Why God Permits Trials and Suffering

Daily Devotional – Monday, July 4, 2022
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)

When Jews were in Babylonian captivity, the LORD told them to, “seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace.” (Jeremiah 29:7).

Praying for Your Enemy to Prosper

ow could a Jew pray for the peace of his enemy, especially one that had annihilated the Jew? God warned against listening to false prophets who had arisen among the captives and probably offered false hopes. (Verse 8).

God had allowed the Jews to go into exile for a purpose. The pain and humiliation of being captives in a foreign land would lead them to reexamine their ways and return to God. They would search for God more earnestly and become His obedient children once again.

For I Know the Thoughts That I Think Toward You

The LORD promised to take the Jews back to Jerusalem after 70 years (Verse 10). Their suffering had a purpose and a limit.

Even when God allows us to suffer, he has a reason. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Verse 11).

When we suffer because of our disobedience, we should consider this as God’s way of saying, “I love you. I have forgiven you but you have to go through this. I will be with you through it all. It is for your own good, my child. Trust me.”

Prayer
Thank You Lord, because the trials in my life are Your tool for transforming me.