Author and Source of our salvation (see Hebrews 5:9; 12:2). He is the High Priest who understands every pain we experience in this life (see Hebrews 4:15). Jesus never asks us to go where He has not been. It comforts me to know that He has always gone before me and prepared the way that I might walk in it.
With those things in mind, let me give you a few things to consider when dealing with the suffering that we face at times in this life.
We have established that our own sin, someone else’s sin, or the result of living in a sinful and fallen world is the cause of all suffering, but I would like to unpack this a bit more so we have a better understanding. God’s original intention was not for man to experience agony and torment, and it is unfair to blame Him for it.
One of the ways that most of us suffer at some time in our lives is through sickness. When we hear that sin and sickness are often connected, it is easy to become too introspective in trying to locate our sin. Although it is true that something I did may have caused the sickness, that is not always, or even usually, the case.
There is no example in the Bible of Jesus ever connecting a specific sin with a specific sickness or disease. He is our Healer, and He often used healing as a way of convincing people that if He could heal diseases, then surely He could also forgive sin (see Mark 2:9–11). A proper and thorough study of God’s Word reveals that healing as well as forgiveness of sin is included in the atonement of Christ (see Isaiah 53:4–5). God simply cannot be our Healer and also be the cause of sickness. Let us settle it once and for all in our hearts that God is good and the devil is bad!
When cold and flu season comes around every year, all kinds of people suffer the effects of these illnesses—good people and evil people, young and old! It is quite random and very doubtful that the ones who catch a cold or the flu are the sinners and those who don’t are sinless. However, I think it may be wise when we experience sickness to ask God if we have opened a door in some way for the illness. Quite often we have not acted wisely in how we have taken care of ourselves and it has weakened our immune system, making us more vulnerable to the sickness than we would have been had we behaved differently. Although God may reveal something to us that we should avoid in the future, there are also times when He doesn’t. When He is silent, I simply ask for healing and trust God to work good out of it.
This is easy to understand if we talk about a cold or the flu, but it becomes much more difficult when the disease is cancer or some other painful, life-threatening situation. And the more painful the situation, the more difficult it is for us to understand it.
I had breast cancer in 1989, and only recently have I realized that I might have avoided it if I had been wiser in how I cared for my body. At that time in my life, our ministry was fairly new and I lived under constant stress because I didn’t yet know much about trusting God and being patient. In addition to trying to develop a ministry, I was walking through an internal healing process with God that was also painful and difficult. I didn’t sleep enough, I didn’t get proper exercise, I worked too hard, I didn’t rest enough, I ate too much junk food, I drank too much coffee, I didn’t drink enough water, I was angry and upset very often, I was frustrated—and the list goes on and on. The result was that the stress caused a hormonal imbalance that affected my menstrual cycle, and I ended up going to a doctor, who recommended that I have a hysterectomy and then give myself shots of estrogen. It helped a great deal, and ultimately, I took a shot every ten days. After a year or so, I was diagnosed with an estrogen-dependent breast tumor. In other words, it fed on and grew as a result of estrogen. It was a fast-growing and dangerous type of cancer, and I had to have a radical surgery.
God did not chastise me in this situation or blame me for not taking better care of myself. The surgery was successful and I needed no further treatment. To me that was a miracle in itself. But God did use the situation as an opportunity to begin teaching me the importance of respecting my body since it was His temple, and I now make much better daily decisions regarding my physical health. I have come to the point of personally believing that since we are bought with a price and belong to God, and since our bodies are the temple (the home) of God, it is sinful to disrespect and abuse our bodies. If that thought seems too extreme to you, then set it aside for now, but I urge you to value yourself enough to take good care of yourself.
I have found in talking with people that many—perhaps even most—abuse their bodies. We may simply lack knowledge about the importance of being healthy, and for this reason (if for no other), it is wise to seek God about the true source of any illness we have. I suggest that you invest time reading one good book on how to be healthy in spirit, soul, and body, and I truly believe it will open your eyes to many things that you may previously have been blind to.
