From Newsgroup: alt.bible

Why God Allows Suffering

(christrose.news/suffering)

To Warn and Correct Us from Waywardness

(1) "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word."
(Psalm 119:67, ESV)

Affliction brought the psalmist back to obedience to God's word. Before suffering came, he wandered; after suffering came, he kept the truth.

(2) "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes." (Psalm 119:71, ESV)

Affliction was a good instrument in the life of the writer, because it directly caused him to learn the commandments of God.

(3) "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant,
but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who
have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:11, ESV)

God disciplines His children through painful circumstances, not to
destroy them, but to produce the peaceful fruit of righteousness in
their lives.

First Proposition: God allows suffering to correct our steps, warn us
against sin, and turn our hearts toward obedience to His word.

To Purify and Prove the Genuineness of Our Faith

(1) "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall
come out as gold." (Job 23:10, ESV)

Job recognized that the terrible afflictions he endured were a test
through which God was refining him, and that the final result would be
pure gold.

(2) "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary,
you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness
of your faithrComore precious than gold that perishes though it is tested
by firerComay be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:6-7, ESV)

Trials are permitted by God because they test and prove the genuine
character of a believer's faith, purging away dross so that praise,
glory, and honor will result when Christ appears.

Second Proposition: God permits trials and suffering to test, refine,
and prove the reality of our faith.

To Wean Us from the World and Fix Our Hope on Eternal Glory

(1) "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our
inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary
affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things
that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the
things that are unseen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, ESV)

The decay of the physical body and the presence of affliction serve to
renew the inner man, shifting our attention away from visible, temporary things to eternal realities, while preparing an incomparable weight of
future glory.

(2) "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not
worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." (Romans
8:18, ESV)

Present hardships demonstrate the broken condition of this passing
world, causing the believer to look forward with eager anticipation to
the glory to come.

Third Proposition: God uses suffering to break our attachment to this
temporal world and anchor our expectations on the eternal reward.

To Prevent Pride and Teach Us to Rely Entirely on God

(1) "For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction
we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our
strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on
ourselves but on God who raises the dead." (2 Corinthians 1:8-9, ESV)

Paul and his companions faced suffering so extreme that human
self-reliance was completely crushed, forcing them to depend solely on
God who raises the dead.

(2) "So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing
greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a
messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.
But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2
Corinthians 12:7-9, ESV)

A painful bodily affliction was permitted by the Lord to protect Paul
from conceit, and to demonstrate that divine power is made perfect in
human weakness.

Fourth Proposition: God permits suffering to dismantle human pride and
cause His people to rely completely on His grace and power.

To Equip Believers to Comfort Others

(1) "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our
affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any
affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by
God." (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, ESV)

God comforts His people in their trials so that they become qualified
and able to extend that same divine comfort to other people enduring
distress.

(2) "For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through
Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is
for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same
sufferings that we suffer." (2 Corinthians 1:5-6, ESV)

The afflictions of Christian leaders and brethren directly serve the
comfort, spiritual encouragement, and endurance of others.

Fifth Proposition: God allows suffering so that those who receive His
comfort may minister effectively and tenderly to others who suffer.

To Produce Christian Character and Spiritual Maturity

(1) "Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that
suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and
character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because
God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who
has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5, ESV)

Suffering initiates a vital chain in spiritual growth: it produces
endurance, proven character, and an unshakable hope.

(2) "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various
kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces
steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may
be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4, ESV)

Trials are not pointless disruptions; their proper work develops
endurance and brings a believer to complete spiritual maturity.

Sixth Proposition: God permits suffering as a necessary instrument to
forge endurance, proven character, and spiritual completeness.

To Display the Mighty Works and Glory of God

(1) "As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples
asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, 'It was not that this man sinned, or his
parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.'" (John
9:1-3, ESV)

The man's lifelong blindness was not the result of a specific personal
sin, but was allowed by God as a platform for the miraculous power and
glory of God to be openly demonstrated.

(2) "Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary
and her sister Martha... But when Jesus heard it he said, 'This illness
does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of
God may be glorified through it.'" (John 11:1, 4, ESV)

The grievous illness and physical death of Lazarus were permitted
specifically so that God would be glorified and Jesus revealed as the resurrection and the life.

Seventh Proposition: God permits adversity and affliction so that His
mighty power, deliverance, and divine glory may be openly manifested
before men.

Summary

By the plain statements of Scripture, God does not allow suffering
arbitrarily or without purpose. The Bible reveals that God permits
affliction:

To correct waywardness and direct us into obedience to His word.

To test, refine, and prove the genuineness of our faith.

To detach our affections from a passing world and direct our hope to
eternal glory.

To remove self-reliance and reveal His sustaining grace in our weakness.

To equip us with personal experience to comfort others in distress.

To build steadfastness, character, and Christian maturity.

To provide an occasion for His power and glory to be made manifest.

The Scriptures clearly demonstrate that God exercises sovereign
authority over the afflictions of life, working through them for the
holiness of His people and the glory of His name.
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