Age old question: Why does God allow suffering?
Read 1 Peter 4:1-11
"As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God" (1 Peter 4:2).
What Does This Scripture Mean for Us?
I've always been puzzled by what value there was, if ANY, in suffering: Why does God allow his people to suffer?
I'll not claim to have the answer to that one -- preachers, teachers, theologians, philosophers, and tons of other folks with impressive sounding names and titles have wrestled with the problems of suffering far longer
than I will!
But perhaps God gives us some "clues" in this passage of Scripture -- suffering has a wonderfully powerful "purifying" effect on our actions and attitudes. One of my favorite study Bibles suggests that serious suffering often focuses our attention away from sinful desires and those things of the "world" which seemed so attractive, and focuses it directly on living for Jesus.
Perhaps that's so. Suffering for ANY reason certainly isn't fun. I would never recommend that anyone seek out suffering or avoid ending it for any reason. But when it comes -- and as part of life, suffering WILL come! -- perhaps we can handle it better if we allow the problems we have to focus us more passionately on our faith in Jesus, on our dependence upon God!
