Tuesday, September 09, 2008
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If God has a 'Wonderful Plan' for My Life, Why Am I Suffering?
by mr willow 
My long-time readers know that the best way to get a post out of me is for somebody to ask me a really good thoughtful question. That hasn’t happened as much lately as it used to, but the other day, I got a message from one of my new readers. She has run up against one of the deep questions of the Christian life.According to the Bible, God cares for us and promises to guide our lives in the best way. “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life,” as the classic evangelistic booklet puts it. “He promises to direct us to the best road,” as my friend puts it more poetically.
But if that’s true, my friend asks, why does life have so many difficulties? Why do many people’s lives seem to have more difficulties after they choose to trust in God and His wonderful plan? Why does it seem like He doesn’t answer when we pray—especially when we ask Him this question?
Let’s face it: If God’s “wonderful plan” is for people who believe in Him to be free from suffering, difficulties, and obstacles on the road of life, then He doesn’t do a very good job at it. Christians suffer just as much as anybody else. We still have bad days at work. We still have to worry about money. We still get sick and injured. (“If you prick us, do we not bleed?”) We experience tragedies and natural disasters. Our loved ones die. On top of that, we sometimes face persecution, harassment, or even martyrdom just because we believe in Jesus. That’s not very wonderful.
If you think that sounds too shallow, consider this: I once saw an anti-God website where it was argued that God doesn’t exist because (and they were completely serious) “Christians are no more successful than anybody else when they gamble in Las Vegas.” Clearly, if we have the wrong idea of what God’s plan is and how He works it out, we’ll come to some very wrong conclusions about Him!
So the question is this: If God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives, then what is that plan, and how wonderful is it really?
Let’s look at the Bible. A popular Bible verse (maybe you can even quote it from memory) tells us this:
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” –Romans 8:28
That’s a nice thought—everything, even the not-so-good things, work to create good in the end when we trust in God. But how do we know that’s true? There’s a hint at the end of the verse: “according to His purpose.” For everything that God allows to happen to us, He has a purpose in mind. The problem is that too often we just learn this verse by itself, and don’t keep reading to find out what “His purpose” is. The next verse makes it very clear:
“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” –Romans 8:29
Let’s look at this carefully: “Whom He foreknew” refers to the people who love God, mentioned in verse 28. God knew long before you were around that you would choose to believe in Him. “He also predestined”—that’s a fancy theological word meaning “planned, and what God plans always happens.” (For those familiar with the theological debate about the doctrine of election: that’s not what Paul is talking about in this verse.) God knew you were going to commit your life to Him, so He came up with a plan for it, a destiny, a final stop at the end of the road He sets for you. What is this plan that God predestined for you? The Bible spells it out in nine simple words:
“To be conformed to the image of His Son.”
God’s wonderful plan for your life is that, when you trust him, you will be changed to look exactly like Jesus. All the love, all the grace, all the truth, all the kindness, all the wisdom that Jesus had, you will have. In fact, Jesus can fairly be called “the firstborn among many brethren”—He is the only begotten Son of God, but He now has a lot of younger brothers and sisters by adoption, and there is a strong family resemblance.
If God’s plan is to make our lives look like Jesus’ life, what does that mean for us? The tremendously encouraging Bible teacher Ron Hutchcraft puts it in these words, which I really can’t improve on:
I have been to the gift shop at those Colonial villages and I’ve seen what the potter can make out of a blob of clay. Every squeeze, every poke, every spin, every cooking is to turn the clay from a blob into a masterpiece. We’re God’s clay. The mold is Jesus. And God designed you to be, through the uniqueness of your own personality and gifts, a replica of His Son.
One of life’s most frequently asked questions is, “Why, God?” The only answer that fits all situations is this—“This can make you more like Jesus than you’ve ever been.” What happens in your life is either something your Father sends or He allows. But in either case, He only allows into your life what can make you more valuable, more Christ-like.
You can’t learn to love like Jesus unless there’s someone in your life who’s hard to love; you can’t learn His sensitivity without hurting; you can’t be Jesus-patient without having to wait, or to put up with someone difficult; you can’t learn joy without circumstances that you have to rise above; you can’t learn peace without some pressure; you can’t learn faith without needs that are bigger than your ability to meet them.
