Why do Christians suffer? Rest assured that there is a reason for Christian people being afflicted. One reason why God’s people suffer, according to the Bible, is that it is a disciplinary, chastening, and molding process. From the Scriptures we learn that the chastening of affliction is a step in the process of our full and complete development. Affliction can also be a means of refining and of purification. Many a life has come forth from the furnace of affliction more beautiful and more useful than before.

From Day by Day with Billy Graham, © 1976 BGEA