God Is With Us Through Every Suffering

Oct 11, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Suffering Doesn’t Mean God Has Left the Room

When life fractures your spirit, it’s easy to assume God has stepped away. But Scripture insists He leans closer to the shattered, not farther. Brokenness doesn’t repel Him—it activates His nearness. Jesus proved this by entering our mess, not avoiding it. His presence at Lazarus’ tomb, weeping alongside mourners, reveals a God who refuses to watch pain from a distance. Your tears don’t scare Him; they pull Him near. [59:20]

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
(Psalm 34:18, NIV)

Reflection: When have you mistaken suffering for God’s absence? How might His nearness in this moment feel different than you first assumed?

Day 2: God Rolled Up His Sleeves in Your Pain

Jesus didn’t send a manual on suffering—He stepped into skin and bone. Hunger, betrayal, and nails marked His story. When you whisper, “You don’t understand,” heaven points to scars. His incarnation means your grief has a witness who’s felt flesh tear and lungs burn. The cross wasn’t theoretical—it was sweat, splinters, and the taste of blood. Your pain is known. [01:03:52]

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
(Hebrews 4:15-16, NIV)

Reflection: Which part of Jesus’ suffering most reshapes how you bring Him your struggles? How does His physical pain comfort your own?

Day 3: Milk Carton Expiration Dates and Eternal Hope

Suffering’s shelf life is stamped. Like sour milk, this world’s pain won’t last. Revelation’s promise—no more tears, death, or crying—isn’t escapism but reality’s expiration date. Every chemo session, funeral, and sleepless night has an endpoint. The resurrection guarantees it. Cling not to the "why" but the "when"—the day God wipes your face clean. [01:16:08]

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, NIV)

Reflection: What current struggle feels most eternal? How might imagining its expiration date shift your endurance today?

Day 4: Your Cape Is in the Closet (Go Comfort Someone)

God often answers “Where are you?” by sending your neighbor. The church isn’t called to explain suffering but to enter it—holding hands, not textbooks. Your scars qualify you to sit with others in their fire. Don’t theologize their pain; carry it. The best comfort often lacks words but overflows with presence. [01:10:51]

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
(2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV)

Reflection: Whose suffering have you avoided engaging? What simple act of presence could you offer them this week?

Day 5: Rubber Meets Road Where Questions Meet Trust

Faith isn’t having answers but anchoring to the Answer-Giver. Romans 8:28 doesn’t call suffering “good” but declares God’s ability to weave good through it. Your confusion doesn’t negate His competence. The cross—where horror birthed hope—proves He writes redemption into endings you’d never choose. Trust grows when explanations fail. [01:22:29]

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
(Romans 8:28, NIV)

Reflection: What unanswered “why” haunts you? How might focusing on God’s character—not circumstances—steady your heart today?

Sermon Summary

God may use an unexpected Facebook message from South Africa to remind His people that nobody knows who might be watching or how He may use a simple act of faithfulness. The Christian represents the Lord every day, all day, whether that witness reaches a neighbor, a coworker, a family member, or somebody halfway across the world.

Paul’s words in Romans 8:18 speak into one of the hardest questions people ask: If God is good, loving, and powerful, why is there so much suffering? Suffering is not a small theological problem when children hurt, cancer comes, families grieve, wars rage, and injustice seems to win. Scripture does not tell hurting people to fake a smile or pretend everything is fine. Job, Moses, Hannah, David, Jeremiah, and even Jesus at Lazarus’s tomb cried out in pain.

Psalm 34 says the Lord is near to the brokenhearted. Suffering does not prove that God has moved away. Sometimes suffering is precisely where God’s nearness becomes most real. Jesus promised trouble in this world, but He also promised that He has overcome the world. Christianity does not promise a life without hardship. It promises that suffering will never be faced alone.

Jesus entered this broken, sin-saturated world because He loves the people in it. The Word became flesh, and Christ knew hunger, exhaustion, betrayal, rejection, injustice, grief, physical pain, and the agony of the cross. Hebrews declares that this High Priest can empathize with human weakness. Broken hearts, grief, loneliness, and pain are brought to Emmanuel, God with us, not to a distant God who cannot understand.

