Why Does God Allow Some to Suffer More Than Others?
Editor’s note: For a lot of us, COVID-19 has impacted many aspects of our daily lives. While some have been impacted more than others, none of us are in this alone. At YMI, we hope that our daily devotionals and biblical articles will provide you with hope, inspiration, and biblical guidance. If you’re struggling to cope with the effects of COVID-19, this piece from YMI about suffering is a good read.
Written By Joshua Woo
Joshua Woo is the special officer to a Member of Parliament in Malaysia. He was formerly a Presbyterian pastor in Singapore.
At a recent political conference, I had the opportunity to meet individuals from different countries, many of whom were currently living amid political uncertainty.
Listening to the struggles they faced in their own countries, I was intrigued. Some had been imprisoned before. Some were living in exile. Some were being prosecuted by their governments. Many didn’t have the opportunity to study, work, or start a family.
The plight of other groups caught my attention as well—the Syrian and Rohingya refugees, and the victims of human trafficking. The former were forced to leave their countries and cross borders illegally in order to survive, while the latter were kidnapped, prostituted, and traded. I was also gripped by the accounts of those forced to live in terrible conditions. Some were even murdered, as the recent discovery of mass graves at the borders between Malaysia and Thailand proved.
As I mulled over their tragic stories, I had to wonder: Why do some people suffer so much more than others? And what does the Bible say about this?
Suffering is everywhere
Suffering is everywhere and inevitable. Even around our home, we can see families who can’t afford more than one meal a day, students pushed to their limits, workers put out of jobs, elderly folk abandoned by family members, and migrant workers exploited by employers.
Suffering is also a key theme in the Bible. It tells us of many instances where God allows or was even involved in suffering: God giving Satan the permission to inflict Job (Job 1.8-12), Joseph’s difficult time in Egypt (Genesis 50:20), Jesus’ suffering on the cross (1 Peter 2:24), and the persecution of the early Christians (2 Corinthians 1:6-7).
Scripture tells us that some people suffer because of divine punishment, some for their faith, and some to save others.
Today, the suffering we see around us may be due to one of the above reasons. But there may be other reasons that we don’t know or don’t understand. Just like in the past, God knows exactly why He allows some people to suffer more than others, but He may not always reveal the reasons to us.
God’s Goodness and Love
What we do know for sure, however, is that God is loving and good. We can stay strong in our hope in Him through such times, even when we do not have the answer to suffering.
It’s easy to feel a great sense of despair when we see so much injustice and discrimination around us. But I take comfort from what the psalmist wrote, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever” (Psalm 107:1).
God’s goodness and love is clearly demonstrated through Jesus, whom He sent to redeem and save us from our sins when we were still God’s enemies. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).
Jesus suffered the greatest injustice of all when He died for sinners like you and me. So, in moments when we’re suffering for no apparent reason and we cannot comprehend why, we need only to look at the cross. As German theologian Jurgen Moltmann once said, “It’s only for Christ’s sake that I believe in God.”
And God promises that our suffering will not be forever. He will “wipe every tear” in the coming eternity. “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
Because of Christ, we can rest our faith in the good and loving God despite not knowing why some people suffer more than others. God is there for them—as He is here for us through Jesus.
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It’s hard to understand why a loving God allows you to suffer over and over again. I see people who have caused so much suffering in my life go on to lead happy lives…where is God’s divine punishment for them. It’s said God is no respect of persons…I find that so hard to believe. When you suffer so much it just makes you feel forgotten and alone. Where is God in that?
I agree with you! 100% Dolores!
I feel this way too! Maybe god just sits and laugh while watching some people suffer, no truly loving god what do that!
I also agree.
Yes… and after seeimg this written a zillion times…
Is why Ive finally concluded that we my as well see ourselves as “god” and not to allow others to hurt us if we can. Until I get s better response it’s all Ive got.
We need to stop looking to “god” at least in the sense that we know it as.
Although, I certainly can sympathize with your final sentence and I too know how that feels like.
(and that comes from one of the most optimistic people you could ever meet)
Why would you look at others?
Pray to God every single day, you are low in faith!
That’s why!
Don’t go down that path
guys, read your bible and see that job suffered so much that he started accusing God and wanted a court case with God, if you guys are so foolish to want to do the same then i suggest you lucid dream, there after God may choose to enter your dreams or not(ive heard of several others who lucid dreamed and met someone claiming to be God…i wont say more than that though). also the apostles still suffered and the bible includes that they were happy to suffer for God(even though in our eyes they totally didnt deserve it). even i am suffering at this very moment and unlike others, i grew up a very lonely person and when i started seeking help from the Lord, i was helped so much that others started chanting my name, afterwards i really wanted to praise God and as i kept becoming a good, strong person, the suffering increased daily cause ik that when i grow up, i will contribute a large amount to the change of this world beleive you me. the fact that people who praise God suffer even more than ussual is already proof that God exists,Jesus said only God is good…have faith and if you did more research on your bible,you would know the kindom of even is inside you, do you know the way to it?
Jesus said I am the truth, the way and the life,when telling the apostle the way to the kingdom of heaven. All in all i finsih up with this… those who are aware that they sin and continue to do it are the one who(i think) get punished however the bible includes that those who were not aware of it arent guilty of sin(maybe thats why you see your friend live a happy life)
It is hard to u derstand. Satan ei t leave me alone. I take care if a sick advanced pd patients I can hardly walk caring for him.dye to advanced arthritis and need for hip replacement. But an overwhelmed caring for someone that won t do for himself. My sister and sister in law have wonderful lives and no issues. Health bodies and husband. I had to care for my mother and father. And I’m overwhelmed as no one understands and cares for me. So I can’t butbsay why would a loving God do this to me. Makes me bitter angry and jealous. At times it’s too much to handle. And hard for me to love God through all this. Anyone feel.like This? At end of my rooe.
There is suffering bc we are in a curse world and bad painful things happens w the good as well as the bad. We live by faith and not by sight. We usually see what people want us to see but you don’t know the inside story. Just as I don’t know yours. God so llove the world He gave His only Begotten Son Jesus that whosoever believe may have eternal life. God never promise we wouldn’t suffer but He did promise He would make our bad for our good. He also reminds us His mercy endures forever. Believers have another place to live after this nonbelievers do not. No one gets away totally with wrong doing. Let God judge and we endure to the end. In between the hard time ask Jesus to give you what you need to become all God wants you to be. Don’t look st the condition but keep your total focus on Christ and you will be able to say all is well with your soul
I’m sad to say that I agree with you Dolores.
I got to this page because my mother is suffering so much and I wanted to know why some people suffer more than others. The answer is: we are all sinners and we are all caught on this cosmic battle between good and evil. There are good and bad people. The bad ones, although we think they are winning, sooner or later, Jesus is going to give them what they deserve and we, good people, just have to keep on believing that there is a better place out there and Jesus is going to give us that peace..Remember sister Dolores:
Romans 1:17
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL LIVE BY FAITH” So, in 2018 more than never, we just have to hold on to that faith…
Right now I feel the same, but I take comfort that God through Jesus Christ is on my side and has good plans to prosper me and not to harm me , plans to give me hope and a future. In His time I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, for I am more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus
As someone who is very sick I now know why God allows suffering… In my case I was a very vile person… I committed adultery, I was a drug addict, a liar, a thief, if you can image it I did it…i only cared about myself…and I was very vain. But then I got sick about 3 years ago…i started losing weight, having lots of pain and recently they discovered tumors all over my body. I am slowly dying but the doctors can’t tell me why. I weigh 78 lbs, I am suffering greatly but God allowed this physical suffering to humble me…to change me…to transform my soul. I have repented of almost all my sins…i do still have some work but I know that God is destroying my flesh to rebuild my spirit. I know that I am going to die if the doctors do not get me an answer and I am ok with that because I know that Christ will raise me from the dead and remake me to perfection and I will live in paradise for all eternity. You never die if you just have faith in the only man on earth who was truly perfect. I have people ask me if I ever think of suicide because of my suffering and I tell them, why would I?! Suffering on earth for what, at the longest 80 years, compared to suffering in hell for all eternity…no thanks. I used to be a vain, selfish, and to be blunt, a whore and God broke my body down to a sickly skeleton because he loves me so much… I am only 31 years old and I know that I am going to die young and it used to scare me because I was living in sin but not anymore….he let me suffer physically to save my soul. This body is just a vessel. Suffering is God’s way of making us more humble. You can choose to hate Him for it and risk Hell…or you can look at it for what it is, a shedding of the sinful flesh and the salvation of the soul. I am suffering greatly but I want the world to hear my testimony. i was angry at God for years when I was younger but he’s always been calling me for a long time but I wouldn’t listen…the first time was when I went to see the passion of the Christ at the movies with my stepmother and literally I started wailing and crying uncontrollably from the opening credit until we left the theater…it was like I left my body and felt Christ’s pain and love…and many people say well Christ had doubt himself on the cross when he said, father why have you forsaken me and I had a revelation…he pulled his spirit from Christ at that moment because Christ had to die a man like you or I, he had to take on the sin and pain of hell for all mankind and the only way he could do that was to be stripped of God’s spirit…so it wasn’t doubt but more like a kid saying father why are you leaving me…people have twisted the word of God into this new age nonsense. I know now that day in the theater was the Holy spirit…but instead of listening to Him I started using drugs and having sex with whomever would have me…and then
years later I met my husband at 18 and he was unlike any man I’ve ever met…he didn’t lust after other women and was a faithful man…but like everyone he was human and a severe drug user but for the first year of our marriage he taught me all about Christ and the real word of God, not the watered down church version I had always heard…we started living right but after our first daughter was born, she was very sick and had multiple heart problems…i promised God if he allowed her to live I would be a faithful follower…he did allow my baby to live, she’s now 11…but at this time my doctor started giving me pain pills and being a recovering addict I got hooked and we both slipped and fell into drugs for the next 8 years…the drugs consumed me in a very scary way…addiction is truly demonic. I was lost in drugs and then I started committing adultery…i also tried to kill myself but not to die but a cry for help because the drugs were destroying me…well after that night I started dreaming of a demon trying to possess me…i have always had very vivid, spiritual dreams, most where I am facing a demon and the only thing that I say to them is the Lord’s prayer and that will usually wake me up…years of addiction went by and then I started getting sick after our 2nd child was born…i thought maybe it was just my withdraw but even the drugs didn’t make me feel good anymore, in fact they made me feel my pain much more intensely, except for the pain pills because now I truly had pain and I was always exhausted so they got me through some of my worst days…my husband thought I was being oppressed by a demon…and I did as well for a long time. Especially since I was still committing adultery and I was still taking the pain pills which I did think were helping me…but I was abusing them… Well then about 3 years ago I started to lose pretty much everyone who raised me and I got sicker and sicker but my addiction was still bad because my grandmother’s death destroyed me…well then one night I had a dream of her and she told me that God was allowing her to visit me through my dreams and she would tell me how I needed to get clean and get right and so I put myself in detox amd saw a doctor who gave me a miracle drug that basically wouldn’t allow me to go through the nightmare of withdrawal and he said with my health problems that I would take it probably forever but it’s designed so you literally can’t abuse it…i only took one pill a day compared to the amount of drugs I had been doing…this medication was Godsend for me and it did save my life and it does help my intense pain and my crippling exhaustion except now I’m not strung out, always searching for the next high…i actually had clarity again and I realized how sick I had become but just ignored when I was strung out. Well I had another dream of my grandmother and she said, I am so proud of you and I love you very much but I am going to Heaven now so you won’t see me in your dreams anymore but I will always love you and I will see you again…i asked her if my grandfather was in Heaven and she told me he had not made it but she wasn’t sad because she said she always warned him to get right…i have not dreamed of her since that dream so I know that was her spirit telling me what I needed to hear…and it makes me smile to know she is in Heaven, she was the only person in my life who taught me morals and as a kid tried to teach me about God. After being clean for so long and totally repenting of my sin of adultery and I asked for forgiveness of course but not until I completely repented…i knew I had to confess my darkest sins to my husband because all though he has physically hurt me and mentally abused me, he never committed adultery and that’s what made