The Purpose of Suffering

"For it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to Glory, should make The Founder of their Salvation perfect through suffering." — Hebrews 2:10

God's Redemptive Purpose in Pain

(Note: Long before the Messiah arrived, God revealed through the Patriarchs that while the enemy intends suffering for destruction, the God of Israel can weave it into a masterpiece of redemption.)

Genesis 50:18–20

His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today."

The Refining Fire of the Righteous

Job 23:8–10

“Behold, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive Him; on the left hand when He is working, I do not behold Him; He turns to the right hand, but I do not see Him. But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold."

Psalm 119:71, 75

It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. ... I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

Zechariah 13:9

"And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”

The Nearness of God and the Permission to Lament

(Note: God does not ask us to pretend the pain is not real. The Scriptures give us permission to cry out in our brokenness, knowing His compassions never fail.)

Psalm 34:15–19

The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ears toward their cry... When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

Lamentations 3:19–24

Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in Him."

Suffering is Not Always a Punishment

(Note: It is a common human error to assume that tragedy is a direct punishment for a specific sin. Yeshua explicitly rejected this idea, teaching that while we live in a fallen world, God can use senseless pain to display His miraculous glory.)

John 9:1–3

As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Yeshua answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

The Cost of Discipleship

(Note: To follow The Messiah is to walk the Narrow Road. He promised us peace, but He also promised that this world would resist the light.)

Luke 14:27

"Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."

John 16:33

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

2 Timothy 3:12–13

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Yeshua The Messiah will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Following the Example of the Suffering Servant

1 Peter 2:18–25

For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly... For to this you have been called, because The Messiah also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.

1 Peter 3:14–18

But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor The Messiah the Lord as holy... For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. For The Messiah also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God...

Counting All Things as Loss

Philippians 3:7–11

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of The Messiah. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Yeshua The Messiah my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain The Messiah... that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Producing Character, Hope, and Comfort

(Note: Building upon the Prophets, the writers of the New Covenant understood that trials are not a sign of God's absence, but the very instrument of our purification and our ability to minister to others.)

Romans 5:3–5

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that 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.

2 Corinthians 1:3–5

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua The Messiah, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in The Messiah's sufferings, so through The Messiah we share abundantly in comfort too.

Power Perfected in Weakness and the Loving Discipline of the Father

2 Corinthians 12:7–10

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of The Messiah may rest upon me... For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Hebrews 12:5–11

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives.” ...For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Working All Things Together for Good

Romans 8:18, 28, 35–39

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us... And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. ...Who shall separate us from the love of The Messiah? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

The Crucible of Faith and the Crown of Life

1 Peter 1:6–9

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Yeshua The Messiah.

James 1:2–4, 12

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ...Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.

An Eternal Weight of Glory

2 Corinthians 4:16–18

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

1 Peter 5:8–11

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in The Messiah, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

The Ultimate Defeat of Pain

Revelation 21:3–4

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”