Paul also says that God can work through suffering without calling suffering good. Suffering can produce endurance, character, hope, deeper prayer, dependence on God, and compassion for hurting people. God’s comfort can turn wounded people into people who sit, pray, cry, and walk beside somebody else in trouble. Nobody should casually claim that God caused another person’s pain to teach a lesson, because nobody fully knows why a particular hardship has come.

Romans 8 puts present suffering beside coming glory. Cancer is not the end. Loss is not the end. Death is not the end. Christ’s resurrection guarantees that suffering has an expiration date, because God will wipe away every tear and the old order of pain will pass away. The cross proves that God can bring victory out of what looks like defeat, hope out of hopelessness, and life out of death. The better question is not only why suffering comes, but whether suffering will drive a person away from God or closer to the Savior who will bring His people safely home.

Key Takeaways

1. Suffering does not mean God left. Psalm 34 does not say God is merely aware of broken hearts. It says He is near. Pain can make God feel distant, but feelings are not the final word about God’s presence. The presence of suffering does not prove the absence of God. [62:26]
2. Jesus understands pain firsthand. Christ did not remain far off and give humanity instructions from a safe distance. He entered this world, knew rejection, grief, weakness, injustice, and the cross. Every wounded believer comes to a Savior who understands suffering from the inside. [65:35]
3. God can redeem what hurts. Suffering itself is not good, and hurting people do not need easy explanations. Yet God can bring endurance, character, hope, compassion, and deeper dependence out of painful circumstances. The scars of a believer may become places where God’s comfort reaches someone else. [72:03]
4. Suffering has an expiration date. Present pain is real, but it is not permanent for those who belong to Christ. Resurrection means the grave, cancer, loss, and death do not get the final word. God has promised an end to the old order of sorrow, crying, and pain. [76:08]
5. God often works through His people. God calls His people to carry burdens rather than merely watch others hurt. Sometimes the needed answer is not a perfect explanation but a faithful presence beside someone in pain. Sitting, praying, crying, and refusing to leave can become the hands and feet of Jesus.

## [87:20]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[53:19] - A Reminder That God Can Use Anyone
[55:21] - Why Does a Good God Allow Suffering?
[57:14] - God Is Near to the Brokenhearted
[60:33] - Trouble in This World, Never Alone
[63:35] - Jesus Entered Human Suffering
[67:23] - God Can Work Through Pain
[70:51] - Comforted to Comfort Others
[73:39] - Present Suffering and Coming Glory
[75:48] - Suffering Has an Expiration Date
[77:56] - Carry Each Other’s Burdens
[80:59] - Trusting God Without Every Answer
[83:03] - The Cross and the Empty Tomb
[85:49] - Running Toward God in Suffering
[87:20] - The Gift of Faithful Presence

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Romans 8:18
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” [55:25]

Psalm 34:18
“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” [59:12]

John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” [01:00:26]

Observation questions

In Romans 8:18, what two realities does Paul place side by side, and what does he say about their comparison? [01:13:39]
According to Psalm 34:18, how does God respond to people who are brokenhearted or crushed in spirit? [59:12]
What does Jesus promise His followers about trouble in the world, and what reason does He give them to take heart? [01:00:26]
What kinds of suffering did Jesus experience during His earthly life that show He understands human pain? [01:05:05]

Interpretation questions

How does the promise that God is near to the brokenhearted challenge the common assumption that suffering means God has abandoned someone? [01:00:02]
Romans 8:18 does not deny present pain, but it points ahead to coming glory. How can both truths be held together without minimizing someone’s grief or hardship? [01:14:02]
Jesus says believers will have trouble, yet He has overcome the world. What does it mean for a person in suffering to have peace in Christ even when the situation has not changed? [01:00:39]
God can bring good through suffering without calling suffering itself good. Why is that distinction important when speaking with someone who is hurting? [01:13:17]

