Why We Have to Go Through Sufferings

We thank God because we are not foreign to suffering. We are not alien to the pains of suffering. We know that the Lord has suffered, once and for all, for us. Don’t ever think that you are alone in those sufferings. The Lord suffered for you.

We can see in the Word of God that we have to go through many sufferings in order for us to enter the Kingdom of God. We can read this in Act 14:22, which reads:

“Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

It is biblical that those who follow our Lord Jesus Christ are suffering today. God has purposes for our suffering, as we can read in Jon 16:33:

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Be of good cheer. We are given the promise that the Lord said, “I have overcome the world. I have conquered the world.”

It means that no matter how great your trials are, no matter how great your hardships are, no matter how great your sufferings are, that will not prevail against you because when the Lord came here, He had already overcome the tribulation that you are going through right now.

So, do not be overcome by the sufferings you are experiencing because that will not prevail against you. All you have to do is be strong.

The Lord said that while you live in this world, the devil is the king of this world. He rules the world we live in and the Lord knows that. So He said, “In this world, you will have tribulation.”

So, those that follow Jesus Christ will really have tribulation, we will have suffering. The Lord Himself spoke of that.

Be strong because no trials will win against you. Why? Because the Lord said, “I have overcome the world.” Those who follow Him will win.

But why is it that sometimes, when one who follows our Lord Jesus Christ has sufferings, he is defeated? Because he is cowardly. When there are trials and tribulations that come into his life, he becomes discouraged and then, he blames the Lord. You should not do that.

In any part of your faith, when you have tribulation, you have to stay, and take courage, and those sufferings will only pass through your life. And one day, you will find that you can prevail against any trial. Note Luke 8:13: “They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.”

What did the Lord say? After you receive the Words of God, temptation will come into your life. When temptation comes into your life, you will suffer, and you will have a hard time because temptation means you will be tempted in all things to get you out of your faith.

Who will tempt you? The devil. You will be tested. Sometimes, the devil will test you to get you out of the faith and return to the world. But sometimes, the temptation comes from God, not so that you can backslide, not so that you can return to the world, but so that you can become more purified and strengthen your faith in Him.

It is inevitable that when we listen to the Word of God and receive it, the temptation in our lives will come immediately. That is why let us wait for it and then, stand firm, be strong and say, “The Lord has overcome the world. Whatever temptation I go through, one day, it will disappear, and the Lord will still reign in my life.”