me love him and always go back to him because he loved me and only me…and with my sickness I have truly repented of adultery, drug addiction…i do still have things I need to work on, we all do…no man is completely righteous, only Christ was completely righteous but we must try to work on ourselves and our thorns in our sides and turning away. My entire life I heard you need to ask for forgiveness but I never heard the word repentance until I read the Word myself and that’s sad because asking for forgiveness is only step one…anyways 2 years ago I had been clean and I was starting to lose more weight so I started seeing doctor after doctor and i begged God to let me get a diagnosis so I could get better and doctor after doctor dismissed me or passed me around to other doctors…until recently there was no evidence for the doctors, just my word, but nobody knows how you feel but yourself…well a year ago I got down into the 80s and I started feeling growths on my neck so I went into a hospital and they admitted me but treated me like absolute shit…basically said I was anorexic and causing this myself…so my husband yelled at them and told them how dare they accuse me of that when I am suffering…well while I was there, I get a call that my stepmother, who had Parkinson’s needed my help…so I told that hospital in leaving because y’all arent doing anything to help me…so I went and saw my stepmother in the hospital and she was in terrible shape and was going to a nursing home for a bit but she begged me to not let her die alone in some nursing home and that wasn’t going to happen as long as I could still walk around…she raised me as her own when I was a kid and during my addiction I broke her heart and she thought I didn’t love her…so now was my chance to make up for the wrong I did to her and we brought her home and I put my doctor stuff on hold so I could take care of her 24/7 because she was totally an invalid at this point so I did everything for her for the next 6 months…let her have an awesome Christmas and we made mothers day extra special for her…well a few days after mothers day we found her passed away in her bed, she died peacefully, in her sleep and had no pain and she got her final prayer answered, she died at home with people who loved her…so we had her funeral and all that and I had actually been selfless for once in my life that I didn’t realize I had now lost even more weight and I went to my doctor and she felt the knots in my neck I had tried telling that hospital about a year prior and got ignored… So she sent me to have an ultrasound and for once in my life I had a doctor come in right after the scan so I knew that finally they have found something, it’s not all in my head like so many doctors treated me like…anyways he said that I have tumors literally all over my lymph nodes, growths on my lungs and growths on my ovary…so now I had proof plus I’m a skeleton, my blood work is messed up but still they can’t give me a diagnosis…my doctor even said she knows I’m probably dying but she doesn’t know why. God gave me the answer and I know that it’s Lymphoma but when they tested one of the growths a few months ago it came back as something suspicious for maybe an autoimmune disease…so they tested me for pretty much every autoimmune disease there is and it isn’t that but I know it’s lymphoma because having dealt with this disease for years I know what I am going through and I have researched every disease imaginable and it is the ONLY illness I match every symptom of and it’s one of the slowest growing cancers so you can have it for years and it wouldn’t kill you…so I joined a support group and read their stories and a lot of them got answers fast but a lot had similar stories to mine, saying it took them 4 or 5 years to get an answer and multiple biopsies to confirm…so I know that’s what it must be unless it’s something that is so rare it doesn’t even have a name yet…so for the last time I went to my doctor and told her I wanted to be sent to someone who specializes in lymphoma and now I’m being sent to an Oncologist…but I am so burnt out on doctors…they do not really care about their patients…so now the only reason I want an answer is for my daughters…they are so young and besides me and my husband they don’t have anyone who loves them. That’s the only reason I beg God still for the answer…for them. I want to see them grow up and my husband can’t teach them how to be good women. But I am finally humbled enough not to fear death…i will embrace it. People hold on too much to their flesh and this world and so many people are blind and consumed by their flesh…they don’t realize that this life is SO short compared to eternity, which never ends, it is forever and ever…so I would rather suffer in this life and live in paradise with God than have it easy in this life and spend eternity in hell. And that’s the biggest lie the devil has convinced the world of….that hell doesn’t exist. I’ve seen many many people say that they believe in Heaven but they don’t believe in hell and that is tragic because hell is very real and it’s going to be endless suffering. So my testimony is I don’t care how much my flesh suffers because it’s better for my flesh to suffer than my soul to suffer for eternity. And Christ is my redeemer my savior!!! I thank Him for my suffering because without it I would have never come to know Him and know life’s real purpose…which is basically to choose your flesh and keep on sinning or choose your soul and know that there is no death with the only one who can overcome it, Jesus Christ. Thanks for reading my testimony. I hope that my story and suffering makes someone else realize how wonderful the gift Christ gave us when he died for our sins on that cross really is. Everlasting life or everlasting death. Simple. A few “fun” years on earth for an eternity in hell or being broken and suffering on earth and spending eternity in paradise, a place so incredible that our minds can’t comprehend it. I know my choice and I thank you Jesus for choosing me…i definitely didn’t deserve your grace and mercy but years of physical suffering has made me see your truth and purpose. God bless and know that no matter what you’ve done in this life, it is wiped away if you get on your knees and allow Christ into your heart…and the Holy spirit, that goosebumps feeling is beyond any drug on this earth…if that’s even a fraction of how we are going to feel in Heaven, what a beautiful eternity it will be. So although I face an early death, I can go to the next life with the knowledge that I will never die again but live forever!!! And that is why God allows us to suffer, to break our evil flesh down yet building our spirits up!!! Praise Him!! God is always good.
If it wasn’t for the suffering of Christ I couldn’t be a Christian because my life has had so much suffering in it
Consider this Delores,
If those who have caused your suffering were to truly regret what they did to you, “repent”, that would cause them suffering in turn and perhaps they could change the type of person they are. If, however, that person lives their life, never regretting the pain they cause, never changing, and one day ends up in hell, they have to spend eternity living with the regret of looking at their life, seeing the pain they caused, never having done anything to mend those injuries (physical or emotional). And if they wind up in hell, they have no one to blame but themselves. You reap what you sow. I’d suggest looking at two passages I know of.
Regarding them: Romans 12:19
Regarding you: Luke 6:37
Btw, I’m not a priest, pastor, etc. There might be more to it, but that’s just what I know.. Best of luck to you. I’ve had my own bitter pills to swallow, so I know how hard it can be.
First of all, the author did mention the reasons for suffering: “Scripture tells us that some people suffer because of divine punishment, some for their faith, and some to save others.”
But more importantly, many of you question because admittedly you may not be really reading your Bible according to the Holy Spirit’s leading – so you have no idea what the Word of God really tells you in plain sight. I am not blaming you, as I myself have blamed God and was ignorant as well (not that I am an expert now but I trust that what I am saying is truthful).
The key reason you don’t follow the Holy Spirit and cannot hear Him is that your own thinking and dominant opinion is too strong. You “lean on your own understanding” and do not “acknowledge Him in all your ways.” Admit it – you are hardly a submissive and humble spirit. You read the Bible but make up your own mind – you even judge God. If that is happening, rest assured it is unlikely you really “get” the message that will rightly answer your question. Pain and suffering have blinded and angered you against God you are cursing and blaming Him. This is faithlessness, the very opposite of faith – which is the foundation of knowing and hearing God. Without faith, you cannot discern objectively what is really true – because all true knowledge is eternal and is granted through faith. So you talk like Satan (and indeed you will find the same cynical tone when you are angry with God). You blame God, so that also means you do not fear Him. But Proverbs 9:10 says the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. Based on your comments, you do not even have the beginning of wisdom. So how can you even figure out why God allows some to suffer more than others?
You have to understand one basic fact: no man deserves life to begin with, let alone a chance to choose to believe God and be forgiven our sins and be reconciled to Him. We all sin against His eternal righteousness almost every day to one extent or another. If God were really “fair” according to your logic – then you should be be hell already and suffering and paying for every sin you ever committed or thought in your mind. It would be tragic. You won’t have a chance to brag about how much you suffer and complain about God. But because God is not evil like you, nor unloving – He is a Good God and so full of divine glory He was not willing to let His creation die in failure without wooing some to repentance and save them through His own Son. You suffer far less than you deserve, yet Christ suffers infinitely more than you can understand for He is perfect and sinless but took on all your sins large and small, along with abuse, shaming from sinful man, physical violence, faithlessness, betrayal by His own creatures and persecuted unto death. But don’t forget from the beginning of time to now , even including the past two millennials after He demonstrated His sacrificial love for sinful men and identification with their sufferings, they (you) have not stopped accusing Him, misjudging Him and verbally abuse Him, betray Him and smear His name to this day. Only ungrateful people cannot imagine the immense sacrifice and love of God who for pure love constantly put up with evil sinners.
Now, if you can repent and stop being foolishly entitled and step down for your ignorant arrogance (indeed this requires the faithfulness of God to help you), let us go back to the basic questions you and those who wrongly replied you have. This answers are CLEARLY outlined in the Bible.
If you sin, there are both earthly and eternal consequences and punishment . The suffering of these comes from your own sin. God will carry out His perfect law against you unless you confess you have sinned and deserve the punishment, and place real faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior. Going to church and being a good person does not make you a true believer. If you are a believer and sin, you have to repent of the sin and believe God has forgiven you for eternal punishment. He will not judge you, BUT your sin may still reap earthly consequences and sufferings. If you smoked, you may get lung cancer. Sin reaps earthly harm and death. Just like if you don’t study for your exam you are likely to fail. In this case, you may appeal to God’s mercy and humbly ask for a miracle. But science dictates a balance of input and output, if you harm your body why would you expect it not to suffer? It is YOU who caused it. But if you confess and accepts responsibility with a contrite heart, the Father looks at the heart and He has a perfect plan – so He may even heal you.
Another kind of suffering is undue suffering. This can be caused by many parties, your ancestors, Satan, other people, the world and God.
A second kind of suffering caused by others. Your ancestors could carry sin patterns that lead to your current suffering. So can your government, organizations, neighbors, family, strangers, businesses and your friends etc. In essence you suffer because they are sinful and have done sinful things that left you vulnerable to sufferings or caused your sufferings. So the perpetrator of this kind of suffering is human sin and sinful systems made by man. Ask yourself – if everyone lived like what Christ taught – would you be suffering now? No. So why are you blaming God? If your neighbor abused you, it is Satan seducing him along with his own compliance to harm you. This is pure evil – the opposite of God’s loving will. God does not cause it! Why do you then mislead your own mind to say this? If your parents contracted HIV and irresponsibly, you would likely be born with AIDS. Certain kinds of their sins (like drug or alcohol abuse) can cause emotional or biological disformity or defect in their children. Again, did God tell your parents to abuse anything or anyone? No. You suffer because of other people’s sin. If people stay selfish and continue to abuse the environment, we all end up breathing in smog and hence have lung cancer and suffer. Yet did the Bible order this? Clear not. No. You suffer because of other people’s sin. If your government is corrupt, it creates no job opportunities and poverty, You may become extremely poor simply because of evil in the world, why are you blaming God? Does God work in a way and smite every sinner before they sin? If so, you would also be dead, no? You may say this is super unfair God allows them to sin, but let’s face reality for a second – other people also suffer because of YOUR sin. When was the last time you gave your job opportunity to a homeless man? When was the last time you abused a substance not thinking what example and consequence you are setting for your children? When was the last time you put down someone without investigating whether that person may already have some hidden signs of depression and you could be adding on the lie that they were worthless? When was the last time you cursed God and made another person felt like their suffering was also random and they were hated by God? Your one selfish comment could have just made the difference to a person who was irrationally contemplating suicide. So is it fair that while you are living in the world that you bear the consequences of other people’s sins while they bear yours – because you do live in a fallen world. The real perpetrator is sin.
So the question is very simply? Who is behind sin? It is clearly not God. It is man. But that is no the complete picture. The key player that gets away with a lot often in this current world is Satan. He is the one that tricks you into sin and also gladly celebrate and digs at your pain when you bear the consequence. You need to read ALL of Psalms and meditate to understand the true dynamics of this ENEMY of yours. Repent of your sinful pride and hostility agains God and submit to Him in faithful obedience and ask Him to show you what they Psalms really say. The “enemies” of David refer not only to physical enemies but the worldly powers, Satan and his demons that are behind flesh and blood. You need to read Psalms now.
