Today, I will begin a new series of Faith Journey questions and reflections. Over the coming weeks, I will offer some brief perspectives on various questions that I have encountered myself or have been asked by others.
I hope this series is helpful to you.

Today’s is probably one of the most common questions for Christians, and to gain some insight, we can turn to several stories of suffering in the Bible. The entire book of Job talks about suffering. In the book of Genesis, Joseph suffered at the hands of his brothers. In many of his Psalms, King David writes of how he suffered. Even Jesus himself suffered during his time on earth. The common thread with these stories is how God used the times of suffering to strengthen the individual’s trust in Him. The apostle Paul tells us, “And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).

We live in a broken world. Sin and suffering are all around us, much beyond our control. That is where the beauty of God’s love and grace shine. What He desires is for us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Prov 3:5). Cloud says that “certain suffering tears down aspects of our character that need to be torn down and builds up new aspects that we need in order to live as we were designed to live.”[1] The people in the stories above found comfort in their suffering and, ultimately, growth in their relationship with God when they focused on His will for their lives and not their desires.

next week we will look at the question: “Why am I supposed to go to church? I can worship God in my own way better.”

Have a blessed week,

Pastor Michael

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[1] Henry Cloud and John Sims Townsend, How People Grow: What the Bible Reveals about Personal Growth (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 207.