Whether you are a Christian or not, we will all go through some form of suffering. Suffering is a broad human experience. It simply means to endure some kind of pain or distress. No passport, no status, no zip code exempts you.
The state and nature of this world is such that tribulations will always be a part of our reality. In fact Jesus was very direct about it. He said in John 16:33, “In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” He didn’t say you might. He said you will. But He didn’t stop there. He said fear not, because He has already overcome it.
You might ask why. Why do we suffer? The answer connects us all the way back to the garden.
When Adam and Eve fell, sin entered the world. And sin is not just a religious word. It is the root cause and the ongoing driver of human suffering. Every war, every broken home, every disease, every injustice traces its roots back to that moment.
When it comes to the physical manifestations of sin through people, perhaps you can escape. You can move away from an evil person. You can run. You can change your number and relocate. But how do you escape the spiritual realities that will find you in your own house? That can monitor you despite where you go?
Enter Jesus.
And because we will never all agree or be of one mind when it comes to Him, there will always be suffering in this world. Always. God knew this. And yet He still chose this route. 1 Corinthians 1:21 says, “It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” The world called it foolish. God called it the plan.
As a Christian, you are not navigating this world alone. You have the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort you. You have Jesus to shield and protect you. You have God who surrounds you on every side. They do so much more than that, but the key point here is this: tribulation for a believer is not meaningless pain.
Psalm 46:5 says, “God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved.”
Not moved. Not shaken. Not abandoned. Not forgotten.
This should change everything about how you face a hard season.
My story
As a child, I went through many moments of suffering and persecution that had me feeling like I was the problem. It was one thing after the other and I just could not catch a break. I remember sitting with the weight of it all, quietly convinced that something about me attracted pain. Like I was broken in a way others weren’t. Like God had a special category of hard reserved just for me.
1 Chronicles 4:10 tells of Jabez, whose mother named him for the pain of his birth. He asked God to bless him, enlarge his territory, stay with him, and keep him from evil so he would not cause pain. The passage says God granted his request.
For me, my moments of suffering were connected to refining and mostly to a message God gave me in 2014. He told me I didn’t do anything wrong and I shouldn’t blame myself. He said it was because of my calling that I went through everything I went through. Just sit with that for a moment. The very thing that was hunting me was connected to the very thing I was made for.
I wonder what your calling is. I wonder what name God has given you.
When you don’t understand that the events in your life are strategically placed, you will spend years living like something is wrong with you. Like some unseen hand is punishing you. Like God forgot your address. He didn’t.
To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
And when I say strategically placed, I don’t mean that God planned out specific moments for you to suffer. No. But should suffering come in front of you, it will either be blocked or Romans 8:28 will come into effect. “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Meaning God knows the blood thirsty nature of sin and the devil. He knows the enemy will use the same strategy over and over and over again to wear you out. And so God will many times use those very moments to teach you how to fight.
David said it best in Psalm 144:1, “Blessed be the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.”
He needs to teach you. Otherwise that battle will overcome you. And so while you are sitting there thinking God has ignored you, while you are wondering why He is not helping you, He is actually teaching you how to see through the very storm that was sent to destroy you. He is monitoring that battle. He has not looked away. Nothing will happen to you.
But things will go left when you don’t recognize His hand in it. Why? Because you will start confessing the wrong things. And those confessions will be used against you. Remember, life and death are in the power of the tongue. The devil will collect your negative confessions and build a weapon against you from your own mouth. What you say in your darkest moment matters more than you think.
Remember when Jesus cried out, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” Yet the Cross was an event that halted everything in heaven and on earth. The veil tore. The earth quaked. Darkness covered the land. Heaven was not absent. God had not abandoned Him. God’s presence is not absent in suffering. Sometimes He is accomplishing something deeper through it.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)
Let’s go Bible.
There are verses about suffering that changed how I see everything. It gave me an explanation for suffering. I am glad I came across them because they put my life in perspective. Quick disclaimer: This is not a complete exposition on this topic.
First, God will never accuse you, so He won’t make you suffer to prove you’re His toughest soldier.
Second, let’s look at the purpose of suffering from the scriptures:
To learn obedience
Hebrews 5:8 tells us that Jesus “learned obedience through what He suffered.” If Jesus Himself experienced obedience through suffering, how much more will we? It’s not punishment. It’s training.
To refine your faith
1 Peter 1:6-7 says your faith, like gold, undergoes refining through trials. Not a random sequence of unfortunate events, but a God-orchestrated process designed to purify and strengthen you.
To produce endurance and maturity
James 1:2-4 says the testing of your faith produces endurance, and endurance has a full effect so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
To make you dependent on God, not yourself
2 Corinthians 12:9 says when I am weak, then I am strong. Suffering strips away self-reliance and positions you to receive His strength.
To build character, not just comfort
Romans 5:3-4 teaches that God is more concerned about your character than your comfort. That one stings a little, doesn’t it?
Suffering is not a sign of God’s displeasure
Christian suffering is not a sign that God is upset with you. It often confirms your Christian experience and is a path God intentionally uses.
Blessed are you when you are persecuted for doing good
Matthew 5:10-12 says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.”
And 1 Peter 4:14 says, “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”
This reframes everything. Persecution is not a sign that you are losing. It is a sign that something on you is being noticed.
Other verses worth exploring on suffering: Matthew 5:10-12, 1 Peter 4:14, Acts 5:41, John 15:18-21, 2 Corinthians 12:10, James 1:2-4, Matthew 10:22
Now, before we continue, I want to pause here because this is important.
Not every season of suffering is about refining or your calling. Sometimes there are open doors inviting those attacks, and we have to be honest about that.
For example, are you mixing powers? Praying to God and your ancestors at the same time? Visiting psychics or consulting with witches? Those doors need to be closed. You cannot expect God’s full covering when you are standing in two houses.
1 Peter 3:17 says, “For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”
There is suffering that comes from your assignment. And then there is suffering that comes from your choices. Wisdom knows the difference.
Are you harboring unforgiveness? Gossiping? Nursing resentment, grudges, or revenge? These are not small things. They are open invitations. Galatians 5 breaks down the fruit of the Spirit versus the fruit of the flesh in a way that will make you take a long, honest look at yourself. Take a spin over there.
The Christian walk is complex but easy. Yes, easy. The reality is it won’t be easy in the beginning. Nothing new is easy in the beginning, because it’s new, it’s uncharted territory by you. But God knows that territory very well and as you walk, things will become clear.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
See it through. The battles you are facing now, in a year’s time, won’t be there anymore. Or they won’t be there in the capacity that they are in right now. You know how I know? Because the Bible shows us many stories that prove this. Because my life is also proof of this. The fierce battles I faced in 2013, 2014, and 2015 faded little by little.
Exodus 23:29-30 captures this so perfectly. God says, “I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and you inherit the land.”
Little by little. That is not God being slow. That is God being strategic. He is making sure that when the territory opens up, you are ready to hold it.
Hebrews 10:32 says, “But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings.” You went through those things after the light came in. After you knew better. After you said yes to God. That is not a contradiction. That is confirmation. The light on your life attracted the fight.
So see your journey through. Read and meditate on your Bible. Do not allow ignorant spaces to exist in your knowledge. God will help you.
Bible verses are from the NKJV version.