But unlike clay, you choose whether the Potter’s beautiful intentions are realized. If you forget the Potter’s goal, you can become desperate, bitter, hard, self-absorbed. Or you can let Him use it for the ultimate good. If you’re going to get the pain, you might as well get the point! And that’s to make you more like Jesus. The oven and the wheel are God’s tools to transform us blobs of clay into His masterpieces!
—The Oven, the Wheel, and the Masterpiece
I’ve seen this in my own life as well. Ironically, the things I’ve liked the least turned out to be the things that helped me become the most like Jesus. That rotten customer service job was where I learned how to love my neighbor as myself. That horrible summer when I was alienated from all my Christian friends and coworkers was when I first fully appreciated how much Jesus went through for me. If I hadn’t gone to that emotionally abusive church, I might not have learned how to pray for the people who despitefully use me. If I hadn’t been picked on by bullies in grade school, I wouldn’t have had to forgive my enemies. If I never had to wonder where my next paycheck was coming from, I would never have learned to trust God to provide. And so on.
I wouldn’t have chosen to experience those things, and I hated them at the time. Yet looking back, I’m glad that God guided me into them. At the time, I asked God why He would let such terrible things happen to me if He loved me. Now, I realize that the answer is He let those things happen because He loved me.
George MacDonald makes a bold statement in one of his novels:
Yet I know that good is coming to me—that good is always coming; though few have at all times the simplicity and the courage to believe it. What we call evil, is the only and best shape, which, for the person and his condition at the time, could be assumed by the best good. (Phantastes, ch. 25)
It’s a bit shocking the way it’s phrased there, but I think he’s on to something. It’s not that evil is a good thing, but that when God allows evil to happen, He allows it only for a good reason—the best possible reason, in fact. God causes all things, even evil ones, to work together for good, for the purpose of making you more like His Son.
So God does care, and when you trust Him, God will always direct you down the best road. Not necessarily the happiest road, the smoothest road, or the easiest road, but the road that will lead you to the best thing: becoming more and more like Jesus every day.
Did you experience more difficulty in your life after you became a Christian? How have these difficulties changed your relationship with Jesus?
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Comments (40)
It makes sense. If a person doesn’t believe in Jesus or His Atonement, and is not trying to pattern his life after Him, then why should Satan care. But the moment you try to exercise faith in God, then Satan, who seeks to make all men miserable like himself, loses his control and his justification in his own course and works harder.
At the same time, as we approach the Father of our spirits in humility and love, He sees that the clay is ready to mold. He knows that He can begin to give us those experiences that will prepare us for eternal life in His presence. We must be willing to bear all things, as Jesus did, with patience and thanksgiving, knowing that God is using those challenges and trials and opportunities to lead us along, one step at a time, line upon line, turning us into our best eternal selves. He is the perfect Father, who desires to teach His children to be as He is.
Life is hard period, and it does not play favourites for religious preferences.
"...though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." 1 Peter 1:6-7
I agree with bittersunday; sometimes it seems like Christians "suffer" more, and indeed, the Bible says we will not have an easy time of it, but I know so many people who have more pain and hurt and troubles than it seems many others do, and it doesn't seem to matter whether they are Christians or not. Life is hard for many of us, for a variety of reasons, and difficulties, illness, disabilities, and tragedies are no respectors of religion.
I like the verse k_stin gave us but I'll give another too. Romans 5:3 states "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;" Basically its says that good will come out of the sufferings what we have. the Bible states that we will have sufferings in the Tribulation sections (Matt. 24:4-26, Mark 13:5-23, Luke 21:8-24) All us Christians will suffer from one thing or another. If we didn't then everyone would be a Christians... for the wrong reason. The reason why God gave us suffering is to test us, to strengthen us, so we may be stronger in Him. God wouldn't use someone who simply yells "Why God?" and gives up on him. He absolutely does not want to use such a weak minded person to be a witness to him. And besides, why do we always blame God for troubles? How come I dont hear "Why Satan?, go away satan!" blaming the king of evil Satan for it? We blame God for trials, rarely blame Satan for it, and if we accomplish something awesome, we rarely thank God for such a tremedous action!
