FollowThirteen Reasons for Believers’ Suffering
© C.O. Bishop 02/2018 revised 2026
2nd Corinthians 1:3-11
Introduction:
We frequently wonder, “Why is this happening to me?” or “Why is this happening to our loved ones, or our church or our country?” It is good to look to God for answers:
Thirteen Biblical reasons for suffering (there may be more):
In the first place, let’s remember that God is Sovereign… He does not require our approval. His ways are just, even when we don’t like them. He defines Righteousness. The evil that is in the world came there as a result of Human sin, not “Divine caprice.”
So, Let’s Begin With the Concept of “Consequences” (Points 1-4):
- Consequences of Original Sin. There are bad things happening in the world, and the world got that way when Adam sinned. Romans 5:12—“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
By the way, (Compare Romans 8:18-23) this sin affected the whole creation, not just humans, though the plants and animals have not sinned. But they were changed from all being herbivores to some of them being prey animals and others being ferocious, merciless predators. And all of that is the result of Human Sin.
2. Consequences of (past) Personal Sin (or simply error, etc.:) There can be (usually are) consequences for sin, foolishness or errors. This is not “punishment,” but simple consequences. Sometimes we see the natural consequences of an error as punishment. But punishment implies wrongdoing, and some errors are not wrongdoing, but just bad judgment, or clumsiness, or ignorance—and all can have terrible consequences.
I have a cousin who is missing an arm. He lost it because he fell out of a tree as a child and broke it: The attending physician did not realize that the bone had pierced the skin, and had plunged into the soil before pulling back into the flesh. It had thereby infected his flesh with the bacteria that nearly killed him.
They had to amputate the arm to save his life, and even so, they nearly lost him. It truly was a deadly infection…but: Was it Punishment?
No! It was partly original sin—there are terrible bacteria out there, as a result of the Fall of the Human race: And, infections can kill. Partly, it was a simple error on my cousin’s part—he fell out of a tree. It was also partly an error on the physician’s part: He was not careful enough in his diagnosis. But possibly, even had the surgeons known exactly what they were up against, they may have lost the arm anyway. And, no matter how you look at it, it is not punishment.
3. Consequences of (current) Personal Sin. In a believer’s life, God may apply chastening to turn us away from error. It is still not the same as punishment. God says the wages of sin is death—eternal separation from God in the lake of fire. That is punishment. In John 3:18, Jesus said, “He that believeth in Him is not condemned; He that believeth not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.”
We who are believers have placed our trust in Jesus’ shed blood at the Cross. So, where is our Judgment? At the Cross. Where is our sin? At the Cross. Where is our punishment, and our condemnation? At the Cross! Jesus truly paid it all!
But God DOES chasten believers, to correct them. Do you think, perhaps, that Jonah’s “water-taxi” ride to the beach was fun? God corrected the prophet Jonah.
4. Consequences of Personal Righteousness. This is an odd one—we think that if we are doing right, everything ought to go well…and sometimes it does. Proverbs 16:7 states, “When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” That is a general truth: In general, we can expect that result.
But if our enemies are God’s enemies, then at some point, we will be attacked for being good. 1st Peter 2:19 says, “For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.”
“Non-Consequence” Reasons
5. Training, or testing, in the sense of an athlete, or soldier, or student. God still refers to this as “chastening,” in Hebrews 12:3-15. But it is not punishment, nor is it even as a result of wrongdoing. It is a “workout” given so that we may profit thereby.
When I was in high school, as a wrestler, we had brutally hard workouts, every evening. I went home with a terrible headache, every night.
But, those workouts were by no means “punishment.” They were just because we were “on the team!” They were designed to build strength, skill, and speed, so that we could compete against wrestlers from other schools, in intermural tournaments.
Sometimes God puts us through hard times to develop our faith. James 1:2-4 says, “Count it all Joy, my beloved Brethren, when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
God loves us and He subjects us to stresses to make us better able to serve, and better able to stand against the evil of the world.
Another view of the same concept is “pruning.” John 15:2(b) states that a healthy, live, fruit-bearing branch of a vine may still be pruned to make it more fruitful.
6. Because it is simply God’s will for us at the time. Job did NOT know what was going on in his life, nor why he suffered the loss of all his possessions, and all his children in a single day. But we were given a little “peek” into what was going on.
God did have a purpose, and it had nothing to do with any error on Job’s part, nor, apparently, any need for correction, testing or training (though we might read that into our understanding of the result.)
God had his own purpose in Job’s life: He was not required to explain it all to Job. (And as far as we know, He didn’t, unless Job was the writer: It doesn’t say.) If Job was the writer, then God revealed to him all that had happened “behind the scenes.”
7. Suffering for Faith. Being subjected to threats from around us, and suffering persecution rather than renouncing our faith. (This is closely related to #4: Consequences of personal righteousness, but is a little different.)
