Suffering

God doesn’t promise a life free from trouble and conflict, but He does assure us that He will guide and sustain us if we have a personal relationship with Him. And millions of Christians will testify that regardless of any hardships they go through, they would choose to give up everything rather than go back to a life without God.

Origin of sin

God created a good angel called Lucifer. Unfortunately, he became so prideful that he began to desire to be worshipped and became jealous of God He desired to seize the throne of God and take His place. The Bible says the following about the thoughts of Lucifer.

    Isaiah 14:13-14 says, “13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

Lucifer could not fight against God without help, so he got a lot of other angels to join him. Revelation 12:7 says that "war broke out in heaven." Because he rebelled, Lucifer was given the name Satan, which means "the accuser." He lost this war and was thrown out of heaven along with the evil angles that supported him.

    Revelation 12:9 says, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

We can reasonably conclude that the event of the devil being kicked out of heaven happened before God created life on earth, because he was already present on the earth at the beginning.

    1 John 3:8 says, “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

    John 8:44 says, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

6.2. Why did God test Adam and Eve?

God gave the first man and the first woman free rein to explore, to do, and to eat anything they desired in their original, perfect home… except for a single thing. God made one tree off-limits to them as a test of their loyalty and Satan was ready to do what was necessary to make them fail that test.

The testing of Adam and Eve is something that some people question. They do not understand why the test was necessary. Let's examine the reason by using an example.

Example:

If you were a manufacturer and made a batch of 3,000 products and did not test them. Then later on, it was discovered that a third of them were of poor quality. Will you make sure that you test the next batch of products that you make?

The answer is yes.

1. Angels - First intelligent beings created by God

God made angels (Job 38:4-7), and a third of them became bad. Satan (also called the devil/Lucifer) was the first angel to sin (1 John 3:8). According to Revelation 12:4, Satan influenced a third of the other angels to get kicked out of heaven through deception.

Satan is a fallen angel (Luke 10:18) and a leader of the other fallen angels. We often refer to these fallen angels as evil spirits or demons.

2. Humans - Second intelligent beings created by God

    Psalm 8:4-5 says, "4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour."

There is no record of God testing the angels. Therefore it makes sense that God would test the next set of intelligent beings that He created, which were humans.

- Why the test was fair?

We do not know how many trees were in the garden of Eden. Maybe 100 or 1,000. God could have said that Adam and Eve could only eat from only one tree out of 1,000 or 100. Instead, God said that Adam and Eve could not eat from one tree out of maybe 100, 1000, or 10,000. This was a test that was very easy to pass. It was definitely a very fair test!

The tree of knowledge had been made a test of their obedience, trust and their love to God.

- Who was the snake that spoke to Eve?

    Revelation 12:9 says, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent (snake), called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

Since animals do not talk, it is either the devil transformed himself into a snake or the snake allowed the devil to possess it so that the devil can speak through it. The devil does speak through others; we saw this in the case of Peter.

    Matthew 16:23 says, “But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”

Since the snake was punished for deceiving Eve, it is reasonable to conclude that the snake knowingly allowed the devil to possess it.

Question: Revelation 12:9 says that Satan is the snake, it does not say that Satan possessed the snake.

Answer: When Satan speaks through somebody, that person is called Satan. We know this when we look at the above verse in Matthew 16:23. When Satan spoke through Peter, Jesus called him Satan.

6.3. Why does God allow suffering?

Question: "Why does God allow suffering?"

Response: For those who ask such a question, tell me how God can allow free will and stop all the evil in the world at the same time.

I have come across many people who ask, "If God is full of love, then why does He allow bad things to happen?"

I have come across many people who consider that only those who commit more horrible sins than them, such as murder, rape, or pedophilia, etc., are evil and God should only stop them from committing harm. The reality is that everyone on earth is evil, including those who ask the question.

Everyone has caused someone suffering and pain. Some do it every day because their actions are not illegal (e.g. spreading STDs, lying to spouses, cursing, practicing witchcraft, revenge, bullying and spreading false rumors to ruin somebody's reputation). All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Therefore, instead of asking why God does not stop the evil that others are doing, you should also ask why God does not stop you from committing evil and causing suffering.

