The Place of Suffering in Our Lives
So does this mean that once we believe in God we will get everything that we want? Does a belief In God mean that life will be easy? Even a superficial look at the lives of believers makes it clear that the answer to this question is “no.” It isn’t true that once we believe in God our lives will be free from trial. There are many examples within the pages of scripture of righteous men and women struggling through terrible hardship and trial. How can this be if God promises to answer our prayers and love us as a father? Well, it is because God loves us like a father that He allows us to experience hardship in order to grow. King Solomon writes:

He my son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those loves as a father the son he delights in. (Proverbs 3:11-12)

my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)

We are to face trials because they are good for us. They build character, faith and maturity. And no matter how difficult the challenge, God promises He will carry us through. God will demonstrate to us over and over again that He is the source of all life and that His blessings are abundant enough to meet all of our needs. There is nothing He cannot do, nothing He does not understand. And it is through these exes that we will come to understand how high and wide and deep the love of our Father truly is.

If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? … Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? …No, in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-32,35,37-39)

Because of this relationship the believer has with God, he should therefore have confidence that everything in his life is under God’s control. A belief in God should change our daily experience. We no longer need to spend time wrestling with the anxieties of life. God has promised to care for us in all ways, both in times of plenty and through times of trial. Our every day life should feel much easier because of this belief. We are relieved from the burdens of stress and worry that heavily weigh upon those who do not believe in God.