why do we suffer?

When we experience pain or suffer loss, the usual response is to ask *why. Even though we may never know the specific reason or whether there even is one -- or what circumstantial good we might gain from it - if any - we can understand the general reasons for it. There are, in fact, several potential intangible gains.

Why do we suffer?

• To get more of God -- the source of life, love, and all things -- or more precisely for God to get more of us so we might more fully partake of all He is. Suffering is humbling. Humility is key to seeing and knowing God. 
• To better grasp and appreciate the suffering of Christ and the sacrifices he made to restore us to the Father, revealing His infinite love for us and increasing our love and trust in Him. 
• To increase our compassion toward others in their struggles-suffering. 
• To increase our capacity to reflect His glory, thereby bringing Him greater honor and us deeper joy.

In short, to make us more like Christ. This is the ultimate good spoken of in Romans:

Rom 8:28  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 8:29  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

This, however, is not automatic but contingent on whether we trust God in our suffering. If Christ, who was perfect, was called to **trust his Father in his suffering, how much more are we? The more we do, the more we gain both now but possibly more so in eternity.

We are told that "eye has not yet seen or ear yet heard..." what exactly that gain will look like. We are also told in 2Co 4:17, "... this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison..." Hope for " ...an eternal weight of glory..." is the primary hope given ***for our suffering. It is our future reward. When we truly trust God, it alone is enough.

The challenge is we must accept this eternal benefit by faith. To use an analogy from Tim Keller, the promises of God are not a video explanation of why we suffer but an audio one. It is one we have heard and must believe but have not actually seen yet with our own eyes or fully experienced firsthand. Through promises -- audio -- we are given an idea as to why we suffer and what our gain is but not the complete experience - video - i.e. not yet by first-hand observation or participation. Why? Because God is seeking to stretch our faith now so we might experience more of Him later.

Once we are in eternity with God, faith will no longer be necessary as it is now. Love will be primary. Until then, faith is essential. "The just shall live by faith." To gain from the struggles of this life we must believe God is good and in control when it appears He is not and we see no present gain. For now, it is our believing when not seeing that God is looking to increase in us.

Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." - John 20:29 It is more blessed to believe when we do not see than to be blessed because we do.

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*In a very significant way this is a curious response in a post-modern era. Asking this question suggests there is meaning and purpose behind our suffering when there are no grounds for asking in postmodern thinking. The fact that we even ask, illustrates how mankind cannot get away from being in God's image experientially even though he may deny this intellectually i.e. we must have meaning. We were designed for it.

** Heb 5:8  "Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered." Christ went from untested to tested obedience. Suffering is not necessarily caused by something we did wrong - though that is often the case. Christ did nothing wrong but suffered and gained by it never the less.

***We don't appreciate what someone else goes through until we go through something similar. The more we comprehend the full extent of Christ's suffering through our own, the more we see what Christ went through for us and the more our love for Him and trust in Him grows.