Lately, I have heard many people ask “if God is good, why is there so much suffering in my life?” Comfort doesn’t always seem easy to come by in a world so filled with sorrow.
I asked this same question most of my life as I went through incredible pain for over 20 years. I wondered how God could love me if my life was so painful. Why would a loving God make me suffer so much?
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:4 ESV
Just over 7 years ago that question changed. I changed. I recognized God reaching out to me, and I remember the exact moment I grabbed hold and let God pick me up. My life was in shambles, I was a wreck, I was emotionally broken, physically scarred, but God lit a fire in my soul and ignited me in such intense faith in Him I have never been the same.
Matthew 5:4 is a reminder to me of what it felt like to be picked up and plucked out of my despair. I mourned, I struggled to understand the pain I’d endured, and even further, I struggled to comprehend that I’d been pulled out of it. I continued to struggle, but the incredible difference was that this newfound faith in God put me into the arms of my Heavenly Father.
God is good even when our circumstances are terrible
Through the struggles, pain, and suffering we have an opportunity to grow in faith and relationship with our Heavenly Father and grow in our reliance on Him. We have an opportunity to seek and find comfort in the Lord and trust Him with the pain.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ESV
God is:
God is good even when our circumstances are terrible. We have to resist becoming slaves to our circumstances and instead release the pain to God and trust Him to see us through it all as the One who can comfort us through whatever we may experience.
We need to let God teach us and grow us through even the deepest pains and sufferings we will face.
Even when Satan whispers “that’s not possible” God says “all things are possible through Me and I’ve already conquered the world.”
26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:26 ESV
37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Luke 1:37 ESV
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 ESV
God is not naive to your pain
He is not laughing, mocking, or enjoying your mourning, your hurt, or your agony. God is there, ready to comfort you and show you how much He loves you. The Lord is asking you to trust Him and seek your comfort with Him, the only true source of comfort.
I lived most of my life thinking I’d never feel anything but all-consuming darkness and depression and pain. Coming to Christ changed that and now I understand that it is only with Him that it’s possible to live in the light, to be truly comforted and healed and blessed. God is good and I know that even though I went through so many years of pain.
My question changed from “if God is good, why is there so much suffering in my life?” to “what does God want to teach me through this pain?”
I have learned to focus on the lesson and how I can grow and become stronger in my faith through all that I experience. What started as the tiniest of tiny faith like a mustard seed has grown over the years into seeing God move mountains I had lived convinced were unmovable.
20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.
Matthew 17:20 ESV
I have healed from wounds I never thought would ever heal and have forgiven where I never thought I could forgive. I have trusted God where I never thought I could.
10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 ESV
In all of this, I have learned that God is for me. God strengthens me, upholds me, and comforts me.
What do you need to give to God and trust Him to handle?
Where do you need to let God comfort you, guide you and teach you?
I pray you will empty yourself of whatever bitterness, hurt, mistrust, and anger you have to our God who understands and is ready with arms wide open for you just like He was with me, and still is even when I continue to miss the mark. We all fall short, but God is there to forgive, fill us up, and comfort us with immeasurable love, peace, and joy.
13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13 ESV
