Suffering Does Not Discriminate

Suffering will come for all of us in various forms. It does not matter how old you are or how mature you are in your walk with Christ. Can you be prepared for suffering? Yes, which is another subject for another post.

Many people think suffering comes to people because of something in their life. Granted, God can use suffering as a form of discipline when someone is wandering away yet there are times suffering comes when things seem to be going right.

Job had everything going for him till God allowed Satan to cause him harm yet under the rule to not take his life. The problem is we think there are some people that do not deserve suffering, which is not true. We all deserve much worse including suffering. 

We have a member at our church who is going through colon cancer right now. In fact, he is one of our pastors. I was having a conversation with a brother in the church; he said that maybe this is happening because of the type of person he is. As one who has been through cancer, I found that a little insulative. When I went through cancer, God used to that to convict me of false teachings that I was following at that time. 

Now there are people who would say that this pastor should not have gotten cancer because of the person he is. Not true. Suffering does not discriminate. Suffering will happen to all regardless of age and spiritual maturity. The church needs to stop thinking that suffering is only for those who are the bottom of the food chain in the church, which is really sad saying that. 

The body of Christ needs to be there for another in the midst of their suffering. We need to stop highlighting certain ones who are going through suffering when there are others going through it as well. Suffering is not discriminatory and neither should be the care the church has for one another. 

Tom Drion: The Pilgrim’s Progress Through Trials

The message was delivered at the Truth in Love Conference at Founders Baptist Church in Spring, Tx: 

Suffering Does Not Make You a Super Christian

Suffering is inevitable in this life. We have been told that for a long time. Suffering comes in various forms and at unexpected times. It can happen to anyone. 

A Christian we are expected to suffer whether it is physical, spiritual, or even in relationships. Suffering does cause us to grow as a Christian. One thing it does not do is make you a Super Christian.

You do not become one who is invulnerable to suffering or never to sin again in this life. You do not get some revelation that no one else does. Your suffering did not come because God knew you could handle it or because you are a special kind of person to take it.

Suffering makes you depend on the Father. It conforms you in the image of Christ. Suffering makes you lean on the body of Christ more than ever. Suffering brings to you to prayer and worship. It brings you back to the Word of God. 

The one thing suffering does not do is not transform you into some super saint because we will all suffer in this life till the day we depart from this life to the next or when the Lord returns. 

Will We Ever Know Why We Suffer?

Suffering is inevitable. The testing of our faith is guarantee for those who walk with Jesus. The book of James tells us that we encounter trials of various kinds (James 1:2). Most of them will catch us off guard, while there are some that we can probably see a mile away.

When suffering comes, most people want to why is this is happening to them? What did I do to deserve this? There are times when our suffering is known. Why you have lung cancer? Because you smoke 3 packs of cigarettes per day. Why are getting a divorce? Because you committed adultery. 

What about the ones we cannot wrap our heads around. A cancer diagnoses when you have been healthy for majority of your life. A child that wanders from the faith. The loss of a job that you are very successful in. 

There are people in the church that believe we will know why we went through suffering. They think that God will explain His reasons for letting our suffering take place. I think one of the reasons is from Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God, which states that we will never know the truth of our suffering until we hear from God. Blackaby believes that Christians can hear the voice of God. If not, you are in trouble at the heart of the Christian experience. 

This teaching from Blackaby is problematic because it says Christians who do not hear God speaking to them are probably not saved. I have known believers who have never heard the voice of God, yet they are faithful to Christ. Blackaby saying God speaking about the reasons for our suffering adds more problems because it certainly does indicate that God owes us an explanation, which He does not.

When spoke to Job, He never told him why he went through the suffering he did. Why would God tell us about the suffering we have gone through? What makes us better than Job or anyone who has gone through suffering in the past centuries or in today's world.

We may or will never know the truth about our suffering, but one thing is clear: God allows our suffering for His glory and our good. The Apostle Paul wrote:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers; and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified (Romans 8:28-30, LSB).

What is the good mentioned in Romans 8:28? The good is being conformed to the likeness of Christ. Suffering is to help us mature in Christ. We suffer to bring God glory and to grow in our faith. As painful as it can be, it is beneficial. 

