Lesson 71: Why God Allows Trials in the Believer’s Life
Every believer will face trials.
Some trials arrive suddenly.
Others develop gradually.
Some are brief.
Others continue for years.
They may involve:
illness;
grief;
financial pressure;
family conflict;
betrayal;
disappointment;
spiritual opposition;
or consequences that cannot be quickly reversed.
During such seasons, believers often ask:
“Why did God allow this?”
“Did I do something wrong?”
“Has God left me?”
“Is my faith failing?”
“Can anything good possibly come from this?”
The Bible does not give the same explanation for every trial.
It does give enough truth to keep us from false conclusions.
Christianity Does Not Promise Immunity From Trouble
Jesus told His disciples:
“In the world ye shall have tribulation:
but be of good cheer;
I have overcome the world.”
— John 16:33, KJV
Following Christ does not place a believer outside the pain of a fallen world.
Christians still experience:
sickness;
aging;
bereavement;
loss;
injustice;
and death.
They may also suffer precisely because they belong to Christ.
The gospel does not promise that every earthly problem will disappear.
It promises reconciliation with God, eternal life, the presence of Christ, and grace sufficient to follow Him through every season.
Trials Do Not All Come From the Same Source
Careless teaching tries to explain every trial with one answer.
Someone may say:
“You are suffering because you sinned.”
“You did not have enough faith.”
“The devil caused everything.”
“God personally sent every painful detail.”
Those statements may contain a truth that applies in certain situations, but none explains every trial.
Scripture shows several sources and settings of suffering.
We Live in a Fallen Creation
Sin entered the world, and creation now groans beneath corruption.
Paul writes:
“For we know that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”
— Romans 8:22, KJV
Human beings experience weakness, disease, decay, natural disaster, and death because the world is not presently operating in the untouched perfection of Eden.
A believer may become ill without having committed a particular sin that caused the illness.
A faithful Christian may suffer physical weakness while an unbeliever remains healthy.
Earthly circumstances are not a perfect measurement of spiritual condition.
Some Trials Result From Our Own Choices
Scripture does not teach us to blame every hardship upon the fallen world or the devil.
Some suffering comes through foolish or sinful choices.
Dishonesty may destroy trust.
Sexual sin may damage relationships.
Careless spending may create financial pressure.
Neglecting health may produce consequences.
Uncontrolled anger may cost friendships or employment.
God may forgive the repentant believer while some earthly consequences remain.
Grace removes condemnation through Christ.
It does not always remove every result of our decisions.
When the cause is known, the right response is not merely:
“Lord, take this trial away.”
It may also be:
“Lord, forgive me, correct me, and help me change the conduct that produced it.”
Some Trials Come Through Other People’s Sin
Joseph’s brothers hated him, sold him, and lied to their father.
Years later, Joseph told them:
“But as for you, ye thought evil against me;
but God meant it unto good,
to bring to pass, as it is this day,
to save much people alive.”
— Genesis 50:20, KJV
Joseph did not call their evil good.
He said:
“Ye thought evil against me.”
They remained responsible for their actions.
Yet their sin did not place Joseph outside God’s sovereign purpose.
God overruled what they intended for evil and used Joseph’s suffering to preserve life.
This is an important distinction.
God can redeem what sinful people do without approving their sin.
Some Trials Involve Spiritual Opposition
Job was described as a man who feared God and rejected evil.
God said of him:
“There is none like him in the earth,
a perfect and an upright man,
one that feareth God, and escheweth evil.”
— Job 1:8, KJV
The word perfect in this setting does not mean Job had never sinned.
It describes maturity and integrity.
Job’s suffering was not caused by the secret wickedness his friends confidently imagined.
Satan attacked him within limits God established.
This does not mean every hardship should be labeled a direct demonic attack.
It does show that spiritual opposition is real and that faithful people can suffer without the trial being punishment for hidden personal sin.
Some Trials Are God’s Fatherly Discipline
Hebrews says:
“My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord,
nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth…”
— Hebrews 12:5–6, KJV
God disciplines His children because He loves them.
