Don't blame God

Some people think that only wicked people suffer, but God is on the side of the righteous and will remove all their troubles. It follows that, if a person is suffering, he must have committed some sin he should repent of.

This was the theory of Job's friends and disproving that idea is a main theme of that book. This same false doctrine is taught by many today who teach people that God will remove all their problems if they get right with Him.

But we have learned that even righteous people suffer. This is important for the following reasons:

-We should not conclude that we have been guilty of sin every time we have a problem. Maybe we are suffering because of sin, so we should examine our lives; but maybe we are suffering for other reasons, perhaps because we are righteous.

-We should surely never reject a Bible teaching just because it may lead to suffering. If all suffering was the result of our own sin, and if a course of action led to suffering, then we would conclude it was a sinful act; but we have learned that godly people often suffer for doing right.

-We should not become Christians thinking it will automatically solve all our problems. If this is our motive, we may fall away when the hardships come.

But the main lesson to learn is that God should not be blamed for the existence of suffering.

If we believe that all suffering results from a person's own sin, and if we see good people suffering, we may be tempted to blame God or to think He is not keeping His promises. But we have learned that all people suffer, whether or not they are righteous.

The command to endure suffering is just another part of a Christian's life, like the command to study the Bible, pray, worship, etc. Faithful Christians of all ages have suffered; we are not the only ones. We should expect suffering to come, so our faith will not be shaken when it does.

The ultimate and primary blame for suffering rests on Satan who tempts people to sin and thereby brought sin into the world. The secondary blame rests upon people, ourselves included, who have given in to temptation and committed sin that led to suffering.

Yes, God did create suffering as a punishment for sin, but only after He had given people a life without problems and had warned them of the consequences of sin. When they chose to sin, He should no more be blamed for punishing them than a parent should be blamed when he must punish a rebellious child. 

Remember, if you blame God and reject Him because you are suffering, then you are doing exactly what Satan wants you to do. He has defeated you! The only way to defeat Satan and really overcome hardship is to maintain your faithfulness to God in spite of it.