Why do Christians evangelize?
September 2, 2025
Creation & the Fall (Genesis 1–3)
September 5, 2025
This is one of the hardest questions people can ask about God, especially when they have been through something deeply painful. When you have experienced loss, abuse, betrayal, illness, financial hardship, grief or years of difficult circumstances, it can be hard to understand how a loving God could allow you to go through so much.
You may have prayed for things to change and wondered why God has not answered in the way you hoped. Or you may have asked Him why He allowed something to happen in the first place. You may even have wondered whether your suffering means God has forgotten about you.
The Bible gives us an answer, but it is not as simple as saying that God makes everything happen for a reason.
God allows suffering, but suffering was never what God intended for us from the beginning. When God created the world, He called His creation good. Suffering, death and the brokenness we see in the world came after sin entered it.
God has not left us alone in our suffering.
He can use even the painful things we go through to bring us closer to Him. When everything in our life is going well, it can be easy to feel like we don’t really need God. But when life falls apart and we have nowhere else to turn, many people finally cry out to Him.
And sometimes that is where our relationship with God begins.
Finding God can change the direction of our entire life. He can begin healing the things that have been broken, show us who we are, reveal the purpose He has for us and give us a future we could never see while we were in the middle of our pain.
What happened to us may not have been good, but God can still bring something good from it.
He can take the pain we went through and use it to help someone else. He can take the years we thought were wasted and give them new meaning. He can take what the enemy meant to destroy and use it for something that brings Him glory.
Our suffering does not have to be the end of our story. Sometimes it becomes the place where we find God, and finding God can lead us into the purpose He has for our lives.
Quick Answer: Why Does God Allow Suffering?
The Bible does not teach that God created us to suffer or that He enjoys seeing us in pain. God created the world good, but sin brought death and brokenness into the world. People also make sinful choices that cause terrible suffering to others.
God allows suffering for a time, but He does not abandon us in it. He can meet us in our pain, draw us closer to Him and use what we have been through for a greater purpose.
One of the most important verses to understand is Romans 8:28.
Romans 8:28 — God Can Bring Good From Our Suffering
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Notice that Paul does not say that everything that happens to us is good.
There are many things that happen in this world that are clearly not good. Abuse is not good. Murder is not good. Betrayal is not good. Illness is not good. Losing someone we love is not good.
Romans 8:28 tells us that God can work through all things for good.
That is very different.
God can take something painful and bring good from it without saying that the painful thing itself was good.
Did God Create Us to Suffer?
No. The Bible begins with God creating the world and calling His creation good.
Before sin entered the world, there was no death as we know it, and humanity had not yet experienced the brokenness that now affects every part of life.
Genesis 1:31 — God Called His Creation Very Good
“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
This is important because sometimes we look at the suffering in the world and assume that this must be exactly how God intended life to be.
Genesis shows us otherwise.
God created life.
He created humanity.
He created the world.
And He called what He had made very good.
The suffering we experience today is part of a world that has been affected by sin.
How Did Suffering Enter the World?
Genesis tells us that sin entered humanity through Adam and Eve’s disobedience. Their decision to disobey God brought serious consequences, including death, pain and hardship.
Genesis 3:17–19 — Sin Brought Suffering and Death
“And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
The Bible therefore does not present suffering as something God created humanity for.
Sin changed the world.
It brought death, pain, conflict and separation from God.
That does not mean every individual suffering we experience is the direct result of our own personal sin. Jesus made that clear when His disciples assumed that certain people must have suffered because they had done something wrong.
We live in a fallen world, and suffering is one of the consequences of living in that broken world.
Does God Cause Everything That Happens?
This is where we need to be careful.
The Bible teaches that God is sovereign, meaning He is ultimately in control and nothing is outside His knowledge. At the same time, Scripture does not teach us to call every evil thing that happens God’s desire or approval.
There is a difference between God allowing something to happen and God approving of what happened.
If someone hurts another person, that person’s actions can be sinful even though God allowed them to make that choice.
God does not approve of evil.
Psalm 5:4 — God Does Not Delight in Wickedness
“For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.”
God is not cruel.
He does not enjoy watching people suffer.
He does not call abuse, violence, hatred or injustice good.
Yet He allows human beings to make choices, and we live in a world where those choices can have devastating consequences.
