The definition of suffering in the Bible encompasses various aspects and teachings that highlight the nature and purpose of human suffering.
One feature of the definition of suffering in the Bible is that it recognizes suffering as a universal and inevitable part of the human experience. The Bible acknowledges that everyone, regardless of their faith or righteousness, will face suffering in their lives. It emphasizes that suffering is not necessarily a result of personal sin or wrongdoing, but rather a consequence of living in a fallen and imperfect world.
Another feature of the definition of suffering in the Bible is that it provides a framework for understanding the purpose of suffering. The Bible teaches that suffering can serve as
When we think of suffering, we often associate it with pain and distress. However, the Bible offers a unique and profound perspective on this universal human experience. In this post, we will delve into the depths of what suffering means in the context of the scriptures, uncovering its significance and the valuable lessons it imparts upon our lives.
1. The Purpose of Suffering
In the tapestry of life, suffering threads its way intricately, weaving through the stories of countless biblical figures. While suffering may seem senseless and unbearable, the Bible reveals that it serves a higher purpose. It is through suffering that we are refined and molded into the people God created us to be. Suffering cultivates character, perseverance, and humility, enabling us to empathize with others and draw closer to God.
2. Redemptive Suffering
Beyond personal growth, the Bible unveils the concept of redemptive suffering. Just as Christ willingly embraced the cross for the salvation of humanity, suffering can be redemptive when endured with faith and love. By uniting our suffering with Christ’s, we participate in His saving mission and bring forth God’s kingdom in this broken world. Our pain and struggles can become a powerful catalyst for transformation and an instrument of God’s mercy and grace.
3. Suffering as a Test of Faith
Throughout the scriptures, we encounter stories of individuals who faced immense suffering as a test of their faith. Job, for instance, endured unimaginable losses yet remained steadfast in his trust in God’s sovereignty. Their experiences teach us that suffering can challenge our faith, forcing us to grapple with doubts and question God’s plan. However, it is in these moments of doubt that our faith is refined and ultimately strengthened. Suffering becomes a catalyst for deeper communion with God and a profound spiritual journey.
4. The Promise of Comfort
Although suffering is an inevitable part of our human existence, the Bible provides solace and hope in the face of adversity. It assures us that God is present, walking alongside us in our darkest moments. We find comfort in the promises of divine restoration, abundant grace, and eternal glory that await us beyond this transient life. Our suffering is not in vain, for God’s love sustains us and brings ultimate healing, both in this world and the next.
As we reflect on the definition of suffering in the Bible, let us remember that it encompasses more than mere pain. It holds the potential to mold us into the likeness of Christ, redeem the brokenness around us, deepen our faith, and grant us lasting comfort. May we find solace and renewed purpose in the sufferings we encounter, knowing that they are not without meaning. Let us embrace the transformative power of suffering and allow it to shape us into vessels of God’s love and mercy.
Definition Of Suffering In The Bible
1. Job’s Suffering
The story of Job is a powerful example of suffering in the Bible. Job was a righteous man who faced unimaginable suffering in his life. Despite losing his wealth, health, and family, Job remained faithful to God. The book of Job teaches us that suffering is part of the human condition and can be a test of one’s faith.
2. Psalm 22:1-2
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.” – Psalm 22:1-2
- This passage from Psalm 22 expresses the deep anguish and despair that comes with suffering. It reflects the feelings of abandonment and helplessness that many people experience during times of hardship.
3. Romans 8:18
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” – Romans 8:18
- Paul’s letter to the Romans reminds us that while suffering may be a part of life, it is temporary and insignificant compared to the eternal glory that awaits us in heaven.
4. 1 Peter 4:12-13
“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” – 1 Peter 4:12-13
- This passage from 1 Peter encourages us to embrace our suffering as a means of drawing closer to Christ and sharing in His sufferings. It reminds us that our trials are not in vain but serve a greater purpose in our spiritual growth.
What Does the Bible Say About Suffering?
The problem of suffering is challenging, and people often wonder how a kind, loving God can allow suffering. Responses to suffering are deeply personal and evoke strong emotions, but the Bible offers examples that reveal not only the mystery of human suffering but God’s eternal perspective. Let’s look at 10 things the Bible says about suffering and how we should respond so that our faith can be built.
