God Knows Why You’re Suffering
A minister who learned he had cancer was displeased with God’s ways. He told a friend, “I can’t understand why God let this happen to me. I’ve served Him faithfully. I’m not nurturing a secret sin. I’ve taken care of my body. I keep my weight under control. I don’t think I deserve this.”
His protests remind us of those raised by Job almost 4,000 years ago. He hurled out the word why a total of 16 times. He even listed 12 ways in which he had been a moral, honest, kind, and loving man (Job 31:1-14).
But God never answered Job’s questions. Nor did He answer this query as it came from the lips of my minister friend. However, God did something better. He gave them the assurance that He knew why.
Sometimes we can answer the question why. It is always good to search our hearts to see if we bear some blame for our pain. We may be sick because we have not obeyed commonsense rules of health. It is also possible that our illness is the result of God’s chastening because of sin in our lives (1 Corinthians 11:29-30; Hebrews 12:6). If we know we have been living disobediently, we must repent. God may give us healing when we do.
However, we often can’t find specific answers to our why questions. But God does not leave us completely in the dark. He has shown us that even unexplained suffering has a valuable purpose.
We may not know which reason for suffering fits our situation. But God does.
