Why does God allow trials and suffering in our lives? We know many of our brethren are sick, and still others are going through very difficult times because of other trials. Certainly it can be very difficult to endure trials, suffering and pain. But what purpose does our suffering serve? Can God really use it for our benefit? And what does it matter to us that Christ Himself suffered?
Why Suffering?
The first thing we need to remember when we are going through a trial is that there is Someone who knows what suffering is.
He has suffered more than any human being in history, and He is sitting up there in the third heaven. We can count on Him. No matter what, we will never experience a trial that goes beyond what we can handle. He will give us the strength and the way to bear it. He will never leave or forsake us.
In the book of Isaiah, Chapters 52 and 53, is an amazing description of what Christ went through. Isaiah 52:14 says, “So His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men.” Read the entire chapter of Isaiah 53. It shows how Christ suffered and died because we have sinned.
And often, there are trials that come upon us. But there is Someone up there who knows the reason why. Do you know what that reason is?
It is important to understand that although we sometimes have to suffer as a consequence of our own mistakes, even that is an act of love by the Almighty so we do not make those mistakes again.
But even if we have not made serious mistakes, we know we will still have to go through trials—just as Joseph did.
Joseph’s Loyalty
We have the example of Joseph who honored his father in a way unlike all of his brothers. He was a faithful and loyal son to Jacob, and he feared God. Because of this, his brothers envied him. Maybe, of course, he also needed to be polished in his character—as we all do—and learn humility.
Joseph feared God, and he fled fornication and adultery. The result was he probably ended up ten years in jail, because he was 17 years old when he was sold to the Egyptians.
I remember telling my son that story when he was just a little boy, probably five or six years old. He said, “Papa, how come he obeys God, and that is the reward he gets? He is sent to prison.”
I had the joy of telling him, because I was the first one telling him this story in his life, “Wait, my son, this is not the end of the story.”
No matter what we are going through, this is not the end of the story. And, I had great pleasure in telling those true stories to him—like a tale our grandmothers used to tell before Mickey Mouse stole the attention of children through television, which is the babysitter now, telling our children all sorts of imagined stories that do not inspire us and change us like the true stories from God’s word!
Why Christ Suffered
Scripture tells us: “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Hebrews 2:10). There you have the definition of the reason why suffering exists. The purpose is to achieve perfection of character.
I remember studying this with Dr. Meredith. How could Christ be made perfect through suffering if He was God become flesh? The wise explanation we receive from God’s Church is that perfect means complete. Christ had no defects of character, but there was something He had not experienced when He was the Word of God sitting from eternity with God.
They did not know what it is to suffer in the flesh as a human being. They had not experienced that, and they wanted to bring many sons to glory and perfect them through sufferings, so He offered to come not only to rescue us, but to become a human being like we are.
Christ was God become flesh, and after He suffered a new dimension was added to the godhead—the living experience of one having suffered as a human being in His own flesh, all the way to death. Christ knows what it is to suffer. He experienced it to the utmost that a human being could endure, and He overcame.
We must never forget that when we are going through a trial. There is no one who has escaped suffering or trials: “Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted [tested], He is able to aid those who are tempted [tested]” (Hebrews 2:17–18).
“For in that He himself has suffered, being tempted [tested], He is able to aid those who are tempted [tested]” (v. 18). Those words are absolute. They will be true for eternity.
Christ had to learn obedience by overcoming the flesh. He had to learn to obey God’s law in the flesh, because He was not tempted “as we are” (Hebrew 4:15), when He was a Spirit being. He was perfect from eternity, but for us He needed to go through a human experience and learn to overcome human flesh, and He did. He set that example for us.
Tested in the Wilderness
Many of us have gone through several tests in the Church of God that can be compared to the trials that Israel went through in the wilderness. God tested the Israelites in the wilderness to humble them and to remind them that they were made of the dust of the earth. That is what we are, humanly.
The word humble comes from humility. Humility comes from humus, in Latin, which means “dirt.” So, a humble person is a person who is aware that he or she is but dirt of the earth. That is humility. It is a sound perception of reality. That is the only way we can be pleasing to God, because He will exalt the humble to His own glory. That is what He wants.
And, when we are going through a trial, acknowledge God’s hand in it. “Father, here I am. I will wait for You until You decide to take me out of this.” It will be His decision. So, this is one method that does not fail. When we are tested, and we experience that we are from the dust of the earth, then reality comes to us.
The trials we endure will teach us to cast all our care upon Christ. He wants to teach us to depend on Him. God also wants to teach us how to develop the faith of Jesus Christ, casting all our care upon Him, for He cares for us.
God allowed the ancient Israelites to learn through suffering, because He wanted to know what was in their hearts. He also wanted them to learn that man should not live by bread alone, but by “every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3).
Their garments did not wear out in 40 years. That means God was watching even the slightest details. Although He allows people to suffer, His eyes are still watching, and He takes care of them. He let them get hungry sometimes, but He did not starve them.
God led Israel through “that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water, who brought water for you out of the flinty rock” (Deuteronomy 8:15).
It is amazing to realize that when God was testing them, He was taking care of them at the same time. He is doing the same with us today. He will never forsake us. He will never neglect us. And, God gives us the strength to keep going in the wilderness of this world.
“You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you. Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him” (Deuteronomy 8:5–6).
Character Must Be Perfected
Sometimes we must suffer the consequences of our own mistakes. But even this can be seen as an act of love by the Almighty, helping us learn a hard lesson so we do not make the same mistakes again. Yet, even if we have not made serious mistakes, we know we will have to go through trials.