1. Suffering Has Many Faces
Christians can experience “many troubles”—mental, physical, emotional or spiritual suffering (Psalm 34:19). All Christians have or will suffer (John 16:33; Acts 14:22). The Apostle Paul experienced various faces of suffering (2 Corinthians 4:8-10).
Suffering can come because of foolish choices. We see this in Proverbs: fools suffer harm (13:20), lazy people become hungry (19:15), adulterers reap bad consequences (6:32), etc.
While suffering can be a result of sin, all creation, even the righteous, will groan under the weight of sin and suffering (Romans 8:20-22). Only in heaven is there no pain, death or grief (Revelation 21:4).
2. Suffering Is Not Random
Suffering is not without purpose. God sovereignly uses circumstances to teach powerful lessons or accomplish His will.
We see this in Joseph’s tough circumstances (Genesis 37-50). His suffering led to many people being rescued (50:20). Another example is Hosea’s marriage to Gomer, an unfaithful woman. Hosea suffered as a demonstration of God’s love (Hosea 3:1).
Suffering causes the biblically-grounded believer to worship God—praising His providential hand and trusting His loving heart—even when the causes for hurtful circumstances are unclear.
Tragedies are especially difficult to understand, but sometimes God uses earthly calamities as agents of change, calling people to repentance (Luke 13:4-5). Suffering should all people to ask, “Am I ready to meet God?”
3. Suffering Touched Our Savior
Jesus in the flesh experienced weariness and other human weakness. He was tempted in every way humans are, yet he was without sin. In the midst of impending suffering, Jesus’ example was: “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
Jesus said His people would follow in His footsteps, and that would include suffering (John 15:20). He left us an example of how to suffer (1 Peter 2:19-21). He said His followers would be blessed when they faithfully endured suffering for His name’s sake (Matthew 5:10-12). Paul deeply desired to share in Christ’s sufferings (Philippians 3:10).
The author of salvation entered fully into suffering and emergence victorious over it (Hebrews 2:10; 1 Peter 3:18). The ultimate answer to suffering was at the cross when Jesus declared, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Our suffering as we follow Him has purpose, and it will come to an end.
4. Suffering Is Mysterious and Pervasive
Christ-followers know only “in part” many of the mysterious purposes of God (1 Corinthians 13:9), but it’s clear how suffering began.
Satan is the author of sin, and suffering came on mankind as a result of Adam’s sin (Genesis 3). Because of that choice, the curse of sin pervades all creation—humans have a sin nature (Romans 5:12-21); but people also are sinners because of their choices (Romans 3:23; Galatians 6:8). Suffering because of sin is a tragic part of all human life.
Though no trial can separate the Christian from Christ’s love (Romans 8:35), the mystery of suffering is real. David felt this struggle when he asked, “How long will you hide your face from me?” (Psalm 13:1). Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2), and the believer keenly feels this loss of fellowship when dealing with a sin.
5. Suffering Can be a Battlefield
Some suffering comes because of a battle for the believer’s allegiance, as in the case of Job (Job 1:11-12). He wasn’t aware of the conversation between God and Satan that set up this battle. He didn’t question God’s sovereignty, but he did agonize over things he couldn’t understand (Job 10:2).
Satan still comes to believers in times of uncertainty or suffering, tempting them to doubt God. In this arena of warfare, God’s children can either curse God because of suffering, or trust Him in the midst of trials as Job did (Job 2:9-10).
6. Suffering Teaches Us to Seek and Trust God
The psalmist said his afflictions were good, because they made him more faithful and taught Him God’s commands (Psalm 119:67, 71). Resting in Scripture, Christians can learn to respond to suffering in godly ways. They can trust God with their anger when they are sinned against, and learn to forgive (Romans 12:19; Colossians 3:13).
All who desire to live godly will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12; Philippians 1:29), but even in times of mistreatment or persecution, believers can seek God, find His blessing and give a powerful testimony for Christ (Matthew 5:10-11; 1 Peter 2:19-20).