That is part of the painful reality of living in a fallen world.
Why Doesn’t God Stop All Suffering?
Why Doesn’t God End Suffering?
One of the hardest questions we can ask is, “If God can stop suffering, why doesn’t He just end it?”
The Bible shows us that God can intervene and stop suffering, and there are many times when He does. But He has also chosen to allow suffering to exist for a time. That does not mean He enjoys watching us suffer. It means He has a greater purpose that we cannot always see.
Part of this comes down to the fact that God has given people free will. We are able to make real choices, and those choices can affect other people. People can choose to love, help and protect others, but they can also choose to lie, abuse, hurt, steal and destroy. If God stopped every harmful choice before it could ever cause pain, our choices would no longer have the kind of consequences that make them genuinely meaningful.
God could have created a world where nobody could ever choose to do anything wrong, but that would also mean removing the freedom to choose what is right.
The Bible shows us that God does not approve of evil simply because He allows people to make choices. He hates wickedness, and He will ultimately judge it. For now, however, He allows humanity to live in a world where our choices have real consequences.
There is also another reason God allows suffering: He can use it for a purpose.
God can use suffering to bring people to Him. When life is going well, we can sometimes become so focused on our own plans that we forget how much we need God. But when everything falls apart, we often realise that we cannot fix everything ourselves.
That desperation can lead us to pray.
It can lead us to open the Bible.
It can lead us to search for God.
And when we find Him, our lives can begin to change.
God can take us from suffering, to seeking Him, to finding Him, and then to discovering the purpose He has for our lives. He can take the things we have been through and use them to help us become a blessing to someone else.
This does not mean that God needs us to suffer before He can give us a purpose. It means that when suffering happens, God can still use it instead of wasting it.
Romans 8:28 — God Can Bring Good From Suffering
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Paul does not say that everything that happens is good. Some things that happen in this world are clearly evil.
He says that God can work through all things for good.
That means the suffering itself does not have to be good for God to bring something good from it.
God can use a painful season to draw us closer to Him. He can use it to change our priorities, strengthen our faith, reveal gifts we did not know we had and lead us toward a purpose we could not see before.
And sometimes, what we learn through our own suffering becomes the very thing that helps us comfort someone else.
2 Corinthians 1:4 — God Can Use Our Pain to Help Others
“Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”
So why doesn’t God simply end all suffering right now?
Because this world is not yet the restored world He promises at the end of the story. For now, He allows people to make real choices, He allows the consequences of living in a fallen world, and He can use even painful circumstances to accomplish His purposes.
But that does not mean suffering will continue forever.
God has promised that one day it will end.
Revelation 21:4 — Suffering Will Not Last Forever
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
God’s answer to suffering is not to leave us suffering forever.
His plan is ultimately to remove it completely.
Until that day, He meets us in our suffering, draws us toward Himself, gives our lives purpose and can bring good from things that were never good to begin with.
Why Do People Often Find God When They Are Suffering?
There is something about suffering that can make us realise how much we need God.
When everything is going well, it can be easy to feel like we have everything under control. We have our plans, our relationships, our money, our careers and our routines.
Then something happens that we cannot fix.
Suddenly we realise that we are not as in control as we thought.
This is often when people begin looking for God.
They pray because they are desperate, because they need answers and they seek God because they have reached a place where they know they cannot do everything on their own.
And sometimes, in that desperate place, they find Him.
Psalm 34:18 — God Is Close to the Brokenhearted
“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”
God does not move away from us when we are hurting.
He draws near.
That does not mean He caused the pain so that we would seek Him. It means that when pain comes, God can meet us in that place.
Sometimes the place where we feel the most broken becomes the place where we discover God in a way we never had before.
Can Suffering Bring Us Closer to God?
Yes.
The Bible contains many examples of people crying out to God in difficult circumstances.
David repeatedly called out to God when he was afraid. Job sought God in the middle of unimaginable suffering. The Israelites cried out to God when they were being oppressed.
God met people in their desperation.
Psalm 119:71 — God Can Teach Us Through Affliction
“It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.”
David was not saying that suffering itself was wonderful.
He was recognising that God had used his difficult circumstances to teach him.
Sometimes suffering forces us to slow down and think about things we avoided when life was comfortable.
We start asking deeper questions.
Why am I here?
What really matters?
