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Why Do Christians Suffer?

Gerry

Jesus Paid It All
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There is no single answer to this question, of course, for there are indeed many reasons. Sometimes it is because we are suffering the consequences of personal sin in our lives. Sometimes we suffer for our Faith and our devotion to God. Sometimes it is simply because because we live in a sinful world and we suffer because of the consequences of that sin, though it may not be a particular personal sin of our own.

But one reason so many precious Christians suffer today is for the same reason Job suffered. satan is jealous of our devotion and dedication to God, and sets out to destroy us and to plague us as he did Job.

he sets about stealing our Joy and our Peace and filling us with fear and surrounding us with every negative our minds can conceive. he destroys marriages and families and tries to leave us a mental, physical, and Spiritual wreck.

But God is faithful and will not allow us to be tempted above anything we can stand nor will He allow us to suffer beyond our endurance. We see in the story of Job that even though satan meant to destroy and kill Job, at least in a Spiritual sense, that God rather meant it for his good.

Job remained faithful and in the end was made stronger than ever. Job was blessed more and strengthened and was in every way better off than before the attacks came. Job was purified and glorified as a result of his suffering.

But the greatest reward of all is that Job will live forever in the presence of a Loving God, and the suffering he did is no longer even a memory.

We need to remain faithful as did Job, and to trust God, as did Job, and to thank God when the suffering comes, and to ask only that He give Grace to endure. For indeed "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

And as Paul said in Romans 8:18: "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.:

Father, help Your children to understand about suffering and bless them with Grace to endure, and wisdom and strength to give You Praise and thanks through it all.
 

GraftMeIn

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I just love this Gerry. satan can take many things away from us, just as he did Job. But there's one thing he can never take away from us, and that is God. And when you get right down to it God is all that matters :)

Reading what you have posted makes me think of something my Dad once told me. Because now I see where he got from. He told me to always remember no matter how bad things get, at some point they have to start getting better. And how true that is, even right up to our death because nothing can be better than going to be with our Father in Heaven :)

And one thing God has taught me through not only my own suffering, but also that of others. Is to stay focused on those things that can't be seen with eye.
 
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Gerry

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Originally posted by prayingtogod
The reason why we as christians are persecuted is to proove and show our faith to the world. And so that others will know for sure that their is a God who is real in heaven.

I am glad that you have pointed out that persecution is one of the ways in which we Christians sometimes suffer. And it is surely one of the ways with which all Christians, everywhere, ought to be vitally concerned. Some of our brothers and sisters in some countries are greatly persecuted for their faith, and I think one day we should do a whole thread on this way alone and find creative ways in which we can support these brothers and sisters.

Thanks for bringing this one up.
 
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Buggyman

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Originally posted by Andrew
Why do Christians suffer? Becos God is not in-charge and Christians do not know how to take charge -- and then they 'blame' God.

Pretty strong statment Andrew.. care to elaborate? All normal Christian go through a low point in there Life and that's when God is carrying them.
But Christians suffer because they are being tested by Satan for their Strenght. When we call on The Lord during these times we show the Lord how much we depend on Him.
But to say God is not in charge.. to me is a strong Statement.
Can you tell me of one instance that God was not in Charge?

Just curious

Buggy :angel:
 
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GraftMeIn

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Just thought I might add a couple more scriptures about suffering :)

2 Corinthians 1: 3-4
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

2 Corinthians 4: 16- 18
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
 
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Gerry

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Oh GMI! You have posted some Scripture that absolutely makes me FLOAT in mid air. If all of us would just soak in those verses a while we would all take heart. I just want to add my favorite modern English translation of those Scriptures in support. here is the way JB Phillips translated those verses:

"This is the reason why we never collapse. The outward man does indeed suffer wear and tear, but every day the inward man receives fresh strength. These little troubles (which are really so transitory) are winning for us a permanent, glorious and solid reward out of all proportion to our pain. For we are looking all the time not at the visible things but at the invisible. The visible things are transitory: it is the invisible things that are really permanent." II Corinthians 4:16-18
 
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Gerry

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Praise The Lord! BlindFaith, everyday I speak to someone, it seems, about how amazed I am at God's awesome love. Though I see example after example, I never take for granted the way in which God, works everything in His perfect timing.

I am very grateful for your kind words, and such encouragement always brings joy and that produces strength. See how God works Everything together for our good and our benefit. WOW! Is our God great or what!?!

Thanks again and be blessed!
 
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Two things I learned from the story of Job, Gerry

1. If God ever removes his protective hedge from around us, Satan rushes in like a whirlwind destroying all the physical things around us and then tries to erode the spiritual as well

2. God will never leave his saints alone and will only allow us to be exposed to that which he knows we can handle. After each trial he blesses us primarily spiritually, sometimes physically/materially, but he ALWAYS blesses us.

We may never understand suffering in its full context, but TRUST in God supercedes that. That what it boils down to . No?

Dave
 
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