The purpose is not destruction.
It is correction and holiness.
The passage continues:
“But he for our profit,
that we might be partakers of his holiness.”
— Hebrews 12:10, KJV
When Scripture clearly exposes sin, the believer should not dismiss correction by saying:
“This is merely a trial.”
Ask honestly:
“Is God correcting conduct I have refused to surrender?”
But do not assume every illness, loss, or painful event is discipline for a particular sin.
The Bible does not authorize that conclusion.
Not Every Trial Is Punishment for a Particular Sin
Jesus and His disciples encountered a man who had been blind from birth.
The disciples asked:
“Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents,
that he was born blind?”
— John 9:2, KJV
They assumed the affliction must have resulted from a specific personal sin.
Jesus answered:
“Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents:
but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”
— John 9:3, KJV
Jesus was not saying the man and his parents had never committed any sin.
He was denying that the blindness was punishment for the particular sin the disciples imagined.
Do not tell suffering people:
“This happened because you must have done something wrong,”
unless Scripture and clear facts establish the connection.
Such accusations can add condemnation to pain.
God Tests Faith but Does Not Tempt People to Sin
The KJV sometimes uses the word temptation to describe testing or trial.
In other passages, temptation means an enticement to commit sin.
Those meanings must be distinguished.
James writes:
“Let no man say when he is tempted,
I am tempted of God:
for God cannot be tempted with evil,
neither tempteth he any man:”
— James 1:13, KJV
God may test faith.
He never seduces a person toward evil.
During a trial, the flesh or the devil may tempt someone to:
distrust God;
become bitter;
seek sinful relief;
lie;
retaliate;
or abandon obedience.
That sinful temptation does not come from God.
God’s purpose in testing is holy.
Trials Reveal the Condition of Faith
Peter writes:
“Wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be,
ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
That the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honour and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”
— 1 Peter 1:6–7, KJV
Faith that has never been tested may be easily claimed.
Trials reveal what the heart truly trusts.
They expose whether faith rests mainly upon:
comfort;
health;
money;
people;
predictable circumstances;
or Jesus Christ.
Fire does not create genuine gold.
It reveals and refines it.
Likewise, trials bring hidden weaknesses, fears, idols, and unbelief to the surface where God can address them.
A Trial Can Expose What Comfort Concealed
During ease, a person may believe he is:
patient;
humble;
forgiving;
and completely dependent upon God.
Pressure reveals what comfort hid.
A delay exposes impatience.
Criticism exposes pride.
Financial loss exposes trust in possessions.
Betrayal exposes the desire for revenge.
Weakness exposes confidence in personal strength.
The exposure may be painful.
It is also merciful.
We cannot surrender what we refuse to see.
God May Use Trials to Humble His People
Moses reminded Israel how God led them through the wilderness:
“to humble thee, and to prove thee,
to know what was in thine heart,
whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.”
— Deuteronomy 8:2, KJV
God already possessed perfect knowledge.
The wilderness brought Israel’s heart into visible demonstration.
They learned that human strength, planning, and resources were not sufficient.
Trials can strip away the illusion that we control life.
They teach us that every breath, provision, opportunity, and strength comes from God.
Trials Can Teach Dependence
Paul described an affliction so severe that he despaired even of life.
He explained:
“But we had the sentence of death in ourselves,
that we should not trust in ourselves,
but in God which raiseth the dead:”
— 2 Corinthians 1:9, KJV
Self-confidence feels strong until human ability reaches its limit.
A trial may bring the believer to a place where:
money cannot solve the problem;
knowledge cannot explain it;
strength cannot carry it;
and influence cannot remove it.
That place can become a school of dependence.
Helplessness is not pleasant.
But it can teach the soul to rest its weight upon God rather than merely speak about trusting Him.
God May Use Trials to Correct Our Direction
The psalmist said:
“Before I was afflicted I went astray:
but now have I kept thy word.”
— Psalm 119:67, KJV
He later said:
“It is good for me that I have been afflicted;
that I might learn thy statutes.”
