It has been said that the only certainties in this life are death and taxes. There is, however, one other certainty that you can count on, namely suffering. (Job 14:1). Suffering is a universal experience of humanity. In some way, through some means, by some set of circumstances, everyone encounters suffering. We suffer as the result of tragedy, evil, death, slander, harm, accident, incident, the list goes on and on. There are innumerable instigators of our suffering and an innumerable list of examples of our suffering. Make no mistake about it, if you live you will suffer!
This is true because of the Fall. When man fell in the Garden of Eden, sin entered the world, and with it came suffering. Sin and suffering are inseparable companions. As sin increases and pervades, so does suffering. This is why suffering is a universal human experience. It is linked with our sin, and every human being is a sinner. That is not to say that every instance of suffering is directly related to our sin. However, sin or evil is present somewhere when suffering is present.
The question is not will you suffer, but why are you suffering? Apart from random acts of violence, natural disaster, or the like, there are two primary reasons for our suffering; we are doing evil and reaping the consequences of our actions or we are living for the Lord and experiencing persecution! 1 Peter 4:15-16 “But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”
There is suffering that is to our shame and there is suffering that is to our joy and the glory of God! It all depends upon the why.
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