If I’m honest, I don’t understand human suffering.
I see people living on the streets of Los Angeles—lost, whacked out of their minds, wandering—and I ask, Why is this necessary? Why must this person endure this?
I see childhood cancer and I cry out, My God, why? What lesson could possibly require this? Couldn’t it be taught another way?
And in the middle of all these questions, what comes to me isn’t an answer—it’s a word: redemption.
And a quiet reassurance: John, you’ll see one day.
“After you have suffered for a little while, [God] will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”
— 1 Peter 5:10
Yes, my brothers and sisters, we will face trials in this life.
Unspeakable pain. Loss that takes the breath from our lungs. Questions our human minds will never fully understand.
The Bible never denies this reality. In fact, it names it plainly: we suffer for a little while. Not because God delights in pain, but because this world is not yet what it will be.
This life is unfinished.
As Augustine so simply and powerfully put it:
“This life is the place of faith; the next is the place of sight.”
Here, we walk by trust.
There, we will see clearly.
Here, things feel broken and unresolved.
There, everything is made whole.
Why “for a little while”?
Because suffering is real — but it is not final.
God does not promise the absence of pain now.
He promises restoration later.
Scripture tells us the story does not end in struggle, decay, or death, but in:
Resurrection — what was dead will live again
Restoration — what was broken will be healed
New creation — not an escape from earth, but earth made new
Heaven and earth reunited — God fully present with His people
“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
Notice this promise doesn’t say God explains every tear.
It says He wipes them away.
Faith lives where sight cannot
If heaven were now, faith would not be required.
If answers came first, trust would not grow.
This life is the place where we learn to lean — not on understanding, but on God’s character. To believe, even when clarity is withheld, that it will all be made well.
Not ignored.
Not minimized.
Redeemed.
A closing prayer
Lord,
When suffering feels endless and understanding feels far away, anchor my heart in Your promise. Help me trust You in the “little while,” knowing that restoration is coming. Teach me to walk by faith now, until the day I see You face to face and every tear is wiped away.
Amen.
