God Is Good? What About When I’m Suffering?

Dealing with pain and suffering, whether physical or emotional, is never fun. Sometimes we endure so much suffering that it seems unbearable. It may be surrounded by loneliness and helplessness and will sometimes make us wonder if God is even there. Is He? How can we know? What is He doing while I’m drowning in suffering? God has told us in His word that He is there for those who seek Him, but what makes Him different than those who said they would be there but never were when the suffering began and as we endured?

I want to assure you friends, God IS there. He’s beside you all the way, and this is how I know.

Alone in the Pit

Suffering can often make one feel like they are in a deep, dark pit. No one understood this more than Jeremiah. Jeremiah was mocked, attacked, and persecuted in all kinds of ways because He believed and loved God. With intents to kill him, a group of men decided to throw Jeremiah in well until he starved to death. The well had no water but was full of mud, so Jeremiah sank deep in the mud of this deep, dark pit. Listen to his words in Lamentations 3:52-54:

"I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies without

cause; they flung me alive into the pit and cast stones on me; water closed

over my head; I said, 'I am lost.'”

Whether we have human enemies or enemies of disease or depression, we may feel the same way. We may feel lost and alone. Jeremiah was literally as rock bottom as a person could get: “almost” hopeless. The reason I said “almost” is because Jeremiah had God. After being thrown in this pit, Jeremiah continues in Lamentations 3:55-58.

"I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit; you heard my

plea, 'Do not close your ear to my cry for help!' You came near when I

called on you; you said, 'Do not fear!' You have taken up my cause, O

Lord; you have redeemed my life.”

Through the hands of Ebed-melech and the thirty men with him, God lifted Jeremiah out of the pit. God had allowed Jeremiah to be persecuted, but He never left. Because He was there and because Jeremiah trusted Him, God lifted him from that pit.

He Can Lift You From The Pit Too

One of the most wonderful things about God is that He promises to always be there for those who need Him. We may drift away from God but God doesn’t leave. He doesn’t take vacations, He doesn’t get too busy helping others, and He never leaves us to figure things out on our own. Yes, we may suffer. Suffering is a part of life. But no matter how hollow that sounds or how great the suffering is God will always be there. Listen to the Words of the apostle Peter in 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 denied Christ. He gave up on God because he was afraid of what would happen to him and yet Jesus welcomed him back, forgave him, and comforted him. It doesn’t matter how low we have sunk in the pit. Jesus wants us to lean on Him. While things may seem bad now, rely on God and He will comfort you. He will make your paths straight. He will make you whole.

God can make all things well.

Zack