Why Do The Righteous Suffer
Van C. Ledbetter
De Queen, AR
7/29/98
Why Do The Righteous Suffer?
The problem of human suffering has long been a deeply troubling theological matter especially the question of the suffering of good people. If God has called us to blessing and glory, why must we undergo afflictions, sometime directly resulting from His call?
If we are His specially beloved children, why does He not preserve us from the pains which sometimes threaten to overwhelm us?
But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. I Peter 5.10
There are at least four reasons why suffering is a good thing for us to experience.
• Suffering motivates us to strive for a better world where God’s word promises that there will be no tears, death, sorrow, etc.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Revelation 21.4
• Suffering enables us to sympathize more readily with others around us who are going through heartaches. Some of the very most compassionate people are those whose lives have been filled with the greatest pain.
• Suffering reveals the horror of sin. If there had been no sin, there would have been no suffering. All suffering is, finally the result of the introduction of sin into the world. Awareness of these truths can produce a healthy revulsion to sinful things.
• Suffering can create in us a greater dependence upon God. It was in his pleadings for his thorn to be removed that Paul heard God say,
My grace is sufficient for thee. 2 Corinthians 12.7-9
No one likes to suffer trouble and pain. But Christian faith doesn’t merely lament such suffering; it uses it as God intends. Let us keep trusting in Him.
—Van C. Ledbetter
De Queen AR