7. Suffering Matures and Equips Us
In the midst of an extreme trial, it can be hard to develop mature faith. Whatever character and faith are already built into a Christian’s life prior to going through suffering tends to come out during suffering. But lessons learned in suffering can equip a believer for future ministry (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
New wisdom and maturity are tools God can use. When Christians face trials and tribulations and find God faithful, they have firsthand experience to encourage others in their suffering. When God’s children hurt, He can strengthen them to make wise choices and desire the will of God more than anything else (1 Peter 4:1-2)
God also uses the pruning work of suffering to help Christians bear more fruit (John 15:2). Suffering produces endurance, character and hope (Romans 5:3-5; 1 Peter 5:10). God teaches His children to persevere and be sensitive to others’ needs (James 1:2-4; Matthew 25:35-36).
8. Suffering Finds Refuge in Community
The church is meant to be a refuge for those who hurt, a place where those who suffer in various struggles can come for help. Christians are meant to carry each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2).
The church is where believers practice all the “one anothers” of Scripture. Loving those who suffer is an evidence of God living in us, and it illustrates His perfect love (1 John 4:12)
9. Suffering Can Bring Glory to God
God sometimes allows things that are undeserved—disease and disabilities—to display His marvelous work. An example of this is the healing of the man blind from birth (John 9:1-3). Jesus said the man’s blindness was to show the works of God through his healing.
Lazarus’ sickness was “for the glory of God,” and Jesus would also receive glory (John 11:1-4). When Lazarus died, this gave Jesus the opportunity to encourage faith. He said, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” (John 11:40). Paul’s suffering—his “thorn” in the flesh—tormented him, but he found in weakness the opportunity to boast of Christ’s power (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).
When Christians suffer, people are watching, and Christians’ intent in times of suffering should be to honor God. Paul said when we share Christ’s sufferings, we can rejoice when His glory is revealed (1 Peter 4:12-13).
10. Suffering Prepares Us for Greater Glory
We don’t like suffering and try to avoid it. But Paul says the Christian’s “light and momentary” troubles achieve for them greater joy and eternal glory that outweighs anything they will suffer (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
In a sense, suffering for Jesus proves the believer’s faith. The Christ-follower suffers for Jesus’ sake, is conformed to His image, places all hope in Him—trusting that all things work together for His purposes— and enters into the freedom and glory of Sonship for all eternity (Romans 8:18-30). The justified, sanctified believer will be glorified in heaven.
This should cause Christians to rejoice. When suffering proves the genuineness of the Christian’s faith, this results in “praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6–9).
3 reasons why God allows suffering
God is a loving and benevolent presence in many people’s lives, but the concept of God allowing suffering can be difficult to reconcile. After all, why would a loving God seek to cause pain and hardship for its faithful believers? While there is no easy answer to this complex question, here are three possible reasons why God may allow suffering in the world.
So, in presenting three reasons why God may allow suffering to touch our lives, please consider these responses a later step in the pastoral conversation, when the questions often turn to ‘Why would God allow suffering?’
1. BECAUSE GOD WON’T ROB US OF FREE WILL
The problem of suffering is usually posed as a question: ‘If God is all-powerful and all good, why does he allow evil to exist in the world?’
Perhaps the most common response is known as the ‘free will defence’. After all, where does most of the evil in this world come from? Much of it is a direct consequence of our wrong choices as human beings. Yet one of the greatest goods that God has given us is free will – the ability to choose between right and wrong. The problem is that many people choose to do evil rather than good.
Imagine if God intervened at every moment anyone was going to make a wrong choice. Free will would no longer exist. If God waved his magic wand every time we made a bad choice, we would merely be puppets controlled by a puppeteer who overruled our thoughts and actions. Would we want to live in such a world, even if it meant we were insulated from suffering? Could we even speak of concepts such as ‘love’ without it being something freely given, and freely rejected?
The great gift of freedom and love that God has given us comes at the cost of the evil that people freely choose to carry out in the world.
The critic of Christianity will be quick to reply, ‘That may be. But there is also much suffering that exists in the world which isn’t a result of our own actions.’ Think of natural disasters, disease and illness. Often these are termed ‘natural evil’ and presented as a serious challenge to the concept of a loving God.
