Why We Are Suffering?

“God will not permit any trouble to come upon us, 

unless He has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of the difficulty.”

- Peter Marshall -

How I wish to live life without a problem, without sorrow and pain, without sickness and disease, without worry and fear but there is no such a thing. For as long as we live on the surface of earth, we will have tribulation, testing and trials.   

Sometimes, we ask ourselves, “Why do I have to go through this?” “Why it happened?” “What did I do wrong that I have to suffer like this?” “Why did the problems happen at the same time?” and so on and so forth.  

We can rant whatever we want. Blaming others and cursing, even God is not exempted from blasphemy. Why? Because we thought, God is liable of the bad things that had happened. Why is it easy for us to question the sovereignty of God, His love, His faithfulness to us? Do we have this kind of perspective about God like, “God will not give us problem that we can’t handle.” “God gave me this sickness to remind me of my sin.” Really? God is at fault of everything? On the other hand, does it happen because of our foolishness? I mean, we did something bad sometimes and we don’t take responsibility of our mistakes then we blame others or even God.

Think about it. If God is really the one, who is responsible of our problems, is there any way out or solution? I mean, God is perfect so I’m pretty sure that the problem He is giving is also perfect, right? Is there any solution to a perfect problem? I don’t think so.  

As far as I know, God is not like that. He is not the one who gives problem but satan. How is that so? As I witnessed the warzone and unfavorable circumstances around me, the life of Job came into my mind. 

 

In the book of Job chapter 1, we can see how blessed he was and his family but then, a tragic happened. Why, what happened? Well, let’s read Job chapter 1 verses 6 to 12: 6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” 8 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.” 9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.” 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” 12 The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.”

Take note, in verse 6, satan presented himself to God. It simply shows that he is not equal nor can be compared to God. If others considered satan equal to God, then why he has to present himself to God? Coveting God’s glory will not make him higher than God. He was just a former angel before he became an adversary.  

I was awed when I read this, 8 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.” It’s like, wow! God is kind of proud of Job here, right? 9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.” Can you imagine how God protected Job and blessed him? 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” 12 The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. I believe, God trusted Job’s loyalty here that’s why He permitted satan’s demand but with the condition not to lay a finger on him.   

Have you not thought about it? That what you are going through right now has a reason why it is happening or why it happened? Just like Job, he lived a blissful life, enjoying the best of the land and yet, in one instance, it was gone. What is the reason? He is a righteous man and fears God but why it happened? Going back to the scriptures again, we can see that it’s not God. It’s satan who caused all the troubles in life. Why? For one reason, it is written in verse 11, for God’s people to curse Him to His face. That is his main goal.  

For the past weeks, I encountered chaos and suffering. In the processed of recovery, I met people who were also attacked by emotional and mental crisis. The warzone was quite overwhelming but I was awed how God worked in my life, in my family and friends.  

When I was reminded of the life of Job, it deepens my understanding that the main reason why we are suffering is because we have adversary, who is presenting himself to God and will ask permission to cause us harm. But why did God allow things to happened? Because He believe in us. He gave us the opportunity to do what is right and He hopes that we will succeed. Just like Job, he succeeded the test of life and God restored his fortunes.

Another reason also is self-inflicted suffering. Sometimes, we do things on our own will and if we fail, we blame others and even God. We don’t blame ourselves because we don’t recognize it as a mistake. We can’t accept the fact that it is our fault, that we must take responsibility of our action.  

We also suffer because of guilt. We tend to keep everything in ourselves out of frustration, out of self-pity and we became miserable that we even choose to isolate ourselves.  

There are many sufferings out there and I cannot name them all but what is certain to me is that, our response matters. When we encounter suffering, how do we respond? Do we evaluate ourselves why and who cause it? or we just conclude that it was God who give it? Remember, we have adversary who is roaming around the world seeking for the ruin of souls. 

May the life of Job will enlighten us for the suffering that we are going through. May we realize that Jesus Christ took up our pain and bore our suffering on the cross. May we begin to fully understand that the plans of God is to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us a hope and future. Amen.