I am suffering: is God punishing me?

Posted by Isabelle Esling
1260 Pageviews
A lot of people are wrongly pointing at the Creator when they are experiencing suffering and pain of any kind. This is a problem common to both, believers and unbelievers.


A test of faith

A person I came close to over the last two years, because of our interest for the Shroud of Turin ( he is a devoted researcher and a man of faith), once asked me:  

"Do you think that the disease I am experiencing is due to the fact I let our Lord down in some way?"

David had caught dengue flu' and was quite worried about its consequences.

I reassured him, reminding him of the many extreme situations people had been experiencing in many biblical episodes, including the death and resurrection of Lazarus in John 11.

My friend looked beyond the visible world and walked by faith. I started praying for him and a group of strong believers joined me in prayer. Today, David is a 100% cured of his illness.

As you would probably notice it, this was a test of faith my friend David passed successfully.

Not God, but your own sin is causing you pain and suffering



Especially unbelievers prompt to accuse the Creator when things don't go after their plans. However, we must consider that either our own stubbornness is causing our soul some unnecessary suffering or we are getting the chastisement that we deserved for our unruly behavior.
Either way, it is the separation from Hashem that causes our soul huge pain inside.

I have so often punished myself by going my own selfish ways.

But when we are experiencing punishment from Above, we deserve it and we should accept it, in the same way David recognized himself as faulty when he had sinned with Batsheva. Remember that he asked the Lord to create in him a clean heart ( "lev tahor" in Hebrew).

The Book of Proverbs , chapter 3 verse 11 states:

"Do not despise the LORD's instruction, my son, and do not loathe His discipline."

Remember our Heavenly Father corrects us, because we are His children, in the same way our earthly father educated us when we were little kids.


Copyright© by Isabelle Esling