Why do Christian Suffering: Understanding the Purpose of Pain and Suffering

Why do Christian suffering?

Why do Christians experience suffering?

One of my favorite books on hardship is Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense by Paul Tripp.

The author of this book says as follows. Physical hardship reminds us that human autonomy and self-satisfaction are false delusions.

If we have control, as we think we have, and no one will be going through a hard time. Physical pain makes us realize that our lives are in the hands of someone else.

Physical hardship reminds us that we are humble and dependent and takes away even a little bit of our power and control in a moment.

When adversity comes

When adversity comes, it is quickly revealed that human autonomy is only a vain delusion. There is the fact that you don’t know when nothing happens in life, and you know when you have a problem.

The master of life is not myself. Perhaps God allowed you to suffer to let you know this point. Let’s say this more religiously. Life is His Story.

Pastor Paul Tripp repeats this in the book. Hardship is not neutral to anyone. There is one fact that everyone who suffers must understand.

That is, “Anyone who is suffering does not simply go through the current suffering, but in the way, he/she deals with it.”.

In other words, just because two people are given the exact size of pain does not mean that the amount of pain they feel is the same.

The pain you feel depends on what you interpret

The amount of pain you feel depends on what you interpret. A person who thinks God would have given me a hard time growing up.

A person who thinks about why God allowed me to suffer again. The pain these two feel is not the same, even if they are the same size. In other words, the size of pain varies depending on the difference in faith and interpretation.

There is a way to reduce the length and intensity of your pain. You leave your steering wheel to God as God leads you. Suppose you struggle to get out of trouble quickly. In that case, the intensity of the pain will increase, and the period of pain will only be longer.

Flow out of your minds like streams.

So Paul Tripp says this. No matter what happens, our reactions, decisions, attitudes, and choices about it flow out of our minds like streams.

The reason is the backbone of personality. Just as a stream soaks dry land, the mind is a source that affects everything; when it is suffered, it reveals its true thoughts, attitudes, premises, and desires.

So it can be helpful to think about what our thoughts and attitudes about hardship are causing us difficulties.

What is the purpose of suffering? Here’s something you must know for sure. God is not a sadist. I don’t enjoy the way you suffer. God is interested in your maturity.

Pain is only a means for God to mature you

Pain is only a means for God to mature you. Pain is also a process of getting to know God for Christians. Job 42:5 Job confesses that he became intensely aware of God through suffering.

My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Remember. Your hardship won’t belong. And hardships that you can’t handle will not come.

God controls every situation. Paul Tripp says in a book. Hardship reminds us that life is about God, not us.

Life is not for our glory, but for God’s glory, not for our joy, but his joy, not for our plan for us, but his will for us, and his kingdom, not our small kingdom.

Life reveals the grandeur of God

Life reveals the grandeur of God, not our success, and is controlled by him, not by us. Life is controlled by God, not by you. Aren’t these words comforting?

Prosperity theology distorts God’s will in this suffering. These are why I wouldn’t say I like prosperity theology.

About this, Paul Tripp wrote in his book: Biblical faith does not teach you to reduce suffering; act as if you are okay with a happy smile on your face when it is not okay at all, or improve God’s reputation by working as if you are handling the hardship better than it is.

God’s attitude to this imperfect world requires us all to be honest. The world is full of problems. It is the childish idea that if you believe in Jesus, there will be no hardship.

Let go of the illusion that there will be no hardship just because you believe in God. Even if you believe in God, hardship comes.

However, faith gives us the power to interpret and respond to hardships. Faith turns hardship into hope. At the end of this suffering, the glory of God awaits you. t 12

The Pain is God’s Loudspeaker

The book of Rev. David A. Siemens asks us if God has ever thought that God is allowing depression and using it as a regulator of life to control our lives. In the book of Swiss doctor Paul Tournier, health is not just about lack of disease but about quality of life.

In the past, Joel Austin’s books were loved by Christians. Before that, these kinds of books were loved a lot. There were Norman Vincent Pill and Robert Schuler’s books.

C. S. Lewis, well-known for his famous saying, “Pain is God’s loudspeaker,” restores the true meaning of pain by sending his mother and wife away from illness.

In particular, the book begins with a correct interpretation of God’s omnipotence. He says that excluding pain associated with the natural order and free will is like excluding life itself. It is natural for us to drink The glass God gives us.