Application questions

Is there a burden, loss, fear, or painful situation that has made God feel distant lately? What would it look like to bring that honestly to the Lord rather than pretending everything is fine? [57:22]
When hardship comes, is the usual response to pull away from God, become angry, try to handle everything alone, or draw near to Him? What is one practical way to run toward God this week? [01:25:49]
Jesus understands grief, rejection, betrayal, pain, and loss firsthand. Which part of Jesus’ suffering helps someone most when facing a difficult season, and why? [01:06:37]
Is there someone in the group’s circle of relationships who is carrying a heavy burden right now? What could faithful presence look like this week—a call, a meal, a visit, sitting quietly, practical help, or prayer? [01:20:32]
Have personal wounds, failures, or hardships made anyone more able to understand and care for others? How might God use that experience to offer humble comfort without claiming to fully know another person’s pain? [01:11:33]
Where might God be calling someone to represent Christ faithfully in everyday life—at home, work, school, in the neighborhood, or online—without knowing who may be watching or how God may use it? [54:23]
What promise about Christ’s resurrection and the coming end of sorrow gives the most hope in the face of suffering? How can that hope shape the way someone walks through this week? [01:15:23]

Sermon Clips

34s

#FaithThroughSuffering

“But here's the point. The presence of suffering does not prove the absence of God. I'm a say that again. The presence of suffering in your life does not prove the absence of God in your life. Listen to this. Sometimes the greatest testimony of faith is not someone saying, God kept me from suffering or God protected me, or God shielded me. The greatest testimony of faith may just be, God was with me.”

41s

#HopeInTheResurrection

“a horrific torturous device designed to slowly and painfully end someone's life became the pathway to redemption and restoration under God. The resurrection demonstrated that suffering and death, they don't have to be the final word. And that fact gives all of us hope. The cross tells us that God can bring victory from what appears to be defeat. He can offer hope from what looks like hopelessness. He can provide life from what seems like utter death.”

66s

#VictoryThroughTheCross

“For anyone to become a Christian, they must ultimately make their way to the foot of the cross. The cross is God's greatest answer to any and all suffering because the cross demonstrates something absolutely remarkable. God can bring victory out of suffering. From the human perspective, the cross would have looked like defeat. Jesus had been rejected. He had been beaten and mocked and crucified and buried. And his disciples had scattered. They'd gone into hiding. From a human perspective, it surely appeared that evil had won the day. Evil had the victory. But we know, as Paul Harvey would have said, the rest of the story. Three days later, the tomb was empty.”

42s

#FaithInTheStorm

“So maybe the better question isn't simply why does God allow suffering? Maybe we should be asking, what will I do with God when suffering comes? Will I run from him or will I run toward him? Will I allow my suffering to convince me that god doesn't care or will I allow suffering to drive me closer to god, closer to the one who understands my pain than I've ever been before? And maybe most importantly, have I truly placed my faith in Jesus Christ?”

47s

#JesusUnderstands

“This right there is a reminder that Jesus understands our struggles. When you cry, when your heart is broken, the Lord understands. When you hurt, he understands. When you experience grief, he understands. When you feel abandoned, Jesus understands. When you suffer, whether it's physically, emotionally, or spiritually, whenever you go through any of these things, you're not bringing your pain to a god who has no understanding of pain and suffering. You're bringing your struggles to our Lord and Savior, Emmanuel, God with us.”

39s

#NeverSufferAlone

“Jesus never promised his followers a life without troubles, a life without hardships. In fact, according to this statement, Jesus said the exact opposite. So Christianity is not the promise that followers of Jesus will never suffer, that will never have disappointments, that will never have hardships. It is the promise that we will never suffer alone. Praise God. That's one of the reasons why we love being a part of this family so that we're not going through life alone.”

39s

#TrustGod

“So when we observe the suffering that takes place in this world, we don't have to pretend we understand it all. We just need to reflect upon the cross and the empty tomb, and we need to remember that God is still with us. He's never stopped loving us, and he's never stopped working on our behalf. We may not always know why, but we know who. So why does God allow so much suffering? We're never fully gonna be able to answer that, and we shouldn't pretend otherwise.”

36s

#GodWithUs

“Now think about that for a moment. When people ask, how could your God possibly understand what I'm going through? Does he even understand what suffering feels like? Christianity actually does answer questions like these. Yes. God does understand our suffering because according to God's own plan, Jesus, God the Son, was born into this world and he experienced suffering firsthand.”

Ask a question about this sermon

West Side Baptist Church This sermon · AI assistant

What does God do when believers suffer?

How can suffering deepen faith and shape character?

What does God expect from us amid suffering?