Why? We know that there will be suffering because God wants us to perfect our character so our minds and hearts are in tune and in harmony with His law—law that expresses His character.
During the time David was tested, God was perfecting his character, because He knew He was going to make David king over Israel. It is not that by sinning David caused every trial he endured. God allowed David to suffer precisely because He wanted to see David perfected. He let David know what it was like to live one step from death, having to depend on God day and night. God wants us to have His holy and righteous character, and God Himself is love. So, we need to have the perspective that God is love even when He loves us by letting us grow through suffering.
Think, too, of Joseph. His case was very similar. He was a well-behaved young man. He obeyed God, yet he ended up in prison for probably the same length of time—ten years—as David. Joseph was 30 years old when he became the Prime Minister of Egypt, but his character had been made ready by then, and he made it all the way to the end until he was 110 years old. And, in doing so, Joseph saw his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He had a tremendous, wonderful, beautiful life because God prepared him so he could take the blessings.
Consider also the case of Job. Even Job’s friends were there accusing him constantly, but despite their accusations they could not find anything he had actually done to break God’s law. God even told Job to pray for his friends, because they did not know how to speak of God and of Job (Job 42:7–8). They were wrong, but they thought Job had done something wrong. On the one hand, Job said, “I haven’t.” His friends said, “Yes you have.” Only God knew who was right!
Job was righteous in his own eyes. God needed to take that away, so He could dwell in Job’s heart. Job would become a temple of God’s Spirit. But, before his trials, he was self-righteous. God needed to perfect Job’s character, to humble him, so He could dwell in Job, to prepare him for the Kingdom of God.
God wants to make sure that we, too, as His firstfruits, make it into the Kingdom and fulfill our calling. So, we should be glad for our trials and tests. God wants to test us now to see if we are faithful in what is little. And, if He sees that we are faithful in what is little, that will be enough for God to know that we will also be faithful forever in big things.
A Way of Escape
We have an absolute promise from God that also helps us to have courage and never, never faint in our race toward the Kingdom of God. We read, “No temptation [trial or test] has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted [tested] beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
This is an absolute promise, and it will help us overcome any trial. Sometimes, when we finish a trial, we enjoy the fruit of peacefulness and joy. Of course, sometimes I say to myself, “Get ready for the next one!”
Refined Like Silver
Now, look at a tremendous analogy God uses. “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the hearts” (Proverbs 17:3). We already know that God’s purpose is to perfect our hearts, to bring us to glory. He gives us the support of His own Son, and of He, Himself, who listens to Him. And He gives us the promise that He will never let the fire of test go beyond what we can take. “For you, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined” (Psalm 66:10).
Malachi 3:3 uses this same analogy. “He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver, He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver; that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.” Again, what is the end? To perfect us. The refining will produce a heart that will be acceptable to God, when the laws of God are written in our minds and hearts.
Many of you may know the story of three ladies who used to sit together and do Bible study. They read this verse from Malachi, and asked, “How does this happen?” So, one of the ladies said, “I know a man in town who is a silversmith. He is a refiner of silver. I will go and ask him how he refines silver.” So, she went to the silversmith and asked, “Sir, how do you refine silver?”
He told her, “I have to sit down.” And she was quite surprised, because it said here, “He will sit as a refiner.” “I have to sit down and keep my eyes constantly on the metal and have a control of intensity of the fire, because there are two things. If the fire is too intense or I leave it longer than it should be, it will spoil the metal. So my eyes have to be always fixed on this metal so it doesn’t spoil, so I don’t lose the precious metal.”
The lady was quite impressed. As she started walking away, she thought of something. She turned around and asked, “Sir, but how do you know when you have to stop the fire and that the fire has given the type of refinement you need?” And he said, “When I see my face reflected on the metal, I know it is ready.”
Yes, God is transferring His character to us through trials. That is an amazing concept: “When His character is reflected in His child.” He will never let you go beyond what you can take, and He will do all He can to see His character become visible in each of us.
Why Fiery Trials?
“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you” (1 Peter 4:12). “But rejoice… that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy” (v. 13). We must always remember the end result of enduring a trial—a tremendous blessing.
After you were baptized, do you remember how you felt when you faced your first test? Many of us asked, “What did I do to deserve this?” Certainly, God will bring us into trials because of our sins (Psalm 38:1–3). “For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness” (vv. 4–5). What was this trial? From the description of his wounds, David likely had some kind of disease.
This is very different from what David described in Psalm 18, where he had kept himself from iniquity and been recompensed by God (vv. 20–24). God was preparing David to be the king over the Kingdom of Israel.
So, just like each of us, David underwent trials. Does it matter which trials came about because of his own sins, and which came because of time and chance, or because God was specifically preparing him for his future? No! And we must not fear. Since God is love, we know that there may be trials even if we do not sin. And if we do sin, there will be trials, so we will not sin again if we recognize our fault and repent. This is a very important perspective.
Seek God’s Help
What happens when we are in a trial? We are forced to seek God. We fast more often. We pray more often, maybe seven times a day instead of three, and day and night we will be begging God for His help. We will be looking for God, and looking to see what happens—how He will use our circumstances to transform our character.
When we pray, we know we have access to the third heaven. We have access to the presence of God. We can perceive His presence, though not with full clarity just yet. We cannot see His face, because no human being can see Him and live, but we can perceive Him through the Spirit. And our trials will force us to seek Him more often!
In Scripture we read, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image” (2 Corinthians 3:18). That is the ultimate reward, if we patiently endure our suffering and allow it to shape our character so that at the resurrection we can be born into the very Family of God for all eternity!