I believe that we need to stop questioning God of his plan for us. Whining about bad things result in questioning whether God knows whats right for us, which in result is a defiance against God. Some people just needs to suck it up, and think over how the situation will help us in the future.
oh and most of time.. the hardships of life is a result of you're own past actions... think of that...
First, an ironic point. "If you prick us, do we not bleed?" is from The Merchant of Venice, spoken by Shylock, the iconic Jewish - not Christian - character.
Anyway, it seems natural that a person's life would become more difficult after accepting the way of Christ. The way of Christ stands in fundamental tension to the way of the world. And, as Jesus said it, no servant is above his master. If the world hates us, it is because they hated Christ first. Jesus stood in judgment against the domination systems of the world, and they crucified him for it. What should we expect?
Of course, the good that God is working toward in the life of the church we can see at times, in the church's enacting of hospitality, of Eucharist, of peace and of forgiveness. But for the most part, it is not better odds in Vegas that God promises, but an eschatalogical deliverance - the resurrection of the dead in Christ.
Anyone who tells you to accept Jesus so your life will be better is trying to sell you something.
-Nicholas Stanton Roark
I think that if your idea of Christianity is along the lines of the whole "your best life now" garbage, then it probably won't make any sense that some ppl seem to have crappier lives after becoming a Chrsitian. If on the other hand, you think that where you spend eternity is more important to God than your current life....if you realise that Christianity isn't about the "here and now" so much as what happens after die....then really what happens after we become Christians (in regards to our comfort level) really doesn't matter.
I'm not trying to say that God does not care at all about what happens to us here on Earth...but I think that too many Christians focus on that....they can be too short-sighted at times.
in my own life, I know the closer I am to God, the harder life seems a lot of the time.. And I know its because satan hates it when we grow as stronger Christians so he attacks us with everything he can. he wants to beat us down (though he cannot do anything that God won't allow) and try as hard as he can to turn us away from God, thus back to satan.
Yes its going to feel like God is doing this to us... but its the darkness of Spiritual warfare. And when you can see it happening, life can get really interesting.
bittersunday is right. The same rain falls on the just and the unjust.
My life was hell before God rescued me from utter meaninnglessness. It has been interesting in all sorts of ways since - some heavenly, some hellish experiences. When we start out with Him we know almost nothing of Him and are not remotely like Him. We need all sorts of experiences in order to come to know Him Who is different from everything we've known and to become more and more like Him.
His objective is to get us into the mindset we were built to live in - the joy of trusting and obeying Him implicitly and completely. Everything in us rejects and rebels against this notion intensely. We need equally, if not superiorily, intense experiences to help us to see that our whole being longs for this relationship with Him and that He alone is worthy of it.
Hence the hellish and heavenly experiences. However, some hellish experiences are simply from living in a fallen world. We still injure ouselves as well as others in the process of growing in love with Him. And others will injure us as well, often indescriminantly. Then there's sickness and disease. This fallen world sucks radically! How anyone could love it is beyond me!
However, I can understand, at least intellectually, how Abba loves those in it. I have yet to develop the capacity to love people the way He does, although I've begun askin Him to give me the basic 101 version of knowing His heart for the occasional person.
I think that Christians do suffer more then others- Let's face it- Satan doesn't have to bother with unbelievers because he already has their soul- so he goes after those who are trying to serve the Lord.
If he can't get them to give up altogether- he will do all he can to hinder their work. After all he doesn't want to loose another soul to the Lord. That is why God but the "Armor of God" in the book of Ephesians.
Its funny though, I remember giving birth to my 1st child and trying to remember that verse that says He never give us more then we can bear and thinking that...yeah but He really pushes to the limit! LOL !
AMEN!
Actually I trully think is the other way, you chose religion out of desperation, religion or "god" is a human need to explain and comfort in front of hard situations or lack of understanding of some event or life in general, so christians chose to follow a dogma out of need or out of guilt, if they need comfort or they feel guilty enough to be asking for forgivnes all the time. Christian religion grows the most in the most needy or screw up countries, or in the case of US in order to respond to the hypocritic way of life US citizens have.
great article! Thanks!
