“Let no man say when he is tested, I am tested by God; for it is not possible for God to be tested by evil, and he himself puts no man to such a test.” ( James 1:13 , The Bible in Basic English ) In fact, the idea that God is to blame for suffering is out of harmony with the way that the Bible describes God’s personality. In his book The View from a Hearse, Joe Bayly tells the story of two men who came to comfort him after the death of his three sons. He can change your situation and replace it with overwhelming joy. The Bible teaches that evil entered into God’s creation through the rebellion of some of God’s creatures—first angels and then human beings.2 When humans lost their innocence through original sin (disobeying God in the Garden of Eden),3 pain and futility entered into the basic human experiences of family and work as a result.4, Within the biblical worldview, then, suffering is not a permanent or intrinsically necessary fixture of reality, as in some renderings of the Eastern notion of Yin and Yang. In other words, the Bible has a linear, rather than cyclical, view of suffering. Why didn’t I ever know my father? What does the Bible teach on pain and suffering? She was so scared of her next period because of the expected massive blood loss. In 2011 when I had cancer again, I was able to give thanks to God, not for the cancer, of course, but for his steady, loving hand through it all. God will end all human suffering. Upon his release, he wrote about his experiences and observations. The same painful experience can make one person bitter, narrow, and ungenerous, and another person sweeter, humbler, and more patient. 1. Their reasoning was this: Surely Job must have provoked God in some way! It has not always been, and it will not always be. He opened his book by asking God two questions: How long? In the meantime, he called Habakkuk to trust him and walk through this difficult season by faith, because “the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.”9 In the end, Habakkuk saw a vision of God coming in judgment and salvation.

Many people … When God speaks regarding Job’s suffering in Job 38–41, he basically says, “Hey, Job, I’m God.  the bud may have a bitter taste, When the devil causes pain in our lives, we must lift our eyes into the heavens and praise his name. The New Testament of the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ was God in human form. No human has the … The Bible tells us there is a greater purpose (see next post). At the end of The Lord of the Rings, Samwise Gamgee asks, “Is everything sad going to come untrue?”15 In the Bible, heaven represents the place where sadness not merely ends, but becomes untrue—forever. All we have to do is repent of our sins and trust and believe in Christ's sacrifice to take away our sins. I certainly don't want to minimize pain and suffering, but it helps if we take a long-term perspective. Like Habakkuk, like Joe Bayly, Job needed God himself more than he needed his questions answered. Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Job explores the difficult question of God's relationship to human suffering, and invites us to trust God's wisdom and character. You’re not. Bible verses related to Suffering from the King James Version (KJV) by Relevance - Sort By Book Order . Job 1:21-22, Therefore, whether you may be going through unbearable pain and suffering, or looking searching for the fruit of the womb, or you are struggling with sickness, lift your voices and “bless the name of the lord.”, He will take away all pain and sorrow in his time. Over the centuries, Christians have responded to this question, which is often called the Problem of Evil, with many different theodicies—defenses of God’s good and powerful character despite the existence of evil. By Gavin Ortlund In his book The View from a Hearse, Joe Bayly tells the story of two men who came to comfort him after the death of his three sons. However, what it does do is tell us the story of a God who has come close to us in the midst of our suffering, who actually suffered for us, who will one day destroy suffering forever. In fact, Jesus assured his followers they would indeed have trouble in this life.12 But the suffering of Christ gives hope during tough times because it imparts something that is even stronger than suffering: the love of God, which the Apostle Paul called a “love that surpasses knowledge.”13 As Tim Keller explains: If we again ask the question, “Why does God allow evil and suffering to continue?” and we look at the cross of Jesus, we still do not know what the answer is. Romans 5:3-5 - And not only ... neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. We must continue to endure because we know there is glory in the end. While going through emotional or physical pain, remember that there is “glory in the end.”, For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. Death, suffering, pains, physical injuries, barrenness, joblessness (and suck likes) should not make us stop serving God. Psalm 34:18. Nevertheless, you must not sin against God. Job passed through an overwhelming pain. Why is suffering really objectively bad and not merely personally inconvenient? According to the Bible, God will bring an end to the suffering of every human on the planet. He will not allow the devil to condemns us. It is quite another to experience suffering in our lives or see it dramatized in the lives of others. There are four takeaways from the story of Job that will strengthen you. It is a consequence of the biblical notion of sin—which one Christian author described as a disease that has entered the world through created beings refusing to accept their creaturely status.5. You must stay strong and be focused on the service of God. He will never forsake those that trust in him. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. 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. I was 25 years old and could not give thanks. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. This is another Bible verse that reminds us our suffering will not go unnoticed by God. It raises questions for the theist, but does not make theism impossible. It affirms its un-thinkableness, its tragedy, its staggering and oppressive weight.  behind a frowning providence I mean seven days. He was blameless in the sight of God.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'faithfulchristian_net-box-4','ezslot_7',110,'0','0'])); There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. Most people can identify with this at least to an extent; the majority of us can think of a time when something we thought was bad ultimately turned out to be good. His purposes will ripen fast, God answered Habakkuk, but it was not the response Habakkuk expected. The voices of sufferers throughout the centuries have cried out concerning the difference God makes amidst suffering. It can’t be that he doesn’t love us.     and He will make it plain.26, Cowper’s life and writings remind us that as powerful as suffering is, God is more powerful. 8. (All Bible verses are from the NIV84 unless indicated otherwise.) If God can work out some evil for good, the argument goes, then isn’t it possible—given enough time and wisdom—that he could work out all evil for good? The Bible offers hope. But, of course, there’s a more basic philosophical question at hand: Why did God create a world in which there was the potential for suffering in the first place? There is no question that Dostoevsky understands Ivan’s perspective from the inside out—and yet he ultimately demonstrates its impossibility. A life that is so beautiful that eyes have not seen nor ear heard. But we can’t blame all natural disasters on Satan. In this world you will have trouble. If they come, we must understand that God knows all things. In suffering there is also, I believe, a message of warning. The movie The Grey dramatically raises this question: If ultimately death is all there is, why is its presentation from a nihilistic standpoint so chilling, so haunting, so poignant? What Does Jesus Teach Us About Pain and Suffering? As C. S. Lewis wrote in his book The Great Divorce, “They say of some temporal suffering, ‘No future bliss can make up for it’ not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory.”16 The Bible offers this amazing gift to anyone who repents of sin and trusts in Christ for salvation. While going through pain, we must remember that it is only transient. A. Sinful people cause some suffering directly (lying, anger, divorce, drugs, crime, etc.). Here are Jobs words, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. It is encouraging to know we are not alone in asking such questions, and that crying out to God in our grief is not forbidden. According to this way of thinking, if God wanted a world without any possibility of pain, he would have had to create a world without any possibility of free choice or true love—a world of robots, not people. Job was not just an ordinary believer of God. Those who put … His suffering led to many people being rescued . What does the Bible say about suffering? Many people assume—perhaps sometimes subconsciously—that this is exclusively how suffering works. But ultimately, it is more like the man who gives his presence than the man who gives his answers.

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