There are two kinds of sufferings that are “undue”. One kind is bad and unfair. But the other kind is actually good. The source of the first kind is no other but Satan. Satan does not need to use sin to cause you trouble. He can bring about damage to a person through demonic attacks, physical harm, tragedies, and various disturbances without the presence of sin. He can cause illnesses to people whose lifestyle have not caused it. He can also seduce others to hate you or harm you. This is because Satan is a real enemy of you because God created you and loves you. If you are obedient He May hate you more. But like a lion, he’s looking for the weak, morally or not. So it is not strange that those who have been abused are likely more preyed upon by him, simply because he knows they’d be more easy to attack and discourage and “devour” them if they had little faith. Satan likely hate or harm less the willingly worldly or unbelieving people. Why? Because they’re already against God and going to hell. Or, they simply have strong protection (they may be a strong believer and stays close to strong believers and have a church in which they have a close knit group praying for them, and also healthy parents). In this case, Satan’s tactics are likely to be deterred by prayer and many support resources in God’s body. On the other hand, if you were a believer and don’t have a group of prayer and accountability partners, have drunken parents and a past of abuse – Satan will likely be able to harm you without a ready remedy coming from your side. You are a lone sheep. This is why staying within a healthy church body is very important. If you are sure you are not actively sinning and do have a wrong view of God (that Satan can use), but find that series of bad things keep happening to you, it may be that there is a gap in your lifestyle that leaves vulnerability to Satan, whether morally or not. Just take advice from a proper pastor (Evangelical I suggest) and start to make those changes. It could be Satan’s (and his demons) have a target on you. However, there is nothing to be afraid of and ashamed of, because this is not necessarily your fault. But you must repent and understand neither is this God’s fault. He did not initiate his but simply allowed it because you can bear it and He has willed to use it as a part of your journey and grow you to be his servant and witness, with a deeper knowledge of God, to have a greater dependence and submission to Him. OR, He has allowed a temporary suffering to endure only until it has cause you to reach out to Him in submission and trust and fervent prayer and requests so He can relieve you and glorify Himself – in this case you have clearly not gotten the message. Quickly saying a few words of pleasing is not what God desires – He needs you to trust Him and He is willing to let you suffer more so you can develop true faith. (This is not to be taken as the first kind. That kind requires sympathy and help in the Body and love from believers. This kind is God’s loving discipline to save your eternal soul (some of God’s children are tougher and more stubborn – for example Jonah). Finally, many believers are suffering because they are a child of God and servant of God – and a special instrument for the gospel. We are called to bear with the world’s fallenness and serve God. Satan already has a target on these people from day one He recognizes them, and he wants to take them down and tries to attack them. However, depending on the person’s faith, prayer habits and circle, they may be freed from many of the outcomes. And God does not allow every tactic of Satan’s to be placed on them. However, God does allow a great number of believers to suffer for the sake of love and the gospel which glorifies God and brings salvation to man. To learn to be Christ-like to others is to be able to identify with Christ in His suffering and have compassion on the less fortunate. God can use our sufferings to show others mercy and to help us serve them from a place of knowledge and true compassion. Sometimes our sufferings are what God will use to build us into gospel workers who are strong in the Spirit.
So please stop complaining and loving the world. If all you care about is having comfort in this world, your perspective is not a Biblical one. Discern God’s will. In all that He does He has promised He will not test a believer beyond their ability to bear. He also desires for us to have faith more than have a well-off present life is the latter does not accomplish the first. God knows His children and what they can bear, what they need and how to grow them and help them. You issue is you need to repent from unbelief and stop putting the present as the end-all of life, and also discern WHAT IS GOD TEACHING YOU? Is He promoting you to ask Him cuz you never ask it ask with the wrong motive? Or is He asking you to grow your faith by “waiting on the Lord”? Or is He pushing you to get help and be vulnerable with His Body so they can be helpful in guarding against Satan’s work?
But most importantly, you need to put down your empty feelings and opinions and pick up the Bible and really ask God for faith, and then read it for real. All of these cases are found in the Bible. Why are you not reading it and out here complaining and hating on God?
Please stop being blind. John 9:41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains
I promise you’re right! I agree 100 percent with you
We haven’t heard ” the rest if the story”.Read Psalm 73.
God is giving those who have harmed you time to repent.
I am alone and suffer every day, for most of my life God has turns away from me….. I am kind to people I never hurt anyone. I am quite there isn’t a mean bone in my body, but people bully me…I work hard and I am an honest person..why does God hate me…decades of pain and suffering from other people why??
I think He is the energy of intelligence and Love that created everything but then He allows it to evolve… and have free will.
We evolve and become the intelligent beings that are an extension and evolution of God’s creation. God doesn’t allow or inflict… it is just the natural evolution of His creation.
And when we die, if we are dark beings then we go dark. But if we are Light Beings of God, then we expand back into that eternal energy.
Us, here on earth as God manifesting, is manifesting through Christ. Jesus is the human capacity and manifestation of God’s Love. He came to teach us heal us and redeem us.
The Lord is my shepherd… I shall not want. I love that one.
Hi Dolores, I undertand you feel recentment and pain on those people that have cause suffering in your earthly life, but before we see the meaning of True Justice, we need to understand the personhood of God, and his sovernty over all creation and over all circumstances, If you take the time and try to actually know God’s justice you will be able to understand how circumstances of joy, pain and suffering and the role of those in our spiritual growth and our life. I will encourgage you to take the time not only you but also all the people in this chat that because they lack of understand Who is God, they make mock of God and depict God as an unfair, or unjust, far from it once you understand the true way that God operates in your life is through providence and providence comes in blessings and also trials, abundance and also struggles, once your heart and your mind puts the justice of God before you own depiction of who God is then you will truly understand the purpose of the suffering in this temporary life and by understanding this suffering you will also find the way of blessing others with your own renewed mind and heart.
Sometimes even I have the same question. Though u have not seen the people suffer who tormented you . You have a safe place in heaven to be welcomed by Jesus and angels when u die . That’s where ur eternal happiness lies . While the people who tormented u , may be happy here but will be in hell having no mercy cos they didnt seek god’s word in their life . That’s what I understood out of my suffering !!
Dolores, I have prayed for you to find peace, with a sincere heart. Those feelings of loneliness I understand. You must train yourself to understand how temporary this life is. Do like our ancestors and say “Sleep” instead of “death” fill yourself with positivity. Use your spiritual gateways. Everything you see with your eyes. Everything you injest into your body. Everything you hear. Even what you smell. These things flood your spirit. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So whatever your heart is filled with comes out of your mouth. In your case you are filled with loneliness. Socialize, go to church, join Christian community projects. Let people bless your life. This will fill part of that emptiness. Loneliness and feelings of being abandoned can be confused for a sinner being under conviction. Sin must be confessed before the throne. (Admitting that you are sinful, what you did, why you think you did it, ect) We have nothing to offer God. Pray pray pray. Every time All the time even if you say nothing (The Spirit Will Pray For You). Get to know the Father and his Christ. Ask questions directly to the Throne. Ask God for “Peace”. Trials and dependence on God is what he seeks. As you go through trials you begin to understand that he will always deliver you through every trial. The less you “worry” during a trial the more “Glory” there is that belongs to the Father who delivered you. If you never had trials or feelings of inadequacy then you would never ask God to strengthen you or condition you. You would always think you were in control but allowing you to go through trials is how God strengthens you. How he conditions you. I too have had a jealousy of others happy lives which nearly became an obsession. You must deny these fleshly lusts. Live each day as if it were your last, stay repented. Talk to the Father about things that frighten you, scare or worry you. Ask him for the ability to change. Which actually is submission and faith to his will. What is faith? The opposite of worry. Knowing that everything will be taken care of by God. Knowing that you will be healed or learn to cope with what ails you. Ask him for the strength to believe. And then submit to this. Love your neighbor as you love yourself and love God with all your heart strength and might. (By helping others. Showing love to strangers. Being saint like. Be delivered Delores! Choose Christ and peace.
I wish I can tell you how real retribution is.
I feel exactly like you! I don’t understand. I feel betrayed and irrelevant
Dolores, I know it has been since 2016 you wrote this post. I hope things have gotten better for you.
We don’t know each other, but understand this: What you feel or think about God or the questioning why, the pain, the misery and not understanding His love is real. You are not alone, I believe not just you, but millions of us who have gone through enough crap in our lives… that has gone on for…. Years or even decades know what it’s like to arrive in the place where you question God’s love, His plans for you and whether whatever amount of faith you have in Him still counts for anything at the very end… or if we are still saved or if He still loves us or were we ever part of His elect. Trust me when I say this… I’ve been there and I am unfortunately am still in it.
Two analogies I want to share with you and those who read this article and post.
Before I share these analogies though I want to make this abundantly clear. I am not questioning God’s authority, I am voicing that some Christians are so blind to the fact that God’s favour has completely sheltered them to the point where they can’t even fathom the pain, abuse, abandonment and fear some of us “lesser faith” Christians face. I also want to make it abundantly clear we are no victims, it is just life and the hand your dealt, some of us are human beings, not Christ himself… we can only bear so much suffering and pain. (I.e. to Dolores point, some people take their lives… Christian pastors… did they lack faith??). It infuriates and angers me to no end when these same brothers and sisters in Christ comment on forums or “encourage us in person” that we lack faith or we should not question God, or we are talking like the devil!!, or our situations are because of our sins or of our own doing… doesn’t this sound familiar?…exactly like Jobs’ friends! UGH it is sickening.
I want to believe that God has a plan to prosper EACH and EVERYONE of us… but what we all experience and how we handle each experience is different. And sometimes the cup of bitterness and wrath poured on by God is more than what we can bear or tolerate. In the end, we just ask that God will help or stop or ease the suffering in our lifetimes so we can actually tangibly see, taste and feel His goodness in the land of the living.
Anyway, here goes my analogies.
First analogy: We all go to a building and God gives each of us a cup with our names on it. God, being all knowing pours into our assigned cups a different drink. Now, the drink you consume represents the life you will experience. One cup gives you a life full of blessings, God’s favour, His peace, His love and protection in life, God sparing you from all sorts of pain, sicknesses, delusions or feeling like you don’t matter or less than.
The other drink gives you a combination of any or all of the following: disease, sickness, hunger, abuse and mistreatment by the hands of others, deplorable living conditions, feeling different and socially isolated, broken relationships, unfavourable working conditions or finances.
Now, which drink did you receive? Maybe you have the inbetween in which you can even begin to fathom to empathize or relate with Dolores and countless millions of us who suffer.
When you have finished your drink and your cup is empty… you go back to God, “the source of our strength and refuge, in times of trouble” and He fills you up with more of the same… Say you are given this cup everyday of your life with no end in sight. Now tell me… which cup will make you physically, mentally, emotionally in disrepair and beyond recognition if you had this for years or decades at a time? Which cup will test or even break your faith? Which cup will lead you to question your faith in God’s love, favour/salvation or faithfulness toward you?
Second analogy:
We are all potted plants.
God puts one plant in the most favourable conditions. Sunshine, rain, some shade i.e. good family and friends, good health, wealth for you to flourish and feel good as a human being.
God puts the other plant in a dark dungeon, locks it up and throws the key away. No sunshine, no rain, dark and cold…
Which plant are you? Now tell me…Which plant will thrive? Which one will suffer and die?
Isn’t it God’s mercy that leads us to repentance? Anyway, sometimes God is silent… too silent… we just want Him to give us even an ounce of His favour, His presence, His mercy and love in THIS lifetime…. we just want the peace to know that the next lifetime i.e. our salvation is secure despite our questioning because of what we went through… all we want is God to be God and give tangible help, give us a different cup or plant us where we get some sunshine and nourishment.
It is okay to ask God why. It is okay to be angry because we all experience His love differently… some of us who has been beaten down so much with the bitter cup of wrath or suffering or hidden away for so long… wants God to hear and answer our cries for His love and mercy.
To those who can resound… hang on… faith in God is hard. Countless nights of tears… but you are not alone. Our tears will form together into an ocean God can see… One day I hope to believe He sees and will answer in a way to bring you peace and relief. Hopefully sooner than later. Show love, compassion and empathy, extend peace before you condemn your fellow sister or brother. May God have mercy on us all. God bless.
Hi, thanks for the question. I was searching for an explanation for what I am going through and I found this article that reminded me of the truth.
Where is God in all this? He is with you, feeling and seeing everything you are going thru, longing to hold you, counsel you and comfort you. He knows what you are currently struggling to grasp; is that at the end, when you’re in heaven you will realize you would go back to take a triple dose of heartache and trouble you in life for the joy and ecstasy of being in the presence of God. When I think about what Jesus did for us, like really really ponder what He did for us, it breaks me to pieces knowing how such perfection would seek us out, and truly how unworthy we are. And because of Him a wonderous paradise that is waiting for us who put their just in Jesus Christ the Lamb of God.
Ive been going thru so much and cried to God and I ask for justice. I was not looking for vengeance but I wanted Justice, and the Words “YOUR JUSTICE WILL BE IN HEAVEN” flew into my face first thing that following morning after a night of tears. I believe He was speaking to me and I believed it like the air that I breath, so my new prayer was that of more endurance, love, to see what He sees and ended in thanksgiving.
Also, sometimes its better we dont know why we are suffering or other things cause it may not be good for us to know at that moment and also the enemy is prowling around looking for who he may devour, so we dont want him to know the bottom line as well.
Those people that you believe who are not receiving Gods divine punishment, well, we dont know everything thats going on with their lives as well. We need to focus on ourselves and what we can do to help others and believe me the enemy will try to demoralize you, remember that. Go to Gods Word but before you do, spill out your heart to Him and ask that your eyes be open to His response.
Not gonna lie, without adversity and suffering some of us will never come to Christ, and if we die in that sin its hell. I am a prime example. When all was well i didn’t give a damn. It was only when adversity came in that i ran to God for help. It takes great love for God to engineer circumstances that will leave us no choice than to run to him for help. Like the bible says “lean not in your understanding”. Trust God.
Like my father and brother died three years ago and today my mom just got killed by a dog. We are devote Christians and have went through some horrible stuff, but now I have lost half of my close family, now I just have my surviving brother and my stepdad. I have always been a Christian and done good, but then he tucks us over knowing full well what we’ve went through, but still part of me hates him, but the other part still wants to love God.
