Why Do We Suffer?

Today we're going to try to answer the question why do we suffer. The very first class that I was able to take in seminary was entitled the problems of evil and suffering. That class raised the same question that we're going to try to answer today. Why do we suffer?

No matter which direction you turn, it won't take long to come across someone who is suffering. And the common question that is asked in the midst of that suffering is, why me? Unfortunately, many individuals never get past those words.

Even though the Bible doesn't tell us specifically why there is suffering and why we will all experience it at some point in our lives, we do know that God has promised to meet us in our suffering, and we can trust and lean on Him as He walks with us through it. No greater example of this can be found but in the life of a man named Job. We will be using Job chapters 30 and 42 today. Prayer.

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Have you ever been around someone who was a chronic complainer? Sure, you have. The chances are pretty good that you have. They tell you everything that's gone wrong in their lives and continues to go wrong. They believe they deserve better and they struggle to know why it's only happening to them.

We may not know why we suffer, but God meets us in our suffering. And that is really all we need to know. The account of Job's life in the Bible opens with Satan asking God for permission to test Job, and God permitted Satan to do so.

Job was stripped of virtually everything he held dear, including his possessions, his children, and even his health. But Job remained faithful. And in the heart of what Job was feeling is the question we've all asked at one time, “Why am I suffering?”

Job 30:26-28 – “But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness came.27 I am churning within and cannot rest; days of suffering confront me.28 I walk about blackened, but not by the sun. I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.”

Job had lived an upright, righteous life, and he had hoped for good, but he experienced just the opposite. Here we find Job elaborating on the emotional and physical pain he was going through, and these were just the tip of the iceberg of difficulties that came his way.

The things that once brought Job joy, now led to mourning and weeping. Haven't we all had times when life seems overwhelming? Sometimes we can feel paralyzed by everyday tasks. We ask others for help but don't receive the support we hope for. But as children of God, we have a God who is with us no matter what's happening.

The more we read Job's account, the more we think of him as a chronic complainer. He might have thought life was only rainbows and good things, but he found out otherwise no matter what direction he turned, there was no light at the end of the tunnel. Have you ever felt that way?

In the Christian standard Bible translation that I use today, verse 27 uses the phrase “churning within.” The King James version uses the word bowels. The bowels were regarded as the seat of deep feelings. Job was overwhelmed with grief over the suffering he had to endure, it was never ending. Job’s suffering was deep within his gut, and he could see no way out.

But, believe it or not, we can learn a lot from Job's life. He was a good man going after all the right things and still he went through some very tough and rough days of suffering. This should tell us that it doesn't matter how good a person is, suffering is a part of life. We can't just shrug it off and try to believe it isn't going to happen to us, because it will.

Does complaining about it help? Only to possibly relieve some of the tension and ill feelings we may have deep within. That is what Job was doing.

Job 30: 29-31 – “I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.

30 My skin blackens and flakes off, and my bones burn with fever.31 My lyre is used for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping.”

Over the years as pastor, there were a lot of things that I looked forward to. But there are things that I don't look forward to as well. Watching someone suffer is on that list.

Job compared his crying to that of an animal. His suffering continued to get worse and worse as his skin became diseased to the point of flaking off. His body was ridden with fever. The things that used to bring Job joy, no longer did. Those things now brought mourning and weeping. All this suffering left Job in a deep state of depression.