Who can I trust?
What happens after this life?
What does God want from me?
Those questions can lead us toward Him.
What Happens When We Find God?
Finding God does not mean that every problem immediately disappears.
Sometimes God begins by changing what is happening inside us.
He can begin healing our hearts and can change the way we see ourselves. God can teach us that our identity is not defined by what someone did to us.
God can remind us that our past does not have to control our future.
He can give us hope again.
Psalm 147:3 — God Heals the Brokenhearted
“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.”
God cares about our wounds.
He does not ask us to pretend they are not there.
Healing can take time, and sometimes God works through prayer, His Word, other people and practical help as He brings healing into our lives.
But He is able to heal what has been broken.
And as He heals us, He can begin showing us that our life still has purpose.
Can Suffering Lead Us to Our Purpose?
It can.
Our suffering is not our purpose, but God can use what we have experienced as part of the story that leads us into the purpose He has for us.
Ephesians 2:10 — God Created Us for Good Works
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
God created you for more than simply surviving the things that happened to you.
You were created for good works, you have gifts, abilities, experiences, a testimony and a story.
God can use all of these things.
Sometimes we spend years asking, “Why did this happen to me?” Eventually, we may begin asking a different question:
“God, what can You do with my life now?”
That is a very different place to be.
Can God Give Purpose to the Things We Have Been Through?
Yes.
This does not mean that God needed you to suffer in order to give you a purpose.
It means He can take what happened and use it for something good.
Joseph is one of the clearest examples of this in the Bible.
His brothers betrayed him and sold him into slavery. Joseph suffered because of what other people chose to do to him.
Yet God eventually used Joseph to save many lives.
Genesis 50:20 — God Can Turn Evil Into Good
“But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”
Joseph did not say what his brothers did was good.
He called it evil.
But God was able to take what they meant for evil and use it for good.
That gives us hope when we look at our own lives.
Something can be genuinely terrible and still not have the final word.
God can take what was meant to hurt us and use our restored lives for something good.
Can God Use Our Suffering to Help Other People?
Yes.
One of the beautiful things about God’s work in our lives is that the comfort He gives us can eventually become comfort we give to someone else.
2 Corinthians 1:3–4 — God Comforts Us So We Can Comfort Others
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”
Think about what this means.
Someone who has been through pain may eventually be able to understand another hurting person in a way they could not before.
Someone who has experienced loss may be able to comfort someone who is grieving.
Someone who has felt completely alone may be able to recognise when another person is struggling.
Someone who has found God in the middle of suffering can tell another person, “I know it feels hopeless, but God is still there.”
Your suffering does not automatically make you useful to others.
But God can take what you have learned, the healing you have received and the compassion He has developed in you and use those things to bless someone else.
What If the Devil Meant to Destroy Me?
The Bible makes it clear that Satan is an enemy who seeks to steal, kill and destroy.
John 10:10 — Jesus Came to Give Life
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
We should not blame every painful event directly on Satan because Scripture does not tell us that every individual hardship comes from him.
But we can recognise that evil is real and that Satan opposes God’s purposes.
The good news is that the devil does not have the final word.
Jesus does.
What the enemy meant to destroy does not have to remain destroyed.
God can rebuild, heal and restore.
God can take a life that looks completely broken and create something beautiful from it.
Can God Restore What Was Stolen?
The Bible repeatedly shows us God’s ability to restore.
We should be careful, though, about what we mean by restoration.
The Bible does not promise that every person will receive back everything they have lost in exactly the same form.
Some things cannot be undone, some people we lose will not return to us in this life, some years cannot literally be repeated and some relationships should not be restored.
But God can still bring restoration.
He can restore our joy.
He can restore our hope, our confidence, our relationship with Him.
God can give us new opportunities, can bring new people into our lives and give us a new purpose.
And ultimately, He promises complete restoration when He makes all things new.
Joel 2:25 — God Can Restore What Has Been Lost
“And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.”
This promise was originally given to Israel in a specific historical situation, so we should not use it to promise that every Christian will receive back every earthly thing they have lost.
But it shows us something important about God’s character.
God is able to restore.
He is able to redeem what looks wasted.
He is able to bring something new from something that has been destroyed.
Can God Restore the Years We Feel We Have Lost?
Sometimes the hardest part of suffering is looking back and thinking about everything we have lost.