I feel exactly this way!
Can God save someone convicted of treason by the government? Can they be forgiven and go to heaven?
Hello beloved Delores, having the kind of passion you have in the wanting to know why – I relate to. That’s beautiful and something God, our Father, put into us ❤️ Some questions can beyond our understanding especially when it comes to suffering… but I pray for us to have a peace that passes all understanding and to rise above and continue to love one another. Grace and peace. Keep the faith and continue to look up Love, T
I completely understand how you feel. I’ve been there myself; my entire life has been losing people I love, in some way or another. My aunt and grandparents died, in 1994 in a car wreck, my mom got sick for 2 years and had to take chemotherapy and radiation and doctors gave her 6 months to live in 1995-96. She had a rare kidney disease that caused her to lose all her protein through her kidneys, and she retained 130 pounds of fluid. I remember people praying for her, but I also remember her praying to God for Him to please make sure her 3 children would be ok, and for His will to be done, and she was at University of Kentucky hospital in the bed crying this prayer. My dad was arrested in 1995, right before mom got bad sick. My sister and I were staying with the pastor and his family, and my uncle was watching my 2 year old brother. My aunt had already began planning moms funeral and she was going to split us kids up, but my uncle intervened. After that prayer mom prayed, doctors did blood work, and urine test, she had no signs of the nephrotic syndrome kidney disease, and no protein in her urine. They ran many more tests, and God healed her that day.
I had a lot of anger from losing my grandparents, aunt, and my dad getting 25 years in prison and my mom sick, and almost dying for 2 years and 3 months. I began training martial arts, and I had the wrong mindset. I started smoking weed at 13 off and on plus drinking at 16. Got married at 18, and I found Christ at 21. Although, I was raised in a pentecostal church with my mom and sister, my dad was a Jehovah’s witness, but I knew that they were not right. I was heavily into Shaolin Kung Fu. So, I dabbled in Buddhism. In 2003, I went to my aunt’s house in Phoenix, Arizona, to visit my aunt, uncle, and my paternal grandfather. She was a Buddhist, and gave me 9 Buddhist statues. I wrapped each one up and carried them onboard the plane with me. When I landed in Lexington, KY, that night I opened up the bag and made sure they were ok, and they were all fine. I placed them in the seat beside me in the back of the car, and had nothing hit the bag, laying on the bag, and never dropped the bag. When I arrived to my house in Summerville, KY; I carried the bag in first and opened it up. Unwrapping each one, they were all cut off at the heads, same spot each one. I was mad, scared, and confused. The next day was a very strange day, and I got drunk, and I was running late for work that following morning, got my second DUI, and I went to Larue County, KY jail for 14 days. The day I went in, an old man named, Thomas, met me at the door; asking if I knew the Lord. I said “No sir, I am a Buddhist.” On the third night, that I was there, I was woke up by a bright light, so bright that I couldn’t stare at it, I somehow was aware that everyone was asleep, and the light went off. It was then I felt so terrified, and I felt and heard God say to me, “Where are your gods now.” I was scared to death, crying, and I woke Thomas up and half the cell by screaming out, “How do I get saved?” Thomas showed me, and explained to me how Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures. That He is sitting next to the Father, making intercession for us, and that Christ only died for sinners. He asked me, “Are you a sinner.” I was bawling, and I said, “Yes.” He went through the Romans road: Romans 3:23; 5:8; 6:23; 10:9-10, and 10:13. He explained that it was the blood of Jesus Christ that washes away our sin, believing and confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord. That salvation is God’s free gift to mankind to those who accept the finished work, He completed on the cross. Ephesians 2:8-9; Colossians 1:14; 1 John 1:9. I confessed my sins to the Lord Jesus Christ that day through prayer, and asked him to save my soul, and on August 28, 2003, I found the Lord Jesus Christ in a jail cell at 3:35am cst.
I was a new creature, a new man. I only had an NIV bible in the cell, and Thomas showed me verses Missing such as Acts 8:37; Mark 9:44&46, and others. So I began studying the King James Version, and my marriage started to grow apart. In 2005 I relapsed, lost a child to a tubal pregnancy, and I end up cheating on my wife. She filed for divorce, and I had blamed God. I moved back to Columbia, KY, started taking pills, drinking, smoking, and chasing women. I met my daughters mom at a party and we got together about six months later. I was living like hell, heavy into martial arts still, but I was getting high, living toxic, and I was far from God. In 2008, my daughter was born, and she was a miracle because I had lost 5 babies to miscarriage by this time. I was getting heavier into drugs, but worked, and I wasn’t married to my daughters mom. In 2014, I was kicked out of Shaolin because my instructor knew that I was teaching high level material, and I wasn’t supposed to, plus I was on drugs bad. I felt betrayed. I was in and out of jail with my daughter’s mom. I would break things, be high, or something all the time. After 13 years, we split up and I found my wife now. I don’t get to see my daughter much because she’s bitter that I didn’t marry her mom, but she didn’t want to get married. I got back in the Bible, graduated from Somerset community college with 2 degrees, and I graduate from Lindsey Wilson college with my bachelor’s in spring 2024. For four years I have not got to spend any holidays, birthdays, or anything much with my daughter. I am not on drugs now thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him alone. I feel like everyone I have ever loved, trusted, or cared about either died, betrayed me, or gave up on me including my daughter. I can’t control what people do and think. My wife has been through hell trying to help me learn how to love and live. Each day gets a little better, and some days are terrible. No matter what though, I know that I am sealed to the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30), and I am promised persecution here on earth (2 Timothy 2:12). Because Jesus Christ is preparing me a mansion in His Father’s house in Heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man can come to the Father, but by me.” (John 14:1-6) Even though we will struggle down here; we shouldn’t live for worldly gain, but store up our treasure in heaven. (2Corinthians 4:18). We as Christian people should focus on the Judgement Seat of Christ 2Corinthians 5:10, which explains the Judgement Seat of Christ in chapter 5 and also in 1 Corinthians 3:9-15, the next verses 16-23 in the same chapter explain the importance of why we should have a pure heart and the right motive as a Christian. The Judgement Seat of Christ is for the Christian people, the Church when the dead in Christ rise and we which are alive and remain are caught up with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18. Jesus Christ also counsels us in Revelation 1:18 what to buy of Him, so we are not blind and naked at the Judgement Seat of Christ. In Revelation chapter 4, the church has been taken up, and the word church or churches, doesn’t appear again till Revelation 19, because the church age is over, and the tribulation period begins for 7 years, and the only way to avoid hell then, is to not take the mark of the beast or receive the beasts image. Hell on earth under the antichrist ruling during that time. Then we come back with The Lord Jesus Christ in Revelation 19. The Lord Jesus Christ judges all nations, killing them with the sword of His mouth. Then the supper of the great God occurs. Which is the fowls of the air feast on the enemies of God. Then the Antichrist, and the beast make war with Christ, and His army (the Church) which is Armageddon. They are both thrown into the lake of fire. Satan is bound up by Michael the archangel in chains in the bottomless pit for a 1000 years. Christ reigns over the earth during that 1000 years, after the 1000 year millennial reign of Christ, Satan is loosed for a season, gathers an army to make war with Christ and His Church and saints in the final battle of earth Gog and Magog. Revelation 20:1-10. The Great White Throne appears, and heaven and earth are no more. The books were open, and the dead were judged, by the things written in the books, (not the living). They are all unsaved and spiritually dead in the white throne judgement, paying for their own sins to an eternal God. Satan was cast into the Lake of Fire at the end of the battle of Gog and Magog.
Death and hell, and the wicked are judged and cast into the lake of fire. New Heaven and a new Earth appear and we live forever with the Lord Jesus Christ without sin. Revelation 20 -21.
Just as God intended it to be in the beginning.
I know that’s a long rant, but we may suffer now, but if we have the Lord Jesus Christ, we win in the end. Have a blessed day!
I shall never comprehend the reasoning for ONLY believing the Bible and Christianity; there are many existences that do not and most important as individuals is for each existence to follow our own gut/instinct(s).
My God is my God; my God never causes my suffering (existences whom are absolute evil cause my suffering).
They definitely do suffer, whether it be later in life or in eternity. But sometimes God will allow them to suffer and they turn to Him, so He gives them grace. Just remember that life is not eternity, which is why it is important that you even pray for your enemies because if they do not repent, they will not get a chance to be saved.
I couldn’t have said it better, Dolores.
If you don’t know then say so. This articles title led me to believe there was an answer. Very musleading
Very
There is suffering in this world BECAUSE the world is full of humans. Humans are imperfect and the world is corrupt. You are blaming God with the suffering and while He states clearly that the world will be trouble, He has overcome the world. The enemy has those that are mean and cruel right where he WANTS THEM. Someone above asked why do the mean people live good lives? They are living according to the world and human standards. Gods standards are higher and His ways are higher. The world is an evil place. Finding faith IS the answer. Faith is a discipline that is tough but it is beneficial. It helps when you have to go through life’s ups and downs. Finding God doesn’t zap you into a worry free zone. It gives you the tools to see with renewed eyes and with renewed strength. God is not celebrating anyone’s hardships or pain. He weeps WITH you. But be very clear that if the enemy sees a crack to slip through he will. He comes to destroy. Don’t you think the enemy is toasting everyone on here that is blasting God for His failure to protect them. The enemy LOVES this thread that obliterates the goodness of God.
I assure you that living a life for God is hard because of our human minds and hearts but I choose to believe that God is GOOD and that He has us in His hands. Wouldnt you rather focus on that and show faith than adding to your suffering with more suffering??? Geez, God loves you so much. He knows suffering just like you and I. He watched His baby die a violent death when He didn’t deserve it. Make your life a lesson and a message to help people, not sink them further into he pit of sorrow. Lead people TO the cross don’t hang them on it. (That includes Jesus….. He’s already been there….. FOR US.
I pray in Jesus name for each of you to fine a moment of peace, grace and mercy every day. Find one moment to be thankful for. The world is hard. It’s a human world. Heaven is on the horizon and I believe and have faith that green pastures are waiting. Hang in There. You are loved.
Jill
Yah, that wasn’t very good. That didn’t answer the question at all.
The world of the unexplained.
God or Deities are not the problem – the people who work for religious business are..
Dolores I feel the same exact way. I was told by someone that what I go through makes me strong and those others who Don’t go through things soon will because everyone does add they wouldn’t know how to deal with it. I feel like makes me stronger? No it just has given me mental heath issues that I have to live with for life! That’s how it feels meds after meds therapy after therapy my life hasn’t been enjoying it but recovering from abuse emotionally physically mentally. From family from 1 ex and others. I see them succeeding and all I want is to succeed but no I have to struggle to go to work struggle to become someone when they were blessed with thick skin blessed with success a nice family. How does being abused make you stronger or suffering that is a lie that everyone suffers I feel god doesn’t care. I see no love in it I really dont and if we Don’t have faith on top of our suffering we get nothing. I was also told that we are wierd differently all of us are and some want more and more and its never enough some dont use the resources provided but why is there struggle some dont have to struggle to pay rent get respectful loving families some commit suicide!!! Because of struggling!!!! I have been told life is fair well maybe it is people who have families who are rich get money some do. People who grow up poor they either suffer because of low self and die or they live stronger and fight but I dont find that fair one bit. I look at myself and see there are people who dont have what I have a place to stay food to eat but I am not comfortable I am greatful but I am angry I feel I suffer I live in a negative house with family I have part-time work. I have major depression and anxiety and have to take therapy etc… Others can go out have a great time go to work get married enjoy life eat while others are hungry and wanting success but they get non and dont have a chance to have faith real faith because every time they do things dont work out they loose there home and people say oh your stronger no people not others loose there homes unless they dont pay there rent especially if they spend there money ridiculously! But people who have nothing would put in everything! And die trying ! They spend most life suffering than enjoying. I guess we people who suffer are much wise we appreciate what we have but have burning anger as to why we cannot be successful while others are getting away in life.
Welcome to the earth people, a place of hatred and malice and injustice, God told you beforehand that this what will happen because of the fall in paradise… you’re all dead already!…only time!….But God did give us all …Yes All!! …an out…
JESUS CHRIST …go there…find peace in all your individual circumstances
Please email me honey! I have a testimony I know can help you reynoldstampa@ aol.com
God is selective. People who are care free, full of faith, confident, they never really have suffered, and those type of people make you feel if people have what they want, there will be no suffering. I do believe god has the power to change circumstances, If god wanted to.
this is exactly how I feel.
Agree 100 percent. The only thing i know to do is to not procreate. Im going down but i dont have to take innocent people with me.
Are you a Pisces by any chance? Because you and I really have SO much in common with suffering and Pisces suffer so much crap its unbelievable! I really do feel God plays favorites! You are not alone!
