Why God allows us to suffer...

3.5 billion people on planet earth own a smartphone. That’s a pretty big number! Odds are, you’re one of the lucky many that own one of these handheld computers. It’s probably going to come as no shock to you that our phones run on a battery. They need a battery just like a flashlight, TV remote, or a car needs a battery to work properly. Without a power source, our phones would just be fancy paperweights.

When we text, call, take a thousand selfies, or post on twitter, the battery suffers. It loses its charge. So, what do we do? We go to the charger! We run to the power source for immediate “help”. Some people are edgy and like to wait until their phone reaches one or two percent battery life before they go to the charger. Not me. I’m not a big risk taker, so I like my phone to stay above a solid 30%.

I bet you’re wondering why I’m talking about smartphones and their battery life. I’m getting to the point... I promise.... Just like the battery in our phones “suffer” due to day-to-day use, we also experience suffering. Everyone does. There isn’t one person on the planet that’s a stranger to suffering or struggling.

This is a topic we, as Christians, don’t really like to talk about. Why? Because suffering sucks. If we had it our way, we’d never suffer or struggle at all. There’d be no loss of a loved one, no poverty, no sickness, and absolutely no soreness after working out. Seriously though, we don’t like to even say the word, “suffering”. It’s hard for us to understand its place in our lives. Why would a loving, gracious, forgiving God allow His beloved children to endure hardships? I want to try and give my thoughts on why God allows us to suffer, struggle, and experience difficulty.

I really believe that when we suffer, when we struggle, when we experience adversity, it allows God to “charge”, restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us (see 1 Peter 5:10). Our faith begins by believing and is established through action. When our faith is tested, it’s being forced into action.

Question: When does a phone battery die the fastest? Here’s the answer: When it’s being used the most. Our suffering may be God using us to display His power, His love, or even His grace through us. We might need to ask the question, “How do we get used by God?” It’s a pretty simple answer... by being available. God is not looking for the right person with the right ability to be used; He is looking for a person that is willing and available to be used.

Struggle is necessary for growth. When somebody wants to get stronger physically, they have to make their muscles suffer for a while. This is done through working out and breaking their muscles down. After the suffering, after the strain, after the sweat, only then can their muscles grow, repair, and become stronger than before. It’s the same with our faith! Most of the time though, we want instant growth in our relationship with God, without the suffering. We live in such an instantaneous generation. We are a generation that clings to convenience. We want to take the path of least resistance in every area of life. Think about it... We have fast food, fast Wi-Fi, grocery delivery, etc. These things aren’t bad, but they have influenced our PERSPECTIVE towards struggling, suffering, and adversity.

What I’m trying to say is this - the suffering you are experiencing right now, or have experienced in the past, could be a season that you were intended to go through in order to become the person God has called and created you to be. The adversity you have been begging God to deliver you from could very well be a part of His plan to make you more like Jesus.

Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, welcomed suffering. He didn’t necessarily want to go through the suffering on the cross, but He knew it was through His suffering that we all could be saved. He knew His suffering was required in order for us to have the opportunity to become all that we were meant to be.

The simple truth is this: suffering is inevitable in the life of a Christ follower, but God can use an unwanted circumstance to draw you closer to Him. In fact, Paul says this in His letter to Timothy:

“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”

2 Timothy 2:3

A good soldier knows how to endure suffering. He or she knows how to carry on in the midst of suffering, struggle, and hardship.

Peter says that God will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us through suffering (1 Peter 5:10).

What does that mean? How will God do that? Below are some literal definitions that will help us understand what God is wanting to accomplish in us through seasons of suffering.

• Restore: to repair or renovate (a building, work of art, vehicle, etc.) so as to return it to its original condition.

- God can and will begin to make us into who we were created to be through refining our faith in the suffering.

• Confirm: to establish the truth or correctness of [something previously believed, suspected, or feared to be the case]

- God uses suffering to establish His truth as a foundation for our faith.

• Strengthen: to make or become stronger.

- God understands that to get “swole” in our faith, we have to get “sore” first. Suffering can make us stronger in the long run.

• Establish: to set up (an organization, system, or set of rules) on a firm or permanent basis.

- Our faith becomes more firm and real when it is tested.

My final thought is this when it comes to the topic of suffering: God will repair in us what has been broken. God will set in us truth through trials. God will make us strong through the struggle, and God will make firm our faith through the fire.