God was very merciful and gracious to me when I had cancer, and the outcome could not have been better. I want to be clear that in sharing my experience, I am in no way saying that others who get cancer are not taking care of themselves. I don’t know all the reasons behind sickness and disease, but I do know that we should invest in our health and stay as strong as possible. Satan roams the earth looking for someone to seize upon and devour, and I am going to do all I can to make sure it isn’t me. 1 Peter 5:8 (AMPC) says, “Be well balanced… be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.” Peter tells us to be well balanced in order to avoid being devoured. I was definitely out of balance in the way I approached life. We cannot break God’s laws of health that are found in His Word and expect to have no ill effects from it. At the very least, we will be tired if we don’t take good care of ourselves.
Recently I had a total hip replacement surgery due to arthritis and malformation of the hip joint in my body. Although I was amazed by how good my recovery was, I did experience some days of severe pain caused by excessive activity on my part. The pain was my body’s way of telling me to slow down, decrease my activity, and be more patient. My doctor even told me to let pain be my guide in what I could and could not do. He said, “If you do too much one day and have increased pain the next day, then decrease your activity and let the painful area calm down.”
As Paul wrote to the Ephesians: “Do all the crisis demands and then stand firmly in your place” (see Ephesians 6:13). Abide in Christ, abide in His love, and trust Him to heal you. Do what God shows you to do and then rest in His love, expecting full restoration and healing.
Although the wise man doesn’t avoid all suffering, he does avoid many things that the foolish do not. According to God’s laws, we reap what we sow (see Galatians 6:7; Matthew 7:1–2; Luke 6:31). That to me is a sobering thought and one that we should remember daily.
If a man has been unfaithful to his wife on several occasions, he may well suffer the loss of the relationship. It is his own fault, and he is reaping what he has sown. If a person spends excessively and emotionally and then ends up being pressured by debt, it is his own fault, for he has sown foolishly and is now reaping the results. The book of Proverbs has many references to how a foolish person’s words will cause trouble in his life. Here is one example:
A [self-confident] fool’s lips bring contention, and his mouth invites a beating.
A [self-confident] fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to himself.
Proverbs 18:6–7 (AMPC)
There are also many Scriptures that teach us how beneficial the words of the wise are. This is just one example:
There are those who speak rashly, like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Proverbs 12:18 (AMPC)
In addition to striving to speak wise words, we can choose wise actions. Proverbs teaches us that wisdom is the most valuable thing we can seek after and operate in. The promises made to the wise are abundant and to be desired: favor, riches, long life, promotion, clarity, and protection, to name a few.
It is obvious that we do not immediately reap, or experience, the effects of every foolish choice we have made, otherwise we would all be in serious trouble. Thankfully, we can receive God’s forgiveness and His mercy, but when we persistently sow foolishness, we will reap the results and experience some kind of suffering.
We live in a world built on moral foundations, and there are consequences for immoral behavior. For example, if a person drinks alcohol and drives a car, they may be injured or injure someone else. If someone consistently has a bad temper, they will more than likely end up lonely. If they murder someone, although they certainly can be forgiven, they are likely to spend their life in prison. It might not be a bad idea to begin each day thinking about how all of our words and actions have consequences. It might urge us to make wiser decisions.
The apostle Peter speaks about suffering that we deserve and suffering that we do not deserve. He says it is better to suffer unjustly for doing right than it is to suffer justly for doing wrong (see 1 Peter 2:19–20; 4:15–16).
I can definitely say that the more I study God’s Word, learn wisdom from it, and apply it to my life, the less I suffer. The Bible is our instruction book for life! And it can help us think carefully about each decision we make, which is important because every choice carries a consequence. Those who follow God’s Word will never have to be victims of their circumstances, because not only can they make decisions that will help them overcome them, but they can learn from them. I was a victim of sexual abuse before I learned God’s Word, but now I am free from its effects because I have made choices that are in agreement with God’s ways.
