by Bud Lambert
The Old Testament book of Job describes one man's struggle with personal suffering. He was a man acquainted with multiple losses. He lost his wealth; he lost his children; and he even lost his health. He had no support from his wife. And although he had friends, their words of encouragement were, in reality, poisonous philosophies of men that only increased his stress and suffering.
Christians suffer! Nowhere in the Bible does God promise Christians that our lives will be free from suffering. On the contrary, He warns that being His disciple may increase our suffering: "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" ( 2 Timothy 3:12). He does, however, promise us that He can help us deal with our suffering in a victorious way ( 2 Corinthians 10:13). His help is available through the truths revealed in His word ( 1 Peter 1:3, 4; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). If we choose to fill our minds with His truths, we can be victorious in our sufferings. The book of Job is full of God's truths about suffering.
One helpful truth is that there is always a godly purpose for God allowing Christians to suffer. A common question asked of those suffering is Why? Sometimes Christians can see God's reason for allowing us to suffer - for example, to grow and mature ( James 1:2-4); to be disciplined toward greater holiness ( Hebrews 12:1-13); or to develop a purer faith ( 1 Peter 1:6-9). However, sometimes, because of the limitations of our human mind, we honestly can't see any good reason for our suffering.
During times like these it is important to remember Job. He didn't have a clue as to why such terrible things were happening to him. He was not privy to God's conversations with Satan or that God was using his suffering to silence the arrogance of Satan. But he trusted God to use his life, even in suffering, to bring about His ultimate will. Christians can always be confident that there is a godly purpose for God allowing us to suffer, even if we can't see it at the time.