Have you ever wondered why it seems that God answers some prayers but not others? Heals some people, but not everyone? Why some seem to struggle with grief and hardships way beyond what is fair while others seem to live a cushy existence with all of life’s luxuries handed to them on a silver platter? It just doesn’t make sense, does it?
When we look at situations with our mere finite understanding, it can really seem that God is a God of injustice rather than love. Would a God of love really allow suffering for some yet pleasures for others? Many of us wrestle with such questions, and we may never have the answers on this side of eternity. To some, it is such questions that make or break their faith in God. My hope is to bring some clarity amidst this confusion, and help to restore broken faith.
What I have discovered whether dealing with afflictions of my own or walking alongside someone else who is suffering, is that the true level of pain is in the perception rather than the reality of the situation. It is not the circumstances themselves that bring the deepest sorrow, but it is our interpretation and our reaction to them. We are unable to see the complete picture of our lives; therefore, we can only catch a narrow glimpse of what is really happening at any given time. What appears to be dreadful at the moment could rightly become one of our greatest blessings. It is in our perspective.
Because of our limited viewpoint, we cannot rightly assess the unfairness of what is happening to us or to others. We are not qualified to judge God or make an assumption about His ways. We are never in any position to accuse or correct God in any way. Besides, He does not need our approval anyway. His ways and His purposes are far beyond our mortal comprehension. He is God, and we are not. However, while His ways seem cloudy to us for a time, we have the reassurance that one day, everything will be made crystal clear.
“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT
“‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the LORD.
‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways,
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.’” Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT
Once we conquer the first obstacle of accepting that our human perspective is too limited to accurately make a judgment call concerning the sufferings we see or to condemn God, we may still have many unanswered questions that can plague our minds. Why does God allow certain circumstances that seem so cruel and unjust in our eyes?
Here are some things I have learned, although I still have so much more to learn:
1. Struggles or grief are often the only way He can get our attention. He knows what is in our hearts and all the distractions in our lives. When we will not listen to Him any other way, He may allow or bring a situation in our lives, or to someone close to us, to help us realize our need for Him. He draws us to Himself because He desires an intimate relationship with us more than anything else. Sometimes a financial crisis, an illness, a storm, or a severed relationship can set our hearts in a receptive place to make room for Him. What a blessing to have our God draw us close to Himself!
2. It is through our weaknesses and limitations that He can show His strength in our lives. Our self-sufficiency and independence can actually hinder God from doing something truly amazing through our lives. When we have a handicap or challenge, it causes us to look to God for our strength. God can show us his mercy, compassion, providence, protection, and greatness through our problems. If we never had a problem, how would we know He could solve it? If we never had a need, how would we know He could meet it? We need to rid ourselves of pride and recognize our dependence on Him, and then we are in the perfect position for Him to really show out!
The apostle Paul had a perpetual “thorn in the flesh” that God allowed to keep him humble, and God would not take it away. Sometimes our struggles in life are merely a thorn in our flesh for the same purpose. Read Paul’s words and ponder his reaction to his own suffering.
“Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,
‘My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 MSG
3. Sometimes God withholds blessings because He knows our hearts and how much we can handle. We need to examine ourselves and see whether we are missing out due to unfaithfulness, ingratitude, or mismanagement of what He has already given us. He also knows what will become of us if He gives us more. We may never know what He is preventing in our lives. When we are faithful with a little, He is able to bless us with greater responsibilities and gifts. Keep in mind also, only He knows all the details of His purpose for our lives, and He knows what we need to go through in order to prepare us. He gives each of us exactly what we need, so it is futile to compare our situation with anyone else’s.
4. God may be using our circumstances to create even greater opportunities. You may have heard the cliché, “The greater the mess, the greater the message.” There is much truth to that saying, and it is very exciting! We may never know what God has planned for a person we see suffering; however, we can be assured that the more we seem to struggle, the more of an opportunity we have to show God’s greatness through our lives. What hope that gives in the midst of our pain! God can use our problems, deficits, hurts, needs, struggles, pain, suffering, etc. to give us a platform to do remarkable things in life.
Consider two extraordinary examples:
Nick Vujicic: He was born with no arms or legs. Rather than allowing his life to be consumed in one giant pity party, he has taken advantage of the opportunity God has given him to inspire millions around the world. He has not let his limitations defeat him, but he has treated his plight as a gift from God to do even greater things through his life than he would ever have been able to do otherwise. I doubt any of us have ever experienced anything to such a degree, and if he can live life to the fullest, we have no excuse not to as well. You see, his loss became a great opportunity.
Joni Earickson Tada: Because of a diving accident at the age of 17, she has been a quadriplegic and confined to a wheelchair for almost half a century. Once she completed the natural process of grieving, she decided to allow God to do something marvelous in and through her. She began painting masterpieces, holding a paintbrush in her mouth. Rather than feeling sorry for herself, she used this platform God gave her to do tremendous things. Through her artwork, writing, speaking, and singing, she has touched millions of lives. Again, her loss became a great opportunity.
5. Sometimes our struggles are tests to show us what is really inside our hearts. Sometimes, we do not know what is inside a vessel until it is shaken. God often uses shaking in our lives to show us what needs to be purged from our hearts. When we yield to what He is showing us and willingly allow Him to make the changes, we realize that He has given us a wonderful gift rather than something to lament.
“These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” 1 Peter 1:7 NLT
6. God often uses difficulties or suffering to polish our character and make us more like Him. In addition to purging junk from our hearts, God uses pain to make us strong and resilient. Our character muscles get a great workout and become strong and fit. Though it may not feel like it at the time, God is doing something magnificent within us.
“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” James 1:2-4 MSG
“For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son.” Romans 8:29 NLT
7. Unfortunately, some pain is a result of sin. We live in a fallen world, and sin brings ugliness, pain, and heartbreak with it. Sometimes we face consequences of our own creation, but other times we merely get caught in the cross-fire of someone else’s sin. The consolation of this is that God is never far from us in our pain. He sees and understands what we are going through. He never leaves us, but he actually weeps with us. He will use whatever happens in our lives, no matter the source, for our good. Consider the story of Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers. Their intentions were pure evil, but God used it to save many lives. God has also promised that He will wipe all our tears away. One day, all our pain will be gone, and there will be no more sadness. Eternity will make it all worthwhile.
“Don’t you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now—life for many people. Genesis 50:20 MSG
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28 NLT
“And GOD will wipe the tears from every face. He’ll remove every sign of disgrace from his people, wherever they are.” Isaiah 25:8 MSG
“Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.” Romans 8:18 NLT
Suddenly, suffering, grief, pain, and struggles do not carry the same bleak meaning after taking a fresh look from God’s perspective. When we are confronted with the difficult questions in life and about God, it is foolish to draw conclusions with only a tiny glimpse through our cloudy vision. We may never have the answers to all our questions while we live on this earth, but this I know; God is always good, loving, faithful, and worthy of all praise, glory, and honor. Try this; give Him thanks and praise no matter what you are going through. Have faith. Trust Him and cooperate with His plan for you. Change your perspective, and see how your situation improves.
God bless!
