The Shock of SufferingSample

GOD WILL STAND BY YOU 

At the age of 16, a young German by the name of Jürgen Moltmann was drafted into the German military during World War II. A few years after, he surrendered to a British soldier and became a prisoner of war, moving from camp to camp. Jürgen found himself having to develop into manhood while secured behind bars. He did not know God, and he pondered in himself, “If there were a God, how could He allow me to go through this?” One day, an American gentleman working in the prison slipped Jürgen a Bible. Jürgen started reading the Gospel of Mark. On the premise of Christ’s suffering, Jürgen found God. During his more senior years, Jürgen became a German theologian and scholar.  

God will show up in your suffering. God will stand by you when you are suffering. He does not run away when you suffer. He does not try to escape your pain.  

I cannot promise you that God will not allow us to go through suffering. Suffering is one way we encounter God. I would love to tell you how God will bring you out, but sometimes He wants to bring you through. People find fellowship with God during suffering. People connect with a God who can relate to their suffering.  

God will stand up for you when men sit down on you. When the hour came for the Apostle Paul to stand trial, he told Timothy he had no support. “No man stood with me,” Paul claimed. But Paul declared that God stood with him when others forsook him. No, you are never alone – even when you are suffering.

The church has not been taught enough about suffering. The message of suffering has dissipated over time. It could be that the message of hope needs to change from “God will bring you out” to “God will walk through it with you.” Quite frankly, we should not be shocked by suffering. The Bible expressly forewarns us that it is inevitable. We should only become concerned when God is not with us in the suffering.