And, yes, we are going through really hard times now. But I realize things could be much worse. I think God likes it when we learn perspective. He's definitely not finished with me.
"God's plan" is the biggest cop-out ever.
Thank you for writing your thoughts on this subject. It's something I've been aware of for some time, though I truly believe I've been blessed beyond anything I might have deserved, especially in my teenage years. Now, my husband and I are experiencing some financially difficult times, but I've been able to remain mostly happy and content despite a feeling of desperation that kinda lingers at the edge of my thoughts. Why? Because I know, and have known, that God will take care of us whether we end up moving to a cheaper place or losing our jobs or... whatever. In the end, my goal is to get to heaven. If I catch pneumonia and die because hubby and I are camping in a tent this winter instead of inside (would never happen, btw, got a good church family), but I've remained faithful instead of compromising, then I've just made it that much sooner.
I know this is an odd perspective to have, and probably won't prove much to those who don't believe that Jesus is our savior, but it's enough for me. Or so I tell myself pretty much everyday!Another difficult concept you might want to address sometime is the fact that we're supposed to love Jesus more than our families, husbands and wives included, and what that actually means.
I have a question for you all. What exactly are you basing this assumption that a Christians life is any harder than any other person's? Are you living in a split paradox where you are actually able to compare your own life with or without religion? Is it simply that you, yourself, seemed to struggle less before you became extremely devout? I understand that a lot of U.S. citizens are selfish and short-sighted, but please don't say that your life is harder than another life due to your religion. Though it has probably been pointed out numerous times in other discussions, the world is a vast place filled with creation and destruction. Other countries experience hardships that many Americans simply choose to ignore, heck we as a nation are pros at ignoring others!
Life is an extremely relative experience. No person is granted more than one view on life, their own experience, so how then can one even begin to compare its hardships? A man is never forced to endure the labor of birth, so then is he blessed in life? Many die without ever being shot, raped, beaten, or in any other way assaulted... yet are they always happy? Humans are a breed that tend to live on the pessimistic side of all things. We may claim that we have our faces pointed upwards but rarely are we not complaining about some problem in our lives.
Get over your high-school mentality that your lives are in any way harder due to your elitism. We all struggle and we all love and we all (regardless of religion) do not deserve to be belittled because of a different religion. Any argument using your religion to explain why a person's life without your religion is affected is invalid. If a person does not believe in Satan or God, how then can you argue that this is the reason why their life is easier/harder. Reach out and help each other live! Don't just sit back and think any God would love you for thinking you are better than those that do not follow Him; that your lives are in some way more special. I concern myself with Christians that seem to have fallen of their supposed path, seeming to enjoy the 'Higher Than Thou' mentality they if anything are told repeatedly to not observe.
I apologize for the length of my comment -.-
(any question or attacks please comment me personally, I doubt I will check back here often =[)
i didnt read ur thign but the question is simple, after u become christian u know what sin is, romans 7
To the person above (even though you may not see this) but no one is trying to be elitist here. There is no high school mentality (which is a bit harsh I would say) and there is no one trying to make it seem like their life is SO much harder than anyone else's. It's of course all relative, and of course it's all because of our own perspectives. To each of us... to you, it hurts more because YOU'RE the one going through it, YOU'RE the one experiencing it. It's always going to seem so much worse because it's us. But the poster is simply talking about awareness. After knowing Christ, it seems that many more problems pop up..and this is not the case for EVERY Christian, but we're just talking in generalities here. The question is not how many, but really, how do you deal with those issues when confronting God. Because what Christians do have to deal with is different than non-believers, because in addition to the usual pains of life, they have their faith to deal with, and yes I do agree that often times they experience a lot of attacks because of that faith - you can't say that non-believers experience the same thing. But again, no one is saying they're BETTER or SUFFER more than anyone else, and trust me, no one is belittling anyone - this is exactly why we continue to support each other..and help each other live through it and grow in our faith. If everyone else had the mentality that you had, then they would have no one to reach out to, because you assumed that we had the holier than thou attitude..when in reality, I need that support in the fight against my battles just like everyone else. Just my two cents.
