God's Purpose for Problems in the Christian Life
It's a frequent issue to ask to why God allows problems in the Christian life. At first, it seems unjust because it seems that a loving God should give Christians a luxurious life, free of trials and burdens. However from His own viewpoint, that's NOT it. Unfortunately if God allowed Christians to live a life of luxury without trials, truth is there is NO maturity and Christians will forget their devotion and they will continue to live like babies rather than in understanding. Saved as they are, Christians are at best still sinners and they need purification.
Here are some illustrations of God's purpose of allowing problems:
1.) To make Christians more fruitful (John 15:2)- This is to say that Christians are NOT the branches that bear not fruit and to be cast away but they are the branches that bear fruit. God the Father being the gardener and the Lord Jesus Christ being the vine and the believers being the branches, Christians DO bear fruit no matter how little it may be. However God is NOT a bit satisfied with the Christians who bear fruit inconsistently, He wants them to bear their fruits consistently! Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruits of the Holy Spirit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, meekness and temperance. Question is how much of these do they bear? God wants them to do better!
2.) To build better and more godly character (Romans 5:3-5, James 1:2-3). In connection to the fruit and vine issue, the problems help the Christians bear more patience (but NOT procrastination and tardiness) and with patience, comes experience and experience, hope in which is a reflection of Christian character. However it should be noted this does not mean Christians don't get mad or defend themselves, their patience controls them from being unreasonable. It means through trials, Christians are made to rely on God even more for without trials, they tend to rely on themselves.
3.) For the purpose of the trial for perfection (James 1:4, 1 Peter 1:7)- God has the message of perfection, which however is NOT for salvation but as a RESULT of salvation. Being saved means more than going to Heaven, it's going to result to a life that's going to have power OVER sin and striving each day to perfection all but a result of God's grace, not to be saved or to stay saved. It is through this trials that the process of perfection is done as God wants to see them become what He wants them to be and being perfect, wanting nothing. In trials, Christians get into prayer to ask why and the Lord reveals why, this and that. The illustration is this- gold is never purified unless it is heated. It must be tried by fire before it will truly sparkle. Gold must undergo trials MANY times before all the dross is removed. Likewise, the problems in the Christian life help them see their mistakes which may surface when they commit it or when the persecutors mirror it in some way, they learn from it and in turn, God makes them better but they must let Him.
4.) It is the purpose of a testimony (Matthew 5:16)- Another illustration would be the light shown in Christians. In the Old Testament, God commanded that the lamps must be burned only with pure olive oil or they would not burn properly (Exodus 27:20, Leviticus 24:2). If there is any soot in the oil, the lamps would cause problems and not burn as bright they are supposed to be. Unless Christians are purified, they are most likely to be a bad testimony and a dark light. God wants vibrant Christians who are ready to face any problem, not people who live their life too easy while the rest of the sinful world goes to Hell. For example, the persecution of Christians and their extreme devotion to Christ's teachings such as loving your enemies and praying for their persecutors rather than taking revenge, caused Christianity to grow in the midst of bloody persecution.
5.) To demonstrate His faithfulness that He knows what He is doing (1 Corinthians 10:13)- God allows problems but NEVER anything that cannot be handled because He is there. Unless a Christian experiences problems and being delivered from it, how can that person know God is faithful? He cannot. After all, it is the sick who needs a healer and not the healthy. A person who passed through sickness can explain better the powers of healing than the one who has not been sick. God will be there during problems. Problem is, most people don't call upon God until problems arrive!
6.) An invitation to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness as to prove that all these things from God will be added unto them who seek Him (Matthew 6:33). Man just continues to seek after their own pleasures and solutions, God wants them to seek Him. The late Pastor Jack Hyles mentioned in his sermon "Enjoy your Troubles" that, if it wasn't for the disasters, they could have not proven God's promises real in Matthew 6:33. If it wasn't for problems, Christians would forget to pray.