Hoping in God (When Trials Seem Pointless)

Some days I get discouraged and overwhelmed at how hard life is.

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Other days I am comforted that God uses difficult circumstances to make me holy. 

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Every day God is sovereign and ordaining each step I take.

Have you ever cried out, “What’s the point?” or “Why is this happening to me?” during a season of suffering? In the midst of trials, it can be difficult to appreciate that there might be a benevolent purpose to the pain.

My natural inclination is to view trials as being pointless. It's easy for me to get caught up in trying to figure out how I can change my situation to maximize my own comfort and ease.

Now, please hear me on this. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with desiring to ease suffering. But, I do believe that I miss opportunities for growth in godliness if I am only focused on my circumstances.

While suffering is a consequence of sin, Scripture is emphatic that it is not meaningless. Here are four purposes the Bible talks about that I need to be reminded of in the midst of hardships.

1. Affliction is to help me know God's Word.

"This is my comfort in my affliction,
that your promise gives me life...
Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I keep your word...
It is good for me that I was afflicted,
that I might learn your statutes."
Psalm 119:50, 67, 71

Look at how David views and sees God at work. He sees his affliction as good! Trials lead him to know God's Word intimately and to live in obedience to it. God's promises in turn comfort him and give him life! It is in the Lord's presence that there is fullness of joy - not in the presence of ease and prosperity.

2. Despair is to make me rely on God.

"For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." 2 Corinthians 1:8–9

I love Paul's frankness is in this passage. It's easy for me to view Paul and his companions as being superhuman. Here he tells us that their afflictions led them to despair of life itself.

But he doesn't stop there! He says that the trials were to make them rely on God. The feelings of despair are to strip us of our self-sufficiency. They're to cause us to rely on God who raises the dead!

3. Trials are to grow me in holiness.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4

Okay, I'm pretty sure this is one of the most commonly quoted Scriptures to address trials. For me, steadfastness does not sound all that amazing. I prefer descriptors like "comfortable" and "smooth sailing."

James tells us in this passage that unwavering devotion to the Lord is the end purpose of our trials. Hardships reveal where we have placed our hope. Hardships reveal where we have placed our hope. The kindest thing God can do for us is to reorient our hope to being in him. As Augustine of Hippo said,

"Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee." ~ St. Augustine's Confessions

4. Affliction is not only about me.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." 2 Corinthians 1:3–4

In the midst of trials, considering the bigger picture is really hard for me. As a general rule of thumb, you won't find me eager to sign up for suffering. In retrospect though, God has kindly used my own painful situations to bless others. It is a precious gift to be able to comfort others with truth that God has comforted me with.

Make the Right Use of Suffering

In summary, Elisabeth Elliot says it way better than I can:

"...it's no use trying to measure suffering. What matters is making the right use of it, taking advantage of the sense of helplessness it brings to turn one's thoughts to God. Trust is the lesson. Jesus loves me, this I know - not because He does just what I'd like, but because the Bible tells me so. Calvary proves it. He loved me and gave Himself for me." ~ Passion and Purity

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