Why Does God Allow Suffering?

So, we'll do it on my phone. A lot of you witnessed the shocking murder of Charlie Kirk, and so you sort of saw something firsthand that hurt you. I refused to watch it. I heard about it, and I was like, I am not. I'm not putting myself through that. I feel really bad for the guy. And even though, you know, our country right now is super divided, and I wish people would ramp down the rhetoric, including people on the far right, like Mr. Kirk, he was a human being. He was a father. He was a husband. He was somebody's son. And, you know, we need to have the patience with each other that the country just doesn't have any more. And it seems to be getting worse. And that leaves us also with a really unsettled feeling. Like, what is going on? You know, school shootings are happening by people who are mentally deranged, and it's happening more and more often. A woman was knifed on a bus for no reason, for no reason. Just recently made national news. Our former president and candidate and our current president had two assassination attempts on him, one nearly successful while he was campaigning to become the president, were just becoming this violent country angry with each other. And both sides—and they can't see it. They can't see they're both doing the same thing and accusing the other side. They're demonizing the other side instead of talking to the other side. And both sides are doing it. Both sides are saying, it's all your fault. Both sides are doing it. So, today we're going to wrestle with one of the hardest, most common questions people ask about God. We're going to turn our focus back to the Bible and back to where our focus as Christians ought to be. When terrible things happen, there are steps you can take to overcome those emotions. I put some suggestions in the email last night. You can look at those. We're not going to cover those again today in the sermon. We're going to go further. We're going to go forward today and ask the question that so many people ask, and then we're going to answer the question from the Scriptures. If God is good—and you already know that's a loaded question—if God is good, if He is loving, if He is all-powerful, then why does He allow such suffering in the world? We see it everywhere. People lose their jobs. Families are torn apart by disease. Wars displace millions. Hurricanes. Tsunamis. Earthquakes destroy entire communities.

A loved one dies too soon, like Charlie Kirk. And we wonder, God could fix that. God could step in. Why doesn't God step in and stop it?

And for many, this question becomes a stumbling block, and they actually lose their faith in God. It doesn't change the fact that there is a Creator God on His throne, working out His plan, going to make sure that everything comes about the way He intends it. But for the people, they lose their faith. Some say, foolishly, but they say, I cannot believe in a God who would allow such suffering. And if you've ever thought that, you would not be alone. Mankind has thought that throughout time, as I will show you today with a couple of quotes. I want to share with you the words of Professor John Lennox, a Christian and Oxford scholar, who addressed this very question when he was asked by a doctor at Harvard Medical School in Boston. And his answers was very long, but it's important, and I'm going to read it in full, because he gives a very balanced approach to this subject. This is Dr. John Lennox speaking to a group of doctors at Harvard University.

Why would God allow such suffering? And more pointedly, the question was to, does God send the suffering? And does God allow the devil to send suffering? And obviously, they were very cynical about that, not believing in God at all. Although I don't believe there is such a thing as an atheist. Here is Dr. Lennox's quote. Quote, ultimately, I do take seriously what the Scripture says about these things. Talking about, does God send punishment? And does He allow the devil to send torment? I do take seriously what the Scripture says about these things, and I noticed two strands of thought. The first is that you cannot hold God responsible for all disease, and our Lord Himself made that perfectly plain to His disciples who believe that's this view.

Interesting thing, because they came across a man blind from birth, and the disciples asked Christ who did sin, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind. Now, that's a very interesting thing. They attributed that, according to the popular thinking, either to the man or to his ancestors. It was a kind of insipid doctrine of karma, and Christ said, neither. So I believe that it's false to say that all illness is a result of God's discipline or anything else.

Secondly, it's massively dangerous to say that, and He's saying God calls all illness, because if you tell someone, as people are want to do, who think they know better, that is, in the case, you can damage them very profoundly, psychologically, as you may be aware in your own discipline. Now, having said that, it's clear that there is an element of the other side, that God can allow people to suffer illness and disease to teach them a lesson, to discipline them. That's absolutely clear in Scripture. And you know, to the church in Corinth, Paul the writer said, look, your church is an absolute mess, and you've behaved so badly that some of you have become ill and have died. Now, it may be more complicated than saying it's directly divine retribution.

