1. Why Christians ARe Allowed To Suffer

2. Psalm 103
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

3. 6 The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever.
(Psalm 103)

4. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.
14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
(Psalm 103)

5. The Holy Spirit Led Israel Through The Wilderness
17 Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war,
18 So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.
(Exodus 13)

6. The Holy Spirit Sends Jesus Into the Wilderness
11 Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 
13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.
(Mark 1)

7. God Calls Paul To The Ministry
13 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 
14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. 
16For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
(Acts 9)

8. Why Is The Devil Allowed To Afflict Christians?
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
(Romans 8)

9. To Reveal God’s Power
13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me, 14 for at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth. 15 Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. 16But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that my name may be declared in all the earth. (Exodus 9)

10. To Declare God’s Name Throughout The Whole Earth
5 Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 
6And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 
7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
(Exodus 34)

11. To Set Us On A Candlestick Giving Light To All
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 
16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
(Acts 9)

12. And Eventually To Set Our Light On A Hill
1 Arise, shine; For your light has come! and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
and deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be be seen upon you.
3 The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
(Isaiah 60)

13. Our Eternal Weight Of Glory Increases With Every Temptation
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 
18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
(2Corinthians 4)

14. Because The Life Of Jesus Is Manifest In His Body
10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 
11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 
12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.
(2Corinthians 4)

15. Look UP!
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven; 
23 and he said: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts. 
24 You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.
(1Kings 8)

16. Look Up!
30 And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.
(1Kings 8)

17. Look Up!
38 Whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart, and spreads out his hands toward this temple: 39 then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men), 40 that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers. (Kings 8)

18. Look Up!
1 And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he wanted to do, 2 that the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 And the Lord said to him: I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. (1Kings 9)

19. Set Your Mind On Eternal Things
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 
18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
(2Corinthians 4)

20. Pray
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (James 5)

21. Truly, God Is With You
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
(Romans 8)

22. The Spirit Of Glory And of God
12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 
13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 
14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.
(1Peter 4) 

23. Our Confident Expectation
19 For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. (Philippians 1)