James Coates on the Assassination of Charlie Kirk

By now, you may have heard numerous messages on the assassination of Charlie Kirk that took place on September 10, 2025. I have heard quite a few from various sermons or podcasts. I stumbled upon this one from James Coates who pastors GraceLife Church in Edmonton. Coates was arrested and put in jail in 2020 during the COVID lockdowns in Canada for having church. Coates offers his perspective on what took place.

What Good Comes Out of Suffering?

We all know Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." Many people quote or read that verse to one who is going through suffering which may seem innocent at first, yet we tend to leave them wondering what good this hard time will bring about.

As I mentioned in a previous post that the good that Romans 8:28 speaks of is conformity to the likeness of Christ as mentions in Romans 8:29-30. In the beginning of the book of James, the Bible says:

Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith brings about perseverance. And let perseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).

Trials comes in many forms, and they will assist us in becoming more maturing believers in Christ. Yes, it is painful, but it is necessary for us as we walk with the Lord in this life. 

Our suffering is not just for our benefit, but it is also for the church. In 2 Corinthians 1, we see that God is the God of all comfort. God comforts us through His Word and He also comforts us through the church. The Bible says:

For just as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. But whether we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or whether we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is working in your perseverance in the same sufferings which we also suffer. And our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even to live.

Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not have confidence in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who rescued us from so great a peril of death, and will rescue us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet rescue us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers on our behalf, so that thanks may be given on our behalf by many persons for the gracious gift bestowed on us through the prayers of many (2 Corinthians 1:5-11).

Romans 12:15 says "weep with those who weep." When a fellow believer goes through suffering, the whole church suffers with them. We comfort them as best we can and one way we can do it is to pray for them. The church comes together when suffering occurs whether in an individual believer or the whole corporate body of believers. 

The good that comes out of suffering is believer conform to the likeness of Christ, and the church come together to comfort those who are suffering. 

John Miller: Victory through Suffering

Protected While Exposed

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I fear no evil, for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me (Psalm 23:4).

True believers, although they dwell safely under the protection of God, are, notwithstanding, exposed to many dangers, or rather they are liable to all the afflictions which befall mankind in common, that they may feel the better how much they need the protection of God. David, therefore, here expressly declares, that if any adversity should befall him, he would lean upon the providence of God. Thus he does promise himself continual pleasures; but he fortifies himself by the help of God courageously endure the various calamities with which he might be visited. 

Adapted from Hearts Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms 

Costi Hinn: Remembering Christ's Example

Affliction is Medicine

Affliction is one of God’s medicines. By it He often teaches lessons which would be learned in no other way. By it He often draws souls away from sin and the world, which would otherwise have perished everlastingly. Health is a great blessing, but sanctified disease is a greater. Prosperity and worldly comfort are what all naturally desire, but losses and crosses are far better for us, if they lead us to Christ. Thousands at the last day, will testify with David and the nobleman before us, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted” (Psalm. 119:71).

Let us beware of murmuring in the time of trouble. Let us settle it firmly in our minds that there is a meaning, a needs-be, and a message from God in every sorrow that falls upon us. There are no lessons so useful as those learned in the school of affliction. There is no commentary that opens up the Bible so much as sickness and sorrow. “No chastening at present seems to be cause for joy, but rather for grief; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit” (Hebrews 12:11). The resurrection morning will prove that many of the losses of God’s people were in reality eternal gains.

Adapted from Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of John by J.C. Ryle

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Following Christ's Steps

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:21).

As God’s servants, we should impress on our hearts that we should be ready and willing to suffer what comes our way because Christ did so much for us. We should think along these lines: “Though completely innocent, my Lord served me and gave his life for me. Why should I refuse to serve him in return? He was entirely pure and without sin. Yet he humbled himself, shed his blood, and died, wiping out my sin. Shouldn’t I also suffer a little bit if this pleases him?” Whoever thinks about Christ’s death without feeling moved must be made out of stone. For if a master walks ahead and steps in the mud, it’s only reasonable for his servant to follow him through the mud.

So Peter says, “To this you were called.” To what? To endure suffering as Christ did. Peter is saying, “If you wish to follow Christ, you must not argue and complain very much when you are wronged. You must endure it and even forgive it.” Remember that Christ suffered everything for you, even though he was completely innocent. He didn’t appeal to justice when he stood before his judges. In the same way, you should set justice aside and say to yourself, “Thank you, God. I’m called to endure injustice. Why should I complain when my Lord didn’t complain?”

Adapted from Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional by Martin Luther

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