What causes us to go through spiritual, physical, mental, and financial suffering?
I believe the only way to answer this question is "I don't know." I don't think there is an answer. But one day wehen we go to glory and strip off our sins and see Jesus in all His glory then we will know the answer. God has His own way of doing things and I'm glad becuase we look at the here and now. But God has seen our past, looks at our present, and even seen our future. So I can tell you this, no matter what we go through, we won't go through anything that God doesn't know about. Nothing will ever sneak up on Him. And He will NEVER leave us. The Bible says we see things through veil or a fog, but God sees things clearly.
What better example of someone going through trials and tribulations than Job?
God tested Job and in the end he was given more than he went through.
Job 1:1- This means Job lived right, was right with God. And he abstained or stayed away from the evil things of the world.
Job 2:1-10 - Stain would like to see nothing better than to see us and other believers to give up on God. To curse God. People who have so much in this world, if they don't have Jesus then they already have their rewards. It takes the Holy Spirit to move into our hearts, mind, and soul to make our way to heaven.
Job had boils all over his body, he was scraping the boils from the crown of his head to the soles of this feet. I'm sure he was wondering, "why me?" But he never cursed God. He never lost his integrity. The devil was sure that Job would curse God but he never sinned with his lips. Even when his friends told him that he must have done something wrong.
We don't know what people go through when they leave here and go home. We don't need to point fingers. Job said he didn't do anything and still didn't curse God. Sometimes we break a fingernail and we go straight to pointing to the sky.
God in His infinite wisdom will never put more on you than you can handle. And if you're going through something than hang onto God. God will always carry the heavy end of the cross. He will never leave you nor forsake you.
Why does God allow sin or bad things to happen to good people? Lying, murders, thievery, etc., why does He allow that to happen? If He took out our ability to choose wrong, then we wouldn't have the ability to choose right. He gives us freewill to choose right and to choose Him.
Because jesus chose to die for us we can be saved by His blood. If we didn't have freewill to make right decisions, bad decisions, etc. how could God know that we truly love Him?
1. We won't always know why we go through what we go through. I think the devil intervenes and we give him credit for things that we chose to do.
2. Suffering causes us to mature as a christian.
Romans 5:3-5
If you go through something and are about to go through it again, you'll know you have the experience to keep yourself from having the same result. We should be seeking God's face all day, every day. We mature or gain experience through tribulations. Not everything will go as you plan. God has a plan for us. God gives us our talents for a reason, to glorify the Son of Man.
3. Tribulation or suffereing is a way God makes Himself known to us. I think about the story of the fishermen in the boat that was going through a storm but they didn't wake Jesus up until it got bad. If they had called on Him from the get go it mgith not have gotten bad.
Revelations 21:4 - The New Heaven
Does God wipe your tears away today? Does He help you through your trials? There's nothing the world can give us that God can't give. Those people who are living it up with riches, boats, cars, etc., this world is their heaven and many are in churches today.
Put Revelations 21:4 in your book as something to look forward to; No more arthritis, no more pain, no more bills, etc.
4. Sometimes God uses tribulations to get our attention. He wants us up here on our knees when we're way back there. If we're not seeking God then we have no hope.
Psalm 37:5-7
He says, "hang on a minute." Don't worry about all those people who are living large. He says, " hang onto me." No matter what we're going through, He will bring it to pass. We may never know why we go through what we go through but God says, "Hang on to me and I'll get you through."
Romans 8:18
He says, He knows for sure that what we go through in this world is nothing compared to what God has in store for us.