How can there be an answer to life's most difficult questions:
“Why, God, why do we suffer? or Why am I suffering?” While we can understand when someone brings pain and suffering upon themselves because of their own poor choices (1 Corinthians 11:30), what about when the innocent suffer?

Though not exhaustive, here are some answers from the Bible:

1. To be saved from evil.
According to Isaiah 57:1-2, “The righteous perishes, and no man takes it to heart; merciful men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous is taken away from evil. He shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.” In other words, many loved ones are taken away to be spared from evil!

2. To glorify God.
Then there are times when people suffer in order to bring glory to God. The case of the blind man in John 9 fits here. There was no sin causing his blindness, but he was afflicted with blindness so that God’s glory could be displayed when he received his sight at Jesus’ hand.

3. To be more like God.
And then, there are times when people suffer because there is more of God to know, more of His character, His nature, His ways. Sometimes the only way to learn is by suffering. Note the profound verse in Hebrews concerning Jesus: “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.” Also, in Philippians 3:10, Paul states that his desire “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death.”

4. To know that God is always with us.
Why does it seem sometimes like the righteous suffer so while the wicked prosper? Have you ever wondered that? King David wondered the same thing. Psalm 73 is his answer. When we feel like the world is against us, we should remember verses 23-26: “Nevertheless I am continually with You; you hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." When you are down, picture God holding you by the right hand. When you need advice, imagine God giving you wisdom, and when you are tired, imagine going home to glory. And what about the wicked? Verse 27 of Psalm 73 says, "Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you."

5. To be a witness to non-believers.
With our full faith in God's goodness and in Christ's redemption, we can recognize that our present sufferings can be turned to His glory and our good. The sufferings of unsaved men are often used by the Holy Spirit to cause them to realize their need for salvation and to turn to Christ in repentance and faith. The sufferings of Christians should always be the means of developing a stronger dependence on God and a more Christ-like character, if they are properly "exercised thereby" (Hebrews 12:11). Thus, God is loving and merciful even when, "for the present," He allows trials and sufferings to come in our lives, “For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28).

Many well-intentioned people have said or implied that if you only had enough faith, you would be healed or delivered from your pain and suffering. Remember, no amount of faith will bring the desired result of our escaping death. Don't think you or your loved one is being neglected by the Holy Spirit if you believed and yet no healing occurs. Don't become guilt-ridden through thinking that the Lord is against you. Don't conclude that because you or your loved one has not been healed that you have an absence of faith or some secret sin that prevents your/their healing. You just might have God's glory resting on you for a special purpose.

For the child of God, it is a fact that nothing can come into the life of a believer apart from God’s permissive will. There are no random circumstances, no purposeless accidents, and no fatalistic tragedies. The trusting child (as Thomas Epting was) can know that God works all things together for good to those who love Him, those who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

C.S. Lewis once wrote, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

No matter how dark our situation is, we can always cry out to Him!
Would you do that today?

-- by Pastor Scott Hunt,
Calvary Chapel Pickens, Pickens, South Carolina,
www.ccpickens.org