Does suffering push you towards or away from God?

When tragedy or suffering strikes in one’s life, it is easy to blame God for not doing something to prevent it. During the progression of the Camps’ story in I Still Believe, Jeremy desperately prays for God to heal his wife of her cancer, but at times it seems like his prayers fall on deaf ears. Thankfully, he is reminded through Melissa’s words, that God had a purpose in allowing all that was happening in their lives.

This may be difficult to hear for those going through trial and suffering. It might even be a surprise to many. Still, Christianity is the only world-view which has an actual answer to the problem of evil and suffering. Christians can attest to the fact that they serve a God who lived as a man on this earth and experienced temptation, torture, hunger, thirst, hatred and death.

Due to the work of Jesus on the cross, the justice of God is manifested in His Son. The cross is a means of symbolising how much God cares about humanity’s suffering. A more profound conclusion is that we may never know the specific reason for our suffering, but that we can identify the God who understands the rationale behind the pain.

The Camps’ story of faith provides a glimpse of this truth and can be an inspiration to others to consider their own sojourn of faith.

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." - Revelation 21:4 (ESV)

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