On Trials and Temptations

by Henry Knapp


Why does God allow us to suffer trials? Why do we suffer temptation?

The Book of James begins with the instruction to “consider it all joy when you face trials and temptations…” Really now? All joy? Perhaps that would be easier if we understood suffering better.

Why does God allow suffering? Surely, it is one of the most frequently repeated questions throughout the centuries, asked by many strong believers who experience something dreadful and by non-believers who are either avoiding the Gospel or seriously concerned about the validity of Christian claims to an all-loving, all-powerful God.

Is there one, simple all-encompassing answer? If so, then that answer is “sin.” But to many, that is unsatisfactory, and the Bible does a much better job in showing us that, because of sin, there are many different reasons why a person suffers in this world.

Here is a sample:

(1) The natural effects of living in a sinful world – the world has been distorted by sin and bad things happen. Period. If you live in Rome, prepare to do things the Roman way. If you live in this world, sinful things will happen. (Abraham’s travels)
(2) Attack by evil powers. They are real. They are here, and they do real damage. While not everything bad has a demonic cause, some things surely do. (Job)
(3) Sinned against by others. Lets face it, bad things happen because people do bad things. One of the reasons we suffer is because we are sinful people who act sinfully against others. (see Christ’s death,    1 Peter)
(4) Consequences of unwise choices. Whose fault is my suffering if I decide to ram my head against a stone wall? I suspect we could eliminate a lot of suffering in this world if we could only get rid of all the unwise people… (Proverbs)
(5) Divine discipline. Training for anything worthwhile is difficult. No pain, no gain, as all those sadistic athletic people say. Well, spiritually, no pain, no gain. Frequently, our suffering is intended to serve as an educational tool to bring us to godliness. (Hebrews, Proverbs)
(6) Divine Punishment. Yes, the Bible says so, and I believe it. Sometimes we suffer for no other reason than God is punishing us for our sin. Punishment, both for justice’s sake, and to lead us to repentance and mercy from God. (Judges, Gehazi, Ananias/Sapphria, Herod)

There is no easy answer for someone when they are suffering. I would never presume to tell someone that they are suffering for any specific one of the reasons listed above (such a presumption would be rather arrogant, in my opinion), but rather suggest they seek God’s comfort and wisdom.

And James does reassure us—suffering produces perseverance, and the one who perseveres is blessed by God.