Why Do Christians Suffer? Seeing a Purpose for the Pain

Why all the pain? If God loves his people, why doesn’t he guard them from all the hurt?

In her autobiography, President George W. Bush’s wife, Laura, speaks of driving through a stop sign at age seventeen and colliding with the car of her classmate Michael Douglas, which resulted in his death. Laura says she pleaded with God for her friend’s life, to no avail. She writes,

I lost my faith that November, lost it for many, many years. It was the first time that I had prayed to God for something, begged him for something, not the simple childhood wishing on a star but humbly begging for another human life. And it was as if no one heard. My begging, to my seventeen-year-old mind, had made no difference. The only answer was the sound of Mrs. Douglas’s sobs on the other side of that thin emergency room curtain.*

Mrs. Bush eloquently verbalizes what so many others have confessed to me over the years. Namely, that their frustration and disappointment with God, because he had “failed” to protect them from life’s tragedies, had driven them to “lose their faith.”

In a way, this can be a good thing. Not that they are upset with God, but that their unbiblical assumptions about God are revealed and forced to change. For if our “faith” has been in a “god” who is presupposed to exempt us from life’s pain and suffering, then it is a faith that needs to be lost. It needs to be exchanged for a biblical faith in the real God.

The real God is a God who not only has the power to prevent our pain; he is also a God who is fully aware of our pain. And God, as we consistently see in the Bible, is a God who strategically and thoughtfully prescribes our pain.

Even so, we must remember that our God is a good God. He has a purpose in the pain and stakes his character on the truth that in the end he works all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). That gives us hope, even when the pain is severe and the world seems out of control.

There are times when God does graciously deliver, mercifully heal, and kindly stave off the peril of death, but it is always a temporary reprieve. The final reversal of death, the permanent elimination of disease, and the complete abolition of suffering must wait for the next world.

Jesus often sought to get this point fixed in our minds. For instance, he said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). All the work that is required to reverse the problems we face has been accomplished, but God has reserved the implementation of his perfect blessings for a future time.

Don’t let the pain harden your heart. Be attentive to God’s wisdom and hopeful in your suffering. Know that he is a loving Father who “saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). He has a plan for you, and he is working it out. The path may be unpleasant, but the destination will not disappoint.

*Laura Bush, Spoken from the Heart (New York: Scribner, 2010), p. 65.