Summary: When we go through our sufferings, we have to ask God for wisdom. James tells us that if we are lacking in wisdom, we can ask for wisdom. When we receive wisdom from God, we will be able to understand our suffering and endure it. We also need to see the love of God behind this. Regardless of whether we have sufferings or trials in our flesh, we see Jesus as our example, who has overcome all these things. He Himself was tempted, He also went through tribulations. However, He still overcame all these things.

Many suffering in this world. If God exists and is good, why does He let them continue to suffer? A lot of unjust and unfortunate things happen daily, but we do not see God stopping these from happening. Those who do not believe in God say that God is dead i.e. they do not believe that there is a God.

However, is it true that God does not exist? Is it a matter of God not helping man, or is God just not immediately helping us at this current moment? The True God has already set a time for judgement for all the world’s sins. All the injustice that has happened in the world, God will address one by one on that day.

Moreover, the sufferings in the world are not created by God! When Adam and Eve sinned, sin entered the world. Everyone in this world hence will commit sin. Man has fallen short of God’s glory. Before man can accuse God of not being just, is man able to humbly reflect on themselves? Has man never done anything wrong before?

First kind of suffering - Death

Death came into the world because of sin. Sin happened because man caused himself to sin, not because of God.

To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life. Genesis 3:16-17

When the first man sinned against God, suffering and sorrow came into the world. Woman will bring forth children in pain, man shall toil all the days of his life (only then can he eat of the ground). In verse 19, God says in the end, man will return to dust as well, i.e. man will die!

When we want to think about the meaning of suffering, the first time suffering happens is because of sin. Man must therefore endure toil and labour in their lives.

And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised.
Ecclesiastes 1:13

Suffering is something everyone in this world will face. It is inevitable. This is why we fall ill and die one day. This is a truth that we cannot escape from.

“Man who is born of woman
Is of few days and full of trouble.
He comes forth like a flower and fades away;
He flees like a shadow and does not continue.
Job 14:1-2

We are all born of woman. Our days are few and full of trouble. Like a shadow that disappears quickly and will not last. Because of sin, we will face sufferings. However, because Christians have a true God who has come down to save man, we will have a new body created for us. Only once Jesus comes again, then we will not need to face death again.

Second kind of suffering - General sufferings

But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.. 1 Peter 4:15-16

Some sufferings happen because of what man has done i.e. not from God. If we do wrong and break the law, we will have to face the punishment from the law. These are sufferings that we bring upon ourselves.

Some sufferings are due to the fault of others, e.g. others drive recklessly and we are involved in an accident. Of course, as Christians, we know God will protect us, but this may not happen all the time.

Some sufferings could also be due to us not taking care of our body. We sleep late, we do not eat healthily, etc.

Some sufferings are the result of the earth’s ruin due to the sins of man. E.g. we may fall sick due to the environment or diseases. These disasters/suffering are not created by us, but we know that such sufferings will happen.

Nevertheless, we have the responsibility to take care of our bodies since it is the temple of God. Because it is the temple of God, we cannot do whatever we want with it. Although yes we will face death in this life, we still have to take care of this temple of God, which is our body, because we are made in the image of God. We cannot so easily defile the temple.

Many different kinds of sufferings. But we shouldn’t cause ourselves to suffer. Let us not go and look for those sufferings.

Third kind of suffering - From the devil

The purpose of this suffering is to cause us to lose faith in God. These kinds of sufferings may not necessarily appear as pain. When the evil one tempts us, it may not be just from a physical suffering. Instead, we might feel like we are enjoying many pleasures in life, but we are facing a disaster in our spiritual life. All these pleasures are sinful and when we indulge in them, we are unable to save our souls. In the future, we will suffer in the lake of fire.

Fourth kind of suffering - For our faith

On the other hand, some sufferings might indeed be painful, but these sufferings may not be bad for us. In the short-term, we might think it is a painful thing, but what it brings in the end is a better ending. We will find that we can grow more. We are able to gain more development. This is mentioned a lot in 1 Peter.

However, these kinds of suffering is something that we often do not want to face. To us, suffering is a bad thing. When we see someone suffering, we may wrongly think that their faith in God is not strong, God is not blessing them, etc. Vice versa with someone whose life is smooth-sailing. But is this really the case?

Job distanced himself from evil and feared God. However, God allowed him to go through a trial. Job really felt like he was suffering. Satan felt that Job was only faithful to God because God blessed him. Indeed, Job’s wife was someone like this. She asked Job to curse God and die!

Even today, we may have this mindset that if we are blessed, then we are someone who fears God. If we are suffering, then we are not blessed. If we believe in God and we hence suffer, some might say this is a shameful thing.

Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.
1 Peter 4:16

However, Peter says to not be ashamed if you suffer as a Christian! Christians may face persecutions etc. because of their faith. Why do we need to suffer if we believe in Jesus? Sometimes, God allows us to experience these things.

