May 25, 2019
By Li Tong
Many Christians feel confused: God is love and He is almighty, so why does He allow us to suffer? Could it be that He has abandoned us? This question always used to puzzle me, but lately, through prayer and seeking, I’ve gained a bit of enlightenment and light. This has resolved my misunderstandings of God, and I’ve come to understand that suffering is not God casting us aside, but instead is very carefully arranged by God in order to purify and save us. These trials and refinement are God’s greatest grace for us!
God says, “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on My name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is My people: and they shall say, Jehovah is my God” (Zechariah 13:9). “Behold, I have refined you, but not with silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48:10). And in 1 Peter 5:10, it says, “But the God of all grace, who has called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.”
We can see from God’s words and the scripture that there is God’s will in His allowing us to suffer, and it is entirely to purify and save us; it is a precious treasure bestowed upon us by God. Before trials and refinement come to us, we all think of ourselves as people who uphold God’s way, and some of us even feel that by forsaking, expending, laboring, and working for God, by suffering and paying a price, we are completely considerate of God’s will, that we are the people who love Him most, and that we are the most devoted to Him. We believe that no matter who else might become negative and weak or betray God, we could never do such a thing. But the reality is that when we are faced with difficulties like losing a job, or financial straits, we complain against God, lose our faith, and even become unwilling to expend for Him anymore. When misfortune strikes our families or some calamity occurs, we may still complain about God because something impinges on our personal interests. We argue our case and put up a fight, and in serious cases, betray God and forsake our faith. God has stated on many occasions that He requires us to follow His way, and has demanded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). However, we always calculate to further our fleshly interests, and treasure them over our love for God. When God acts in accordance with our notions, we thank and praise Him, but when He doesn’t, we develop misunderstandings and complaints about God, or even betray Him. This shows us how deeply Satan has corrupted us. We always pursue blessings in our faith, which is essentially attempting to transact with God—to do this truly is selfish, despicable, and entirely lacking in reason! At this point, we can gain some true understanding of the satanic dispositions of rebelling against and opposing God within us, as well as some discernment over the mistaken motives and notions in our faith. We can see that what we live out is a far cry from what God requires of us, and that we are entirely unworthy of receiving God’s blessings and approval. Likewise, through such trials and refinement, we can experience God’s holiness and righteousness, and feel how many adulterations there are in our faith in Him. If we continue to believe in Him with the intention to seek blessings, we will only cause God to be disgusted with us and loathe us. Once exposed through trials, we are able to see that our corruption is too great and our shortcomings too many, and thus we can begin to come before God in prayer, read His words, and then reflect on and know the places within us that don’t accord with God’s will. We can seek out how to satisfy God and stand witness for Him, and unconsciously, we develop a much closer relationship with God. After such experience, we not only gain understanding of ourselves and some understanding of God’s disposition, we also become more stable and mature. Our impulsive, arrogant, selfish, and deceitful dispositions are ground down, and only then can we truly understand that while trials and refinement cause us some fleshly suffering, the fruit it bears in us is salvation and purification, which are very beneficial and edifying for our lives.
We can also see this from the experiences of saints throughout the ages. Before God made use of Moses, He first had Moses tempered in the wilderness for 40 years. In that time, Moses endured all manner of hardship, there was no one for him to speak with, and he was frequently faced with wild beasts and harsh weather. His life was constantly in danger. He certainly suffered greatly in such a harsh environment. Some people might ask, “Couldn’t God have just directly put Moses to use? Why did He have to send him to the wilderness for 40 years first?” In this we find God’s benevolence. We know that Moses was a straightforward person with a sense of justice, but he had a temper and a tendency to act impulsively out of his idea of righteousness. When he saw an Egyptian soldier flogging an Israelite, he struck the Egyptian in the head with a stone, killing him. Moses’ inborn temper and heroic spirit were not in accord with God’s will, so if God had directly used him, he would have continued to rely on these characteristics in his actions and never would have been able to complete what he was entrusted with—leading the Israelites out of Egypt. This is why God had Moses stay in the wilderness for 40 years, so that he would be more fit for God’s use. In such an arduous, hostile environment, Moses was not only constantly praying and calling out to God, but he saw God’s omnipotence and dominance, and relied on God for his continuing survival. The temperamental, natural elements of him were worn away, and he developed genuine faith and submission to God. So, when God called upon Moses to undertake His commission, leading the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses was able to accept and obey without any resistance, and with God’s guidance, he smoothly carried out God’s commission.
There’s also the story of Job in the Bible. Job underwent the trials of his possessions being stripped away, his children destroyed, and he himself developed boils all over his body, yet in spite of his suffering, he never sinned with his words; he did not complain about God, but accepted everything from God within his heart. He was also able to seek God’s will, and ultimately said, “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah” (Job 1:21) and “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). He relied on his faith, fear, and submission to God to say these things, and thereby stood witness for God. The reason Job was able to stand witness through such great trials was that he believed that God rules all things, and that his belongings and children had all been given to him by God, so it was God’s right to take them away. As a created being, he ought to accept and submit. Job’s ability to stand in the position of a created being and unconditionally obey the Creator was standing witness for God. God later appeared to Job in a storm, and Job saw the sight of God’s back and heard God speak to him with His own mouth; he gained genuine understanding of God. Job reaped a bounty he never would have gained in a comfortable environment, and this was the greatest blessing bestowed upon Job through trials and refinement. Just as Job told his friends after his trials, “When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).
This shows us that trials and refinement are actually God’s true and real love for us. Only through them can we be purified and saved by God, thereby becoming people who are in accord with God’s will. This is the reason God allows these things to befall us.
to be continued …
from The Church of Almighty God
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