Advantages of Suffering

Okay, here's what we know. We know that there is a God who is both good and loving. We know also that He is omnipotent. All of that together suggests that God could have created a world where His creation was comfortable, good, undisturbed. No one suffers. No one dies. A happy, pleasant world. Indeed, it is the world we anticipate once this life is over for those who believe. So it must be possible.

The skeptic, of course, will point and say, "See? Your God could do it but didn't, so if He exists, He's evil." This, of course, is a logical leap. First, a universe without a God cannot have anything defined as "evil" to start with, so it's a circular failure. Second, it makes assumptions not supported. The primary assumption is that it's always bad for anyone (apparently any creature at all) to suffer. And I think this is a problem.

Is it possible that pain and suffering could have positive values? We would, of course -- all of us -- balk at that. But is it possible? I would suggest that it is. For such a possibility to exist, the first thing that would be required would be pain and suffering administered by a good, loving, omnipotent being so that it is the right pain and suffering. That has to be a given. Unplanned, unaimed, uncontrolled pain and suffering isn't good. Random pain and suffering is random. But it is possible that, planned and controlled, it can serve a good purpose. That requires a Being that can control what we creatures cannot.

The Bible has more than a little to say on the subject. What does the Bible suggest about suffering?

1. In a general sense we are told "that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Rom 8:28). In that claim, "all things" would include suffering. In a specific example of brothers who sought to kill and then to enslave their brother, Joseph told them, "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result" (Gen 50:20). That is, the evil was real and intended, but God intended for it to produce a good result ... and it did. God, therefore, intends suffering to produce good results.

2. Paul says, "If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation" (2 Cor 1:6). Why? Paul says that God "comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God" (2 Cor 1:4). Suffering, then, equips us to help others deal with suffering.

3. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul writes about his famous "thorn in the flesh", a "messenger of Satan to torment me" (2 Cor 12:7). Paul repeatedly begs God to remove it and God does not. The result is interesting. God told Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness" (2 Cor 12:9). Paul's response is not a heavy sigh and the certainty that God just doesn't understand and isn't fair. No, his response is, "I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me" (2 Cor 12:9). True strength is found in our weaknesses met by God's strength (2 Cor 12:10).

4. James, perhaps on the edge of lunacy, tells his readers, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials" (James 1:2). Ummm, yeah, Jim. Thanks. Now, perhaps you need to see a doctor. No, he explains further. Why should we count it all joy when we suffer? Because when we suffer and rejoice we do so "knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:3-4). Suffering, guided by God, produces completion in the believer. Ultimately, there is great reward -- the Crown of Life -- to those who persevere in suffering (James 1:12).

5. The Book of Hebrews has a somewhat startling statement on suffering. About Jesus, the author says, "Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered" (Heb 5:8). Now, Jesus was God incarnate. But Hebrews says He "learned obedience from the things which He suffered". That is, Christ learned what it meant to suffer, what it meant to represent us. He experienced our pain and our temptations without succumbing to either. We, too, learn obedience from suffering.

6. Part of suffering is "striving against sin". Scripture says, "Do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him" (Heb 12:5). Indeed, "The Lord disciplines the one He loves and chastises every son whom He receives" (Heb 12:6). Sure, "for the moment all discipline seems painful," "but it later yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness for those who have been trained by it" (Heb 12:11).

No, we don't like suffering. We don't like pain. Death is unpleasant. But simply because we don't like something doesn't mean that it's bad, and simply because we don't currently see the value in something doesn't mean it has no value. The Bible says the reverse is true. Suffering is to our benefit when administered and controlled by a loving God who intends it for good. Instead of something to complain about and worry over, it is a gift granted by God (Phil 1:29) to those whom He loves. It isn't merely a worldly concept -- "no pain, no gain." And in the hands of the Almighty, the gain is great.