Years ago, during a hospital visit to an ailing senior clergyman, a group of young Christians witnessed a profound spiritual lesson. Visibly weak and in pain, the elderly priest greeted them with unexpected grace. When a student prayed for his healing, the clergyman’s smiling response was striking: “Don’t pray for my recovery. The Lord is doing something good in me. So pray He may complete what He is doing.”

The priest’s words echoed an ancient truth known to silversmiths: transformation requires fire. Hour after hour, a craftsman would hold precious metal in flames, watching intently as impurities burned away, leaving behind something far more valuable. Only when he could see his own reflection in the molten silver would the silversmith know his work was complete.

This timeless image from Malachi 3:3 captures a profound spiritual reality: inward transformation often comes through intense heat. For the believer in Christ, suffering isn’t merely an unfortunate reality—it serves as God’s primary instrument for sculpting us into the image of His Son.

MAKING SENSE OF SUFFERING: SEEING GOD’S PURPOSE

Scripture doesn’t shy away from the reality of suffering. From Genesis to Revelation, we find a consistent thread: God works sovereignly through pain, not despite it. Consider Joseph in an Egyptian prison, David in the wilderness, or Paul with his thorn in the flesh. These weren’t random misfortunes but carefully calibrated instruments in the hands of a loving Father.

The message emerges clearly: God permits suffering not because He’s absent or uncaring, but because He’s deeply engaged in our spiritual formation. Every trial serves His ultimate purpose—our sanctification and His glory.

HOW SUFFERING PRODUCES SPIRITUAL GROWTH

• It reveals our true nature: Suffering acts like a pressure test, exposing what lies beneath our carefully maintained exterior. In comfortable times, we imagine ourselves stronger than we are, but when heat rises, our true spiritual condition becomes unmistakably clear. This painful revelation is profoundly merciful, compelling us to embrace grace where our self-sufficiency crumbles.
• It deepens our understanding of Christ: Suffering offers an intimacy with Christ found nowhere else—the fellowship of His sufferings. What remains theoretical transforms into lived experience, where His comfort becomes living water and His presence moves from doctrinal truth to felt reality.
• It develops spiritual virtues: Virtues like patience, endurance, humility, and compassion are not self-improvement projects, but the Spirit’s work forged in fire. Adversity becomes the anvil where these qualities are hammered into our character, transforming us from the inside out.
• It brings faith to maturity: It is also through suffering that God teaches us to rely in His sovereignty and in goodness—just as He did to the saints in Scripture. Just as we expect our children to put away immaturity as they grow, God wishes for us to learn to trust Him. Perhaps our best response in suffering isn’t to wallow in self-pity as spoilt brats do, but to say instead, “Lord, You’re good, and you’re sovereign. Teach me to trust without complaining.”

MAKING SENSE OF SUFFERING: PRACTICAL APPLICATION

The ultimate aim of our suffering isn’t merely to make us stronger or more resilient. God’s goal is nothing less than to conform us to Christ’s image. Each trial, custom-designed by divine wisdom, serves this supreme purpose. No suffering is wasted; no tear falls outside His purpose.

• Responding to Personal Suffering: The call isn’t to stoically endure or frantically escape, but to actively, mindfully, intentionally submit. This may mean embracing trials as opportunities for growth, practicing deliberate trust in God’s promises, seeking comfort in Scripture and prayer, and leaning into, rather than away from, community and fellowship.
• Supporting Others in Suffering: When walking alongside those in pain, our role isn’t to offer easy answers but to provide Christ-centred presence. Sometimes this may mean sitting in silence, and at other times to offer practical help. Always it means pointing to the sufficiency of Christ while acknowledging the real pain of the present moment.

MAKING SENSE OF SUFFERING: YIELDING TO GOD’S SOVEREIGN PURPOSE

Like the ailing clergyman who saw God at work in his suffering, we’re invited to view our trials not as random misfortunes, but as purposeful instruments in God’s hand. Just as a silversmith carefully tends the fire, knowing exactly how hot it must be to purify precious metal, God is teaching His people to trust in His sovereignty and goodness through all of life’s trials.