‘Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching…I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape’ Charles Dickens
‘You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have’ Corrie Ten Boom
‘Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8:39) St Paul
However, even in these cases we shouldn’t be too hasty to discount the consequences of the misuse of our human freedom.
The Haiti earthquake which caused so much death and suffering in 2010 was no more violent than the ones which often strike places such as Los Angeles with little or no loss of life. The difference is that compared to Haiti, the US is a rich and prosperous country with the necessary resources for earthquake-proofed buildings, emergency services and infrastructure.
The fact is that collective human choices have resulted in a world of haves and have-nots – where the impact of natural disasters and disease will very much depend on where you are born in the world. Our free will still makes a huge difference to the toll of natural evil. We can’t always lay the blame at God’s door.
2. BECAUSE WE LIVE IN A BROKEN WORLD
But why has God allowed death, disease and natural disaster to exist at all? This question can only be answered by a Christian from within their own worldview, and means we must expand our perspective to a cosmic scale.
The apostle Paul states that ‘We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time’ (Romans 8:22). We believe, then, that the whole created order is in some sense ‘out of kilter’ at a cosmic level. Some theologians trace this to human rebellion – an outworking of ‘the fall’ which acts both forwards and backwards in time. Others point to the existence of an earlier rebellion in the angelic realm that sparked a ‘cosmic fall’ (hinted at in Revelation 12:9).
Whatever the origin, the result is a world that is not as it should be. Yet Paul includes the promise that one day ‘the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God’ (Romans 8:21).
So we live in the tension of a broken world that is awaiting renewal. The natural laws that operate are both a blessing and a curse. Tectonic plate activity renews the surface of the earth with minerals, yet wreaks havoc when humans build cities on the fault lines. Cell replication allows our bodies to grow and develop, yet can result in cancer when natural processes misfire. Death is a necessary part of the cycle of life,yet still remains our ‘last enemy’ (1 Corinthians 15:26).
As Christians we are called to live faithfully for the kingdom that has already come in Jesus, while awaiting the kingdom yet to be in which ‘“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death” or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’ (Revelation 21:4).
3. BECAUSE SUFFERING CAN DRAW PEOPLE TO GOD
Underlying many people’s questions about suffering is an assumption about God’s purpose in creating us. We must ask the question ‘what does a loving God want for the human beings he created?’
Here are two possible answers: It’s God’s job to keep human beings happy, comfortable and pain-free. That’s what a lot of people assume is meant by God being ‘loving’.
But there is another possible answer: God’s purpose for human beings is to bring them to know and love him.
Those are two very different responses. Coming to know and love God may be quite different to him keeping us comfortable and happy.
The reality is that comfort tends to make us forget about God. It’s evidenced by a prosperous Western world where belief in God is increasingly absent. Yet Christianity often thrives in places which are experiencing the fires of persecution or hardship.
For some, suffering leads to an abandonment of belief in God, but for many the opposite is true – it causes them to seek God in a world that seems absurd without him. Many people have counted pain and suffering as a crucial part of their journey towards Christianity. CS Lewis wrote in The Problem of Pain, ‘God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.’
By the same token, it can be argued that meaningful moral and spiritual growth as human beings requires a world where some suffering exists. I cannot be generous unless there is someone who has less than me. I cannot show compassion unless there is someone who needs caring for.
While I don’t believe that God directly causes pain and suffering, I do believe that God is masterful enough to weave all the experiences and tribulations of our life into a tapestry that is ultimately beautiful and, if we allow him, draws us towards being the people he wants us to be.
Do these brief reasons answer all the questions posed by suffering? Of course not. There is much more that could be said, a great deal of mystery, and many more questions that could be asked. For instance, could God have created a possible world in which pain and suffering do not exist and still fulfils our human needs?
Perhaps. But what if we are already living in the best of all possible worlds this side of heaven? That may seem an absurd suggestion when we look at all the suffering and evil on our earth. Yet I would argue that a world in which Jesus stepped into his broken creation and freely gave his life on the cross to demonstrate the supreme love of God, is in fact the best possible kind of world we could hope for.
Ultimately, the question of why God allows suffering can only be answered through our own faith and relationship with God. By exploring the possible reasons and using our own experiences of suffering to further our own spiritual growth, we can find the answers when we are ready.