You cannot expect God to stop others from causing suffering, but does not stop you from causing suffering. Therefore this means that not only must God stop murder, rape, war, pedophilia, etc. He must also stop you from lying, stealing, fornicating, committing adultery, abusing your partner, exploiting others, tax evasion, fraud, fornication, pride, gluttony, pornography, cheating, etc. He must also prevent you from spending your money the way that you want.

The only way that God can stop all suffering and evil in the world is to remove free will.

If God did remove free will and force us to be God, then those who are always complaining about Him will accuse Him of being a tyrant and a control freak.

As mentioned in other chapters, some countries have a problem of obesity with many of their citizens. But some countries have people who die from hunger every year.

Why does this happen?

Because those who have money to buy food would rather buy more food for themselves and get fat, then to donate their money to poorer countries.

Therefore, whose fault is it that there is starvation in the world?

Answer: It is our fault

Therefore those who ask: "Why does God allow suffering?"

My question is: What do you want? Do you want free will or no free will?

Most suffering is caused by people and can be avoided.

Every action has a consequence.

"Galatians 6:7 says,  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

Some people are reaping what they have sown.

• If you have unprotected sex, you will eventually get an STD.

• If you eat unhealthily, you will get cancer or diabetes.

6.4. Putting yourself in God’s shoes

We all go through many problems as Christians and face many challenges. The devil is always annoying us and we go through pain and suffering. And it feels like it never ends.

We also live in a world that is full of violence and crime, and we hear and read of the atrocious things happening in the world. Some of us have also been victims of assault, theft, and fraud.

We find ourselves asking the question, why does God allow all these bad things to happen to good people, especially Christians?

Have any of us thought of putting ourselves into God’s shoes?

May you please imagine that you are God and you had to address the following questions:

• How do you give free will and freedom of choice to humans, allowing them to do whatever they want and also stop them from hurting others?

• How do you intervene to ensure that you always protect Christians without the devil accusing them of respecting and loving you because you are always there for them? (Job 1:9-10)?

• How do you improve a Christian’s character if they do not face challenges and learn to overcome them (Romans 5:3-4, James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 2:21, 2 Corinthians 8:2)?

• How do you test whether Christians have faith in you if they do not encounter problems (1 Peter 1:7)?

• How do you prove a Christian loves you for who you are, not because you always do what they ask? 

• How do you prove that their love is genuine?

• How do you prove that a Christian will always be loyal to you no matter what if you always answer their prayers (Psalms 26:1-2, Job 1:9-10)?

• How do you save as many people as possible if you quickly destroy the wicked (Luke 19:10)?

We tend to see others as more sinful than us. A murderer is seen as the biggest sinner, but gossiping is not seen as sinful. We hear complaints like, Why did God allow those good Christians to be killed, and 4 years have passed, and the murderer has not been sent to prison? Where is the justice?

But gossiping can kill a person’s reputation, cause friends to be enemies, cause discord in the family, or even cause someone to be fired from their job. Some people have been rejected by others and got tempted to commit suicide because of the lies and gossip said about them. So if God stopped everyone from committing murder, he should also stop us from gossiping, like maybe causing our tongues to rot for a week every time we are about to gossip.

So whether God allows bad things to happen or He decides to stop all bad things from happening, He will have to face criticism either way, and sadly even from Christians.

Question: How should God treat us?

We have all hurt someone. Maybe we did not do anything illegal, but we have shown unkindness, impatience, lied, gossiped about, and deceived others.

Some of us, because of our actions, have caused others to be disgusted with Christianity and caused people to reject Christ. There are atheists that have looked at our bad behavior and said, “If that is how Christians behave and speak, then I do not want to be a Christian.” Therefore we have affected people not only in this life on earth, but also in the afterlife and could be the reason why they ended up in the lack of fire. We want God to severely punish and stop those who commit horrible crimes, but what about us who cause people to not end up in heaven because they rejected Christianity because of us? How should God treat us?

