Why Christians Suffer

God is good. We have much to be thankful for. But why does a good God allow suffering to exist? Why do the righteous suffer or why do bad things happen to good people? There is nothing wrong or sinful in asking this question. The Bible actually says quite clearly that faith in Jesus Christ does not guarantee a good life, but a perfect eternity. There is also a little three letter word in the Bible to describe why people suffer or why bad things happen to good people: sin. It is also important to note that God does not punish people. He doesn’t hurt anyone; He doesn’t hurt people. God is pure love and never wants to harm anyone. The idea that it is God’s will for bad things to happen to people is not only wrong, but potentially

devastating. How can people love God who wants to hurt them or who has hurt them? Consider the following examples from the Bible:

Was God happy to see Joseph unjustly imprisoned? Certainly not. Was God able to redeem this suffering? Absoutely. Joseph probably suffered greatly during his time in prison, but God comforted him and redeemed Joseph’s suffering. God used his life as a way to preserve his people.

What about the disciples? These are the men who spent the most time with Jesus while he was on Earth. Yet almost all of them died as martyrs. God was probably saddened by their passing, of course. However, he was also able to redeem their dead, just as he did with the persecution of the early Christian church. Nothing spreads the gospel message like persecution.

When bad things happen, God feels our pain, is very present with us, and strives to bring out the best in a bad situation. What we need to remember is that God has a long view. Its purpose is not to give us temporary and perhaps superficial and fleeting comfort in this world, but rather to seek our eternal well-being. God is the creator of the universe, who forgives and loves so much that he sent his only begotten Son to die on the cross to pay for our sins. “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and good in all that he does. (Psalm 145: 17) This statement perfectly describes the immaculate nature of God. God is a good that exists as three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. God is a protector who guides us with his incredible wisdom and is all knowing. God’s will will give us purpose and meaning in our life. “I can do all of this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). Human nature is what defines us as human beings. The fact that we can think, feel and above all reason are the ways in which we are separated from animals and other creations. Created in the image of God, human natures have attributes that reflect God. As the Bible says “God saw all that he had done, and he was very good.” (Genesis 1:31). Knowing that God does not make mistakes lets us know that mankind was created to be perfect. The goodness created by God was damaged when Adam and Eve did not follow the commandments of God and put themselves at the center of their own lives instead of God. The betrayal of Ad am and Eve is known as the fall of man, it changed our relationship with God and made us sinners by nature. Another goal is to worship and praise God. The fall of mankind is the cause of all human problems because it brought death, pain and suffering into the universe.

Jesus is the Son of God become a human being. He experienced pain, suffering and

finally, death as humanity does. In Colossians 2: 9 it says: “For in Christ all the fulness of

The divinity lives in a bodily form ”, Jesus is God in human form, which means the eternal, divine and

pure. Jesus was a great teacher and mentor to his disciple and to mankind now. Jesus set the example by showing his disciples how to stay in touch with God and live in his image. He taught “Do to others what you would like them to do to you”. (Luke 6:31) as well as forgiveness, but more importantly he taught them that the only way to God was by faith in Him, and not by being a good person as stated in John 14:16 “I am the way, the truth and the life No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:16) The identity and work of Jesus are important to the Christian worldview because salvation is only through faith in Jesus. His death would not be convincing enough to pay for our sins if he were not God. As the Bible states in John 2: 2 “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not just for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. ”Jesus is also important because he gives Christians hope that if they accept and follow Jesus, there will be hope after death.

The solution to human problems is through unconditional love and forgiveness. God gives us real grace and forgives our sins of the past, present and future because of how much he loves us. God gives us a purpose in our lives because he has a plan for all of us. All we need to do is know him, and he will work in our lives. Believing in the Christian faith gives us comfort, instruction, and most importantly, hope.