We have built in a certain way by nature, or we are built in a certain way by nature. I have a stomach. It's a very nice instrument, and it gets very nice ice cream into it sometimes, and enjoys it. But if I constantly fill it with methyl alcohol, I ruin it because it wasn't built originally. It wasn't designed to take 20 pints of beer a day, you see, and some of you may have discovered that already.

But it seems to me that in the fabric of our bodies, they're not neutral. There are certain behavior patterns that will conduce towards flourishing and health, and others that do not. Now, the trouble is that we're all too ready, or some people are too ready, to see a direct intervention of God when, of course, it is simply an indirect but very painful outworking of us being stupid. It's a very wonderful mechanism that if you booze too much, you get sick. That can save you from poisoning yourself.

So I see two strands in Scripture, but I also see a third one, and it's a very important one. The Apostle Paul wrote more than half the New Testament and was a senior Christian missionary, and he had an eye disease that made it very difficult for him to write. And he asked God to remove it, and God said, well, my grace is enough for you, Paul, and therefore I'm going to teach you to bear it.

And I think that's enormously important, because God wasn't procuring it, didn't guarantee a cure, and told Paul there wouldn't be one. That in his attitude to that disease, he was going to learn things that would develop character and so on. And you and I know this. We've watched people who've borne disease in a way which would shame us getting upset about trivialities that bother us, and those lessons can be absolutely and vitally important.

So I see a mixed picture when I think you're perfectly, and I think, a perfectly fair picture. And you say, do you believe these things? Yes, I do. But I'm very wary of the extremes, because the danger is somebody comes in from the outside, and you're ill and says, what have you been sinning about this week?

That's totally unwarranted. It seems to me very dangerous. But also the other thing, this perhaps relatively rare, but people get themselves possibly in spiritual tangle, and God uses some illness to bring them to their senses. End quote. I thought that was such a balanced answer. I wanted to read his entire verbal answer to that question of the cynic saying, well, are you saying God is punishing people with cancer? And his answer was, it's a mixed bag. He actually started that whole thing by saying, the answer is yes and no, but that's not very helpful.

It depends. So there's a misconception about suffering, and I want to first address the misconception about suffering. And then we're going to go through the causes of suffering, and then we're going to go through something a little bit deeper than just scraping along the surface of this subject. The disciples themselves wrestled with this. It is natural for us to wrestle with it.

Let's go back to that incident that John Lennox was talking about, Dr. Lennox, when the disciples saw the blind man. Let's go to John chapter 9. John chapter 9 verses 1 through 3. John 9 verses 1 through 3. Some misconceptions are making absolute statements about the sufferings we see in the world, trying to make sense of things that happen like what happened to Charlie Kirk, and trying to put that in a box. When we don't know the answer. John 9 verse 1. As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.

And his disciples asked, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents? They were trying to attribute blame for the illness, for the suffering. Probably trying to take the blame off of God and place it on to man, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it leads to this almost karma-like belief in the church.

That if you get sick, retribution will happen. Shame on you. And Tammy's mother had very serious stage four breast cancer, and a leader of the church—it was a different church of God, but it's the church of God—and we all come from the same culture. And the leader of the church said, well, you need to repent, and God will heal you of the cancer. And that blew Tammy's mom just out of the water. She wasn't a strong woman anyway. Poor lady. And it was such a rude, young disciple type answer, instead of a mature, ministerial, encouraging answer. This was a long-time minister in the church. He was actually one of my instructors, and he still had this young disciple, karma-like belief that—and that's a misconception about suffering. And Jesus answered it. Let's read on.

So the disciples are asking why he was born blind, and whose fault was it? And Jesus answered, it was not this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. Whoops! It wasn't that man's fault. That man was born blind from birth to glorify God.

He had to suffer all of those years as he was growing up to an adult male before he was healed of it. So, Jesus rejected the idea that suffering always means punishment.

It's easy to blame karma, so to speak. It's easy to say sin causes suffering.

That's true, but that's too shallow and broad of an answer. You need to go deeper for your own personal sake. So let's consider the question, where does suffering come from? Before you can ask, why does God allow suffering? Before you can dive deep and ask the why question, because the why question is answered, by the way, scriptures give the answer to why God allows suffering, why we are pressed on all sides. You first have to ask, what's going on?

