If you’re suffering as a Christian, you are not alone. Here are 3 resources to bring you power, hope, and encouragement in this season of pain.
Jesus On Suffering: Take Heart, I Have Overcome the World
Jesus himself tells his followers that “[i]n this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NIV).
Our Lord admits that our experience in this world is going to be hard.
You will hit suffering.
You’re going to endure pain.
And you will feel the brokenness of this world.
But somehow, Jesus has overcome this suffering from the world around us. How?
Jesus’ Power Over Suffering
Jesus took the path of pain so that he could overcome pain. When he says “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33), he is pointing to his finished work:
- He will take on the suffering of the world when he suffers on the cross.
- And he will die.
- And God will raise him from the dead in order to bring us freedom from pain and suffering.
And Jesus taking our pain was predicted hundreds of years before he was born. The prophet Isaiah explained what would happen when Jesus went to the cross (Isaiah 53:4-6):
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows …
with his wounds we are healed.
Did God have a plan all along to help us in our suffering? Yes, and it started in the Garden of Eden.
Jesus Will Overcome: “By His Wounds We Are Healed”
The first promise about Jesus is given to the serpent in the Garden of Eden:
“And I will put enmity
between you [Satan] and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.” (Gen. 3:15 NIV)
Jesus is the “offspring” of Eve that will come. And Jesus will receive the bite of the Cross. But he will crush Satan’s head by overcoming sin in his resurrection.
Jesus has an end game in mind. He has overcome sin and suffering and Satan in order to bring people to himself.
And then he will bring his perfect Kingdom when he returns and brings the New Heavens and Earth where:
“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. … ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” … “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:3-5 NIV)
What a relief to have a Savior who will make all things right and wipe our tears!
But until he brings his perfected Kingdom to earth, how do we find help suffering as a Christian? Here are three resources to help you in your suffering as a Christian.
1. Bible Verses about Suffering as a Christian
God isn’t silent on suffering.
The Bible feeds our hungry minds and hearts when we’re hurting. And we can see God’s hand and sense his nearness. Here are some of the most helpful verses in the Bible on suffering.
Romans 8: The Holy Spirit Helps In Our Suffering
Romans 8 carves the path of how we walk with God’s Spirit, and how we can trust his Spirit to be with us (Rom. 8:9), affirm our identity as God’s children (Rom. 8:14-17), and cry out to God for us when we don’t know what to pray (Rom. 8:26-27).
Lament Psalms: Cries to God In Suffering
The Psalms are filled with cries to God in suffering. Approximately one third of the Psalms are laments (for example: Psalm 3; Psalm 13; Psalm 22; Psalm 42; Psalm 44; and Psalm 60). This tells us that God wants to hear us when we are in pain. But God doesn’t just hear us. “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Ps. 34:18).
The Gospels: Jesus Sympathizes with Our Suffering
As you read through the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), you will be reminded that Jesus is no stranger to suffering. In fact, he was “acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3), and he is sympathetic to us, since he suffered temptation, injustice, and the brokenness of the world (Heb. 2:14-18; Heb. 4:15). Jesus is also our model for how to suffer well, especially when we are unjustly injured by others (1 Pet. 2:22-24).
Romans 5: Enduring Through Suffering
So, how can we have hope when we’re suffering as a Christian? Paul tells us in Romans 5:1-5 that “we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” But we can also “rejoice in our sufferings.” How? Because we know that our suffering “produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
If you are suffering, keep stepping forward. Let God build your endurance, so that your character will be formed like Jesus, and then your hope will be deeply felt–knowing that God’s Spirit will never leave you, and God will fulfill his perfect Kingdom, even though we have to persevere to the end.
But are there other Christians who have wrestled with suffering before and could help me in my journey?
2. Books That Encourage Christians in Suffering
Saints are no strangers to suffering. And many books have been written to help us with our own struggles and hardships. Here are some of the most helpful:
1. In C.S. Lewis’ A Grief Observed, he wrestles deeply and personally with the death of his wife. Grief is disorienting. And you’ll experience his confusion in this book. But you’ll also see his hope in a God who is with us in the valley of the shadow of death.
- In Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, Mark Vroegop coaches us through the lament psalms. And he encourages us to craft our own laments: cries to God that lead to trust.
- Tim Keller’s Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering, helps us as Westerners deal with the hardships of suffering. Christians have a unique hope in the midst of our post-Christian culture. And it is deeply personal, deeply profound, and deeply real.
- If you need a short read, pick up Paul David Tripp’s 40-page booklet Suffering: Eternity Makes a Difference. In it, he points us to the longer, bigger picture of God’s plans for our lives.
- David Powlison’s God’s Grace in Your Suffering is like sitting down with a seasoned counselor who opens up about how God enters into our sufferings and works in specific ways in our own struggles.
But what if I prefer to watch or listen and not read?
3. Sermons on Suffering to Strengthen Your Faith
We need pastors who help us see and apply the Scriptures.
And while we ought to always prioritize our local church for our regular spiritual meals. God has also given us pastors around the world who can inspire us. Here are three sermons on suffering as a Christian that could pick you up when you are down:
- Pastor Tim Keller knows that we all ask the question “Why?” when we suffer. And in his sermon, “Questions on Suffering,” he helps us enter the book of Job and experience both the confusion of suffering and anticipating the final answer God offers.
- Matt Chandler, who himself went through brain cancer in 2009, holds up a picture for us to endure and hope in his sermon “Hope, Suffering, and Glory” as he tours 1 Peter 1:1-12.
- David Platt’s sermon “Patience When Life is Painful” looks at James 5:7-12 in order to guide us in practicing one of the most painful practices in suffering: patience.
Other Ways God Helps Christians Who Suffer
To suffer is to be human. You might be experiencing a break-up or a death, the consequences of your own decisions or others’, a short-term pain or a long-term struggle. In any situation, we have a God who provides resources for us:
- His words to comfort and uphold us
- Books to renew us in truth
- Sermons to move us to action
But also:
- Prayer to hear us and respond with his nearness
- Solitude to remember that our primary relationship is with our God
- Community to wrap their arms around us
- Counseling to guide us on the right path
- Church gatherings to lead us in worship and remember God’s power
Encouragement for Every Christian in Suffering
However you are suffering as a Christian right now: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Rom. 15:13).
More Resources to Help:
If this encouraged you, explore more resources at Binmin.org to find your next step in your spiritual life! Check out this video on suffering to continue the conversation.
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