Life and Godliness

Once again in my circles there has been a wave of this question, if God is so loving, why do bad things happen? (And let me clarify, the following does include suffering such as child molestation, rape, financial loss, physical disability, disease, death and the like.) This is something I have been studying for years and when leaning on my own understanding it really doesn't make any sense. But through Scripture, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, it makes perfect sense.

Paul tells us, to keep me from becoming conceited... a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited (2 Corinthians 12:7). Paul says, to keep me from becoming conceited, twice in this passage. Kinda repetitive, right? Apparently the emphasis is not that Paul was given a thorn in his flesh, but that it was given to keep him humble.

So what does Paul do with that? He rejoices. Why? Well he tells us, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, (Romans 5:3-4). And again, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

So he is saying is we suffer and enjoy it? No. He is saying when we suffer (and Peter tells us we will, 1 Peter 4:12) we are to turn to our merciful Savior and rejoice in the work being done in our suffering. Both Peter and James speak on this as well.

1 Peter 1:6-8:
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 Jesus Christ.

If necessary. As God saw it necessary to give Paul a thorn in his flesh; He may find it necessary for us to suffer that we may be purified. However, there are varying degrees of suffering (none more important to God than another) and not all will endure the same suffering.

2 Peter 1:3-4:[God's] divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence He has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature.
Ultimately, what we need for life and godliness is the knowledge of Christ. Yet for those who are in the wilderness, do not despair. Your God has not forgotten you, there is a divine purpose. What is necessary for life and godliness does include suffering and in that suffering we have the pleasure of vision in saturated colors. Notice Peter says twice this is granted to us - a gift.

1 Peter 5:10
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.


Peter is telling us that, in the midst of our suffering God is at work in our hearts. He is at work to:
purify (tested genuineness): dokimion - that by which something is tried or proved
perfect: katartizō - mend, complete, equip;
confirm: stērizō - to make stable, to render constant one's mind;
strengthen: sthenoō - make strong of one's soul;
establish: themelioō - to lay the foundation.

Ah, to lay the foundation. I love that. I have seen God tearing down strongholds all the way to the bedrock so He may lay His foundation. It is painful when my teetering tower comes crumbling down, but I am far better off as God places me on His Cornerstone.

James puts this pretty succinctly as well:
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2-4

Lacking in nothing. We have been granted all things that pertain to life and godliness, and that includes all suffering because God will use it to purify our faith, restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us that we will be lacking nothing for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us. No matter how gruesome the offense, how devastating the loss, we are given an opportunity to cleave to our Savior as He does the work. I can tell you dear friends that this process of pruning - however painful - produces something more valuable than if the suffering never happened at all. It produces knowledge of, and fellowship with our Savior who suffered more than anyone ever in all eternity. More than that, Christ shows us the hope produced through suffering by the inexpressible glory that resulted in His crucifixion.

...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.
Romans 5:5