Okay, what causes it? So let's go through four biblical sources of suffering.

Four sources that cause suffering named in the Bible. Where does it come from? These four sources, starting with number one and most obvious, God's direct intervention or punishment. He does do that, and he will do it again. And if you've read the book of Revelation, you know he can give quite a spanking to his children whom he loves. You can blame sin, yes, but sin was not the direct cause of the punishment in this case. God sends suffering and punishment. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 11 verses 29 through 30. Listen to this, and I want to give a little commentary on this at the end. 1 Corinthians 11 verse 29. Now, what is 1 Corinthians 11? It's Paul defining how the Christian church will keep Passover. So you'll notice we don't keep Passover like the Jews do in the rabbinical sense. We keep Passover differently. Why do we keep Passover different? 1 Corinthians 11. And so we're going to break into the thought here. Paul makes an interesting statement about suffering. Listen. Verse 29, if any of you eats and drinks without discerning the body, and he drinks judgment on himself, that is why you are weak and ill and some have died.

Now, let me offer an opinion. So, opinion warning here. This is not scriptural. This is me just thinking about what Paul said there. After being a pastor for more than a decade, I have a different perspective on this now than I did before I was a pastor. And that is that when you take the Passover in an irreverent way, people were getting drunk in this chapter. Paul was the Corinthian church. Well, it's not really hilarious, but it's a shocking example of how bad a church can behave. Right? How bad. Even in the church, we can behave. And some people were being gluttons, and some people were... Oh, I just ruined my notes. Anyway, some people were being gluttons, and some people were not letting other people eat. They weren't sharing each other. They were just rude! They were just absolutely rude. And so, Paul says, you didn't discern the Lord's body, which is the church and the Passover that they were taking all at once. It represented all of those things, which means they were taking the Passover irreverently, and they didn't just die immediately. So here's what I think this means. They took the Passover irreverently, and therefore rejected Jesus Christ. And then, some of them got sick, as you do. And then they went for an anointing, and the answer was nay nay. You don't get healed. You rejected Jesus Christ. And it was a direct punishment from God to allow the sickness to take its course.

Does God do that? Does God directly intervene and punish us? Well, yeah.

If He didn't do that, He wouldn't love us. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 6.

Hebrews chapter 12, verse 6. Sometimes, punishment does come from God.

Sometimes, the disciples' assumption there, back in John chapter 9, is right on the money.

And sometimes it's not. You don't judge. But Hebrews 12 and verse 6, for the Lord disciplines the one He loves. The word in the Greek there means to give a spanking.

God gives a spanking to ones He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives. That's the word that means spanking. It is for discipline that you have to endure God is treating you as sons, children. The Greek word there means children.

Sometimes, God uses suffering as a loving correction. But there's another source. This is why you don't judge people when they suffer. Oh, don't do it, brethren. Because there's also evil forces in this world. The second cause is Satan can send a thorn in your flesh that did not come from God. Allowed by God? Sure. But didn't come from God. It's not a punishment of God. It's a trial brought on because you're one of God's special, and Satan doesn't like that. Job 1, verse 12, And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Satan really wanted to get him, but God was limiting what Satan could do. Only against him do not stretch out your hand. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and Satan wreaked havoc on Job. World winds came up and destroyed his family. Invaders came in and stole his livestock and his servants. He got wiped out.

And it wasn't God's hand that did it. God was definitely involved, and we'll get to that at the end of the sermon. 2 Corinthians 12, verse 7. Again, Paul attributing something to Satan.

2 Corinthians, not verse. 2 Corinthians 12, verse 7. So to keep me from becoming conceited, skipping down a little ways, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. God used it for a purpose, but Paul said it wasn't from God.

It was from Satan trying to trip you up, making sure your car doesn't work just before you go to the feast.

You know, you have everything planned, and you have to get an alternator put in, or whatever it might be.

Satan afflicts, but God can overrule. This scripture leads to the third reason behind suffering.

There is a third cause of suffering. That is our own human errors, our flaws, our mistakes.

Consequences of human decisions. And you know what? I was talking to my son last night about this. It's not always our personal decision. Sometimes it's somebody else's stupid decision that brings on the suffering. But it's human caused nonetheless.

This is why we're pressed on every side. Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 19.

Listen to the consequence of your own actions. It says in Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 19, Your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy, in other words, you leaving God, will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God.