— Psalm 119:71, KJV
The affliction interrupted wandering.
Pain gained the attention that ease had not gained.
Again, not every trial means the believer had wandered.
But when suffering exposes disobedience, do not waste the correction by defending yourself.
Let God’s Word bring you back.
God Uses Discipline to Produce Holiness
Hebrews acknowledges:
“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous,
but grievous:
nevertheless afterward it yieldeth
the peaceable fruit of righteousness
unto them which are exercised thereby.”
— Hebrews 12:11, KJV
The Bible does not pretend discipline feels pleasant.
It is:
“grievous.”
But afterward it can produce righteous fruit.
Notice the words:
“unto them which are exercised thereby.”
Suffering does not automatically make everyone mature.
One person may become humbler.
Another may become harder.
One may draw near to God.
Another may defend sin.
The trial becomes spiritually fruitful as the believer receives God’s correction and responds obediently.
God Prunes Fruitful Believers
Jesus said:
“Every branch that beareth fruit,
he purgeth it,
that it may bring forth more fruit.”
— John 15:2, KJV
The word purgeth carries the idea of cleansing or pruning.
Pruning is not performed only upon a dead branch.
The Father prunes a branch that already bears fruit so that it may become more fruitful.
This means hardship does not necessarily prove failure.
Sometimes God is removing:
unnecessary dependence;
distraction;
pride;
self-sufficiency;
or activities that limit deeper fruitfulness.
Pruning involves loss.
The branch loses something real.
But the Gardener sees the fruit that can follow.
Trials Can Develop Spiritual Maturity
A believer may desire:
patience;
steadfastness;
compassion;
wisdom;
and courage.
Those qualities are not usually developed through information alone.
Patience grows where something must be endured.
Courage grows where fear must be faced.
Forgiveness grows where a real wrong has occurred.
Dependence grows where personal strength proves insufficient.
Compassion grows when suffering teaches us how pain feels.
God does not merely tell believers what maturity looks like.
He may place them in circumstances where that character must be practiced.
Trials Can Prepare Us to Comfort Others
Paul calls God:
“the Father of mercies,
and the God of all comfort;
Who comforteth us in all our tribulation,
that we may be able to comfort them
which are in any trouble,
by the comfort wherewith we ourselves
are comforted of God.”
— 2 Corinthians 1:3–4, KJV
A person who has suffered may learn how to sit quietly with another hurting person.
He may stop offering shallow explanations.
He may learn to listen.
He may know which Scriptures brought real strength.
God’s comfort is not given only to end our pain.
It can prepare us to carry comfort to someone else.
Your wound should not become your identity.
But surrendered suffering may become part of your ministry.
Trials Can Advance God’s Work
Paul wrote from imprisonment:
“But I would ye should understand, brethren,
that the things which happened unto me
have fallen out rather
unto the furtherance of the gospel;”
— Philippians 1:12, KJV
Imprisonment looked like an obstacle.
God used it to advance the gospel.
This does not mean every hardship will produce a visible ministry opportunity.
It does remind us that circumstances that appear to stop God’s work may become instruments within it.
A hospital room.
A financial setback.
A forced change.
A closed door.
A public disappointment.
God may use the place you did not choose to make Christ known.
God’s Definition of Good Is Higher Than Comfort
Romans says:
“And we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
— Romans 8:28, KJV
This verse does not say all things are good.
Abuse is evil.
Betrayal is evil.
Disease and death belong to a fallen creation.
The verse says God works through all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
The next verse helps define that good:
“For whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his Son…”
— Romans 8:29, KJV
God’s ultimate purpose is not to make life continually easy.
It is to conform His people to Jesus Christ.
Comfort may serve that purpose.
Loss may also serve it.
God Can Redeem Suffering Without Calling Evil Good
Christians should never speak as though cruelty, abuse, injustice, or death becomes morally good because God can bring good from it.
The cross provides the greatest example.
Wicked people betrayed and crucified the sinless Son of God.