I feel the exact same way you do , I am a good person I know that for a fact . with a chronic illness and always helping others even though I have nothing at all, I always still try to help those that are abled bodied, and I can I tell you I have been so unfortunate in life to have met some of the most evil and wicked persons in my life that have done exceedingly wicked and evil things to me and are unrepentant about it , and what makes it worst is that these people seem to have abetter quality of life money cars and success in life than I who have tried my best to live right and do no man any wrong , yet still it is I that God has chosen to suffer immeasurable for no apparent reason I have been for allowing all this to happen to me , while those that do me evil go scotch free in life with no punitive actions taken. life sucks it wish I was never born plenty times and I regret my existence !
Thank you for sharing this testimony with US. God bless you, an keep you, Amen.
God knows why he allows people to suffer more than others. Well then if he allows those people to suffer more he should protect them because they either get so called “stronger” make some difference or try so hard but commit suicide! In the end that’s disgusting to make a difference use them by letting them suffer to make a difference in the world and loose there life do his dirty work! Suffer! Why dont you come down here and do it instead of hiding and using others you made us and we pray to you. He to me has explaining to do because we as people never asked to be made in the first place.
His work not dirty work I meant dirty work because putting someone to suffer for what? To make a difference when hes the one who made humans
We are all angry believe me I am but let’s give God our respect he deserves it.lets remember he allowed his only son to suffer to be poor and to die terrible death..I tell u that I still don’t understand Almighty God it’s hard for me sometimes I wish I can see God face to face to explain how I feel..
SO basically what you are saying is that we suffer for no apparent reason. To suck it up because you may suffer for the rest of your life which could go on for quite some while. That only good things are promised after death. Makes one have thoughts of suicide.
Sure does. Only fear holds me back
Love is kind, love is patient, love is understanding, etc., but allowing enduring suffering is the antithesis of “kind,” and when suffering people cry out for mercy to a God who is capable of ending their suffering, that is the very opposite of “understanding,” and when people who suffer and struggle to remedy their character flaws and foibles (which are a product of their sufferings’ imposed character modulation – a tweaking and refinement of personality traits that become warped and begin to diverge from the embodied agents’ created or intended “soul” and “essence.” leading to an unbroken experiential chain of heartache and pain and internal conflict and conflict with the world outside.)
We are suppose to love God because He first loved us, but I think the biblical concept of love is like a abusive husband who on many occasions does seemingly loving acts of kindness; but then on other occasions neglects to intervene when his wife is in agony and distress and it is this very inconsistency in the husbands behavior that causes the wife to begin to doubt the claims of the husband, that he loves her, because the wife, while understanding the words and maybe even believing the words in her mind, believes the to be lies in her heart and it is in the heart where genuine love resides and where it dies, and if it once lived and was hopeful of the ideal, but that ideal was smothered by the neglect of the lover, then the death of the ideal will forever overshadow what was once a speck of hope that the God of heaven could really “love” her at all.
No one can explain why God’s people suffer more than others we just have to trust his magnificent plan and his plan is great and without mistakes. His ways are not our ways. I always look at every aspect of life animals and the way they have the instinct to nurture and take care of their young. The Heavens with its constellations of Stars and how the Sun is forever burning and has not missed one day. No human on earth can explain Gods plan but it is great even if we have to suffer for all this life as we know it, it will be well worth it in the end at least that’s what I believe. I’m 51 and I feel like I’ve suffered all my life. I feel like I just exist but through it all I still have hope! This world mean nothing. You ever notice no one in this world is truly happy we always want more. You get the mansion it becomes old after a few months. You get your soul mate or at least it seems and one of the partners loose interest before long. You get the Bentley and it to becomes old after several months. Nothing on this earth keeps our attention for very long and it assures me that this is not the place for Gods children for in Gods Kingdom we will always be impressed and never loose interest. Hope this helps it helped me just typing it. God Is Good And He Is There He Inspired Me To Relay This Message. Its tough but never give up God will give you what you need to make it through in this system of things.
The answer is because we live in a corrupted world which is full of evil although it also struggles to be good. This world is out of balance. God says “justice is mine”. We have no choice but to hope in Him and the words He left us.
Words he left us.
No. Men wrote that bible and we are done just “trusting” in some greater plan.
Enough already. Life requires too much to just “trust”
We need real answers that speak to us, that we can relate too. Not a book written thousands of years ago with riddles. A book mistaken by many.
You aren’t supposed to compare your suffering or purpose with another. You dont know what that person is supposed to be learning on this earth. Focus on what you do have instead of what you dont. You have choices in this world.
That somewhat makes sense but it still hurts when other people I’m not even talking about unbelievers but other Christian’s who get blessed and it takes you forever or never to get a break through. I feel God does have favorites.
I am so physically and emotionally tired. I was abused and neglected from birth till 18 years of age. Bullied quite badly in high school. Married at 18 , a beautiful man. But have suffered major depression almost all my life. When I was 11 I was told I was adopted. Spent many years wanting to find biological family but adopted parents said I couldn’t. They had placed a Veto so that I could not find my biological family. At the age of 47 I find my biological family. Four years later my biological father dies of a brain tumour. He was a truly lovely man. I hardly got to know him as we live in nsw and he was in Victoria. Only got to see him five times. Then one year later almost to the day my biological brother almost dies from a burst brain tumour. He was in a coma when his daughter was born. He survives but can’t work as he has to learn how to walk and talk again. Then one year later he is back driving a car only to black out and crashes into a house. Almost dies again, and his young son is in the car as well. So he is not allowed to drive anymore. Side note : he was raised in a boys home and suffered abuse while there. Has tried suicide three times and also suffered depression most of his life (all through no fault of his own) . Back to me, I have been ill four five months now and I’m just not getting better. I’m so physically worn out. I have always tried to follow God. But it has always been a huge struggle.
So, why do some suffer so much and others seem to be raised in happy homes. Not abused. Get their dream jobs. Have happier lives . I just don’t feel God is really there. If he is, I don’t understand
Email me please Reynoldstampa@aol.com I have a testimony I’m sure can help you!
I don’t understand this either. I 61 and I have been struggling for at least 10 straight years with no end in sight.
I’m sorry. That’s the only words I can offer. If you’re still a Christian at least you have heaven to look forward to. Hopefully God will be kind enough to explain everything to you.
It is all a misunderstanding…….. You are all on your own at getting or not getting…. Think of it as this …… You get or do something and if you get or do it , then God makes it better than it would be, but you do all the initial effort and work……. See if that explains things…..
Explain more. So if you dont get it, after wanting it, or doing it, what then?
I’m not classified as a Christian or any other religion for that reason but I once had a girlfriend who believed that this earth was actually Hell and that we had to overcome and build character in this physical hell…she wasn’t any religion that I knew about but I think I agree with her…Christ said something along the lines of ‘this is Satan’s world’ did he not?…So all the powers and principalities that currently are ‘in charge’ here are most likely,to varying degrees, good agents for evil forces!.What we can do is continue to believe in what is right, even to the point of death and try to perfect out actions and thoughts so we are not influenced by what goes on around us because,as the Master said,my kingdom is not of this world(leave unto Cesar what’s his).
Except, if my kingdom is not of this world why and what would be the point OF… THIS… WORLD.
Can someone tell me what is meant by divine punishment
I believe that we are put on this earth to be tried and tested and proved. What better way to prove to God that we love him with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength than to be put through suffering that only his son, Jesus Christ, can relieve? Suffering is a means of reminding us that our focal point should be Christ, it can be used as a way to develop faith in him, and what better way to prove that we love God more than the things of this world than to be put in a situation where we are denied the good things of the world?
Yeah this makes the most sense. We have to probe we love God too. Going through hell and back is one way.
Suffering has no value and is ultimately wasted.
Well i certainly would’ve been very happy for a good man like me that really wanted a good wife and family that i still Don’t have today.
I feel God sits and laughs at people who suffer… when I look back on my life I have always had to fight so simple things , things break that you wouldn’t expect . People say odd and rude soul damaging things to me. This isn’t making my stronger . I have constant thoughts of the bad people done … it’s like trying to move on daily knowing that something bad is going to happen so I am NEVER fully happy . Yet as a Christian this is meant to be a test of faith. I’ve given up tbh my heart has just faced the fact that I dont want to go to hell but to heaven but I’m just on this Christianity road because of that …. I don’t see God’s love in these situations and I certainly don’t see why we have to suffer when God allows it. As he see everything.
My Christian walk is just me being down depressed and moody having to put up with commandamnets so that I’m not damned but I’m not happy . So much for life treat other nice and expect crap o but Ye you have too forgive or your goin to Hell
agree Mari ,every single thing you said is true , there is no other way to put things into perspective !!!
I’m right there with you, Mari. Maybe God enjoys watching us squirm in our miserable suffering..
I used to believe that God played favorites too but as i kept reading the bible he is always referred to as just. Suffering is a terrible terrible thing and i really hate it and wish it’ll disappear.
But I’ve found comfort in the Bible that oftentimes, suffering will be used for good (2Cor 4:17) for Christians, and that God works everything for the Good of those who love him ( Rom 8:28), and often times good isn’t about the things we think are good but about transforming us into the likeness of Christ (Rom 8:29). And that all who wish to live a godly life in Christ will be persecuted- so suffering is actually expected in a godly life! (2Tim 3:12)
And ultimately we can take comfort that Jesus himself is with us in suffering since he himself also suffered- he was poor, had no home, was mocked and eventually crucified. Although he, unlike us, didn’t deserve any suffering at all as he was perfect. So Jesus understands even if we are in absolute despair, the way Job was when all his children died and all his flocks were destroyed. And one day, when the new heaven and earth comes, every tear you have ever shed will be wiped away and you will be in glory forever. I often spend lots of time just thinking of that to escape from the horror of the suffering and inequality in this world.
I have come to understand that life itself is by chance and time which happens to them all. While Jesus was departing, He said I will send you a comforter ( that is to say, This world is full of hatred and sorrows but Jesus has defeated it already) is left for us to use this opportunity given to us to overcome the things of this world. You meditate on ecclesiastic 9:11. Three key to note: some people suffer because of their faith, some suffer because because of devine punishment and some suffer to save others.
Romans 5:3-5 ESV / 1,367 helpful votes
More than that, 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.
1 Peter 5:10 ESV / 1,204 helpful votes
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
Romans 8:18 ESV / 985 helpful votes
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
James 1:2-4 ESV / 974 helpful votes
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.
John 16:33 ESV / 512 helpful votes
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Revelation 21:4 ESV / 498 helpful votes
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
2 Timothy 3:12 ESV / 466 helpful votes
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
1 Peter 4:12-19 ESV / 446 helpful votes
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. …
Romans 8:28 ESV / 407 helpful votes
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
2 Corinthians 4:8-10 ESV / 333 helpful votes
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
Isaiah 43:2 ESV / 310 helpful votes
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
Psalm 34:19 ESV / 301 helpful votes
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
1 Peter 4:12-13 ESV / 254 helpful votes
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
Philippians 1:29 ESV / 254 helpful votes
For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,
1 Peter 1:6-7 ESV / 239 helpful votes
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 faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:17 ESV / 239 helpful votes
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV / 232 helpful votes
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Romans 5:3-4 ESV / 225 helpful votes
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
Psalm 119:71 ESV / 209 helpful votes
It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.
Luke 14:27 ESV / 203 helpful votes
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
Hebrews 12:11 ESV / 201 helpful votes
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.
Philippians 3:10 ESV / 191 helpful votes
That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Matthew 5:10-12 ESV / 187 helpful votes
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Romans 8:28-29 ESV / 171 helpful votes
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
James 1:12 ESV / 170 helpful votes
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
Isaiah 53:3 ESV / 170 helpful votes
He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
1 Peter 4:12 ESV / 160 helpful votes
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
Colossians 1:24 ESV / 160 helpful votes
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ESV / 153 helpful votes
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.
John 9:1-3 ESV / 151 helpful votes
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.
Job 13:15 ESV / 150 helpful votes
Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.
Isaiah 53:4 ESV / 149 helpful votes
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
2 Corinthians 1:3-7 ESV / 146 helpful votes
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. 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. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
Galatians 6:2 ESV / 145 helpful votes
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Psalm 119:67 ESV / 144 helpful votes
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.
1 Peter 2:19-21 ESV / 141 helpful votes
For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
1 Peter 4:1 ESV / 140 helpful votes
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
2 Corinthians 12:7 ESV / 140 helpful votes
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.
Romans 5:3 ESV / 135 helpful votes
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 ESV / 131 helpful votes
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. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 ESV / 131 helpful votes
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. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
Romans 8:35 ESV / 128 helpful votes
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
Psalm 23:1-6 ESV / 123 helpful votes
A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. …
Psalm 119:50 ESV / 115 helpful votes
This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.
