Today there seems to be an aversion to the suggestion that some of our suffering may be due to our own sin. This is partly justified. We see the error of Job’s friends, who believed Job’s suffering was due to his sin (it was not). We hear other people’s insensitivity by suggesting that a puzzling hardship may be due to some past sinful act (it may not be). We bristle at overly dogmatic statements that attribute individual or corporate suffering of others as the result of judgment for sinful acts (we can overstate and misspeak).
While there is much error in attributing a person’s suffering to their own sin, we must not overlook this biblical truth: some of our suffering may be due to our sin.
Hearing Haggai 1
In Haggai 1, we see God speak through His prophet Haggai to a people who have not done the work they were called to do. After being back in the land for roughly 15 years—and after some initial progress followed by persecution (Ezra 4-5)—God’s people still have not rebuilt the temple. The work has stalled out and excuses have been made: ‘now is not the time to rebuild the temple’ (Haggai 1:2).
While the temple rebuild has been neglected, the people of Israel have had the time and energy to build their own homes (possibly luxurious homes [“paneled” 1:4]), and seek out their own economic and financial prosperity (harvests and wine and oil).
God speaks through his prophet Haggai and calls out the people’s disobedience. They have neglected to do the good work God of rebuilding the temple because or their own self-centered and self-focused pursuits. Now is the time build the temple (1:8).
Moreover, the material and financial blessing they sought have been actively withheld by God, because the people’s sinful neglect of rebuilding the temple (1:6, 9-11):
1:6: “You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.”
1:9-11 “You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”
Note that it is God HIMSELF who thwarted their attempts at financial prosperity: “I blew it away” [1:9]; “I have called for a drought on the land” [1:11]. And the reason is clearly stated in 1:9: “Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.”
The people of God in Haggai’s day were suffering because of their sin. God was actively withholding blessing and bringing about a state of discipline for their sinful neglect of rebuilding the temple.
Is my Suffering Due to My Sin?
Some of our suffering as Christians may be a result of our sin—sins of commission (doing what we should not do) or sins of omission (not doing what we ought to do).
In James 4:3 we read, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” Here, we see the suffering of unmet desires and prayer requests. At times, God actively withholds from us—resulting in suffering—because our motivations are self-centered or ungodly.
Another example of Christians suffering due to sin is found in 1 Cor 11:27-32. Here we see that some believers were approaching “the Lord’s Table in an unworthy manner” (11:27) and as a result became weak, sick, or even died (11:30). This was a disciplinary judgment of God on the Corinthian congregation (11:31).
Some of our suffering as Christians, may be due to our unrepentant sin.
Not all Suffering Is Due to Our Sin
The Bible is clear that not all suffering is due to our own sin. Sometimes our suffering is the result of someone else’s sin: Achan’s sin led to suffering for the whole nation of Israel (Joshua 7). Sometimes our suffering is an affliction God grants us to test our faith and purify and refine us (James 1:2-4). Sometimes our suffering is an affliction God gives us to keep us humble and dependent upon Him (2 Cor 1:9; 12:8-9). Sometimes the reason for our suffering is not revealed to us, but God gets the glory as we trust Him and glorify Him through it.
Our Response to Suffering
The prophet Haggai called the people to “consider your ways” (Haggai 1:5, 7). This is what we ought to do amid suffering: consider our ways. We must consider our ways and ask, ‘Is there is some sinful act or attitude that I am refusing to repent of?’ And, ‘Is there is some action or attitude that I’m called to do or embrace but I am neglecting or refusing to do?’ These questions help us to understand what may be happening–an experience of God’s just discipline–and to repent of any known sin, and by God’s grace do the good works He has for us.
In our suffering, we look to Christ, the righteous sufferer, who never sinned, but enduring suffering for us through his death on the cross (1 Peter 2:21-25). Even in his suffering he did not sin (1 Peter 2:22). He is our Shepherd amid our suffering, and will lead us on paths of righteousness (Ps 23) as we repent and walk by faith.
Remembering God’s Kindness Even in our Suffering
Though some of our suffering may be due to our own sin, we rejoice that Christ paid the penalty for all our sins on the cross. Through him, we have forgiveness of sin (Col 1:14) and by faith in Jesus we are justified before God (Gal 2:16). His Holy Spirit leads us forward in holiness (Rom 8) and by His grace we do the good works God has called us to do, with the motivation that God would take pleasure in them and be glorified (Haggai 1:8).
We also remember God’s kind and good character even in the middle of our own suffering. Lamentations 3:31-33, a passage written in the midst of immense suffering by the prophet Jeremiah after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, instructs us:
Lamentation 3:31-33:
“For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.”
RELATED POST: “Self-Destructive Nature of Sin“