After I became a Christ-follower, my life changed so much. I went through psychological issues and some health issues which challenged my faith. I realized that these challenges really helped me to grow as a Christ-follower and to see life in a different way - with more sensitivity and empathy towards other people who were hurting. I don't think I would have coped with these challenges well had I not had a relationship with Christ who is my ultimate Hope. I would have probably gone down a different path than the one I am in now.
If you're saying "Christians have a harder life than other people do," and you're a Christian, please cut it out. "oh yeah, life is so much harder as a Christian. Please feel sympathy/empathy for me, since my life is soooo hard!"-->if you're thinking that, then the praise from men for "persevering" through tough times will replace the praise from God
To ambidreamz:
You seem to state things which would support my statement, then turn around and say I'm wrong. I didn't make that post to insult anyone. I just want you to realize that Christianity is a majority in terms of religion, granted most of its followers are far from devout. Many non-believers are made to feel unwelcome, outcast, and the like for their beliefs just as you are for yours. With the denial of God comes the acceptance of oblivion, or a version of it. That is to say the idea of either no afterlife, or the belief that nobody has a clue what will come. Like you agreed life is relative, yet you say that Christian has issues that a non-believer doesn't have to deal with. Does a Christian have to deal with the issues that non-believes do? I'm only stating this to show how one would appear to have a "Higher Than Thou" mentality. I just think humans, in general, tend to forget about outsiders own problems and of course over exaggerate their own. I do not want you to think I don't understand the problems with facing these issues, I support everyone in their right to follow God. While a Christian may be tested with issues that call into question their faith, think of the issues one must feel when dealing with a religious family after deciding to change their religion or even become atheist. I only mean to extend others towards an understanding of the Human Condition, which applies to everyone the same.
I think the main topic should be how being Christian changed the way a person dealt with new issues in their lives. If they are able to maintain a Christ-like mentality and uphold their beliefs, or if they still need to work harder to observe their faith.
Shrug, I'm sorry if I upset anyone! If I ruffle your feathers just understand I'm not bashing anyone. I am only trying to ensure that no Christian believes that a non-Christian is somehow a lesser being in the eyes of God.
I have learned that the greatest good is to know God - and by giving me constant pain and other struggles, God is wooing me to know Him more, and I would not trade that depth of knowing Him for any lack of pain in the world.
I've actually found life to be a tad more enjoyable since I tossed religion in the trash. Don't get me wrong, for all those who do believe and follow god, that's great for you. I still like the ideals and the basic overall message of the christian faith and the ten commandments. However I still don't believe that "god" necessarily exsists. A higher power, maybe. But in all honesty, its almost been a relief to me since I've pretty much become an agnostic. Who knows, maybe I'll become a christian again in a few years, but right now, I'm more than happy with my life without a god.
the evidence of Christ cannot be measured in the chances of a casino game at Las Vegas, simple as that. those people were ignorant fools =]
yes, my pastor always said, "Christian life is not easier - it's better." and i believe that. though i don't understand why certain things must happen to Christians ...well, we have finite minds and God does not. So who am i to question? Who am i to tell God that it's not fair?
Yes, Christians suffer ...in the book of James, it states in the first chapter that trials develop perseverence. I want to become a stronger person. if these things did not happen to us, and change us, people would just end up complaining that Christians are weak and spineless because nothing bad happens to us. whatever the case, people will always criticize.
lastly and most important, these things happened to us because we are trying to become like Jesus (as you have said). Did Jesus not walk these same trials and temptations? Did Jesus not have his hands and feet nailed to a cross and jeered at? He was doubted and persecuted but he kept on speaking the truth. And spreading God's light.
That's what we're here to do =]
i think ppl think being christian means is like having a fast pass for disneyland... in a way yes, but not the way they think it is... lot of ppl take the words and put it into their meaning as they wanted... sometimes it's like gess, stop being baby about it, grow up...
i like how solmon put it in ecclesiates.. when he saw that there is no difference between a believer and non-believer until the end of the day... the believer had God.