There are consequences to leaving God. Natural consequences that don't require God's personal intervention. God's way works. When you leave God's way, it doesn't work.

Galatians 6 and verse 7.

Galatians 6 and verse 7. Got a lot of scriptures today.

Verse 7, Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Oh, nothing bad will happen to me. What universe do you live in?

There's a side point here. I want to take a little detour and talk about the role of free will, and why your free will, your ability to choose right or wrong, unencumbered by God, is so important.

The Bible makes it clear that God allows suffering because He gave humanity free will, the ability to choose good or evil. Without that freedom, we would be little more than robots, unable to grow in character and truly to love God. Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse 19 is where God gave us the free will. I call heaven and earth as witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curse. Therefore, choose life that you and your offspring may live.

Loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him, for He is your life and length of days. God wants children who freely choose His way, and that means we also must have the freedom to reject it and the ability to receive the consequence of that rejection. When people reject God's way, suffering is the result.

So free will explains much of the pain we see in the world today, but it also is the foundation of God's plan to build His character in us. We'll talk a little bit more about that later. So the third point is that our own sinful choices often bring results. So we've talked about God's punishment, Satan intervening and punishing us, and we punish ourselves. But there is a fourth cause that has nothing to do with any of those. Well, it's actually indirectly related to number three, and it is the fact we live in a broken world.

We live in a world that is not the Garden of Eden. So tectonic plates shift in the middle of the ocean, and tsunamis kill 120,000 people in a moment. A volcano erupts and covers an entire city that is now a tourist trap for people to go look at how instantaneously disaster can strike.

People living on the coast are no more evil than we are living inland, but hurricanes hit them harder than they hit us. Because they live on the coast, and this is a broken world. Why is it broken? Genesis chapter 3 and verse 17. Oh, it goes back to sin. It usually does. Genesis 3 verse 17. Here's why we live in a broken world, not the Garden of Eden.

I suggest, this is my assumption based on the scripture we're about to read, there would be no earthquakes or hurricanes or wildfires or even thorns had we not sinned. But Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world, so we were going to sin, and this was intended. This world is on purpose. Genesis 3, 17. And to Adam, he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain, you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Not all suffering is a direct result of your personal sin. Oftentimes, people run into a bear in the woods, and things go wrong, because the world was subjected to futility after mankind was kicked out of the Garden of Eden. And it wasn't their fault that a polar bear ate them. They were on a lovely hike. The next moment, they're waiting for the kingdom of God. Romans chapter 8 and verse 20. Romans 8 verse 20. For the creation was subjected to futility. Skipping down a little bit. For what we know, the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. The earth is hurting so badly, it's like in labor pains. Those cramps that some people say is the worst pain you could feel. That's the pain that the earth is in.

One day, it's not going to be that way. And we have to get from where we are to where to that day is going to be. Let's look at that day just briefly, and then we're going to do a deep dive. Isaiah 11 verse 9. Isaiah 11 and verse 9. The problem with using a phone is you just tap it the wrong way, and it scrolls violently upwards.

Isaiah 11 verse 9. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

The earth will no longer be in pain one day, no longer in birth pains. And what will be covering the sea or the earth like the sea? God's knowledge. Earthquakes, storms, aging, disease, results of a cursed creation waiting for redemption will one day come. So let's do a little bit of deep dive. Those are four things that cause suffering. So you can't really pinpoint one when we send a prayer request out. You don't go, well, they just need to repent. Not necessarily. They may be the most humble person that their illness is bringing glory to God, and you cursing them is bringing judgment on yourself. They may be the most mature Christian receiving that disease.

I remember my mother was infected with hepatitis when she was pregnant with me. Miracle, I didn't get it. It should have killed her. God healed her. It didn't kill her, but he didn't heal the effects of it. So she remained overweight the rest of her life, which she was thankful for, believe it or not, taught her not to judge other people, because people were giving her all kinds of dieting advice all of her life. People she never knew come up to her and say, have you tried this diet? You know, really? Yes, she had tried it. She gave up on diets many, many, many years before. And then, after all of that lesson and all of that service to God, served God for more than 50 years as a minister's wife, she died of ovarian cancer. Not a sad story. Not a sad story. The story isn't over yet. She's simply got a break.