Luke 9:23-25 ESV / 114 helpful votes
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
1 Peter 2:19 ESV / 112 helpful votes
For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.
Psalm 22:1-31 ESV / 112 helpful votes
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. …
1 Peter 3:14 ESV / 111 helpful votes
But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,
Matthew 10:38 ESV / 111 helpful votes
And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
2 Peter 3:9 ESV / 110 helpful votes
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Psalm 73:26 ESV / 109 helpful votes
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Romans 8:35-39 ESV / 108 helpful votes
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jeremiah 29:11 ESV / 108 helpful votes
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
1 Peter 3:18 ESV / 107 helpful votes
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
John 3:16 ESV / 106 helpful votes
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
1 Peter 3:17 ESV / 103 helpful votes
For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
Hebrews 2:10 ESV / 103 helpful votes
For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
Acts 9:16 ESV / 103 helpful votes
For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
Isaiah 55:9 ESV / 103 helpful votes
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Mark 13:13 ESV / 101 helpful votes
And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Hebrews 4:15 ESV / 100 helpful votes
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
1 Peter 4:16 ESV / 98 helpful votes
Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
1 Peter 4:13 ESV / 97 helpful votes
But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
1 Peter 2:21 ESV / 95 helpful votes
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
2 Corinthians 12:10 ESV / 95 helpful votes
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
John 9:2-3 ESV / 95 helpful votes
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.
Matthew 4:24 ESV / 94 helpful votes
So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them.
Matthew 5:10 ESV / 93 helpful votes
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Acts 5:41 ESV / 92 helpful votes
Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
Matthew 10:22 ESV / 91 helpful votes
And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Psalm 22:24 ESV / 91 helpful votes
For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.
2 Timothy 1:8 ESV / 90 helpful votes
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,
Matthew 11:28 ESV / 90 helpful votes
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Isaiah 52:13-53:12 ESV / 89 helpful votes
Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. …
James 1:2 ESV / 88 helpful votes
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
Romans 8:3 ESV / 87 helpful votes
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
Revelation 2:10 ESV / 86 helpful votes
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Romans 16:20 ESV / 86 helpful votes
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV / 85 helpful votes
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.
1 Corinthians 13:3 ESV / 85 helpful votes
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
James 5:10-11 ESV / 83 helpful votes
As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
James 1:3 ESV / 81 helpful votes
For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
Acts 14:22 ESV / 79 helpful votes
Strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Ecclesiastes 7:14 ESV / 79 helpful votes
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
1 Peter 4:12-16 ESV / 78 helpful votes
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV / 78 helpful votes
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—
Romans 8:17 ESV / 78 helpful votes
And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Job 36:15 ESV / 77 helpful votes
He delivers the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ear by adversity.
Romans 8:29 ESV / 74 helpful votes
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Romans 12:14 ESV / 71 helpful votes
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
1 Peter 5:7 ESV / 70 helpful votes
Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Hebrews 4:15-16 ESV / 70 helpful votes
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Romans 8:17-18 ESV / 70 helpful votes
And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Matthew 10:39 ESV / 67 helpful votes
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Deuteronomy 8:3 ESV / 66 helpful votes
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
John 18:11 ESV / 65 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”
Matthew 27:28-29 ESV / 65 helpful votes
And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
2 Timothy 2:3-4 ESV / 64 helpful votes
Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.
John 15:19 ESV / 62 helpful votes
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
Matthew 26:39 ESV / 61 helpful votes
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Satan starts to follow you when you are still young…sometimes as soon as you are born. Is parents ultimate responsibility to always pray for their children… as the children grow teach them the path of living with God.How to seek god, true meaning of life… because of we don’t these children go through a very tough or life full of problems later and sometimes end up committing suicide. It’s always good to monitor your children’s behaviour. How they react when sometimes we call them for prayers… Sometimes they are lazy, or make excuses, or even just dont want to join family for prayers. It should ring a bell in parents mind that satan is trying to take control of their child’s life. Sometimes whole family suffer this is due to lack of faith or a curse… So if you know or see any family are going through a very hard time visit and pray for them, you can show them the right path as Angel of god. And you will be blessed. Thanks
My brothers and I are saved but my family still struggles.
God is love. It is true for the scripture says it. But there is another attribute of God that often goes unnoticed, God is just. Now justice require a punishment for wrongs done and wrongs done often cause suffering to those wronged. The acts of these wrongs are not love so this connects it to the wrong of not loving your neighbor. If God is to punish the guilty then they must be guilty of some offence. This is too brief but a general out line.
I can only suggest laying your grief and your woes at the feet of Christ (Jesus) the author and finisher of our faith. The world has nothing good to offer us. If you trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we are not of this world, but our home is in heaven. We are to live for righteousness and not take vengeance. Vengeance is reserved only for God. God says,”I will repay.” God cares dearly for those who believe in him, we are his children.
I encourage you to read the new testament: Peter, Colossians, 1John, all of it. THAT is where you will find peace for your souls… Forbeareance is standing firm during provocation. Turn the other cheek. You are adding jewels to your crown as long as you are giving for him and doing good and right. God is watching.. James 1:2 says, “Count it all joy whene you suffer trials of many kinds…” This is a hard teaching. But I beg you to read God’s word. Do not judge it until you have read it and it has had a chance to transform you from the inside. Do not follow the path of the multitudes who do not have the light of life in them…
I will leave you with this scripture passage. You needn’t comment on it.. but I do hope you will dust off a bible and begin reading about the love God sent down to us named Jesus…
1 Peter 2:19-25
19 For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. 20But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
22“He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25 For “you were like sheep going astray,”f but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Well the word of God tells us to reign with Christ we must also suffer too I think it would be wrong if Christ was the only one that suffered he suffered for us so….but I too go through hardship at times and i wonder too why lord why , but i still press onward knowing that it wont always be trials and tribulations that the sun will shine again I tell myself hold on old solider that your season will come change is around the corner so please don’t give up on God and realize we do get a blessing every day when we wake I rather receive the blessing of just being alive and not sleeping in my grave…To God Be The glory!! Lord I pray that you continue to always have a ram in the Bush for us all that you give us strength in the time of trouble and help our unbelief help us not to lean to our own understanding but to trust you to direct our path and know that your goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life and that we have the victory in you no matter what comes our way Lord God help us to keep our eyes on you and not the issues at hand for you are the problem solver and knowing that the devil is a liar and we say satan the Lord rebuke you in Jesus mighty name Amen! and Amen!
I also feel like you… people who never suffer can’t understand
so true plenty just like to listen to themselves , with all these fancy platitudes and while conjuring up a panacea of practical self made solution they never had to live by or experience sounds so hypocritical if you ask me !.
The problem I have and have always had is the fact that cruel sinful people can treat you like trash, even kill you. Then years later as for forgiveness and be in heaven with you. So basically its like this, my father for an example. He abused my mom, me, my brother physically and emotionally. Cheated on our mother many times then left her and us with nothing while she worked two jobs supporting us. He gets married two other times. He is over 70 years old now and has had a good paying job, retired now. Became Christian. My mom never got over his abuse and neither did I for that matter or my brother. We all have emotional problems. I don’t want to see my dad in hell but I sure would like some justice. Why do we have to suffer in life while he gets to live a happy life after treating people so badly. God could have atleast punished him in this world. God says don’t take revenge on the wicked because he will deal with them. Well which is it? Does my dad get punished for his sins or now that he is Christian does he get off scott free now? I get it with non-believers, I would say well God allows them to go on because they will be paying the price when they die. But what about Christians who are cruel and sinful towards others?? My ex-wife is another example. I get it that God made me suffer for things I did. But she is not being punished at all for cheating and refusing counseling. She just up and left and took my kids with her. I have nothing now and on top of that have to pay her money for her sinful choices and see my kids hardly ever. Its wrong. However she is Christian and believes on Jesus so I guess she gets to live a better life and I have to be in heaven with her??? I did everything God told me to do. Forgive her for cheating, ask her back to counseling. I’ve given up after all things I been thru. I was almost done with school getting my bachelors in History/Religious studies to one day teach or pastor. I left school, quit my job. I’ll be homeless soon. I don’t even care. I’m tired and worn down at 43 years old already. I don’t want any more abuse or to even be around people that cant be trusted. God says he is just but I don’t see that. Its not like I don’t want my father or ex-wife saved, I just want them to know what they did was wrong and how much emotional damage they caused. I don’t know, maybe when we are judged you get to see the pain you caused others so you understand but the bible does not speak of this that I found.
Hi, I do think what you are going through is very painful and difficult to accept, and is something I struggle with too. We all have a deep sense of justice and what I have come to believe after reading the Bible many times is God also has a deep sense of justice (remember the story of David and Bathsheba? David’s newborn son died and his other son Absalom later slept with David’s concubines, because of David’s affair with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah. Both David and Uriah were Israelites and yet God did not let David get away scot free with his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah.)
And every Christian will face God and be judged, and I’m sure that includes whatever sins we have done against others.
That said, I don’t know what God will do in your case, but I do think that if your ex wife and dad truly believe in Jesus, then first, Jesus is actually taking the place for the punishment they were supposed to get ( which is much more unfair actually since Jesus never sinned), and also that second, true repentance and belief likely involves a recognition of one’s past sins and a desire to put things right. if they do not understand what is wrong, it is possible that they have not been saved yet – the Bible has many passages on those who think they are saved realising on judgment day itself that they aren’t..
Ultimately, God is so so just that he let his own son die for our sins because he could not overlook sin… I think when we see that level of justice we can trust that whatever injustices others Christians may do to us.. God will not let them get away scot-free. and that on our end, we must keep trusting in his justice and not fall prey to Satan’s temptations to avenge ourselves.
1. Would you like to live with your father’s conscience, now that he is a Christian and sees things diffrently? He may be suffering to a degree you cannot fathom.
2. Your wife – is she truly a Christian? Is she living like one? Did she repent of her sin of divorcing you (unless infidelity on your part was involved when divorce is allowed), come back to you? Or is she living with someone else?
The standard for being called a “Christian” is higher, dear brother, than calling herself one.
I am sorry for what you’ve gone through. From a victim of an unjustified divorce to (what seems like) another.
I wonder this too! My ex husband cheated on me and left me and my 9 year old daughter struggling in poverty these past 5 years. He quickly remarried someone who makes really good money and he goes to church and acts all Christianly. All the while his daughter and I have struggled and lost our faith. She is at the age of developing the person she will become and she is depressed and hopeless. Yet he will go to Heaven and not be punished for destroying his daughter and me? How is That right? How is that just? He sins and breaks his marriage vows and WE suffer unending. And he seems to be rewarded because according to him he had been Forgiven. Yet my daughter and I will go to Hell if we don’t forgive him? What the?
Hi, I was told because we all have free will is why things happen. Did not like the answer at the time either. I was also told that god want us to come to him willingly. to love him unconditionally as he loves us. maybe these people who are not nice believe me i know i could tell you stories you may not believe. maybe these people have things going right for them all the time, all this good fortune, all the happiness, finding a partner second and third times. never having to worry about money etc. Who know who is delivering all this good fortune my guess is it is not coming from a very good place.
i rather suffer than than for an eternity. and believe i do not have the kind of strong faith i know i need.
I feel I’m destined to suffer.
Who are we to question our maker ? We see things through a finite mind , we can not understand his infinite wisdom . Our mins is not his mind , our way is not his way . All will be revealed to us one day . Man of God , Fight the good fight of the faith in Christ Jesus.(1 Tim 6:6-16)
Why would God punish many of us with the single and lonely life when so many others were very extremely blessed to find their loved ones? And it is bad enough that being single and alone all the time is very unhealthy and depressing with a lot of disadvantages as well.
People talk about how could god love you if someone suffers that doesn’t deserve it and someone else succeeds when they are cruel well for one we all should suffer forever without any salvation we are all lucky enough to get that opportunity to be saved but suffering is a blessing in disguise you have a better chance of Turning to god because u have nothing compared to someone who has or seems to get everything then when that day of judgement comes and you and him are facing judgement you turned to god out of despair he never did and let his sin pride think it was all him and never turned to god who’s lucky now he’s going to hell your going to heaven for a lot longer than your struggle and he’s going to hell for a lot longer than his enjoyment lasted and the rich man excuse how ironically it would be lord you blessed me too much and it blinded me and kept me from you it’s not fair but in the end life’s is fair tough but fair the one who struggled had a better chance of turning to god than the rich man because of despair but the rich should realized how lucky he was and turned to god he had a chance to have everything in this world and the afterlife lower percentage of Turing to god than someone suffering but there’s also people who were in that rich mans shoes who did turn to god cause they realized their blessings in then end it is a choice and it’s all balanced out and fair because we are given the Bible the roadmap to heaven there’s no excuses you shouldn’t want anyone to fail that you think doesn’t deserve it cause who are you to say who deserves what and who doesn’t plus it easily could of been you
This world is a testing ground not our true home. We learn through our trials, what have the suffering and pain taught you? My experiences in life:
Felt abandoned from 9 years old through 15.
