Suffering has a way of forcing questions we never wanted to ask. Why did the relationship fall apart? Why did the doctor call with that diagnosis? Why can’t we have children? Why did I lose this job? Why now? Why me?
If you have ever walked through a season of suffering, you know that the questions come very quickly. Sometimes they arrive all at once. And often, the hardest part isn’t the suffering itself. It’s the uncertainty that comes with it.
We can endure a lot when we understand what’s happening. What rattles us is when we don’t.
Jesus never promised His followers a life free from pain. In fact, He promised the opposite.
“In this world you will have trouble.” (John 16:33). Not might. Will. Suffering is not an exception to life in a fallen world. It is part of it. The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. Faith does not exempt us from hardship. It simply gives us somewhere to stand when hardship comes.
If we’re going to fight through, we have to wrestle with a difficult question: Why?
The Two Tracks of Suffering
Pastor and theologian John Stott once wrote:
“The fact of suffering undoubtedly constitutes the single greatest challenge to the Christian faith.”
He’s right. For generations, believers have wrestled with how suffering fits within the goodness and sovereignty of God. While we may never fully understand every reason behind our pain, Scripture gives us two tracks that run beneath the mystery of suffering:
The glory of God.
And the faith of His people.
God’s Glory in the Middle of Pain
One of the most surprising truths in Scripture is that God’s glory is often displayed most clearly through suffering. In John 9, Jesus encounters a man who had been blind since birth. The disciples immediately ask the question we all ask:
Who is to blame?
Jesus responds that the man’s condition was not the result of his sin or his parents’ sin, but so that “the works of God might be displayed in him.”
Think about that for a minute. The suffering was not pointless. God had a purpose. The same pattern appears in John 11 with Lazarus. Jesus loved Lazarus deeply, yet He delayed coming when Lazarus became sick. Lazarus died. And still Jesus declared that the situation would ultimately result in the glory of God.
This challenges much of what we naturally assume. Sometimes God heals. Sometimes He delivers. Sometimes He chooses not to on this side of eternity. But throughout it all, He remains at work. Nothing touches the son or daughter without first passing through His holy hands.
I don’t pretend to understand all the ways God works through suffering. But Scripture repeatedly teaches that His glory and our suffering are often connected. Look no further than the cross. God’s greatest glory came through Christ’s greatest suffering. Resurrection came through crucifixion. Life came through death.
The Refining of Faith
The second track suffering runs on is our faith. James tells us that trials produce steadfastness. Peter compares suffering to a refining fire that purifies gold. None of us enjoy the fire. But all of us know what it produces.
If I asked a room full of believers when they felt closest to God, most would not point to a season of comfort. They would probably point to a season of crisis. The diagnosis. The heartbreak. The loss. The unanswered prayer. The moment they had nowhere else to turn.
Suffering has a way of stripping away self-sufficiency and teaching us dependence upon God. It refines us. Strengthens us. Deepens us. Not because pain is good, but because God is.
Suffering Brings Power
The apostle Paul spent much of his life suffering. Beaten. Imprisoned. Shipwrecked. Persecuted.
Yet when Paul talks about suffering, he spends less time explaining why it happens and more time explaining what it produces.
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed.”
Paul knew what it felt like to be pressed from every side. Maybe you do too. Perhaps you feel overwhelmed by circumstances you cannot control. The pressure is real. The pain is real. But so is God’s power.
Suffering often brings us to the end of ourselves so that we can experience the strength of Christ in a deeper way. When we are weak, He is strong. When we are exhausted, He sustains. When we feel like we’re down for the count, His power keeps us from being destroyed.
Suffering Brings Purpose
Pain is never wasted in the hands of God. Paul writes that the life of Jesus is revealed through those who suffer faithfully. That means God can use our suffering to minister to others. The comfort we’ve received becomes comfort we can give. The lessons we learn become encouragement we can offer. The wounds we’ve carried become evidence of God’s sustaining grace.
Sometimes God allows us to walk through a fire because one day we’ll help someone else survive theirs.
Suffering Brings Perspective
Suffering has a way of clarifying what matters most. Paul calls believers to focus not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. Not because present suffering is insignificant, but because eternity is far greater. Pain narrows our vision. Faith expands it.
Suffering reminds us that this world is not our home and that God’s purposes stretch far beyond the moment we’re currently living in. That is why Paul could say:
“So we do not lose heart.”
Don’t Trade What You Know for What You Don’t Know
This may be the most important lesson of all. When suffering enters our lives, we immediately become consumed with questions. What if? How long? Why did this happen? What happens next?
We fixate on everything we don’t know. And in the process, we forget what we do. Paul gives us four certainties in Romans 8 that become anchors for the soul.
God Is Not Condemning You
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
If you belong to Christ, your suffering is not evidence that God has abandoned you or is punishing you. Your judgment fell on Jesus. Your suffering may refine your faith, but it is not condemnation. Fight to believe that.
God Is Praying for You
Romans 8 tells us that when we don’t know what to pray, the Spirit intercedes for us. Think about that. When words fail, when grief overwhelms, when all you can do is sit silently before God, the Spirit is praying on your behalf.
You are never alone in your suffering. Fight to rest in that.
God Is Working for Your Good
Romans 8:28 is not a cliché. It’s a promise. God is working in ways we cannot always see. Joseph spent years wondering what God was doing, yet looking back he could say:
“What you meant for evil, God meant for good.”
The same God who worked then is working now. Fight to trust that.
God Loves You
Suffering has a way of making us question God’s love. But Paul asks:
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”
The answer is simple. Nothing. Not tribulation. Not distress. Not persecution. Not suffering. Nothing can separate God’s children from His love. Fight to remember that.
Keep Fighting
The reality is that suffering will always contain mysteries we cannot explain. There will be questions that remain unanswered. There will be moments when God’s purposes feel hidden. But when those moments come, don’t trade what you know for what you don’t know.
Hold tightly to what Scripture has already made clear. God is not condemning you. God is praying for you. God is working on your behalf. God loves you.
Because those things are true, you can keep fighting. Not because suffering is easy, but because God is faithful. Even here.
This article has been adapted from a full sermon by Pastor Jarrett Stephens. Catch up on more messages in our Sermon Archive or visit our Articles page for more reflections like this one.
