Why do we suffer?

Have you ever wondered why something bad has happened to you? I know that I have experienced some very difficult things in life. One response can be to get upset with God. I could tell God that he doesn't know what He is doing as if He is not all knowing and in complete control.

I have been thinking about the purpose for our suffering lately. Peter addresses this issue a lot in I Peter. Studying this book has given me a greater understanding of the purpose in suffering and also how to respond to suffering.

But the most encouraging scripture to me is in II Corinthians 1:3-7 which states:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort."

This is powerful stuff! God is the God of all comforts!! He comforts us in our trouble so that He can use us to comfort others in their trouble.

Do you see the difficult things that you have faced in life as something that God allowed so that you could be useful to others?

How have you seen God use your trouble to be a comfort to someone else?

God is in control

Last night, some men from our church spent time discussing Romans 9 and the fact that God is in control. The sovereignty of God is comforting, but sometimes the situations of life still seem overwhelming. Here are some examples of circumstances that Christians in our community have faced or are facing:

• Preparing for college when most in your high school will drop out before graduation.
• Your brother steals your identity leaving you in debt and with bad credit.
• You find your 20 something neighbor dead in her bed.
• Trying to trust God and others knowing you have been abused.
• Being harassed by police for “looking suspicious” while walking down the street.
• Moving from place to place as a child because your mother can’t keep a job or pay rent.
• Your 12 year old brother is shot and killed while riding his bike.
• Your mother is fighting for her life with cancer.
• Trying to follow Christ knowing your mother has AIDS and your brother is in and out of jail.
  

The Christian life was not promised to be easy. Sometimes life can seem unbearable. On our own we want to quit. We may even question God.

But He is in control. He knows best. We must learn to trust him. I have learned that from the Christians around me. I am inspired by their faith and their perseverance. It is a testimony to their belief in a sovereign God.

Do you have trouble believing that God is in control?
Are their situations for you that cause you to question God or his judgment?

Tragedy

For those who have not heard, Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest daughter, age 5, was killed yesterday in a tragic car accident. She was accidentally hit by a vehicle driven by her older brother at their family home. Family statement here

Please be in prayer for the Chapman family.