Under genuine persecution, a believer may be offered a chance to recant his faith in order to escape persecution. Refusing to recant, and accepting the suffering, is part of the believer’s lot.
During the early days of the church, many believers lost their lives for that very cause. Philippians 1:29 says, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”
Over the centuries, thousands have been martyred for their faith, some by people who claimed to be acting on behalf of God, but, in fact, were persecuting the Church. Some were tortured and killed by people who were consciously enemies of God.
But, even today, the believers who are actively living for Christ tend to be “outside the gate:” They are rejected by the World. (Compare Hebrews 13:10-14…this is not to be counted a “bad thing.” Jesus was rejected, too!)
8. So that We may be a Comfort to Others. 2nd Corinthians 1:3-11 (read Verse 4.) “That we may comfort others with the same comfort wherewith we were comforted by God.” When we have suffered the same experience, we can offer encouragement to others who are going through it.
I recently was able to offer comfort to the wife of a cousin, because, years ago, I went through open heart surgery. It was for what is called an “annuloplasty,” wherein the prolapsed mitral valve is repaired and reinforced, using Gore-Tex fabric and a thin ribbon of surgical stainless steel, wound up as a ring, supporting the inlet side of the mitral valve.
She (Adelia Lee) had been in great anxiety for her husband (my cousin Peter Lee) and she was profoundly relieved to hear from someone who had endured exactly the same surgery and had regained full health.
Now: Did I know, at the time I underwent that surgery, that I would thereby become a comfort to someone else? Nope! I was just glad to get well and regain some of my former strength and stamina. But I am glad that it was a help to someone else.
9. So that our Consolation in Christ may Abound. Verse 5. As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so may the consolation of Christ abound. We are called to join Him in the fellowship of his sufferings (Philippians 3:10 “….that I may know Him and the power of His resurr3ection, and the fellowship of His suffering…”). But we are to experience the reality of His consolation, as well. (Habakkuk 3:18 says, “Yet will I rejoice in the LORD: I will Joy in the God of my Salvation!”)
10. So that Others’ Consolation may Abound Through Us. Verses 6-7. We can learn from the experiences of those around us. We cannot live long enough to experience everything ourselves, as individuals. But we can learn vicariously through their examples. I can learn from your example: You can learn from mine, perhaps.
11. So that We will Learn to Trust God, and Not Ourselves (Tied to #5). Verse 9. This is an important one. At some point, we must learn that God is in control and that He is entirely trustworthy.
Some of you have been praying for Hannah’s brother, Andrew, who is dying of cancer. He is declining rather rapidly, now: He can no longer stand and walk, and he can barely talk. But, when the Hospice nurse asked him, this week, “How are you doing?” He simply shrugged and said, “God’s got this!”
(Amen!) The truth is, God has ALWAYS “got this!” The question is “What will it take for us to accept that truth and apply it on a daily basis?”
12. So that We, as Christians may Learn to Pray for Each Other. Verse 11. This ties directly to Ephesians 6:18-20. We need the prayers of one another, but we are also commanded to pray for one another: Prayer is part of the Christian’s Armor in this world. And notice: Paul asked them to pray for HIM…it is not just for the weak or struggling believers: It is for all the believers.
Ephesians 6:18-20 “18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”
13. So that Thanksgiving may be Offered on Our Behalf. Verse 11. The result of answered prayer is thanksgiving. And, as we see God’s hand moving in the lives of others, we can be filled with thanksgiving on their behalf, as well as for ourselves.
So, What About Us?
If we can accept the suffering in our lives (small or great,) and respond in faith, it will glorify God, and bring eternal blessing to us. In 2nd Corinthians 12:1-10, Paul gave us an example, where he cheerfully accepted God’s Grace as sufficient in his suffering.
But Jesus is our ultimate example: He deliberately laid aside His eternal prerogatives as God, the Creator; God, the Eternal Son, and the Living Word of God, to become a human baby, living and growing up in a poor family, in a poor village, in a small, poor country that was already enslaved by the Roman Empire.
Finally, He voluntarily took upon Himself the weight of all the sins of all humans for all time, and He became our sin, to take upon himself the whole judgment of God for our sins. He voluntarily laid down His life. Why? So that we could become the Righteousness of God, in Him!
2nd Corinthians 5:21 “For He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God, in Him!
The Resurrection we celebrated last week is the reason for the rest of our faith: We are risen with Him, ascended with Him, and seated with Him. That is why we can choose to accept our suffering as something hardly worth worrying over. That is why Andrew could say in all honesty, “God’s Got This!” And we can say so, too!
Lord Jesus, please change our vision of the life we live, so that we can see just how temporary it is, and how completely we are in Your hand, and can trust Your Wisdom and Love. Teach us to walk with You in peace, and seek to fulfil Your will in our lives.