Suffering, pain or distress, one of the most persistent of all human problems. Even those who experience relatively minor suffering in their own lives are constantly confronted with the suffering of others—within their own families, among their acquaintances, or even in distant lands. Suffering takes many forms: physical pain, frustrated hopes, depression, isolation, loneliness, grief, anxiety, spiritual crisis, and more. Such unpleasantness comes to Christians too. Certainly, the biblical peoples struggled with the presence of suffering in their lives and sought ways to understand it and cope with it that could include their belief in both God's power and God's goodness. The biblical responses to suffering can be divided into at lease four categories.
1. Worldly suffering as a result of the Fall.
2. Personal suffering as a result of an individual's sins.
3. God induced suffering to achieve a greater good in our lives.
4. Suffering from being faithful to God and His calling to us as believers. |