Their actions were evil.
Yet God accomplished redemption through Christ’s suffering.
God’s sovereignty does not erase human responsibility.
His ability to redeem evil does not excuse the one who committed it.
Trials Do Not Mean God Has Abandoned You
Pain can feel like abandonment.
The believer may pray and hear no immediate answer.
He may feel alone.
But God’s presence is not measured only by pleasant circumstances.
Jesus was perfectly loved by the Father and still suffered.
Paul was faithfully serving Christ and still experienced imprisonment, beatings, weakness, and loss.
The existence of hardship does not prove the absence of God.
Sometimes His faithfulness is seen not in preventing the trial but in preserving the believer through it.
Trials Do Not Prove a Lack of Faith
False teaching may say that strong faith always produces:
health;
wealth;
protection;
and visible success.
Therefore, anyone suffering must have weak faith.
Scripture contradicts that message.
Job suffered while fearing God.
The prophets suffered while speaking God’s Word.
The apostles suffered while filled with the Holy Ghost.
Jesus Christ suffered while perfectly faithful.
Faith is not a tool for controlling circumstances.
It is trust in God within circumstances we cannot control.
Do Not Spiritualize Every Medical or Emotional Need
Prayer and Scripture are essential.
Seeking appropriate help is not unbelief.
A believer facing physical illness may need:
medical evaluation;
treatment;
rest;
nutrition;
or rehabilitation.
Someone suffering severe emotional distress may need support from mature believers and qualified professional care.
Do not tell a person to ignore dangerous symptoms because:
“God is teaching you through the trial.”
God can work through doctors, counselors, medication, lawful authorities, practical assistance, and the care of His people.
Do Not Remain in Abuse to Prove Faithfulness
Suffering is not automatically virtuous.
A person facing violence, coercion, sexual abuse, credible threats, or criminal behavior may need to:
leave the immediate danger;
contact emergency services;
report the conduct;
seek legal protection;
and involve trustworthy church leadership.
Setting a boundary does not prevent God from working through the situation.
Forgiveness does not require unsafe access.
God’s ability to redeem suffering never excuses an abuser or requires the victim to make continued harm possible.
Do Not Give Easy Explanations to Hurting People
When someone is grieving, avoid careless statements such as:
“Everything happens for a reason.”
“God needed another angel.”
“You must have done something wrong.”
“You should not feel sad if you trust God.”
Those statements may be false, shallow, or cruel.
You may not know why the event occurred.
It is often better to say:
“I am sorry.”
“I am here.”
“I will pray with you.”
“I do not understand everything, but God has not forgotten you.”
Truth does not require pretending to know what God has not revealed.
We May Not Learn the Specific Reason
The Bible gives broad purposes for trials.
It does not promise a complete explanation of every personal event.
Job was allowed to see truths about God, but he was not given a detailed explanation of every heavenly conversation behind his suffering.
The believer may later recognize part of God’s work.
Some questions may remain until eternity.
Lesson 72 will address how to trust God when understanding does not come.
For now, remember:
A hidden reason is not the same as an absent purpose.
Ask Better Questions During a Trial
The question:
“Why did this happen?”
may remain partly unanswered.
Other biblical questions may still guide you:
“Is there known sin I need to confess?”
“Is there a foolish decision I need to correct?”
“Is someone else’s wrongdoing involved?”
“Do I need safety, medical care, counsel, or practical assistance?”
“What false belief is this pressure exposing?”
“What obedience is clear today?”
“How can I remain near Christ?”
“What character may God be developing?”
“How can this make me more compassionate toward others?”
These questions do not explain everything.
They help prevent the trial from being wasted.
A Biblical Trial-Examination Pattern
1. Name the Trial Honestly
Do not minimize the pain or use vague spiritual language.
2. Separate What You Know From What You Assume
Identify facts, uncertainties, and fears.
3. Examine Known Responsibility
Confess sin, correct foolishness, and make restitution where necessary.
4. Reject False Condemnation
Do not assume every hardship proves secret sin or weak faith.