Maybe years were spent simply trying to survive or maybe someone else made choices that changed the direction of your life.
You may have lost opportunities, relationships, confidence or your joy.
You cannot go back and change those years.
But you can give the years ahead to God.
Isaiah 61:3 — God Brings Beauty From Ashes
“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”
The original context of this passage speaks about God’s restoration of His people, but the picture it gives us is powerful.
God can bring beauty from ashes.
He can bring joy after mourning, can bring hope after years of heaviness.
God does not have to pretend the ashes never existed, He can create something new from them.
Can God Give Us Joy Again?
Yes.
Joy does not mean pretending that what happened to us did not hurt.
It does not mean that we never cry again.
It does not mean that difficult days will disappear.
Biblical joy comes from knowing God and trusting Him, even when our circumstances are difficult.
Psalm 16:11 — God Gives the Path of Life
“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
When we find God, we find something deeper than temporary happiness.
We find the One who created us, knows us completely and the One who can lead us into a life that has meaning.
And as we begin walking with Him, He can show us the path He has for us.
What Does Purpose Have to Do With Joy?
Purpose gives us a reason to look forward.
When you have spent years in survival mode, it can be difficult to imagine that your life could become something more.
But God created us to live for more than ourselves.
He gives us opportunities to serve Him and bless other people.
1 Peter 4:10 — Use Your Gifts to Serve Others
“As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
God has given His people different gifts.
Those gifts are not simply for our own benefit.
They can be used to help other people.
Perhaps God will use your experience to encourage someone, or use your ability to teach, use your compassion, your creativity and use your testimony to help others.
We do not all have the same purpose, but God can use each of us to make a difference in the lives of others.
What If I Feel Like My Life Has Been Wasted?
This is something many people who have suffered can understand.
You look back and think about everything that could have been different.
Or you may be wondering where you would be if certain things had never happened.
You think about the time you lost and the opportunities that passed you by.
It can be painful.
But your past does not mean that God cannot still do something beautiful with your future.
Proverbs 16:9 — God Can Direct Our Steps
“A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.”
You may have had plans for your life that never happened.
You may have thought your life would look completely different by now.
That does not mean God has finished with you.
Sometimes God leads us down paths we never expected.
Sometimes we only understand later why certain experiences became part of our story.
And sometimes we may never understand everything that happened.
But we can still trust Him with what comes next.
Does God Waste Our Pain?
No.
God can use things that seem completely wasted.
That does not mean we should be thankful for abuse, betrayal, illness or other evil things.
It means we can trust God to do something with what happened.
Romans 5:3–5 — Suffering Can Produce Hope
“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
Paul is not saying that suffering is enjoyable.
He is explaining that God can use suffering to produce perseverance, experience and hope.
Sometimes we discover the depth of our faith when we have nothing else left to hold onto.
Sometimes we discover that God really is enough when the things we once depended upon are gone.
What If Someone Else Caused My Suffering?
This is important because not all suffering comes from circumstances that are outside human control.
Sometimes another person causes the suffering.
People make sinful choices, lie, betray, abuse, manipulate and abandon.
People can cause enormous damage to someone else’s life.
If that has happened to you, you do not have to call what happened God’s will simply because He allowed it.
Psalm 34:18 — God Is Near Those Who Are Brokenhearted
“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”
God cares about what happened to you.
He sees the pain that other people may never see and He knows the things you have never told anyone.
God knows the nights you cried and He knows the prayers you whispered when you did not know what else to say.
And He is not ashamed of you because you are hurting.
Does God Have a Future for Me After Suffering?
Yes.
Your suffering does not cancel your future.
Your past does not cancel your purpose.
What someone else did to you does not decide what God can do with the rest of your life.
Jeremiah 29:11 — God Gives Hope for the Future
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
This verse was originally spoken to the Israelites during their exile, so we should not use it as a promise that every Christian will receive the exact future they want.
But it does show us that a painful season does not mean God has forgotten His people.
Israel’s story did not end in exile.
God still had a future for them.
And your current circumstances do not have to be the end of your story either.
What If I Cannot See My Purpose Yet?
You may not see it yet.
That is okay.
Sometimes we want God to show us the entire plan before we take the first step.
But often He shows us one step at a time.
First, we find Him.
