When Suffering Makes You Question God
PART 1 — God Is Not Punishing You
Scripture:
“He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.”
— Psalm 103:10
In the worst moment of His life. Hanging on the cross with the crowd jeering and longing for the worst. Jesus said these words. “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Lk. 23:34
This is not to excuse what they did. This is to announce to you that quite often we get it wrong. Quite often we realize God is with us in our suffering.
Sometimes pain lies to us.
When life becomes heavy, when loss comes without warning, when prayers seem unanswered, the wounded heart may begin to wonder, “Is God punishing me?”
But Psalm 103 gives us a different picture of God. David does not describe a God waiting to strike. He describes a God who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” The text does not deny human sin, but it refuses to define God by wrath. God’s character is mercy. God’s movement toward us is compassion.
This matters because suffering can distort theology, our understanding of God. Pain can make us interpret God through the lens of fear instead of love. But the cross reveals the truth: God does not stand over the suffering with condemnation; God enters suffering with redemption.
Not every painful thing is punishment. Not every hardship is heaven’s anger. Not every tear means you have failed God.
Some suffering comes from living in a broken world. Some comes from other people’s choices. Some comes from systems, grief, sickness, death, and loss. But suffering is not proof that God has turned against you.
God is not using your pain to destroy you. God is present in your pain to sustain you.
Devotional Thought:
When you are suffering, do not begin with the question, “What did I do wrong?” Begin with the truth: “God is near to the brokenhearted.”
Prayer:
Lord, when pain makes me afraid of You, remind me of Your mercy. Heal the places where I have mistaken suffering for punishment. Help me trust that You are not against me, but with me. Amen.
Declaration:
I am not being punished by God. I am being held by God.