The Secret of Suffering: A Pain-Free Road to Hell or a Few Wounds with Christ on the Cross?

A Wisdom Lost

Our modern world has declared war on suffering. We have developed an entire culture whose central aim is to eliminate all discomfort from our lives. Pain is medicated immediately, hardship is avoided by every means, and a whole industry has emerged to make our lives as effortless as possible. This drive runs so deep in our culture that we take it for granted.

But have we, in this relentless pursuit of avoiding suffering, lost something essential? Is it possible that we have lost the wisdom hidden within suffering — and even the presence of God, found precisely in the places we try hardest to avoid?

The Secular Person's Distorted Relationship with Suffering

The secular person relates to suffering in two flawed ways: either striving to avoid it entirely, or blaming God for it. Both perspectives bypass any deeper understanding of the meaning and purpose of suffering.

What is also easily forgotten in this view is the active role of God's chief adversary, Satan, in human suffering. Satan comes only "to steal, and to kill, and to destroy" (John 10:10), and he uses every means — many of them surprising: pleasure, illusory freedom, and material excess — to destroy a person.

Satan does not kill only through suffering, but also through pleasure. He does not enslave only through force, but also through false freedom. He does not destroy only through deprivation, but also through excess.

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
John 10:10 (KJV)

The Scientific and Psychological Reality of Suffering

We have forgotten a scientific and psychological fact: suffering teaches. Modern psychological research confirms what the wise have known for millennia — that adversity grows a person in ways nothing else can replace.

Science speaks of post-traumatic growth, resilience, neuroplasticity, and adaptation. All of these point to the same thing: human beings grow and develop through hardship. Yet our present culture is so averse to suffering that we have produced an entire generation of psychologically fragile people who collapse at the slightest setback.

Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl distilled this wisdom when he said: "Suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning."

Comfort Christianity vs. the Theology of the Cross

The same culture of avoiding suffering has crept into Christianity as well. We have witnessed the rise of comfort Christianity and prosperity theology, where the Christian message has been reshaped to fit the values of consumer culture.

This comfort Christianity teaches:
- The believer's life should be easy
- God wants you to be rich, successful, and healthy
- Suffering is a sign of lack of faith
- The believer's life should include constant material blessing

This stands in complete contradiction to the teaching and life of Jesus and the apostles:

"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." — Matthew 16:24 (KJV)

"For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death... Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day." — 1 Corinthians 4:9–13 (KJV)

Prosperity theology is one of the most dangerous distortions in the history of Christianity, for it does not merely distort the gospel — it does so in a way that perfectly fits the values of consumer culture. It strips Christianity of its countercultural power of grace and forgiveness and replaces it with a shallow leaven — worldly materialism dressed in a thin Christian veneer. Where the work of the cross should stand, a fallen angel disguised in light and love has been invited in.

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." — 1 John 2:15–16 (KJV)

Avoiding Suffering Is Avoiding an Encounter with Christ

A profound spiritual truth is that avoiding suffering is, at its core, also avoiding an encounter with Christ. Christ is "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isa. 53:3, KJV), whose very identity is bound to suffering. Therefore, if we avoid suffering by every means, we also avoid meeting Him.

"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." — Philippians 3:10–11 (KJV)

The Apostle Paul did not pursue only the power of Christ's resurrection — he also pursued fellowship in Christ's sufferings. He understood that truly knowing Christ includes sharing in His suffering.

This reveals a vital spiritual truth: suffering is not merely a trial to be endured — it is also a unique state in which Christ is encountered in a special way. In suffering, Christ draws nearer than at any other time.

The Deepest Meaning of Suffering in Christ

The most profound meaning of suffering is found in Christ Himself. He did not merely suffer on our behalf — He transformed the very nature of suffering once and for all.

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;" — 2 Corinthians 4:17 (KJV)

After Christ's atoning work, our suffering is no longer the final punishment for sin — it is part of a greater story of victory. Christ's triumph over death means that suffering has lost its ultimate power. Suffering is neither meaningless nor final. It is temporary and purposeful. It is an instrument of growth, purification, and being shaped into the likeness of Christ.
This perspective stands in radical contrast to both the nihilistic view (suffering is meaningless) and the hedonistic view (suffering is merely something to be avoided).

Christ, the Lord of the Suffering

Christ did not come to underline earthly kingship, abundance, or a life lived amid materialism. He did not come to seize political power or to amass treasures. On the contrary, Jesus came to suffer and to experience the lowest, darkest, and most painful chapters of human life — so that no one who has been kicked to the ground would imagine that the only living God does not understand what we go through.

Our Lord looks upon the suffering and is their strength.
The Lord looks upon the weeping and is their peace.
The Lord looks upon the abandoned and the marginalised and is their calm.
The Lord looks and does not turn His gaze away.

"The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." — Psalm 34:18 (KJV)

God does not turn His gaze away from suffering, and neither should we. Christ's example teaches us to face suffering with courage — not only for our own growth, but also to stand in solidarity with those who suffer.

Suffering as Part of a Greater Story

In the Christian worldview, suffering is not the last word. It is part of a greater story of salvation:

1. Creation: God's good original creation
2. The Fall: The entry of suffering and death into the world
3. Redemption: Christ's victory over suffering and death
4. Fulfilment: The final liberation from all suffering

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." — Revelation 21:4 (KJV)

The perspective of a follower of Christ on suffering is unique: we do not deny suffering, nor do we remain captive to it. We see it as part of a journey toward glory. Suffering is not the destination — it is a waypoint.

Suffering and True Values

Suffering has a special ability to reveal the true value of things. It is like fire that burns away everything shallow and leaves behind only what truly endures.

"Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby." — Hebrews 12:11 (KJV)

Suffering reveals that many things we consider so important — material possessions, status, reputation, comfort, entertainment — are ultimately meaningless. At the same time, it shows us what truly matters: love, faith, hope, relationships, the presence of God.

Receiving Suffering

The Christian's task is not to seek suffering for the sake of suffering — that would be sick masochism — but our task is to face suffering with courage when it comes, knowing that it:

1. Shapes us into the likeness of Christ
2. Deepens our communion with Christ
3. Purifies our hearts from false attachments
4. Prepares us for the glory to come
5. Makes us more compassionate toward others

Let us not seek suffering, but let us not fear it either. Suffering can be a profound doorway into the presence of God in a way that no other experience can replace.

"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." — 2 Corinthians 6:17–18 (KJV)

Ultimately, the question of suffering is inseparable from the question of what we pursue in life: shallow comfort and pleasure, or a deep and meaningful communion with the Living God, who Himself has walked through the deepest waters of suffering on our behalf. If we pursue only comfort, we will inevitably avoid both suffering and Christ. But if we pursue true life, full of meaning and depth, we cannot avoid suffering — and in it, we will discover a deeper joy than any shallow pleasure could ever offer.

"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." — James 1:2–4 (KJV)