Suffering isn’t primarily about punishment, but about God’s commitment to our holiness. Its duration isn’t arbitrary but precisely measured by divine wisdom for our ultimate good. The fire itself isn’t our enemy—it’s His instrument of refinement.

One day, perhaps sooner than we think, He’ll see His reflection in us more clearly than before. Until then, take heart. The hands that hold us in the fire are the same hands that were pierced for our salvation—hands that know exactly what they’re doing and will never let us go.

“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.” – Job 23:10

 

Making Sense of Suffering—Related FAQs

• How does the believer cope with doubting God’s goodness and the temptation to bitterness? Doubting God’s goodness and battling bitterness during suffering are deeply human struggles that even biblical saints experienced. The key lies in honest acknowledgment of these feelings while actively choosing to remember God’s unchanging character and past faithfulness, particularly as demonstrated at the cross. The antidote to bitterness involves intentional practices of gratitude and forgiveness, paired with regular heart examination and accountability with trusted believers who can help maintain eternal perspective.
• How do we rest in the comfort of God’s promises? Resting in God’s promises during suffering isn’t passive but requires active engagement with Scripture, particularly through memorisation and meditation on specific promises relevant to our situation. This rest becomes most real when we develop the habit of “preaching to ourselves” rather than listening to our fears, actively turning promises into prayers and keeping a record of God’s faithfulness. Community plays a crucial role here, as fellow believers can remind us of these promises when our own grip on them weakens.
• What are some practical tips that can help the suffering believer find encouragement? Practical encouragement during suffering often comes through maintaining basic spiritual disciplines even when feelings don’t align, including regular Scripture reading, prayer, and fellowship with believers who can offer genuine support rather than shallow answers. Physical aspects matter too—maintaining regular sleep patterns, exercise, and meaningful daily activities can significantly impact our spiritual resilience. Professional counseling alongside pastoral care can provide additional support structures for processing grief and pain in healthy ways.
• How do we navigate well-meaning but unhelpful advice from fellow Christians? When facing unhelpful advice from fellow believers, remember that most speak from limited understanding and genuine desire to help, even if their words cause pain. Focus on receiving their care rather than their specific advice, while graciously setting boundaries and cultivating relationships with the few who truly understand your situation. These challenging interactions can become opportunities for growing in grace and helping others learn how to better support those who suffer.
• How can we distinguish between God’s discipline and the general suffering of living in a fallen world? While it’s natural to question whether suffering is disciplinary or circumstantial, focusing too much on this distinction can distract from God’s larger purposes in our trials. The key is to examine our hearts while remembering that all suffering—whether disciplinary or circumstantial—can be used by God for our sanctification and His glory. Rather than fixating on the “why,” we’re called to focus on the “what now,” trusting that God’s purposes are redemptive regardless of the suffering’s source.
• What role should the church community play in supporting those who suffer? The church community serves as God’s primary means of providing tangible support and encouragement during times of suffering. Fellow believers are called to offer both practical help and spiritual encouragement, creating safe spaces for honest struggles while pointing to Christ’s sufficiency. This support works best when it combines faithful presence, practical service, and patient spiritual encouragement that avoids both minimizing the pain and rushing to solutions.

What lessons may we draw from Daniel’s three friends when they were cast into the furnace? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego demonstrate the powerful witness of “even if” faith—trusting God’s power to deliver while accepting His sovereignty if He chooses not to. Their experience reveals one of Scripture’s most vivid pictures of Christ’s presence in our suffering: just as the fourth figure appeared walking with them in the flames, so God himself draws nearest in our hottest trials. Like these faithful witnesses, we shall find the furnace becomes the very place where we experience God’s presence most intimately, while our faithfulness through fire impacts those watching our testimony.

 

Making Sense of Suffering: Our Related Posts

• Pain and Suffering: Christian Perspectives
• Can God Be Truly Sovereign and Man Be Free? The Biblical Perspective