Nevertheless, since it comes from God, we know that it is not with bad intentions. The devil makes us suffer for us to stumble. But God’s intent is for us to emerge stronger from these suffering. One who has not undergone trials, will only be able to accept blessings but not sufferings.

Man is weak and imperfect. Sufferings are able to bring out better qualities in someone that they will not be able to attain otherwise. The sufferings that Job face were indeed great. Although Job was not able to understand, how did the NT describe Job’s sufferings?

Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
James 5:11

Author regards Job as one who is blessed. Calls God very compassionate and merciful that He lets Job go through such a suffering. Here, we can see something very clearly. Author believes that the end result is very important. Of course, in the process, Job suffered. But in the end, the blessings were much greater. This blessing does not only refer to physical/material blessings, but Job has reached a new level in his faith in God. He said that now he has seen God!

But wasn’t Job full of unhappiness and had many questions for God to answer? Job could not understand why he had to suffer though he had no sins. God did not answer him. Nevertheless, Job accepts that this was all God’s will.

Then Job answered the LORD and said:
“I know that You can do everything,
And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
Job 42:1-2

In the end, God asked Job many questions he was unable to answer. This made Job realise that he was a very limited person. First thing Job said to God was “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You”. Many things which God can do and Job had no control of.

Job accepted that God was an Almighty God. This was the first thing Job got to know about God.

Second thing that Job knew/learnt about God is that the will of God cannot be stopped. All that Job went through is God’s will - just have to go through it. Purpose of it is for us to be blessed. We may not know the process, but that does not mean that God does not know what His will is for us.

Through Job’s experiences, he got to understand God better. Able to rely on God more. When we say that Job was a perfect man, let us not compare that to God’s absolute perfection. I.e. Job’s spirituality still had to keep improving. God wanted Job to go through all these things, that he might understand God better.

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,
But now my eye sees You.
Therefore I abhor myself,
And repent in dust and ashes.”
Job 42:5-6

Can see how Job got to know God better. What did Job have to repent over?

“Would you indeed annul My judgment?
Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?
Job 40:8

This was what God said about Job.

Job later realised that God’s will for him was something good. Righteousness of man cannot match up to God. Job is described as a perfect man because God calls him righteous. Same for Noah. Noah was described as perfect in his generations. This ‘perfection’ is not that Noah was absolutely perfect, but rather Noah was called ‘perfect’ by God.

No man is perfect - if man was perfect, then no sin and suffering!

We cannot read the book of Job and say that since Job is perfect, why does he still need to suffer? Because no man is truly perfect.

Sufferings are not for us to fall. It is for us to grow. James hence said that Job was one who was blessed, because he was able to endure. For us today, if we suffer because of our faith, it is a blessing in disguise because there is something good for us which God intends. Perhaps it is to build up our faith, to make it even stronger. If we understand this, i.e. if we understand that all these things are for our own good, then it will help us break through our limits in our faith. We will be able to endure and overcome these things through our faith in God and through relying on Him.

Of course, this is not easy. While Job suffered, he had many questions. Nevertheless, despite these doubts and questions, in the end, God still blessed Job.

The incidents at the start of Job when satan and God interacted, made it seem as though God’s relationship with man is transactional. However, this is not the case! Otherwise, there is no point for us to believe in this God!

When we suffer, we must see the meaning behind it. Behind all these negative suffering, there is a positive meaning.

The suffering which the Lord Jesus went through is not something that we can go through. Jesus did not benefit from it - all the benefits came to us. He was perfect and without sin, but He was willing to come down to this world and save us. The only just man in this world in Jesus.

When we go through our sufferings, we have to ask God for wisdom. James tells us that if we are lacking in wisdom, we can ask for wisdom. When we receive wisdom from God, we will be able to understand our suffering and endure it. We also need to see the love of God behind this.

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:3-5

Tribulation produces perseverance. These tribulations refer to those as a result of our faith, not those we experience as a result of our sin. Perseverance produces character, which produces hope. With this hope, even when we suffer, we will be able to endure. Moreover, when we suffer, the love of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. God is with us! Jesus says we will have sufferings in the world, but we will have peace in our hearts. Jesus was telling the disciples that they were to suffer for the gospel.

Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
1 Peter 4:1

He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Will no longer live life in the flesh fulfilling lusts, but will live for the will of God. Regardless of whether we have sufferings or trials in our flesh, we see Jesus as our example, who has overcome all these things. He Himself was tempted, He also went through tribulations. However, He still overcame all these things.

Ravens are one of the few birds that dare to attack eagles. However, the eagles do not react. What do they do? They just keep flying higher, until a point whereby the ravens cannot keep up and the ravens go away.

When Jesus suffered on the cross, many attacked Him. However, He did not react to them. He took on all the sufferings, but He was exalted in the spirit to the highest. He fulfilled the will of God on the cross. Philippians tell us that God has exalted Him.

When we face trials in our faith, the meaning of all these sufferings may not necessarily be negative.