Then He begins changing us, healing us and teaching us through His Word.
God begins showing us the gifts He has given us and then opportunities come to serve.
And eventually, we may look back and see how God was leading us all along.
Ephesians 3:20–21 — God Can Do More Than We Imagine
“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
You may not be able to imagine what God could do with your life right now.
If you are still hurting, your future may look very small.
But God sees more than you can see.
He knows what He can build from your life.
Can My Story Become a Blessing to Someone Else?
Yes.
Your story does not have to stay something that only caused you pain.
God can eventually use it to encourage someone else.
2 Corinthians 1:4 — We Can Comfort Others
“Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”
Think about someone who has been through something difficult and then meets another person going through the same thing.
They may be able to say, “I understand.”
Or they may be able to give hope because they have seen God carry them through.
They may be able to help someone who feels completely alone.
That is one of the ways God can turn suffering into purpose.
The pain does not become good.
But God can use the person who came through it.
What Is the Christian Hope for Suffering?
The Christian hope is not that we will never suffer.
Christians still experience sickness, grief, loss, disappointment and hardship.
Our hope is that suffering does not last forever.
Romans 8:18 — Our Suffering Is Not the End
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
Paul knew what suffering was.
He experienced persecution, imprisonment, beatings and rejection.
Yet he understood that what happens in this life is not the whole story.
There is something greater ahead.
Will God Eventually End Suffering?
Yes.
The Bible promises that suffering will not continue forever.
Revelation 21:4 — God Will End Death and Pain
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
This is the ultimate hope for every Christian.
There will be no more death.
No more sorrow, crying or pain.
God will make all things new.
Revelation 21:5 — God Makes All Things New
“And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”
One day, everything broken by sin will be dealt with.
That is why suffering does not get the final word.
God does.
What If I Have Lost Years of My Life?
Maybe you feel like you have lost years that you can never get back or maybe you spent years in a situation you never wanted to be in.
You may have been trying to survive when you wanted to be living or maybe you feel like other people moved forward while you were stuck.
God knows what those years cost you.
But the years that have passed do not mean that the years ahead cannot have purpose.
Psalm 40:1–3 — God Can Bring Us Out of the Pit
“I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.”
David describes God bringing him out of a horrible place and giving him a new song.
That is what restoration can look like.
It does not mean the pit never existed.
It means the pit does not have to be where you stay.
God Can Give You a New Song
There may come a time when you look back at your life and realise that God carried you through things you never thought you would survive.
You may still have scars.
You may still remember what happened.
But you can also look at what God has done since then.
Psalm 30:11–12 — God Can Turn Mourning Into Joy
“Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;
To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.”
God can bring joy back into a life that has known a lot of sorrow.
He can give you reasons to smile again.
God can give you something to look forward to.
He can give you a purpose that gets you out of bed in the morning.
And He can use you to bring hope to someone else.
Your Suffering Is Not Your Purpose
This is something I think we need to remember.
Your suffering is not your purpose.
The abuse was not your purpose.
The betrayal was not your purpose.
The loss was not your purpose.
The years of pain were not your purpose.
But God can take those experiences and use them as part of the story that leads you somewhere new.
He can use what you have learned, use your compassion, your gifts and your testimony.
God can use your restored life.
Romans 8:28 — God Works According to His Purpose
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
The goal is not simply to survive suffering.
God wants us to know Him.
He wants us to grow in Him.
He wants us to discover the good works He has prepared for us.
And He can use our lives to bless other people.
Finding God Can Change the Direction of Your Life
Sometimes we find God because we desperately need Him.
We pray because we have nowhere else to turn, because we need answers and we open the Bible because we need hope.
And in that searching, we discover that God was not waiting for us to become perfect before He would come near.
He was already there.
Jeremiah 29:13 — God Can Be Found When We Seek Him
“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
Finding God can become the beginning of something completely different.
You begin to understand who He is and who you are. This will help you begin to heal, grow and discover your gifts to help other people.
And slowly, the story starts changing.
God Can Turn Your Pain Into a Testimony
Your testimony does not have to be a story about how perfect your life became.
It can simply be a story about how faithful God was.
You can say, “I was hurting, but God stayed with me.”
“I was lost, but God found me.”
“I had no hope, but God gave me hope.”
“I thought my life was over, but God showed me that He still had a future for me.”