Brethren, she was tired. She wanted a break. She told me so. I'm not inferring that. I know that for sure. And now she's waiting for the resurrection. She's made it just like my dad, and just like your loved ones. There's a greater purpose. No matter where the suffering comes from, God uses all of it for a reason. It's a tool in his hand, much like pain is a tool for our physical bodies. You know, pain is a blessing, and I am a wimp. I hate pain. I get a splinter. I'm like, be careful taking it out. I hate pain, but pain is such a good thing. If we didn't have it, we wouldn't know to fix what's wrong. You know, if we put our hand on the stove and we didn't feel pain, that injury would become so bad that it would literally kill us. Because we didn't say, ow, and go fix whatever was hurting. And suffering is the same thing. A tool in God's hands. The late Scottish philosopher and skeptic, David Hume, you can't call him an atheist. He lived in a world where atheism wasn't allowed, so he's very tactful. Hume was a very tactful man, and wrote as if you could believe in God, just doubt everything he does. He just made God very impersonal. He didn't care whether he existed or not. He just wasn't involved with mankind in a personal way at all. That's David Hume. So he saw the flawed world. He saw the suffering, and he suggested there's no way there's any benevolence in God whatsoever. Growing up in a Presbyterian family, he was skeptical of miracles, saying that eyewitness testimony for them was always weaker than natural evidence against them. To which I disagree, that's absolutely wrong, but that's what Hume thought. Hume made this famous quote in the dialogue concerning natural religion in 1779. We're going to read part from section 10. You've probably heard this quote, if you'll just think back. You've probably heard this. You may not have known where it came from, but it's a guy in Scotland in 1779 is where it came from. And he puts the words to the problem of evil, the challenge of why there's evil in the world. From his point of view, quote, Epicurious old questions are yet unanswered. Is he willing, speaking of God, is he willing to prevent evil but not able? Then he's impotent. Is he able but not willing? Then he's benevolent. I'm going to challenge that. Is he both willing, able and willing? Whence then is evil? End quote. In other words, if God is able to intervene and willing to intervene, how come we are pressed on every side? Well, the Bible answers that from beginning to end. It's a beautiful answer. It's a loving answer. And thank God for the perfect answer to the question. Hume's reasoning is that the existence of evil seems to be incompatible with an all-powerful or omnipotent and an all-good or benevolent God. This encapsulates what many people, when they face suffering, automatically think. They experience some or witness some evil, like we saw on the internet with Charlie Kirk. We see the suffering, and we ask, where is God in all of this? If God is so powerful and so loving, why didn't he intervene? That's a very good segue to speaking about the reason why all suffering in the world exists. No matter what the cause, suffering, why does God allow it? There's many possible causes, but God could stop them all. Let's look at why our loving God leaves us in the world and tells us to not be part of the world. Psalm 119 verse 67. Psalm 119, oh how I love your law, Psalm. It makes me wiser than my foes, makes me wiser than my teachers, your law. But there's this little verse embedded in here, verse 67, that tells us why suffering.

Before I was afflicted, before I suffered, I went astray. But now, in other words, after I suffered, I keep your word.

Before I was afflicted, I did whatever old thing I wanted to do.

After I was afflicted, I fell in line with God. Oh, how I love your law. When I saw the consequences of sin, I love your law. 2 Corinthians 12 verse 19. Why did I go back here? We read this earlier in point two. We read 2 Corinthians 12 verse 7, where Paul attributed his illness to Satan. It was Satan's fault, but that's not the end of the story. Paul also says why God didn't stop Satan. Okay, so Satan is blamed for the infirmity, but notice the result. Notice the reason behind the suffering. Paul explains in verse 9, but he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you.

For my, speaking Paul here, Paul's power, my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast more gladly of my weakness so that the power of Christ—where does your power to overcome come from? God's Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ. It comes from Christ.

That the power of Christ may rest upon me. Why did God allow Satan to buffet Paul's health?

So that Paul would not be conceited, and Paul would gain God's spirit and power to overcome.

Romans 5, verse 3. Romans 5, verse 3. Not only that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance.

Now, Paul's not talking about where the suffering comes from. It might be a punishment from God. It might be from Satan. It might be from our own stupidity. It might just be time and chance living in a very dangerous world. But it always produces endurance.

