Trials and Suffering
We live in a world where things go wrong, but we also live with the expectation that things will not go wrong. Our expectation is that we shouldn’t be persecuted for our faith and that our husbands should lead us exactly as well as Jesus does and that our wives will always follow our leadership and never question anything we do. Yet we experience trials when others sin against us, when we sin against others, and when we experience the fallenness of this present world.
In his first epistle, Peter does not deny the reality of suffering in this world. In 1 Peter 2:11-20, he describes several ways that we may experience suffering.
Biblical Realities of Suffering
First, there are fleshly temptations. In 1 Peter 2:11, Peter writes, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” We might be tempted to think (and I’ve heard it said) that, “Once you become a Christian, all the troubles and temptations of life go away…” They don’t. We live in a perverse, wicked, and fleshly world that is at odds with what we are in Christ. We fight daily against many kinds of temptations.
Next, believers are slandered and persecuted. Verse 12 says, “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” Again, it would be nice to think that because of our transformed, Christlike character people would only say good things about us and treat us well. But that’s not what happens. Unbelievers still slander believers and say that we are actually evildoers. This is the very thing that they did to Christ throughout His ministry (Matthew 12:22-24) and at the crucifixion. Jesus promised that if they said these kinds of things about Him and persecuted Him, then we can expect the same (John 15:21).
Third, there are ignorant and foolish men. In verse 15, Peter writes, “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.” How many of you have said something like, “We live in a crazy world!”? A few years ago a friend of mine announced on Facebook that he’s in love with and “marrying” a man. What was the response from the Facebook crowd? Almost total affirmation, praise, and encouragement. Things that are right and true and obvious to the believer are unknown and undiscerned by unbelievers. Unbelievers continue in ignorance and foolishness and live lives that carry out all the consequences of that foolishness.
Next, authorities are sometimes unreasonable. First Peter 2:18 says, “Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.” There are masters—bosses, husbands, church leaders, governmental authorities—who are good and gentle in the way they treat those entrusted to them. And there are others who are unreasonable. They are crooked; they are perverted, unfair, harsh, ungracious, and unchanging. You’ve known people like that and maybe had to work for them.
Clearly, according to Peter there really is unjust suffering in this life. First Peter 2:19-20 says, “For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.”
So Peter affirms there is suffering in this life. Though he doesn’t specify all these, we observe three primary kinds of suffering in the world:
Suffering that comes from living in a fallen world, like car accidents, cancer, and colds (Romans 8:20-21).
Suffering that comes as a result of our own sin. These are the difficult consequences of sin that we commit (1 Peter 1:20a).
Suffering that comes as the result of others’ sins against us like slanderous words, manipulation, anger, hatred, and persecution (v. 20b). These are sorrows that are unjust (v. 19). It may not be right that we experience them, but that’s the way it is in this world.
All of us experience all three of these kinds of suffering (often all at the same time). That’s our world—full of temptation, slander, ignorance and foolishness, unreasonableness, and injustice. Amid this pain and suffering, it’s vital that we understand the Bible’s perspective on suffering.
A Biblical Perspective of Suffering
All suffering is ultimately a result of Adam’s fall (Genesis 3; Romans 8:18-26). And suffering in this world, while painful, is not unusual (1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter 4:12).
Thankfully, we know that God is always working good things in us in all things (Romans 8:28). “All things” include:
The “good” (grace-filled) circumstances of life. These are the happy and easy things of life—health and happiness, promotions and profit. These are the events and circumstances that make it easy to get out of bed in the morning. These situations invigorate and excite us. They should also fill us with gratitude and dependence in the same way that difficulties do. (The danger of a “blessed” life is that it becomes a “forgetful” life; we are prone to wander from God.)
Circumstances that arise from living in a fallen world. These are the colds, cancers, and car accidents of our lives. No sin is directly involved in the difficulty, but we are suffering through the realities of the fall of creation. This is what Paul spoke of in Romans 8:18-23—the longings and groanings of the created world that because of Adam’s sin doesn’t function the way it was designed to function by God.
Circumstances that arise because of the sins of others against us. We have not sinned against another person, but that person has sinned against us through things like robbery, gossip, and drunken anger. That’s a life lived in the flesh against us. Sometimes it may not be a “personal” attack—we just happen to be a victim in “the wrong place at the wrong time,” but most often it is personal as the person wants to persecute us and do evil to us and is our enemy (Romans 12:14-21).
Circumstances that arise because of our own sins against others. We have been bitter, been greedy, been covetous, been prideful, adulterated our marriage, and spoken unkind words. What we don’t want others to do to us, we have done to others, and those sins against others have created tremendous complications, difficulties, and heartaches in our lives (2 Samuel 12:15ff).
In all these circumstances, God is working good. But His good is often different than our “good.” What He knows is good and what we think is good in any given circumstance is likely quite (infinitely?) different. In every circumstance He ultimately wants us to look and act like Christ. God is interested in Christlikeness, not ease of life. Our fleshly nature will often be inclined to want ease and simplicity; God always wants our sanctification.
A Biblical Purpose for Suffering
We can take heart because suffering is always ultimately for the glory of God (Job 1-2; John 9:1-3; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; 10:31). It is always ultimately for our eternal good (Romans 5:3-5; 8:28-29). God may choose to set aside our temporary happiness or comfort to produce a greater happiness and joy in us. He may take away some of our small joys to give us a greater joy in Him (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Genesis 50:20). By removing those “treasures,” the Lord exposes disordered worship in our hearts and provides an opportunity for us to learn the benefits of treasuring Him above all things. In those painful removals, we can be confident that all suffering is designed by God to produce increasing sanctification in us.
The puritan, Thomas Watson, rightly affirmed, “Rest in God's wisdom—in case of the loss of dear friends, a wife, or child, or husband, let us rest satisfied in God's wisdom. God takes away these, because he would have more of our love; he breaks these crutches, that we may live more upon him by faith. God would have us learn to go without crutches.”¹
¹ Thomas Watson, All Things for Good.