We ask, why does God allow small children to starve to death, but when was the last time that we contributed money or food to an orphanage, charity, or homeless shelter? To those who know God and do not do it, to them it is sin (James 4:17). So how should God treat us?

Have you realized that you are not actually punished for every sin that you commit or at least not always punished quickly? But get angry when God does not quickly punish other wicked people.

God is patient with people because he hopes that they will change so that He does not have to punish them because he wants them to repent (2 Peter 3:9). If we want God to continue to be patient and merciful to us, then should we not expect Him to be patient and merciful to others (Lamentations 3:22)?

I am not excusing anyone’s sin or wrong behavior. Violence and crime are inexcusable and should not be tolerated. But we were also part of the “wicked” group. Some of us took years or decades to decide to choose Christ and we got away with a lot of bad things. Even as Christians we continue to do things that are wrong. Imagine if God was not patient with us. Would we be saved right now if he dealt with us as quickly as we want Him to deal with others?

So in allowing bad things to happen and being slow to punish those who are guilty, it allows the wicked time to repent and change from their sinful ways. (Ezekiel 18:32) It also gives an opportunity to test how much we as Christians really love God. It tests our faith, our patience, and our loyalty to God.

So in the end, all things work together for God for those who love God (Romans 8:28). All things, meaning both the good and the bad.

6.5. Why problems are actually beneficial to us?

- They are a good source of spiritual growth.

    Romans 5:3 says, “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience”

    1 Peter 1:7 says, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ”

- They give us a better understanding of ourselves.

Some of us are unaware of our weaknesses until we get tested.

- They bring us closer to God and demonstrate our dependence on Him.

When we try to overcome problems ourselves and fail, we realize that we need God.

- They help us develop resilience.

Resilience is the ability to cope with and recover from setbacks. Even if you are not a Christian, everyone experiences problems, and we need to learn to overcome them. The more resilient you are, the more successful you are.

- They help to develop spiritual discipline.

Some Christians learn to pray the most when they have the most problems. When things are going well in their lives, they pray less and read their Bible less.

Trials, tests and tribulations caused them to be more consistent and disciplined in praying, reading the Bible and going to church.

The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). It is easier to do when we have a lot to pray about.

- They develop empathy.

Empathy is the ability to understand and be sensitive to other people’s feelings. Some Christians lack the ability to understand what others are going through unless they have experienced it themselves. They are more sympathetic to the feelings of others and can comfort them because they have been in a similar situation.

    2 Corinthians 1:4 says, "Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."

- Some suffering builds character.

We are made perfect through sufferings.

    Hebrews 2:10 says, “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”

We read about how Jesus suffered, Paul suffered and the other apostles suffered. I did not understand the reason for their suffering until I watched a documentary about rich people.

Lessons about rich people

A journalist wanted to investigate the reason why some families are rich for many generations, while in some families, the first generation is rich and the riches fade away when they reach the fourth generation. 

After the interviews he concluded that whether the riches continued in the next generations depended on how the rich people raised their children and whether they left them an inheritance or not.

In most cases, the first person to become rich came from a poor family. They worked extremely hard and had to endure extreme adversity and had to have great perseverance to become rich and successful.

• Group one: rich families who remained rich in the next generations:

These rich people eventually became parents and they raised their children the same way that they were raised. Meaning their children had to work hard as they did when they were young to get what they wanted. So their children got pocket money when they did their chores. They even required their teenage children to work during school holidays at restaurants, retail stores, etc. They treated their children like this because that is how they grew up, and it is what they did if they wanted something. They had to work hard for it. They even told their children that they will only provide them money for their education (That was their inheritance!) and they told their children that when they died, most of their money will be given to charities.

The treatment of these rich people seems rather harsh. To allow your child to work hard at a low-paying job when you are a multi-millionaire and multi-billionaire seems very cruel. But these parents wanted to instill discipline and a good work ethic as well as teach them that you need to  work hard for what you want. These parents were interested in building the character of their children. These children became well-disciplined, hardworking adults and also became multi-millionaires, but not from their parent’s money, but with money that they had obtained on their own through hard work.