Why didn't God intervene? Because he's making perfect children. And endurance produces character. And character produces hope. And hope does not put to shame. Christians do not buckle under suffering. I remember George Payton. A man did not buckle under suffering. Neither did his wife when she got sick as well. Nancy. But I remember going to George's Mr. Payton's side when he had very bad cancer, stage four, he was almost ready to die. And he had hope! He knew where he was going. He was fine. He was a man of character. And he asked about how you all were doing.

How so and so, how so and so. That was amazing. That was truly amazing. And that was this scripture being fulfilled in front of me.

Hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Peter says the same thing that Paul says. Suffering produces character. Character produces hope. Listen to the encouragement of Peter.

1 Peter 1 verses 6 through 7. I'm going to read this from the NIV. It'll be a little different than you're used to. In all this you greatly rejoice. Though now for a little while, notice the temporary nature that Peter puts on suffering. Oh, it doesn't feel temporary when you're in the middle of the Day of Atonement and you're starving. Sun down comes, doesn't it? And you get to eat. Suffering is the same way.

You rejoice greatly though for a little while you have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith, believe trust, loyalty, of greater worth than gold, which parishes even though it's refined by fire. Oh, we get refined by fire, but it only purifies us. That's the purpose of suffering, no matter where it comes from.

You don't need to judge why do we have it, because you need to understand there's a bigger picture. He says, may result in the praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

You will receive praise and glory, which means beauty and honor, which is like respect.

When you suffer now, temporarily, it doesn't last forever. Simply put, God allows suffering because He wants His children back. He wants them back. He wants us to learn His character, but that's not the state that we start with. Psalm 14, verse 2. Psalm 14, verse 2.

The Lord looks down from heaven. Here's our starting point. Here's why suffering.

Don't blame God. God is loving us. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man. To see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside.

Together, they have become corrupt. When I watched the news, both sides were blaming the other for the problems in the country today.

The liberals and the conservatives are completely convinced. They're so polarized.

To their side, they can't see that they've done anything wrong. That they've literally done the same exact thing the other side is doing. They're accusing each other, and then they're saying, the problem is, you're accusing us. And they're both doing it. That's an oversimplification of the problem. But that is a real problem in the country right now.

They've all turned aside. Together, they have become corrupt. All of them! Don't take sides, brethren. Have a bigger picture. There is none who does good, not even one. God's building his children with his character. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 7.

2 Corinthians 4, verse 7. But we have this treasure in jars of clay. What's a jar of clay? Your body. When we die, do we not turn into clay?

But what's inside? Isn't a body that can be cracked and chipped and broken?

Inside is the character of God being built. It's a treasure. We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

Our bodies just do not hold up to this world. We age, we get ill, we lose our jobs, we have financial troubles. We're pressed on every side. But there's a treasure inside that jar of clay. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed. Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus so the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. We are going to be resurrected one day. For we who live are always being given over to death. And that's literally for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal flesh.

So, no matter where suffering comes from, it all leads to our perfect character. Okay, so what then is our response? Five more minutes. What is our response to suffering? Proverbs chapter 3 verse 6. Proverbs 3 verse 6. This is a memory verse for most of you. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding in all your ways. Acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. You're in God's hands. He's got you. You're fine. Hebrews 4 verse 15. For we do not have high priests who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who with every respect has been tempted or tested as we are yet without sin.

You want to talk about suffering and pain, just consider Jesus Christ. So he's on our side. So he sympathizes with you. And he's getting you where you need to go. Trust him. When you suffer, trust him. When you abound, trust him. When you're in the doldrums, somewhere in the middle, trust him. Revelation 21 and verse 4. We are going to leave this dangerous world one day. We're going to leave it behind. Revelation 21 verse 4. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying, nor pain anymore. For the former things have passed away. How do we respond to suffering? We respond with trust.

So why does God allow suffering? Sometimes it's a punishment. Sometimes it comes from Satan.

Sometimes it comes from our own choices. And sometimes simply because the world is broken. But through all of it, God's purpose stands. Final Scripture, Romans 8 verse 18. Romans chapter 8 verse 18. For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us. Suffering is real, but it's temporary. And for those who trust God, it leads to eternal joy. Do not fear.

We are in the most capable and loving hands.