Lived in a fog most of my life, depressed, unloved, taken advantage of.
Mostly felt alone, and outcasted.
Then I found Jesus in a charismatic church, searched the Life Manual to help me with my journey. Read it over and over again to found answers to so many question I had and some still have.
Because of the feeling of abandonment, i will speak to the homeless and tell them that God loves them and that there is a plan and purpose for their lives, some listen and make the choice to get off the street, find apartments or go to resources that are out there to help them.
I shared the love of Christ, to the unloved and the outcast. Drug addicts, street walkers, disable, and broken people in general will feel that love when they meet me because it is the Holy Spirit that works through the willing.
So what im trying to say is overcome your suffering by making the choice to following the one who suffered just the same yet overcame this world.
You alone can make that choice, ever in the mist of your pain.
You will suffer on this earth for as long as you have breath, but I have hope that Revelation 21:4 will be true for me. So while I’m here, all that encounter me will know Jesus, not so much by the words I speak, but by my character that is inspire by how Jesus when he walked on this world 2000 plus years ago. Read Galatians 5:22-23
I don’t think overcoming suffering is a choice we can simply make. I try to, but most days I fail miserably. I believe suffering is of no value and ultimately wasted.
In my case which all i would have wanted from God was for him to bless me with a wife and family that i still Don’t have today unfortunately. What did i ever do wrong God? And i really hate being single and alone all the time too.
I wouldn’t care if it was only us (adult humans) who suffered. We often suffer due to our own faults. The human race has made a living hell for all when it hallucinates that it can control and change anything it wants. Look at the planet. However what I do have TONS of problems with is why does anything that’s up there allow animals to suffer? They’re literally the most pure, loving, innocent, emotionally intelligent beings ever! Yet they’re suffering way more than any other beings on this planet every single day. WHY?! Is divine justice a lie? Justice means each paying for what they did right or wrong. NOT good beings suffering and bad ones gaining. Why are animals not immune or protected against the devilish ignorant felons that’s us, the human race? Why are “people” who hurt animals or kill them not instantly getting burned alive??! Some of us do try to protect them ourselves but it still is going on horrendously!
I agree. Animals don’t sin, yet they are placed on this earth to suffer. They weren’t involved with the Adam and Eve thing, so what did they do to deserve this horrible world? It’s all so disheartening.
After reading all the above comments, i would like to say “if GOD helps you out of trouble then he is Good God and if not then what God and who God” It shows how much Faith & Belief we have in GOD. He works things for each of us when the sutuation is right for our own betterment.
God lets some people suffer more than others because he is unfair? Or unjust? Or both? Seeing the condition the world is in, he must really enjoy watching us suffer. Most dedicated christians say our suffering leads to good outcomes. That it is for our betterment. That’s not my experience. I’ve known suffering my whole life and I am no better off now than I was 30 years ago.
I really wish you weren’t in such pain.. all I can offer is that often times what we see is not the end of the story. After all Joseph did not know he would be king when he was sent into slavery and then jail. And you might add that he was rescued at the young age of 30, but all our stories are different and it is possible that God will wait till we die till redeeming us. Many of the old testament prophets eg hosea, Jeremiah, suffered horribly and had no ‘happy ending’, but they will be vindicated in heaven. Even Christian martyrs who die have no happy ending on earth.. but God’s story is only done in heaven. All we can do is hold on and keep reading the bible and praying for heaven to come.
Anything can happen, absolutely anything. One person will be wrongly denied one mark in an exam and say, “God, why?” And someone else will be assaulted, left homeless and jobless and ask the same question, “God, why?” People answer the question, “God, why?” And not God. They’ll say, “You’re black. That’s why. You’re gay. That’s why. Or Grow up. Your problems are insignificant.” All of us are kindergarteners. Anything happens to any of us and all of us will run to the teacher. The teacher said, “LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.” If the teacher keeps quiet and gives us kindergarteners a chance to implement that one lesson, it means the teacher hates us. We want to commit suicide. The reason we lose faith in God is because we have no faith in our neighbor. The ‘bad’ neighbors harm you and the ‘good’ ones tell you to go to the teacher and he will surely do something but they won’t do anything good for you even by mistake. REMEMBER: You can only love your neighbor. You cannot force your neighbor to love you. If you’ve loved your neighbor and that neighbor chooses to hate on you in overt or covert ways, then don’t jump off a cliff. Just keep looking for another neighbor who understands your love and loves you back in the same way as you loved them. Keep looking. Don’t give up.
well said
Yes.. In medical terms, it’s called clinical depression… And yeah, don’t go to those so called doctors for help. All they do is nod their heads while you speak and prescribe antidepressants. Those tablets just eff you up in the longer run and then you actually do die of suicide. Not that most people would care though.
I’m so miserable. Please pray for me. Thanks.
It’s sad although the writer is from Malaysia he is more keen on political situation and people oppressed from other countries .But how about Malaysia itself.Therw is alot of people struggling from racial and religion discrimination especially underground christians . Churches in Malaysia are busy preaching gospel and evangelizing to Hindus and Chinese ,there are a lot of underground Christians who are from Muslim background are suffering double life .pastor Raymond went missing,some people from Muslim background who accept Christ are being punished in rehabilitation center so call islamic purification center .What is the churches and religious leaders and pastors are doing to overcome this .The simply say this is God who allow struggle yes but where goes the churches and leader effort on this .Sad to say Churches and pastors in Malaysia scared of the government ,as long they can have church mass every weekend collect offering and evangelizing to poor indian nothing much they can do .Why because they are more scare of malaysia government , constitution compare to god .they scared the same will happen to them as pastor Raymond khoo.
Wow! Anonymous! What a beautiful testimony! I pray that God gives you many more years to enjoy with your daughters if its his will, you are truly amazing and will help so many understand how God works. Heaven and hell are real and God will do whatever he has to do to take his children to Heaven. That’s love!!!
God should not take the blame for why anybody suffers in this world. That responsibility falls on Adam. Through Adam’s disobedience, he brought sin and suffering into this world. God knew that the moment Adam would disobey Him, sin would enter the world. That’s why in His love and grace, he warned Adam of what would be the consequences of his actions. As a Church, we have to do a better job of representing God by not blaming Him for all the bad things happening in our world. The Bible says that God is not willing that any man should perish, but that all would come to him in repentance (2 Peter 3:9). It’s the thief that comes to steal, kill, and destroy, not God. Jesus came that we might have life more abundantly (John 10:10). While Jesus was fulfilling His earthly ministry, He went about doing good, healing all that were oppressed of the devil. Why? Because God was with Him. By the way, Jesus was God manifested in the flesh. “If you have seen the Father, you have seen me.” Jesus never hurt anybody, condemned anyone to hell, or refused to help anyone who came to Him. Ladies and gentlemen, the problem is not with God. It’s with us! God has never been the source of our pain and suffering. He’s the source of our strength. The source of our joy. The source of our life. He’s not the one who “allows” suffering, no more than He “allows” you to sin and reject Him. Let’s stop blaming Him for everything and start blessing Him. Because He is worthy of all praise, glory, and honor! I hope this helped and encouraged someone to have a better relationship with their loving Heavenly Father! Be blessed!
If God isn’t to blame for suffering, then why should he be praised when someone reaps good fortune? Sounds a lot like our politicians who are all plenty happy to take the credit when everything’s all hunky dory, but slink down out of sight and deny responsibility when tragedy strikes.
“It’s only for Christ’s sake that I believe in God.”
I see a problem there. For me there is a distinction between God and the man, Jesus. They are not one in the same.
I know alot of people speak the name Jesus as being synonymous with God. But, I believe that Jesus was just a man and my beliefs about God have nothing to do with Jesus and his followers.
Hi Jerry,
Thanks for reading the article, and taking time to drop a comment!
At YMI, we believe Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, the only begotten Son of God, and the perfect revelation of the Father. We are thankful for the chance we had earlier this year to work with a Bible Teacher on a three-part article series specifically dedicated to this topic. If you’re interested, you can find the first article in the series here: https://ymi.today/2020/06/3-misconceptions-about-the-trinity-1-is-it-in-the-bible/.
Thanks again for connecting with us!
Hi, Jerry,
If you received my message, just do mail. and if you read the Bible, these are the verses stated in it,
About Jesus Christ :
‘ In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.’
( Collossians 1: 14-17)
‘ Unto the Son God, The Father saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.'( Hebrews 1 : 8)
People are so mean to me…I pray but God never helps me.. I have struggled all my life…I am tried…i hav. I am quite, nice to everyone….I know what it feels like to be left behind,e no hope I am empty inside..I have had things happen in my life none of it good..I am made to feel stupid…. that is how my grandfather and sister always made me feel…he liked her and she was not nice…always belittling me and many other people. I have had to start over again and again… nothing has ever turned out right for me …I have failed at everything why do people throw everything in my face.
You spot God, let me know. If he is legit, and omnipresent, he’s being wicked with all the suffering for many, for now apparent reason. Doesn’t seem or sound God like to me. I’ve given up on any of this. People suffer because wicked people get away with taking advantage of less fortunate and, for their troubles, God reward them, not the afflicted. God is one sick, demented being is what he is.
It seems that the same people have troubles; health, money, social. It also seems that people who are more fortunate, keep their troubles to themselves. You never hear them having health, money, other issues. Im suffering from PTSD. Then close people died and I lost my job all at once. My health isn’t bad but is deteriorating. Others are socializing and working during this pandemic. I can’t help but be pissed at my life.
God is not real anyway, a real fake if you ask me.
After reading so many of your comments above , especially to the people who are sufferring terribly emotionally and mentally, I want to say: I am so sorry. Sorry for your pain. I wish I was god and make your pain go away. Like some one commented above:
“i also feel like you… people who never suffer can’t understand” . Sad to see comments from people that have never walked in your shoes. Although I do suffer terribly physically I have not suffered mentally. I have not walked in your shoes! But I can relate to on how unfair it is to see plenty of people mostly have good happy lives. How one person dies in their sleep while others battle painful illnesses for years or be burned alive in a car crash. Why you don’t end this injustice, god ASAP?
All I can say engage the Holy Spirit for easy understanding on your problems solution. Let God be God; the clay cannot instruct the Potter. All sufferings are subjected to those who refuse to worship Satan. Read Job 33:14,God might have spoken to you about the root cause of your problems unless He intended you to suffer as job himself. We are His alive or dead Roman 14:8
Is there a section of the bible that deals with unholy benediction? I had never committed adultery, never had any friends, never took drugs, never lied and never stole. In fact most of the people that I had met in my life till now found me ridiculous to the extremes. It was hard to form any close associations. I need a solution to the growing stress and unhappiness in my life. And as to the bible I had missed reading it for several years. As I write this post I am reading the book of Job and finding the ordeal that the Lord set forth for Job through the hands of Satan hard to comprehend. Is it the virtues of unholy benediction that we see here or is it as the Satan answered the Lord, and said, ‘Doth Job fear God for nought?’ I am asking here: is it just deserts for someone who feared the Lord and eschewed evil? In a language at once biblical and poetic the dialectics between the Lord and the Satan is one which revolves in my mind after I had read it once. I am one who has suffered all through my life and I want to know if it is just deserts for me in my current state of turmoil.
Tracy it is so easy to lecture about those things when you are not the one in pain. So easy to accuse others of faithlessness and rebellion when everything good ia happening to you. I just hope that you do not come to that moment when your God would not answer you and leaves you and makes you feel worthless inside eventhough you are believing and obeying. How painful it is to see that even inside a church God is blessing and touching everyone but you. Maybe our God only cares for those whom he has chosen those with talents and abilities and resources that would be useful for the ministry. And whats worse is that even inside the church the poor and hopeless are neglected and when they call upon God they have the same response same from those who profess Gods love. Please stop judging us because we are already in pain and we need answers not lectures. If even those who love God could could not help us then what more from a God who hasnt have the time to.listen to our cries.