5. Seek Appropriate Help
Use medical, legal, relational, pastoral, and practical assistance wisely.
6. Stay Under God’s Word
Let Scripture interpret the trial rather than emotion alone.
7. Ask What the Trial Is Revealing
Notice fears, idols, pride, dependence, and areas needing growth.
8. Obey What Is Clear
Do not wait for a complete explanation before taking the next faithful step.
9. Receive Support From God’s People
Do not carry every trial in isolation.
10. Leave the Unrevealed Purpose With God
You are not required to solve every mystery before trusting Him.
A Trial Examination
The trial I am presently facing is:
What I know with certainty is:
What I am assuming without certainty is:
Any known sin or foolishness I need to correct is:
Any wrongdoing by others that requires a boundary or report is:
The practical or professional help I may need is:
What this trial is revealing within me is:
The next clear act of obedience is:
The part I must leave unexplained before God is:
Discipleship Questions
- Why is it dangerous to assume that every trial is punishment for a particular personal sin?
- What is the difference between God testing a believer’s faith and tempting someone to commit evil?
- How can God overrule the sinful actions of others without approving or excusing those actions?
- According to Romans 8:28–29, what is the higher good toward which God is working in believers?
- What is one present trial revealing about your trust, priorities, character, or need for God?
Closing Exhortation
Trials do not all come for the same reason.
Do not explain them carelessly.
Some arise from a fallen creation.
Some follow our own choices.
Some come through the sins of others.
Some involve spiritual opposition.
Some are God’s fatherly correction.
Many contain more than one element.
You may not know the entire reason.
But you can know this:
God is not absent.
He is not confused.
He is not defeated.
He does not tempt you to evil.
He can test faith without destroying it.
He can correct without condemning.
He can prune fruitful branches.
He can expose what comfort concealed.
He can teach dependence.
He can produce holiness.
He can prepare you to comfort others.
He can overrule evil without calling evil good.
He can conform you to Jesus Christ.
Do not waste the trial through bitterness, denial, panic, or false condemnation.
Bring it beneath Scripture.
Address what is known.
Seek the help you need.
Obey what is clear.
And leave the unrevealed purpose in the hands of the God who sees the whole story.
A Prayer During Trials
Father,
You know the trial I am facing and every part of it that I do not understand.
Thank You that nothing is hidden from You.
Keep me from assuming that suffering means You have abandoned me.
Protect me from false guilt, careless explanations, bitterness, unbelief, and despair.
Show me any known sin I need to confess.
Show me any foolish decision I need to correct.
Give me courage to establish necessary boundaries and seek appropriate medical, legal, pastoral, or practical help.
Do not let me excuse another person’s wrongdoing in the name of faith.
Help me distinguish Your holy testing from the temptation to sin.
Expose every false dependence within me.
Humble me without crushing me.
Correct me without allowing me to forget the grace of Jesus Christ.
Prune what limits spiritual fruit.
Teach me to trust You rather than myself.
Use Your comfort to prepare me to comfort others.
Make me more holy, compassionate, faithful, and like Jesus Christ.
Where You have not revealed the reason, keep me from inventing one.
Give me grace to obey what is clear today.
Work through this trial for the good You have purposed and for the glory of Your Son.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Next Step
Take one present trial and divide it into four parts:
What I Know
Write only established facts.
What I Do Not Know
List unanswered questions without inventing explanations.
What God Has Clearly Given Me to Do
Include repentance, boundaries, seeking help, prayer, work, rest, or another act of obedience.
What I Must Place Into God’s Hands
Name the outcome, timing, explanation, or person you cannot control.
Do not attempt to solve the entire trial today.
Correct what is yours to correct.
Seek the help that is available.
Take the next faithful step.
Then continue into Lesson 72 to learn how to trust God when full understanding remains beyond your reach.
Previous Lesson: Lesson 70 — How to Stay Burdened for Souls Without Becoming Discouraged
Next Lesson: Lesson 72 — How to Trust God When You Do Not Understand