If you have ever gone through a time of suffering in your Christian walk I wonder if you have ever questioned God as to why this is happening to me. I know I have. And what’s more have you ever felt confident that you are walking in the will of God and still, suffering has come your way. Sadly, many Christians, in this latter case have grown bitter toward God, with some even walking away from Him. My friends, it is in these times of trials and suffering that we need to understand that God is still with us and loves us deeply.
So Christian, what about you? Are you suffering from an illness? Have you recently lost your job? Or has your wife just had a miscarriage? In all of these situations God has allowed them to happen because God has a master plan in which He wants to use your tragedy for His glory. Our role is to trust God that He will use our suffering in unique ways if we just turn them over to Him. So, rather than question God in these above cases with the refrain: “why me,” I much prefer to ask God how can you use these negatives to bless others and make me a God glorifying vessel.
I love the story of Job because in (Job 1) and (Job 2) we see how our great God is in total sovereign control over all the event of a believer’s life – including pain and suffering. I really think you will be blessed if you re-read chapters 1 and 2 in the book of Job. If you remember the story, Satan came to God and said that the only reason Job served Him was that God had blessed him and put a hedge around Job and his household, for we read:
“Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger…” (Job 1:8-12).
J. C. Ryle shares this wonderful insight on God’s sovereignty over the life of the believer when he stated: “Nothing whatever, whether great or small, can happen to a believer, without God’s ordering and permission. There is no such thing as ‘chance,’ ‘luck’ or ‘accident’ in the Christian’s journey through this world. All is arranged and appointed by God. And all things are ‘working together’ for the believer’s good.”1
The Bible is full of comforting verses and when we are going through a period of suffering, perhaps the most comforting verse in all of Scripture is (Romans 8:28): “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” I know in my own life that when suffering comes my way I now trust God that He has a divine plan for ultimate good. And when I allow Him, I know He will use the suffering I go through as an opportunity for me to bring Him glory. And in the final analysis isn’t bringing glory to God our highest priority. And while we may have to go through short-term pain we will be accruing eternal riches for ourselves in heaven.
In closing, Ryle goes on to offer us even more comfort, when he shared: “Let us seek to have an abiding sense of God’s hand in all that befalls us, if we profess to be believers in Jesus Christ. Let us strive to realize that a Father’s hand is measuring out our daily portion, and that our steps are ordered by Him. A daily practical faith of this kind, is one grand secret of happiness, and a mighty antidote against murmuring and discontent. We should try to feel in the day of trial and disappointment, that all is right and all is well done.”2
1 15 Amazing Quotes about the Christian Journey | ChristianQuotes.info