Life is Tough but Jesus is Tougher: How Christ Enables Us to Respond Better to Suffering

The book of Job presents one of Scripture’s most profound explorations of human suffering. Job maintained his righteousness through unimaginable loss—his children, his possessions, his health, and even the support of his wife and friends. He grieved yet worshipped. He was brutally honest with God, yet he trusted in divine sovereignty, declaring: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (13:15). But as remarkable as Job’s response was, we who live after Christ can respond even better to suffering.

What does it mean to respond better than Job? Job cursed the day of his birth in chapter 3, wishing he had never existed. But for believers in Christ, we should never curse the day we were born, for that would mean we had never come to know Christ. As Paul writes in Philippians 1:21–23, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain…. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” No suffering can make us wish we had never existed when we have come to know Christ.

Moreover, we can respond better by trusting not merely in God’s sovereignty—his power to do all things—but in his gracious purposes. We should trust that he is working all things for our good, as Romans 8:28 promises.

Consider the story of a young woman raised in the church, who memorised Scripture from childhood and served faithfully. At 21, she was raped by someone she trusted from her Christian community. In the six months that followed, while still attending church, she withdrew from prayer and Scripture reading. Eventually, she abandoned the faith entirely, spiralling into destructive behaviour that ended in her death seven years later.

What happened? She responded badly to suffering because her foundation was not in Christ himself, but in her own abilities, reputation, and activities. When suffering came, it exposed where her true foundation lay. Suffering asks us one critical question: Where is your foundation? Is it in what you do, or in Christ?

Job declared in his suffering, “I know that my Redeemer lives” (19:25). Christ has purchased our redemption through his perfect life, sacrificial death, and triumphant resurrection.

He lived perfectly for us. Unlike Job, who maintained his goodness but remained a sinner, Christ never sinned. He lived with perfect righteousness even under the pressure of the cross, crying out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Through faith in Christ, we receive a righteousness not our own—a garment that no suffering can tear away.

He died sacrificially for us. Romans 5:9 declares: “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” Christ took upon himself the wrath we deserved. This means that, for believers, suffering can never be a sign of God’s wrath. We may face cancer, loss, or pain, but these cannot express divine wrath, for Christ drank that cup fully at Calvary. As the hymn says, “Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe.”

He rose triumphantly for us. Christ’s resurrection secures our hope beyond death. As he promised in John 14:2–3, “I go to prepare a place for you … that where I am you may be also.” For believers, death is not the end but the beginning of eternal peace and joy. Earth is the worst life believers will ever experience. As Paul writes in Philippians 3:20–21, “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.”

First Peter 2:21–23 presents Christ as our example: “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

Christ did not take suffering as a licence to sin. When reviled, he did not revile in return. How? He entrusted himself to the Father, praying in Gethsemane, “Not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). This is our pattern: to entrust ourselves to God’s perfect will, even when we do not understand.

Hebrews 2:17–18 reveals: “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God…. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Christ is able to help us. He is merciful and will not push us away. Hebrews 4:15–16 continues: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

In Christ, we have all we need: a friend who sticks closer than a brother, a shepherd who seeks the lost sheep, a king who never abandons his subjects, a vine that supplies life to the branches. He is our treasure, and as Paul declares in Philippians 3:8, knowing Christ is of “surpassing worth.” All our suffering cannot take away this treasure.

For those who reject Christ, suffering carries a different message. In Luke 13:3–5, Jesus warned: “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Suffering in this world is an alarm, crying out, “Repent and turn to Christ.” It is also a glimpse—a tiny foretaste—of the suffering that awaits in hell for those who face God’s wrath without Christ as their mediator.

Believer, lean on Christ—not on your reputation, abilities, or accomplishments. Lean on the one who has redeemed you and who supplies all you need. Unbeliever, your suffering warns you: Turn to Christ in repentance and faith. His arms are open, full of grace, ready to receive all who come.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​