Read: John 9:1-12

When something terrible happens in your life, you may wonder why. You may have been told that your suffering will be for your good because God has promised that. This is very true and is a great comfort to us when we are suffering.

But in this text, God teaches us that suffering has an even greater purpose. Suffering isn’t just about us, but it is about God and bringing glory to him. Jesus says that about the blind man. He was born blind so that the works of God should be revealed in him.

This can seem a bit unfair, can’t it. Is it really fair that this man was blind for many years just so God could get glory? You suffer, so that God can receive the glory — is that fair?

When we ask this question, we must remember two things. Because of our sin and disobedience to God, we all deserve to suffer greatly. We deserve to suffer in hell, so we really can’t complain if the Lord makes us suffer in this life for a while. The other thing that we need to remember is that we have been born to give glory to God. That’s what God created us to do.

You may wonder how your suffering gives God glory. We might not always know how, but there are often many ways in which this happens. When the doctors and nurses see families praying together around the bed of their sick family member, they can marvel at this and this gives God glory. When you praise God for helping you through something very tough, that gives glory to God.

So, when you suffer, don’t focus on yourself and how this will be good for you. Oh yes, it will be good for you — God has promised you that and that can be your comfort. You might not know how, but you can trust God for that. It will be good for you. Instead focus on how you can use this suffering to give God glory! How is God going to use this suffering to his glory?

Reflection with your child:

Can you think of something that you have suffered and how it could have given glory to God?

Source: Sermon by Rev. A. van Delden