The reason why the Prosperity Gospel is wrong

At some point, there has been a trend to pursue only positivity in the values of believers. There can be no resurrection without a cross, but the cross is turned away and only looks at the resurrection.

The Hebrew word ‘shalom is not without any problems. It’s like Jesus who slept in storms and waves.

So the definition of health needs to be changed. Health is not without any disease. Christian psychiatrist Paul Tournier says health means there are no wrinkles physically, mentally, and spiritually.

It is said that it is to maximize human power. His strength is revealed when we are weak. This picture was hung in the office of a celebrity.

A ferry boat tilted on the underwater sea, and one corner of the photograph says, “The rising tide is coming soon.”

The Saint’s sadness is sadness for joy

The saint lives with grace. Grace refers to living in peace while leaving the result to God. We can’t stand the sight of us like a ferry on a sunken beach. So I give up my life on my own. But what we should not forget is that God will soon raise the tide. Our sadness is a sadness to be happy.

There is no fear in love, and pure love drives out fear. He who fears punishment in fear has not fully fulfilled in love.

(1 John 4:18)

Sigmund Freud divided the two impulses underlying human psychology into the impulse of life called “Eros” and the notion of death called ” Thanatos.”.

Similarly, Elizabeth Quibbler Ross says that there is much fear in the world, but at the end of and behind all that fear is the fear of death. Fear is about the past and the future unrelated to the present, and in that sense, living in the present means living in love, not fear.

She says that the space in our minds should be filled with either love or fear, so we have to train to choose love over fear.

But fear is not a destructive emotion. It protects itself like our body senses. Many people think that courage is a state without fear, but it is in full use, and true courage is beyond fear.

The words in Matthew chapter 26 verses 36 to 46 will see Jesus praying for a break from his Father God and fear ahead of the cross, leaving behind his disciples sleeping in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Jesus jumped the fear of suffering into love for the Father and God. Again, love has poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit of God, as evidenced by the entire Chapter 5 of the Book of Romans and especially Verse 5.

God poured love into our hearts, which were filled with fear of sin and death, and our hearts were filled with God’s love.

Remember Our God

God’s love filled with swelling in our hearts tells us our present identity. It’s no longer a species of sin and death; It’s a child of life and resurrection. I’m headed inside for fear. Stupid rich people, wealthy young people, obsessed with their possessions, do not enjoy the grace and freedom of self-giving.

Love, on the other hand, faces outward. Every time you give love, you experience the grace and love of God. We are always at the crossroads of choice.

The past and the future are tied to the chain of fear, and the present is connected to the string of love. God has broken the history and future chain and poured love into the present life.

Where is God in the Midst of Suffering?

Can’t God save the suffering Christians? Let’s hear the story of two great believers in God Almighty, so why do Christians suffer?

Why does God give Christians suffering? Do Christian sufferings show God’s incompetence and indifference? Many Christians give up their faith because of suffering.

However, if you look through the eyes of faith, you can see that suffering is another blessing. Today, let’s find out what suffering has meaning and value for Christians.

Can’t God save the suffering Christians? Where is God When you need him the most? Let’s hear the story of two great believers here. One had to watch his beloved wife die of illness. Another experienced the death of several family members, including his wife, in a car accident.

Would you abandon God if you had experienced this kind of disaster? Or will you still get faith in God even if you are suffering situation without losing your faith?

Let’s hear the story of the two people here. In his book, C.S. Lewis defines the concept of ‘the Almighty of God. “The fact that God is omniscient doesn’t mean that He can do everything that is essentially impossible.

God doesn’t do a miracle; he doesn’t do nonsense. It’s not that there is a limit to his ability.” As a result of unchanging law and causal inevitability, excluding pain combined with the natural order and free will excludes life itself.

The entire natural order is the limit of everyday life and the only condition that makes life possible. Instead of arguing the relevant conditions in the conclusion that free souls like us coexist.

We need to consider that God has created mutually necessary objects while insisting on the appropriate

conditions through one very consistent act of creation that first appears as an independent entity.

The fact that God is free means that no external obstacle can prevent anyone other than him from doing it and that every act of God grows to his good and blooms on his own Professor Gerald L. Sittser has a similar saying. In “God’s Will for Him Today.”

These two writers have ordinary people who have experienced great sadness. Lewis lost his beloved wife and mother to illness. IN A CAR ACCIDENT, Gerald L. Sittser also lost his precious child and wife. The two wrote a book about the process of deep suspicion, anger, and conflict through a time of pain.

