Come and See

If you’ve ever prayed, “God, please take this away,” you’re not alone.

Perhaps you’ve asked Him to remove your anxiety, heal a broken relationship, ease your grief, or free you from a habit you’ve struggled to overcome. Maybe you’ve wondered why the same challenges keep returning despite your prayers.

Or perhaps you’re not even sure what you believe about God, but you’ve found yourself asking a similar question:

If there is a loving God, why doesn’t He simply remove our suffering?

It’s one of the oldest and most honest questions people have asked.

Many assume that if God is loving and powerful, life should be free from hardship. Others believe that becoming a Christian should make life easier. Yet when we look at both our own experiences and the pages of the Bible, we find a different picture.

Jesus never promised that life would be free from trouble. Instead, He told His followers that they would face difficulties in this world. Yet He also gave them hope because He had overcome the power of sin, evil, and death. In other words, suffering would not have the final word—Jesus would.

Those words may not be what we want to hear, but they are deeply comforting because they are honest. Jesus doesn’t pretend suffering isn’t real. He meets us in it.

Throughout the Bible, we meet ordinary people who loved God yet experienced extraordinary hardship.

Joseph was betrayed by his own brothers before God used him to save many lives.

David spent years running for his life before becoming king.

Elijah became so discouraged that he wanted to give up.

The apostle Paul endured imprisonment, beatings, and illness, yet continued to trust God.

Their struggles were not evidence that God had abandoned them. Instead, God was at work even when they couldn’t see the whole picture.

Perhaps that is true for us as well.

When life hurts, it’s natural to ask, “Why is this happening?” Sometimes we never receive a complete answer. The Bible doesn’t promise that we’ll always understand God’s reasons. But it does assure us that our suffering is never outside His care.

One of the most encouraging chapters in the Bible is Romans 8. Paul describes a world that is groaning under the weight of brokenness, and he acknowledges that we groan too. We long for things to be made right. We pray, we wait, and sometimes we don’t even know what to say.

Yet in the middle of that reality, Paul reminds us that God has not abandoned His people. Even when we cannot understand our circumstances, He is still at work. His purpose is not simply to make life comfortable, but to shape us to become more like Christ. And nothing—not suffering, disappointment, failure, or even death—can separate those who belong to Him from His love.

That doesn’t mean every hardship is good or that God delights in our pain. We live in a world affected by sin, where illness, loss, injustice, and heartbreak are painfully real.

But the Christian faith offers something more than positive thinking.

It tells us that God Himself entered our suffering.

Jesus experienced rejection, grief, betrayal, injustice, physical pain, and death. He understands what it is like to suffer because He suffered Himself.

More importantly, through His death and resurrection, He defeated the power of sin and death, made a way for us to be reconciled to God, and gave us the promise that one day suffering, sin, and death will come to an end.

That doesn’t answer every question we may have.

But it does remind us that we are never alone.

Whether you’ve followed Jesus for many years or are simply curious about who He is, perhaps the invitation isn’t to have every question answered today.

Perhaps it’s to take one small step toward the One who promises to walk with us through life’s hardest moments.

🤔 Take a Moment to Reflect

• What struggle have I been asking God to remove?
• How have I responded when God hasn’t answered in the way I expected?
• If God is more interested in shaping my heart than simply changing my circumstances, what might He be teaching me during this season?

📖 Read It for Yourself

If you’re curious about what the Bible says about suffering and hope, I’d encourage you to read Romans 8:18–39.

As you read, consider these questions:

• What does this passage say about suffering?
• What does it say about God’s purpose?
• What does it say about God’s love?
• How does this passage challenge or encourage the way you view your own struggles?

You don’t have to have all the answers before you begin exploring. Sometimes hope begins with simply being willing to ask honest questions.