Paul wrote to Timothy reminding him that anyone who intended to live a godly life would suffer persecution because of their religious stand (see 2 Timothy 3:12). Paul also said that although he had suffered persecutions, God had delivered him out of them all (see 2 Timothy 3:11). I’m very grateful that in the midst of all types of suffering, we have the promise of deliverance and the privilege of trusting God for that deliverance. We may have to be patient and endure hardship for a period of time, but God is faithful, and until He delivers us, He will strengthen us to bear the trouble with a good attitude if we are willing to do so.
Very few of us can say that we have taken a strong stand for the cause of Christ and not experienced some persecution. Often this persecution comes in the form of rejection. My personal experience in this area was quite profound and painful. Upon following the call on my life to teach God’s Word, I was asked to leave my church and experienced rejection from family and friends. As humans, we find it very difficult to find unity within diversity. We want everyone to be like us because if they are not, we feel that our thoughts, ideas, and actions are being attacked.
I was stepping out of the normal, accepted role for women, and I believed that I had heard from God. It was enough to send people into an outrage. Who did I think I was? I had no proper education. I was a woman, and women didn’t do such things in our religious circles. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was the devil’s first attempt to try to get me to give up and stay right where I was, which was miserable and unfulfilling.
The apostles received a warning from the Holy Spirit that they would be persecuted, and yet they boldly went forward. Jesus teaches us that those who hear the Word and “receive it with joy [but accept it only superficially]”endure for a little while, but when persecution (suffering) comes on account of the Word, they are immediately offended and stumble and fall away (see Mark 4:16–17).
We all want to be accepted. No one enjoys the pain of rejection; it is an emotional pain that can be quite intense, and its effects can linger with us for a long time. Jesus was rejected and despised (see Isaiah 53:3). Actually, John 15:25 says He was hated without a cause. He was good and had done nothing wrong and yet He was persecuted. And He tells us that the student is not above his master (see Luke 6:40). If He suffered, we can expect to suffer also.
I want to share a couple of verses about suffering that were difficult for me to grasp in the earlier years of my life:
For one is regarded favorably (is approved, acceptable, and thankworthy) if, as in the sight of God, he endures the pain of unjust suffering…
For even to this were you called [it is inseparable from your vocation]. For Christ also suffered for you, leaving you [His personal] example, so that you should follow in His footsteps.
1 Peter 2:19, 21 (AMPC)
I could not understand why God could be pleased when I suffer, but I finally realized it is not my pain and suffering that pleases Him, but the fact that I am willing to do it for His sake. It is not our suffering that glorifies God, but our ability to have a good attitude in suffering. Whenever we suffer, God suffers with us, just as we suffer when our children suffer. There is nothing that can separate us from God’s love, and He never leaves us, not for one moment (see Romans 8:38-39; Hebrews 13:5). Even though we may feel that He has abandoned us, just as Jesus did on the cross, He has not. Whatever you might be going through right now, please know that God is with you and He has a plan for your deliverance and healing.
Jesus said we are blessed when we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake and that our reward will be great in Heaven (see Matthew 5:10–12). In case you are like me and would prefer not to have to wait until you get to Heaven to see any reward, Jesus also said that if we give up anything for His sake and the Gospel’s sake, we will reap in this lifetime and in the age to come (see Mark 10:29–30). From these two Scriptures we see the promise of reward both in Heaven and on earth.
One of the things we often must give up in order to serve God with our whole hearts is our reputation. Jesus made Himself of no reputation (see Philippians 2:7), and it is easy now for me to understand why. If we care too much about what people think of us, we will never fully follow Christ. I sacrificed my reputation with those whom I knew at the time God called me, and now He has rewarded me. I have many more friends now than what I gave up long ago.
God rewards those who diligently seek Him (see Hebrews 11:6). When you are suffering persecution, look forward to the reward that God has planned for you! If you are suffering the loss of your reputation, or being unfairly judged and criticized because of your faith in God, don’t despair. Continue trusting God and look forward to your reward.