Suffering is something we all face in a fallen world.  This is an axiomatic truth.  One of the first questions we ask in suffering is, … Why?  Why is this happening to me?  Why has God allowed this?  Why?  We long to know God’s purpose in our suffering.  It’s crucial to have a solid theological foundation before trials come. This not only benefits us, but also our family, fellow believers, and others to whom we will have the opportunity to minister to as they go through various afflictions (2 Cor 1:3-7).   

Let’s lay a foundation of God’s purposes in suffering.  As we suffer our goal is not necessarily to pinpoint the particular purpose God has for us.  Likely there is more than one.  We don’t need to know exactly why – and we may never know the exact reason.  Being anchored in Scripture gives us comfort and guards us from false conclusions about God and about our suffering.   It is comforting to know that God in His wisdom and faithfulness redeems our suffering for His good purposes. 

What are God’s purposes for suffering?  

1. To shape us into the image of Christ in greater godliness (Rom 5:2-5; 8:28-29; 1 Pet 2:21-23).

Romans 8:28 is an oft quoted verse in affliction.  “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good…”  Sadly, this verse is often removed from its context and misinterpreted as a promise of a happy ending.  In context, the good that is promised is our salvation and sanctification (v.29-30).  One purpose God often has in our suffering is that we “be conformed to the image of His Son” Jesus Christ. 

Endurance, character, and hope is learned through suffering (Rom 5:2-5). James 1:2-4 says, “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.”  Psalm 119:71 says, “It was good for me to afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.”  God uses affliction to grow us in godly Christlikeness. 

2. To wean us from the love of this world (Ps 39:4-6, 11; cf. Heb 10:32-39).

Psalm 39:4-6, 11 says, “O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetimes is as nothing before you.  Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather…When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely all mankind is a mere breath!” God means to teach us that life and the things in this world are fleeting.  If there are idols in our lives, then God will consume what competes with our affection for Him.  

Sometimes God uses suffering to topple the idols we’ve been trusting in for identity, security, or happiness.  God does this so that we might find these things in Him instead.  Suffering helps ween us from our attachment to the things of this world.  This goes hand in hand with the next purpose: strengthening our longing for heaven. 

3. To strengthen our longing for heaven (Rom 8:16-25; 2 Cor 4:16-18; Heb 10:32-39).

Hebrews 10:32-36 says, “But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.  For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.  Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.  For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” These Christians joyfully accepted the plundering of their possessions because they knew they had a better and abiding possession in heaven. When we prize heaven above all, we will not be imprisoned by things of earth.

We are heirs with Christ “provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Rom 8:16-18).  All our tribulations lift our gaze to heaven with eager expectation (Rom 8:23).  “So, we do not lose heart.  Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.  For this slight and 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” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

4. To foster dependence upon and hope in God (2 Cor 1:8-11; 12:9-10).

Our affliction teaches us to depend on God not ourselves.  There is trust and hope in these verses: “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia.  For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.  He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.  You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.” (2 Cor 1:8-11) Suffering deepens our prayerful dependence on God as the Psalms demonstrate repeatedly (Ps 3; 11; 16; 27; 42; 62; 71; 73, etc).

Affliction reveals the reality that we are dependent on God for life and breath and everything (Acts 17:25).  When suffering reveals our weakness then we seek the powerful, all-sufficient grace of God.  Paul pleaded for his thorn (whatever it was) to be removed.  God answered, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul did not boast in his strength, but in his weakness.  “So that the power of Christ” might rest on him! (2 Cor 12:9-10) In our weakness we learn to lean on God’s divine strength. 

5. To be able to comfort others with the comfort with which we have been comforted (2 Cor 1:3-11). 

Paul writes, “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.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

The source of our affliction differs.  Everything from cancer to car accidents.  But the source of our comfort is the same – the God of all comfort!  That is why we can “comfort those in ANY affliction” – even if we haven’t experienced it.  God’s comfort is universal in application (v.4).  Moreover, God comforts us in proportion to our suffering (v.5). Abundant suffering is met with abundant comfort.  Finally, God’s comfort is a promise we can count on (v.7).  There is no doubt in Paul’s theology that Christians will experience God’s comfort in their suffering.  We in turn comfort others with the comfort we have received from God. 

6. To discipline us for disobedience and train us in righteousness (Heb 12:3-11; Ps 39:11; Deut 8:5).

God will at times discipline us for sin as His children.  “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Heb 12:6).  In fact, it is evidence that we truly are his children (v.8).  “He disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness.  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.” (Heb 12:3-11; cf. Lev 26:14-20).  “When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely all mankind is a mere breath!”  (Psalm 39:11).  One purpose of our affliction is God’s discipline to train us in righteousness.  

7. To prove our faith is genuine (1 Pet 1:6-7; 2 Thes 1:4-5).

“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 – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6-7). Like a furnace purifies and proves gold, God uses suffering to purify our faith and show that it is real and will result in glory when Christ returns.

“Therefore, we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.  This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering…” (2 Thes 1:4-5).  Enduring suffering for the Kingdom by God’s grace is evidence of genuine faith. Being faithful may bring affliction but it purifies and proves our faith.

8. To bring good to others from our suffering (Gen 50:19; 2 Cor 4:10-15).

Most are familiar with the historic narrative of Joseph and his declaration in Genesis 50:19, “But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive, as are today.”  God meant his suffering to bring about the good of many others.  Paul shares that their suffering served to manifest Christ to the world so that many would find life in Him to the glory of God (2 Cor 4:10-15). 

Of course, the greatest example is Christ Himself who gave “His life as a ransom for many.” (Matt 20:28).  He was “delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Rom 4:25).  And this “according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23, 4:27-28; Is 53:10).  Jesus willingly came and died in our place, for our sins, so that those who confess and turn to Christ in faith will be forgiven, have peace with God, and receive eternal life.  His suffering makes salvation available to the world (John 3:16).  In a similar way, God sometimes uses our suffering to bring good to others. 

9. To glorify Himself by displaying His power and all-sufficient grace in our lives (Jn 9:1-3; 2 Cor 12:8-10).

“As He went along, he saw a man blind from birth.  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.” (John 9:1-3 cf. John 11:4).

God displays his power in our weakness. “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 Cor 12:8-10

God will always be glorified through suffering as we trust and depend on Him.  Sometimes God displays his power through our deliverance.  Other times He displays his power through his sustaining grace.  Either way, God displays His power for His glory.

When we understand the purposes of God in suffering we can then say with the Psalmist, “I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.” (119:75)

Conclusion:

Paul Tripp points out in his book Suffering, that “We never come to our suffering empty-handed.”[1] We bring our past experiences, our perspective, and especially our theology.  He writes, “What you think about yourself, life, God, and others will profoundly affect the way you think about, interact with, and respond to the difficulty that comes your way.”[2]  This means what we bring to our suffering can make it better or worse.  So, it is wise to be equipped with Scripture and a theology of suffering to prepare us for the trials we will go through in life.  

We cannot know all that God is doing in and through our suffering. Yet we know God uses suffering for many good purposes.  We know God has not changed and remains the same for us today as yesterday.  We know God has not forgotten nor forsaken us.  We know our suffering is not necessarily for sin.  We know we are not being singled out because suffering is normal in a fallen world.  Above all, we know that God will see us through whatever it is He has brought us to, for our good and His glory.

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[1] Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense, by Paul David Tripp, Crossway, 2018, pg. 27

[2] Ibid, 27