Dear John,
I don’t want to lecture you or accuse you of faithlessness. I did want to offer people reading your comment some hope though. A few years ago I did a drug that I think opened me up to demonic compromising of my mind. It was supposed to be a drug that had a short lived affect, cleared the body quickly, and had no history of permanent harm, but through it, the devil was able to corrupt my temple; at least that is my take on what happened. Though it was my own sin that brought me to that situation, for the following several years I went through torment, even as I was trying to appeal to God for mercy. I know what it feels like the sentiments you are describing: to feel that everyone else in the church is loved by and forgiven by God, and to feel unheard, and all of the satanic bondage. It is quite terrible. In my case, I developed psychosis for several years, at a juncture when I was irrevocably losing time with my young children; in tandem my husband was fired and many other things. I still do not know if it was God’s way of bringing our attention to our many areas of sin in our lives, or if satan just had the opportunity and took it to completely crush us for a season. It was painful, and faithlessly, I responded as you are feeling. It is my hope that God is big enough and kind enough to overlook these failed responses in His creatures; it is hard for the creature, feeling that God has looked away, to have a right and faithful response – though, there are some people who did. I think Job was one of these, at least, far better than I will ever be. I do not want to lecture you or accuse you of having lower faith than myself, because, sadly, I am not that faithful of a person as Job or the more faithful Christians, though I still maintain, through my own failings, that this is the ideal. It is the ideal for many reasons, but primarily because, even though while we are in the great pain of travail we cannot see it (probably like a woman in labor, she loses her mind from pain) – we will be happy when this life is over if we have remained in belief, and even if we have failed and continue to fail to properly honor God in adversity, we can still bring it back in His mercy at some point, and actually succeed in being pleasing to Him by the time we die. Which, I think, outside of everyone’s life experience, is something objectively, innately desirable. Who would not want to please their Maker, if they but could, whatever emotional weaknesses and failed responses we do have under pressure, being fallen in sin? (And when I say that, I am not talking about you, I am talking about myself, though, perhaps it also applies to you). I think it is helpful in these moments to use the imagination. We live in a world where the god of this age is satan, though Christ has overcome Him, and we have power and protection in Him, though there are periods of testing, and suffering, and outright attacks from the enemy. But in these worst of times, when everything gets unlivabl-y sad or oppressive, it helps me to imagine a world where there is no sin or satan, and, to try to hold out hope of that world through Christ’s salvation of us. It seems worth every effort of repentance and temporary suffering to get to that other place, where everything is permanently just and where there is true, and lasting happiness, of the sort that can’t be found here, I suspect. Just like the person who was talking about how hard her walk was almost dying at 31, with young children, having gone through whoredoms and other terrible things, and various sufferings from poverty and at the hands of doctors, and other people – even though she is walking through all this pain, she still knows that heaven awaits her, and in this is all her solace. I often think, or sometimes think…how wonderful would that be, to have a place where God is really near, and we can worship Him, knowing He accepts us, and has removed from us every pain and suffering, and it is as it should be, the creature who loves their Creator, and does everything they say, because they are in a relationship of total trust, and, they know everything their Creator commands to be perfect and in their best interest, and, they are thankful and grateful and close and happy every day, because of this great proximity, that, seems so hard to find here, in this sadly fallen place. I know it is our fault that sin entered this place, and I agree with you that the consequences of it (in aggregate and individually) are so hard to bear. Sometimes so hard to bear that our minds become darkened and the pain just takes over such that we cannot give effective praise, or see the good in anything – even though these mindsets are poisons to our soul. I am not blaming you for those states, I am trying to encourage you out of them. I know God forgave Job for incriminating Him through ignorance, or through his pain – which the devil caused him. And God is continually forgiving us for our ingratitude and failures, and for our unbelief and for our angry railings and bitterness’s (I am probably more guilty than you in these areas). But I think we all know, each of us in our heart, with no judgement from the outside – that if there were a way to be otherwise – we would want to be otherwise: even in our horrible pain, we don’t wish to actually curse or indemnify or disrespect or fail to love the Creator from which our entire being’s validation comes from. I know maybe from weakness we do. Hopefully that weakness will pass away when this bodily separation is over with, and we can feel His love without contamination from the devil, who does whatever he can to block it from reaching us. If there is sin separating us from Him, then obviously it is worth every effort to try to remove that. If it is demonic attack, it is worth every effort to try to counter that. And having done all we can to stand, to stand and wait patiently for the perfect world that is to come, the world that very clearly, isn’t this one. I know who I am and how I feel when I am giving birth is not who I am and how I feel when I have a baby in my arms. I know I am guilty of screaming at all the people involved when I am in that level of pain, and feeling that they are all insensitive jerks unable to sympathize with me in my great suffering. I also know they are gracious and kind to forgive me this when I am later in my right mind. I hope the same of the Lord, for you and for me. I do admire those who can go through great suffering with praise on their lips, and without faltering faith, even though I have not been one of those. We can often only see and feel it as sin when the pressure is off 🙁 But thank God He is forgiving, and in His kindness does heal and restore, even if it takes years, or, even if for some, it only comes in death. Thank God, this punishment is finite. I hope and pray things get better for you, and everyone on this forum, and that as the aggregate body of Christ we do not fail to not revel in our own temporary peace, but aggressively try to alleviate, wherever we can, the sufferings of others in the body, knowing their suffering to be horrible, and without judgements and lectures, but encouragement, and love and sympathy.
Recently we watched 6 rich arrogant privlidged jerks pay millions of dollars to pretend to be astronauts while thousands lost everything they had and hundreds died in a massive very un-natural tornado. Why does God seem to love to suffer the poor and prosper the rich? Why didn’t He kill 100 rich arrogant pig eyed jerks that work evil non stop against the world? Several years back we watched 250,000 people die in a tsunami, but not a single rich person in Switzerland was touched that day. Is it only those poor wretches eeking out an honest living that God takes out his wrath on? There are lots of criminal politicians, serial killers, drug dealers, murderers, rapists, despots, and the super-rich that gather together to work all manner of evil against the populace that seem to be immune from any type of divinely originated death or chaos. For that matter, the rich seem to prosper even more from the suffering of the poor. Why does God seem to love rich people and hate poor people?
I love this question! So I’m gonna share my personal experience as well as my opinion. But its just that, my opinion. So from birth I was always in trouble and couldn’t be handled. It was like I couldn’t control it. My mom used to tell me that she would catch me sometimes praying to God and begging him to help me behave. It’s not that I didn’t want to. It’s that I couldn’t. I’ve also had mental health issues since birth. So that may have had something to do with it. I was a latch key kid and was getting arrested at 8 years old. Needless to say I was sent away to a foster home and later on to a home for boys until I was 18. Upon being released I immediately started using drugs and just living a reckless, sinful, and crazy life. You’ll just have to trust me when I say that I was a terrible and cruel person that could care less about your feelings. I only cared about taking as many people down in my misery as I could. I had at least 3 head on collisions and 2 overdoses. I had so many different drugs in my system at one time that it caused renal failure and I almost died. But I used to ask this question of God all the time. After cheating death so many times and wondering why. And even though I truly wanted to die and go home I started to realize God was keeping me here for some purpose or mission. Or maybe he was just keeping me here so I could get my crap together. He was probably thinking there’s no way I can let him die now because there’s no way I can let him bring this much sin into heaven. He did answer me but it took some years. So at 48 I feel I’m a great person and am always kind and courteous to others. I love helping people and I’m certified in 4 different states as a CNA. I had a 21 year opiate addiction that I overcame. I’ve been clean for 7 years. I never thought I would make it to this age and definitely never thought I would ever be free of drugs. So here’s the thing about any addiction. You can visit as many rehabs as you want but unless deep down inside you truly want to get clean, you never will. When you finally decide to get clean then you won’t need a rehab. I stayed in the bed for 2 months and got myself clean. But this is what I’ve learned. God isn’t letting anything happen to you. In my case it was me that was standing in my own way. I learned that if you do the right thing and genuinely want to do what’s right, what’s kind, and what the loving thing is then everything else will fall into place. This has absolutely been true for me. I truly wanted to do what was the right and truly wanted to be kind and help people. When I finally made up my mind to do this and made up my mind to stay clean everything fell into place. Great things would just come to me and happen for me. So that’s what I’ve learned. If things aren’t going your way and you think that God is against you then take a step back and look at the wrong things you are doing in your life and always try to do what’s right and just. God helps those who help themselves. If God sees you are living your life with love and to the best of your ability then he will bring many gifts to you. The best gift of all is probably peace of mind and stability. I used to constantly live in my head and would drive myself crazy. I’m not a super religious person. I’m a very spiritual person and feel that I have gone thru my own spiritual awakening. I believe in God, I believe Jesus died on the cross, and I have accepted him as my personal Lord and Savior. That being said I think over the last hundreds of years Christianity has become very commercialized, monetized, and over exaggerated. I do not believe that God wanted you to worship him or else. I believe all you need to do is believe in him, live with love, and be thankful for what he did for you. I believe God is the very first consciousness of the universe and we are all just peaces of his consciousness (subconsciousness) that are here in physical form so that God can experience things thru us. I don’t think God is in actual physical person but I do believe that he can take physical form. God sent himself into physical existence in the form of Jesus Christ. I mean look there’s no telling what has been done to the Bible and and to religion just to keep people compliant. Take the Romans for example. There’s no telling what was added to the Bible just to satisfy the needs of the time. I believe the Bible is accurate for the most part but it’s basically left to the interpretations and feelings of the writer at that time in history. I don’t believe it’s all hellfire and brimstone. And I don’t believe that God is a “you do this or else I’ll send you to hell” type of God. I hope things get better for you and thanks for reading. I hope this helps!
Even though I’m suffering right now, I still have faith on Him. I just don’t understand why? Why would he let me go through such pain? Why would he put me into such situation that I couldn’t carry? I have so many questions.
Its unfair. We are asked to fight his battle, an impossible task, then he punishes us for eternity because of failure. Where’s the loving god in that?
oh but brother…god is not fair…oh no no no…he is just. In other words he cares not for your comfort, well being or happiness. But how much glory you have brought him. That makes god perfect.
To everyone saying G-d is cruel, unloving etc.. hear me out, if you were an all powerful mighty god would you choose to come to earth to be subject to your own creations? To be brutally beaten, humiliated just to save them because your creation whom you have given free will has run amuck? If we are being honest with ourselves, most of us wouldn’t bother. I know I wouldn’t have. Perhaps some of us would like to use our power to its full extent and lord it over our creations or even do worse.
But unlike us, G-d is all loving and full of mercy. He chooses to limit himself and his own power, to humble himself and gives us his most precious son, G-d on earth. Would you give up one of your own children or most precious possessions to save a rebellious people who thumb their noses and don’t even want anything to do with you? I doubt it.
But G-d chooses to give us his most precious son because he loves us and knows he can’t let his precious creations die. So he chooses to become one of us and what does he come as? Not as a rich king wearing robes, diamonds and gold. He comes as mere carpenter’s son who was born in a manger among the animals.
He is not rich but poor, an outcast among his own who esteemed him not, subject to the laws of his own creations. He lived among men and taught them the things of G-d, doing miracles and healings. He also gave them a choice and did not force anybody to believe him. He bared long with us, not wanting anyone to perish. And yet, many still abused him, denied him, rebuked him. But he still loved them enough to go and die for them.
Does this sound like a cruel unloving G-d to you? Do you know how much love that takes, to lay down your own life for someone else? To experience all that pain because you know they will be lost without you, even if they don’t care to know you. That’s a pure love, a true love, a kind of love that only G-d can provide.
His love doesn’t come with strings attached, like many people do. He loves you, simply because you are. And I think so many people misunderstand him and who he is. Yes he is a just G-d but the heart of the lord is mercy and he is not happy when you suffer or go through tribulations. This world is a fallen world and many horrible things happen, but guess what? They happened to him too.
My feeling is if G-d suffered on a cross and had not even a place to lie his head, why should I be any different? I’m not better than G-d. Of course I hate suffering and it does happen in my life, it happens to everyone. But I have a G-d who is there with me and is carrying me through no matter what he will see me home one day. And every person on earth will have to stand before him.
Jesus loves you, he died for you and is looking for you. Why else would you be here reading this? Don’t you think he’s trying to tell you something? He wants you to come to him and he will always be with you. You only need to get to know him better, to walk beside him. It doesn’t matter who you are, you have a place with him. G-d bless you!
Greetings YMI,
I pray that this finds you in good spirit and health. About ten years ago I was doing therapy writing and one day my counselor Pat Merwen at Serenity House said “Ben, you need to write a book. Your story can help many people”. So off and on for the last nine years I’d write a little here and a little there. On December 12, 2022 Monica found me on the floor of my bathroom after I had been lying there for nearly three days. I was medevaced to Alaska Regional Hospital for a stroke. The whole left side of my body was paralyzed from shoulder to toe. I spent the next five weeks learning how to walk and talk again. Six months later I decided it was time to finish writing my story. It’s only 178 pages long, but it gets the message out there. Title of my book is “God Won’t Let Me Die”. It is available world wide in all major bookstores like Barnes and Nobles, Amazon, Bam! and several more major bookstores. My Publisher (Christian Faith Publishing) is one of the largest publishing companies in North America. My story is also available on Ebooks like Apple and Itunes. I pray that my story may reach perhaps millions of people out there offering hope and encouragement in this doomed world. Have a blessed and wonderful day.
Kind regards,
Benjamin Moe