God’s Plan in Suffering

Endure to the End

Do you ever feel like the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer? Faithful Christians who know and trust God, who walk faithful to His commands, and who live out the gospel still experience all kinds of suffering, injustice, and loss this side of heaven. Seeing the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer can be a discouraging view, but Daniel 11:31-36 tells us that God does not waste the sufferings of His people. In fact, He uses it to create in them a greater longing and readiness for eternal glory. 

Daniel 11-12 is calling believers to live patiently and endure in wisdom knowing that one day they will be raised to everlasting life (Daniel 12:2). Let’s step into Daniel’s vision for a moment. Most commentators believe that the king spoken of in verses 31-36 is Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 BC) who oppressed the Jews, profaned the temple (Daniel 11:31), and sought to exalt himself as a god (Daniel 11:36). His tyranny and flattery divided the people between those who “violate the covenant” and those who “know their God” (Daniel 11:32) and stand firm in the midst of persecution. There is a beautiful promise stuck in between what seems to appear hopeless. God will refine, purify, and make white those who are wise and endure until the end! 

With Us in the Trials

Over the past couple of years, I have walked with two different friends who struggle with infertility. They surely see the wicked prospering as ungodly people have children, sometimes without even wanting them, while these faithful friends wait. I am not sure if there is a more isolating or silent suffering than infertility. While both of these friends don’t know if the “end” of their suffering will be this side of heaven or when they reach heaven’s gates, but I have still seen them press on in faithful endurance. 

Their faithful endurance doesn’t mean they always smile at God and thank him for how their suffering is making them look more like Christ. Honestly, I know from sitting with them and weeping that there are many days that feel so heavy and hopeless they aren’t sure if they can bear it. While I pray daily that God will relieve the suffering of my friends and give them a child, I also am getting to watch the Lord daily sustain His daughters. I am watching Him comfort them in their grief and give them renewed hope in their future glory. My faith has been strengthened watching these faithful sisters suffer with patience and wisdom. How the non-Christian makes peace with suffering in this life, I truly am not sure. 

For those who are in Christ, we push on toward the eternal kingdom and our resurrection, knowing that God is not wasting the trials of His people. Not only is God not wasting our trials, but He is in them with us.

Stability Found in God

I love how Asaph wrestles with the prosperity of the wicked around him in Psalm 73 saying, “For I envied those who are proud as I observed the prosperity of the wicked” (3). Only when Asaph goes into the presence of God is he able to discern the end of the wicked, that they will perish. Then he proclaims his hope, “My flesh and my heart may grow weak, but God always protects my heart and gives me stability. Yes, look! Those far from you die; you destroy everyone who is unfaithful to you. But as for me, God’s presence is all I need. I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, as I declare all the things you have done” (26-28). 

Lord, thank you that we will be raised again into everlasting life. Thank you for Christ who is our hope for resurrection. Would you be with us when we suffer? Would you keep us faithful, helping us to endure with wisdom and patience? We long for the day when we are purified and get to behold Christ. Amen.