“I spent years surviving, but God taught me how to live.”
That is a powerful testimony.
Psalm 40:3 — Others Can See What God Has Done
“And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.”
Sometimes God brings us through something so that our lives can point someone else toward Him.
The person who sees your life may not understand everything you have been through.
But they may see your faith.
They may see your peace.
They may see the changes God has made.
And they may start asking questions about the God who helped you.
Why Does God Allow Suffering? The Bigger Picture
There is no single answer that explains every painful thing that happens in this world.
We live in a world broken by sin.
People make choices that hurt other people.
Our bodies become sick.
People we love die.
Natural disasters happen.
Injustice exists.
Sometimes we suffer because of our own choices, sometimes because of someone else’s choices and sometimes simply because we live in a fallen world.
But God has not abandoned us.
He meets us in our suffering.
God draws near to the brokenhearted.
He can use suffering to bring us closer to Him.
And when we find Him, He can begin changing the direction of our lives.
He can heal us, give us hope, reveal our purpose and show us how to use our lives to bless other people.
God can take what was meant for evil and bring good from it and He can ultimately restore everything that sin has broken.
Your Story Is Not Over
If you are in a painful season right now, you may not be able to see what God could possibly do with your life.
Maybe you are just trying to get through today or maybe you have been asking God for help for a very long time.
You may be wondering whether your circumstances will ever change.
I cannot tell you exactly how God will work in your situation.
But I can tell you what Scripture says about His character.
God is near to the brokenhearted. He hears those who cry out to Him and He can bring good from what was meant for evil. God can restore, give purpose and hope.
And He promises that suffering will not last forever.
Isaiah 61:3 — God Can Bring Beauty From Ashes
“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”
You may not be able to see the beauty yet.
You may still be sitting in the ashes.
But God can build something new from them.
Suffering Can Lead to Finding God, Purpose and Hope
Sometimes the hardest seasons of our lives are the seasons that make us realise how much we need God.
We find Him because we are desperate.
Then, as we begin walking with Him, He starts showing us that our life is not meaningless.
He begins healing the places that were broken and He teaches us who we are.
God shows us the gifts He has given us and He leads us toward the purpose He has for our lives.
And eventually, He can use us to become a blessing to other people.
That does not mean we needed to suffer in order to have a purpose.
It means God is powerful enough to bring purpose out of our suffering.
Romans 8:28 — God Can Work Through Everything
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
The suffering may not have been good.
But God can bring good from it.
The years may feel wasted.
But God can still use what remains.
The enemy may have tried to destroy your life.
But God can restore what was broken and lead you somewhere new.
And the things you once thought would only ever be part of your pain may eventually become part of the testimony through which you help someone else.
Final Thought
If you are suffering right now, please remember this: God did not create you for suffering, and your suffering is not the purpose of your life.
You were created to know God and to have a relationship with Him.
God created you for good works and to love and serve others.
Sin brought suffering into this world, and people can cause terrible pain through their own choices. But God can take what happened and do something with it that we could never have imagined.
Sometimes suffering brings us to the point where we finally reach for God.
And when we find Him, everything can begin to change.
He can heal what was broken, can restore what was lost, can give us hope where we had none.
God can show us a purpose when we thought our life was wasted and He can take the things we have learned through our pain and use them to help someone else.
Romans 8:28 — God Can Bring Good From Your Story
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Your suffering is not the end of your story.
What someone did to you is not the end of your story.
The years you lost are not the end of your story.
The things the enemy tried to take from you are not the end of your story.
God can write more.
He can lead you somewhere you never expected to go, can give you a future, a purpose and He can give you joy again.
And He can take the life that was once simply trying to survive and turn it into a life that blesses other people.
Revelation 21:4 — One Day Suffering Will End
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
One day, God will make all things new.
Until then, if you are hurting, keep reaching for Him.
You may not understand why everything happened.
You may not know what God is doing yet.
But you can know that He is with you.
And your story is not over.more.
✨ Still Have a Question?
If you didn’t find your question here, don’t worry — you’re not alone. That’s why we created our Ask a Bible Question page, where you can send in your question directly. Every question matters, and I’ll do my best to answer with guidance from God’s Word.
You can also leave your questions on my YouTube channel where I regularly share Bible verses, encouragement, and answers to common questions.
