Pointless Suffering?

Suffering is one of the most difficult challenges in life. It confronts us with the question of meaning: Why me? Why now? Haven't I done everything I can to be faithful to God? The Bible is familiar with these agonizing questions. Psalm 73 describes the feeling that the wicked succeed in everything, while those who are faithful to God are struck by suffering. And the book of Job shows us a blameless man who inexplicably endures severe suffering.

However, we encounter this question most clearly in Jesus himself—the only completely sinless man who nevertheless had to suffer a cruel death on the cross. At first glance, his suffering seems pointless, even unfair. Yet it is precisely in this apparent contradiction that the deepest truth of the gospel lies hidden—through his death, Jesus overcomes the power of death. He enters into our brokenness and opens a path to ultimate healing and reconciliation.

Job's story ends with a conciliatory image; God gives him new prosperity and joy, but what about the suffering that has no visible end on this earth? Can this suffering also have a meaning? The Bible gives us clues that go beyond the earthly. Jesus' death on the cross shows us that God himself descends into the deepest darkness to save us. Paul summarizes it like this: “Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your sting? Hell, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55). And yet we know that the sting often remains palpable. The pain of losing a loved one is real.

But it is precisely here that we can draw hope. The “foolish death on the cross” (1 Corinthians 1:23), which makes no sense in human terms, becomes the basis for the salvation of the world. Jesus not only bears our suffering but also opens up a perspective for us that goes beyond this life.

Suffering is difficult to understand and often seems senseless to us, but we can trust that God does not ignore it. He knows our pain; he sees our tears, and he gives us the promise that in the end he will wipe away all tears and make all things new (Revelation 21:4). Until then, we can know that we are not alone. Even in the deepest suffering, God is closer to us than we can imagine.

Next Steps: Go into prayer and ask Jesus to meet you in your darkness and comfort you even where he does not deliver you from your suffering.