Why do innocent people suffer? Job, David, Solomon, Habakkuk, and other great men of faith have grappled with this question. By inspiration, the apostle Paul gives one answer:
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation (2 Cor. 1:3-6).
Paul found in his suffering an opportunity to be comforted by God and to comfort others by pointing them to Him.
Suffering forces one to consider what is truly important in life. When one’s life is in pieces, it is time to overhaul one’s priorities. Suffering can make a person better or bitter. Though trials can break one’s resolve, they can bring out the best in the one who refuses to quit. Hard times are often the most defining moments in our lives. Through adversity, a person becomes stronger.
Through suffering, Paul learned to look to Christ. Each trial made him more confident that Jesus would see him through the hard times. From prison, Paul wrote the epistle to the Philippians, one of the most encouraging letters in the New Testament; in verses 11-13 of the fourth chapter, he wrote: “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Regardless of what else he was lacking, Paul had Christ. With Christ, he could be content.
As the afflictions of the apostle abounded, so his hope for comfort in heaven abounded. Notice some statements from his inspired pen concerning suffering for Christ. “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Rom. 8:17). “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him…” (2 Tim. 2:12). “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17).
Paul understood that his suffering was a prelude to salvation and glory in heaven. These sentiments are expressed in the final verse of the passage at the beginning of this article (2 Cor. 1:6). They are restated in other words by the apostle in his epistles. In another prison epistle, Paul wrote, “Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory” (Eph. 3:13). Paul was willing to suffer if it would result in others coming to know the great Comforter so that they could participate in the glory of salvation in heaven. Thus, in his final epistle, while he was again in bonds, awaiting execution, he wrote, “Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Tim. 2:10). The finest hour of Paul’s life on earth was at the end when he would die for Jesus. He was most like his Lord when he neared death and wrote:
For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing (2 Tim. 4:6-8).
This comfort found in the hope of heaven comes after we have learned through suffering to turn away from fleeting earthly comforts to look to God. Then we will be able to point others to God, our source of comfort. The effectiveness of Paul’s work for Christ was not in his eloquent speech or impressive physical image (2 Cor. 10:10), but in tenaciously clinging to Christ as his rock and anchor in the storms of life. God’s strength was made perfect in Paul’s weakness (2 Cor. 12:9); therefore, God was glorified and men followed (1 Cor. 11:1; John 12:32).
Perhaps one of the greatest gaps in how Christians present the gospel today is the absence of suffering for Christ and the hope of heaven. Surrounded by so many earthly, ultimately empty comforts, we often lose sight of our need for the God of all comfort. The message can subtly shift into advice for improving life right now instead of pointing us toward eternal life with Him. Because we expect heaven in the present, we are caught off guard when suffering comes. Yet hardship gives us a profound opportunity. When we not only endure trials but allow them to shape us into spiritual maturity (Jas. 1:2-4), our hope for heaven grows stronger—and people notice. They may even ask why we still have hope during so much pain (1 Pet. 3:15). In those moments, we can speak of the deep solace we have found in the God of all comfort.