Does God make use
of our suffering, hardship or pain to test, chastise, correct or purify us?
God may sometimes make use of our suffering:
a) to refine our faith by removing the impurities in our lives, as gold and silver are purified by fire. St Peter says, “Be glad about this, even though it may now be necessary for you to be sad for a while because of the many kinds of trials you suffer. Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and glory and honour on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed.”(1 Peter 1:6-7 TEV) With faith the human spirit often comes through the crucible of suffering refined and purified.
b) to strengthen our faith as God desires to make our faith strong. This is what God was doing when He made Abraham wait 25 years for a child. St Paul says, “Abraham believed and hoped, even when there was no reason for hoping, and so became the father of many nations. Just as the Scripture says, Your descendants will be as many as the stars. He was then almost one hundred years old, but his faith did not weaken when he thought of his body, which was already practically dead, or of the fact that Sarah could not have children. His faith did not leave him, and he did not doubt Gods promise, his faith filled him with power, and he gave praise to God. He was absolutely sure that God would be able to do what He had promised.” (Romans 4:18-21 TEV)
c)
to chastise or correct
us. St Paul reminded the Hebrews, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the
Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He
chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God
deals with you as with sons, for what son is there whom a father does not
chasten?” (Hebrews 12:5-7 NKJV) Moses reminded the people of Israel, “You should
know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens
you.” (Deuteronomy 8:5 NKJV) God reminded us, “As many as I love, I rebuke and
chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.”(Revelation 3:19 NKJV) We know that
the goal of a father in chastening his son is for his sons ultimate happiness.
Happiness is also Gods desire for us when He chastens us.
d)
to purify us to bear
more fruit. Jesus says to His disciples that although they are as intimately
related to Him as braches to the vine, they still need to be pruned in order to
bear more fruit: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every
branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears
fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:1-2 TEV) Pruning
means cutting, reshaping, removing what diminishes usefulness and the pruning
hands of God purify our hearts for deeper love, stronger hope, and broader
faith.
e)
to test our faith in
Him as recorded in Genesis, “Sometime later God tested Abraham, He called to
him, ‘Abraham!’ And Abraham answered, ‘Yes, here I am!’ ‘Take your son,’ God
said, ‘your only son, Isaac, whom you love so much, and go to the land of
Moriah. There on a mountain that I will show you, offer him as a sacrifice to
Me.’” (Genesis 22:1-2 TEV) Isaiah said to the people of Israel that God has
said, “I have tested you in the fire of suffering, as silver is refined in a
furnace.” (Isaiah 48:10 TEV)
But, will we be tested beyond our means to endure? We will not as St
Peter says, “My dear friends do not be surprised at the painful test you are
suffering, as though something unusual were happening to you. Rather be glad
that you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may be full of joy when
His glory is revealed.”(1 Peter 4:12-13 TEV) St Paul says, “Every test that
you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps
His promise, and He will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain
firm; at the time you are put to the test, He will give you the strength
to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.”(1 Corinthians 10:13
TEV) Do we believe that? If we do, we will have the power to go through the
tests. During the test, it is important for us to keep repeating and
believing what St Paul says, “I have the strength to face all conditions by
the power that Christ gives me.” (Philippians 4:13 TEV) And what does Christ
give us? “God has given us a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind"(2
Timothy 1:7 TEV). We need to learn to befriend our suffering by sharing it
with a trusted friend and to step over our suffering so that we can move on in
our lives. We don’t want to be stuck in our suffering, living as the wounded
one and always complaining that life isn’t fair.
So, will we have the strength to
endure the pain and suffering? Yes provided we ask God for it and believe that
God will give it to us. Often, “It is because you do not pray that you do not
receive;”(James 4:2 NJB) But when we pray, we are not to doubt at all,
as St James says, “But when you pray, you must believe and not doubt at all.
Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and blown about in the
wind. If you are like that, unable to make up your mind and undecided in all you
do, you must not think that you will receive anything from the Lord.” (James
1:6-8 TEV) Even when we pray we have to pray devotedly and fervently and not
with wrong motives, for: “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask
with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
(James 4:3 NIV) It is vitally important that when we ask we must believe, as
Jesus says, When you pray and ask for something, believe that you have received
it, and you will be given whatever you ask for.(Mark 11:24 TEV) Again, Jesus
reminded us, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who
believes.” (Mark 9:23 NKJV) We should also ask the church elders to pray for
us: “Are any among you sick? They should send for the church elders, who will
pray for them and rub olive oil on them in the name of the Lord. This prayer
made in faith will heal the sick. . . .The prayer of a good person has a
powerful effect.” (James 5:14-16 TEV) St John says, “Our fearlessness
towards Him consists in this, that if we ask anything in accordance with His
will He hears us. And if we know that He listens to whatever we ask Him, we know
that we already possess whatever we have asked of Him.”(1 John 5:14-15 NJB) God
promises us that He will strengthen us as, "those who trust in the Lord for
help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles;
they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.” (Isaiah
40:31 TEV) “We can be certain that God will keep His promise” (1 John 1:9
TEV). So "Be strong and of good courage; Do not be afraid nor be dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."(Joshua 1:9 NKJV)
Therefore, we must have strong faith in Gods Word for Jesus to work His miracle
of supporting and carrying us through the suffering and adversity.