Why Suffering Matters
“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts.” (Romans 5:3-4)
Not to be a downer, but life is hard. And not just for some people. Everyone “suffers,” as the Bible tends to call it. Relationships crumble. People get sick. Our best efforts to do important things often fail. Disappointment is so common that it’s almost the norm. Worse, we hurt each other -- sometimes on purpose. Or we make selfish choices that end up causing pain for ourselves or people we care about in ways we never thought of. Life really sucks sometimes.
Wait, don’t go just yet. I’m not wearing mascara and trying to be all emo or anything. I’ve got a point coming up in a couple of paragraphs. One of the reasons that the Bible feels so truthful to me is that it doesn’t try to hide the fact that life is really hard in a lot of ways. Every writer freely admits it. Paul said that suffering is global -- all of creation is in “bondage to decay.” (Romans 8:21) Even Christians carry around with us this inner groaning of suffering. (v. 23). Why? The formula is simple. Every human being sins. Sin produces death. So every last living thing we see is in the process of dying. We’re all broken emotionally, physically, relationally. Nothing really works the way it was meant to.
If you look at last week’s devo, we started into Romans 5 talking about all the amazing things that come with trusting in Jesus for our salvation from sin. Amazingly, God declares us “righteous” because Jesus is righteous; we have (right now!) peace with God; we stand (right now!) in God’s grace (forgiven and accepted); and we will absolutely be with God forever in glory. We don’t deserve any of it, and we can’t earn it. It’s God’s gift.
Then you turn to verse 3 and run into a giant “wait a minute!” Why would the all-powerful God of the universe who did the much more unlikely thing of making us right with Him (through faith in Jesus) also not just keep us from suffering. It makes much more sense to me that He would flip a switch and make all the hard things in my life disappear. He’s got the power, and I know He loves me. What’s the deal?
Instead, Paul writes that we can “rejoice in our sufferings.” Yay. I don’t want to rejoice in my suffering. I don’t want to suffer. But Paul is honest that there is no escaping from suffering on a sin-ridden planet -- even for Christians. We’ve been made alive spiritually, but we’re all still dying physically. We are not yet in heaven. Our bodies are not yet “redeemed.” Our adoption as God’s kids won’t be complete until He takes us home. So the suffering continues.
But. (That’s a big but right there.) But, Paul writes, something has changed about why we suffer. People without Jesus suffer pointlessly. Those in relationship with God suffer with a purpose. Our suffering helps us. How? It “produces perseverance” by making us trust in God more -- and longer. When I hurt, I feel my need for Him and I turn to Him for help. Guess what I find? He helps! I can trust Him! So I learn to trust Him sooner when I hurt the next time.
That perseverance grows my “character.” That means that instead of rebelling against God because my life is hard, I learn to obey Him because I’ve discovered how trustworthy He is. It makes sense to me to obey the God who helps me in my hard times. People of character make those right choices over and over. And if I do it God’s way enough, I become even more convinced that He really is God. His way works. He knows what He’s talking about. My character grows my hope in the God of heaven, the Father I can’t wait to be with forever.
Okay, that’s all kind of deep -- and this is already too long -- but the big picture is that our suffering matters if we’re willing to trust God when life gets hard, if we’re willing to obey Him in spite of our pain, and if we’re willing to look for the evidence of His goodness and power even on the hardest days. So next time you suffer, throw a little party and wait to see how God will once again show His incredible love for you.
Not to be a downer, but life is hard. And not just for some people. Everyone “suffers,” as the Bible tends to call it. Relationships crumble. People get sick. Our best efforts to do important things often fail. Disappointment is so common that it’s almost the norm. Worse, we hurt each other -- sometimes on purpose. Or we make selfish choices that end up causing pain for ourselves or people we care about in ways we never thought of. Life really sucks sometimes.
Wait, don’t go just yet. I’m not wearing mascara and trying to be all emo or anything. I’ve got a point coming up in a couple of paragraphs. One of the reasons that the Bible feels so truthful to me is that it doesn’t try to hide the fact that life is really hard in a lot of ways. Every writer freely admits it. Paul said that suffering is global -- all of creation is in “bondage to decay.” (Romans 8:21) Even Christians carry around with us this inner groaning of suffering. (v. 23). Why? The formula is simple. Every human being sins. Sin produces death. So every last living thing we see is in the process of dying. We’re all broken emotionally, physically, relationally. Nothing really works the way it was meant to.
If you look at last week’s devo, we started into Romans 5 talking about all the amazing things that come with trusting in Jesus for our salvation from sin. Amazingly, God declares us “righteous” because Jesus is righteous; we have (right now!) peace with God; we stand (right now!) in God’s grace (forgiven and accepted); and we will absolutely be with God forever in glory. We don’t deserve any of it, and we can’t earn it. It’s God’s gift.
Then you turn to verse 3 and run into a giant “wait a minute!” Why would the all-powerful God of the universe who did the much more unlikely thing of making us right with Him (through faith in Jesus) also not just keep us from suffering. It makes much more sense to me that He would flip a switch and make all the hard things in my life disappear. He’s got the power, and I know He loves me. What’s the deal?
Instead, Paul writes that we can “rejoice in our sufferings.” Yay. I don’t want to rejoice in my suffering. I don’t want to suffer. But Paul is honest that there is no escaping from suffering on a sin-ridden planet -- even for Christians. We’ve been made alive spiritually, but we’re all still dying physically. We are not yet in heaven. Our bodies are not yet “redeemed.” Our adoption as God’s kids won’t be complete until He takes us home. So the suffering continues.
But. (That’s a big but right there.) But, Paul writes, something has changed about why we suffer. People without Jesus suffer pointlessly. Those in relationship with God suffer with a purpose. Our suffering helps us. How? It “produces perseverance” by making us trust in God more -- and longer. When I hurt, I feel my need for Him and I turn to Him for help. Guess what I find? He helps! I can trust Him! So I learn to trust Him sooner when I hurt the next time.
That perseverance grows my “character.” That means that instead of rebelling against God because my life is hard, I learn to obey Him because I’ve discovered how trustworthy He is. It makes sense to me to obey the God who helps me in my hard times. People of character make those right choices over and over. And if I do it God’s way enough, I become even more convinced that He really is God. His way works. He knows what He’s talking about. My character grows my hope in the God of heaven, the Father I can’t wait to be with forever.
Okay, that’s all kind of deep -- and this is already too long -- but the big picture is that our suffering matters if we’re willing to trust God when life gets hard, if we’re willing to obey Him in spite of our pain, and if we’re willing to look for the evidence of His goodness and power even on the hardest days. So next time you suffer, throw a little party and wait to see how God will once again show His incredible love for you.
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