Hardship does not mean God’s inability.

There is also hardship in the lives of the saints. I speak of God’s personality, demand faith, and still ask him to know and believe in God. One had to watch his beloved wife die of illness.

Another experienced the death of several family members, including his wife, in a car accident. Would you abandon God if you had experienced this kind of disaster? Or will you still have faith in God even if you are suffering without losing your faith?

The Almighty God

Let’s hear the story of the two people here. In his book, C.S. Lewis defines the concept of ‘the Almighty of God. “The fact that God is omniscient doesn’t mean that He can do everything that is essentially impossible.

God doesn’t do a miracle; he doesn’t do nonsense. It’s not that there is a limit to his ability.” As a result of unchanging law and causal inevitability, excluding pain combined with the natural order and free will excludes life itself.

The entire natural order is the limit of everyday life and the only condition that makes life

possible. Instead of arguing the relevant conditions in the conclusion that free souls like us coexist, we need to consider that God has created mutually necessary objects while insisting on the appropriate conditions through one very consistent act of creation that first appears as an independent entity.

God’s Will for Him Today

The fact that God is free means that no external obstacle can prevent anyone other than him from doing it and that every act of God grows to his good and blooms on his own Professor Gerald L. Sittser has a similar saying. In “God’s Will for Him Today.”

These two writers have ordinary people who have experienced great sadness. Lewis lost his beloved wife and mother to illness. IN A CAR ACCIDENT, Gerald L. Sittser also lost his precious child and wife. The two wrote a book about the process of deep suspicion, anger, and conflict through a time of pain.

Hardship does not mean God’s inability. There is also hardship in the lives of the saints. I speak of God’s personality, demand faith, and still ask him to know and believe in God.

Why is prosperity theology wrong

During the Renaissance, people prepared Heraclitus as a crying philosopher and Democritus as a laughing philosopher.

Today, modern people have a hard time accepting tragedy. There’s a light optimism in our culture dominated by the Apollonia rather than the Dionysian, and we don’t see a deep dimension.

Humans only try to look on the good side. According to German philosopher Klaus Helt, this tendency of modern people is “the tendency to persist ridiculously.”

People live in the belief that their values are sustainable. But nothing lasts forever.

Scott Peck also said he agrees with Klaus Helt. Most people live without realizing the easy truth that life is complicated. Life is insignificant And easy, so I complain that life’s difficulties are harsh.

The process of solving life problems is as tricky as life itself. Life is always filled with as much pain as difficulty and joy because such a thorny problem continues. Life is a series of problems, and solving problems requires an attitude that requires training and time.

On this, Karl Jung said, “Neuroses is the result of avoiding pain that should always be suffered.”. People only see what they see. I try to avoid suffering by simply thinking about the world. But the effort to prevent it brings more pain.

That’s the crazy idea of maintaining the status quo.

The tendency to continue the state ridiculously appears within the church.

I think ‘prosperity theology’ tends to continue the form ridiculously. The tendency to live in an imperfect world filled with sin and hope for a happy state to continue is not the correct belief.

The ancient philosopher F. M. Conford described the development of human thought in ancient Greek philosophy, comparing it to the stage of the intellectual development of a young child.

The thinking characteristics in each era are primarily explained in the following three ways. The discovery of an object is the separation of self from external things—the preoccupation of intelligence with the practical need for action to deal with the object.

The belief in the invisible supernatural forces inside or behind the subject is being addressed. A newborn baby has the idea that he and the world are one.

As the baby grows up, he realizes that he and the world are separated. The discovery that things exist outside is an early stage in human growth.

Through this process, human thoughts grow. If you look at it that way, faith in prosperity and health is still just the early thinking of a newborn baby.

The Biblical Optimism

My belief in succeeding without problems is not faith. If a believer firmly believes in this belief, he will be in deep trouble shortly. Such a believer greatly misunderstands God’s will toward us. God’s will for you is not just your success or prosperity.

God wants your holiness and growth. He also allows disciplinary action for God’s purpose. In this case, if you believe in bad faith, you will be tested. Optimism is a good thing.

I don’t deny optimism either. But we need to think about what authentic optimism is. I divide optimism into two things in that respect. One is blind optimism. The other one is “open-eye optimism.”.

The former are usually unfounded pursuits of false dreams. On the other hand, the latter excludes fantasy and refers to actions through assumptions and inferences based on harsh reality. But this ‘open-eye optimism requires a long time of training.