• Group two: rich people who were rich for fewer generations:

These rich people spoiled their children and gave them what they wanted. Their children did not learn about working hard because they got whatever they wanted, and when their parents died, they got their parent’s money. As the generations went on, the money was squandered until the family was poor. The children of these rich parents did not have the same character as their parents.

- The life of Christ

Christ could have been born into a rich family and could have grown up in luxury, but instead he was born into a poor family and had to endure hardship. He endured a lot of poverty, suffering and deprivation and probably worked hard during the first 30 years before starting his ministry. 

During his ministry He was always in conflict with the Pharisees and He suffered because of being rejected by them and by being persecuted by those who did not believe in Him. (Luke 9:22, Luke 17:25) He was called a man of sorrows (Isaiah 53:3).

- Being a Christian

It is God’s purpose that Christians become like Jesus and have His character. The lesson that we learn from rich people is that children who went through more or less the same life experiences, hardships and suffering as their parents did ended up having the same character as their parents.

Therefore, in order to be like Jesus, Christians need to go through more or less the same life experiences that He did, which were not very pleasant. If we do not experience the same difficulties and get more or less the same trials and temptations as Jesus, as well as learn to overcome them, then it is unlikely that we will become like Him (1 Peter 2:21).

So suffering is actually used as a tool of educating us to become better Christians. Whether we become more like Christ depends on our attitude and whether we strive to overcome all of life’s challenges. If we try to avoid the suffering or complain about them and do not strive to overcome difficulties, then our suffering will be in vain and futile.

It is understandable that you hate suffering and pain, but it is unlikely that you will become like Jesus if you do not go through suffering and also learn to overcome. If we live a problem-free life without any trials, temptations and difficulties, then we will never become like Jesus. We need to go through the same life experiences that He did to become like Him; this is the lesson that we get from rich people whose children also became rich. We need to carry our cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24).

But even if you decide to reject God because there is suffering, you will still endure suffering because the devil exists. Everyone is going through suffering, whether they are Christians or atheists or practice other religions, because the devil attacks and hates everyone created by God.

The difference between Christians and non-Christians is that God turns the suffering into our own benefit. It is used to build our characters so that you can become more like Jesus if you allow it. The suffering is while we are on earth and ends when we go to heaven, where we will no longer suffer.

But if you choose to reject God, you will suffer anyway and end up in the lake of fire. So, the next time you are facing a challenge, ask yourself what is God trying to teach me and what can I learn from this situation to become a better Christian.

- You can decide to be a victim or a victor.

Some helpful organizations have been started because of the suffering of others. These people experienced horrible things happen to them.

If they did not have those horrible experiences, they would not have thought of starting those organizations.

6.6.  Why God understands our suffering from a personal experience?

The Bible tells us that God Himself came in human flesh to rescue us. He died the death we deserved so that we could have eternal life and experience a restored Creation. The Almighty God stepped down from the heights of heaven to rescue us! He died an excruciating death on the cross to give us the opportunity to choose eternal life.

    1 Timothy 3:16 says, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

While on earth Jesus experienced the following:

- Emotional pain

• Rejection (Mark 8:31)

• Harassment (Mark 12:13)

• Mockery (Matthew 27:29)

• Being Misunderstood By Family & Friends (Luke 2:50, Mark 3:21)

• Betrayal (John 18:2)

• Bullying (Mark 3:6)

• Name Calling & Insult (1 Peter 2:23)

• Sadness (Luke 19:41)

• Being Lied About (Matthew 26:59)

• Loneliness (Matthew 27:46)

• Loss of Friends (Matthew 26:56)

• Loss of his cousin, John the Baptist (John 11:14, 35)

- Physical pain and death

• Whipped (Mark 15:15)

• Crucified (Matthew 27:35)

- Financial struggles

• Sleeping outside (Matthew 8:20)

• Had to borrow a donkey (Matthew 21:2-5)

• Had to walk everywhere – Did not have a horse or carriage

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