A Biblical View of Suffering

The Bible presents four different reasons or perspectives on suffering.

First, suffering is a part of training or discipline, which though unpleasant at the time, produces a “harvest of righteousness and peace.”

Thus,

• Psalm 94:12: “Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord, the one you teach from your law;”
• Proverbs 3:12: “Because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.”
• Hebrews 12:7-11:  ⁷ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? ⁸ If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. ⁹ Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! ¹⁰ They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹ No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 

Second, suffering is the result of sin.  Genesis 3:17-19 recounts Adam’s and our suffering because of Adam’s sin:

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”

The Israelites are condemned to wander in the desert for forty years following their sin of rebellion: “For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’” (Numbers 14:34)

Third, suffering is a means of identifying with and witnessing for Christ. 

• Philippians 1:29: “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.”
• 1 Peter 2:21: “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.“
• 1 Peter 4:12-14: “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. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed.”
• Acts 5:41: “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”

Fourth, suffering is ultimately inexplicable.  Nowhere in the Bible is the problem of suffering dealt with more clearly than in the Book of Job. In a strange introduction, Satan visits God in heaven and God brags about his servant Job.  “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.’” (Job 1:8).  Satan responds that naturally Job is blameless; he is wealthy and healthy and has no reason not to be righteous. So God allows an experiment –He will give Job over to Satan to torment in order to prove Job is righteous in season and out of season (?!).

The bulk of the book consists of a discussion between Job and his three “friends” who come to commiserate with Job over his tribulations (Job has lost his wealth, family and health).  Job and his friends agree that God is just, that only the evil suffer. His friends say that since the premise is true, Job’s suffering is a punishment from God for his sins.  Job insists he is blameless. His suffering cannot be explained. But he also refuses to blame God as his wife counselled him “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9)

Eventually Job encounters God who does not deign to explain why Job is suffering. Instead, God says “Who are you?” (Job 38:2-7).

² “Who is this that obscures my plans

    with words without knowledge?

³ Brace yourself like a man;

    I will question you,

    and you shall answer me.

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?

    Tell me, if you understand.

⁵ Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!

    Who stretched a measuring line across it?

⁶ On what were its footings set,

    or who laid its cornerstone—

⁷ while the morning stars sang together

    and all the angels shouted for joy?

After four chapters of this demonstration of God’s wisdom and power, Job replied to the Lord (Job 42:1-6)

^{2 “}I know that you can do all things;

    no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

³ You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’

    Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,

    things too wonderful for me to know.

⁴ “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;

    I will question you,

    and you shall answer me.’

⁵ My ears had heard of you

    but now my eyes have seen you.

⁶ Therefore I despise myself

    and repent in dust and ashes.”

Job is confronted by the majesty and the glory of God, whose qualities, such as his love and his justice, are totally beyond his understanding.  As I wrote in an earlier post “This explanation is simple: ‘I am God; you are not.’”  Or as Paul says in Romans 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” If we believe that God is merciful, then we must believe that the suffering we endure is part of His plan and that His plan is for our good, even if we are unable to understand it. Again, as Paul writes in Romans 8:18, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”