The Biblical Articles: God gives us the power to conquer

One thing more must be stressed: God gives us the power to conquer evil. This does not mean that we can avoid evil and suffering. It does mean that God gives us the resources with which to meet evil and suffering head on -- and conquer them.

The Bible does not promise that by "being good" we shall escape evil and suffering; but it does make evident on almost every page that when evil and suffering come to us, as they inevitably will, we need not succumb to them but can live through them in such fashion that we are the conquerors, not they. We can face them with the resources that so far have been made available to us by the "good news": the confidence that God is involved in evil with us, that he conquers evil, and that he conquers death. Believing these things, we can face evil unafraid.

But we have a further obligation. It is expected that we will share whatever power we have acquired, with others. Once again, Paul can help us to understand:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God ( II Cor. 1: 3, 4, italics added).

Paul is saying that God gives him strength (comfort = con + fortis = with strength) so that he in his turn may give strength to those who are in trouble. It is not enough for him to receive strength and assurance from God; he must pass the strength and assurance on to others. And this constitutes the real victory over evil, that even "as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings," as Paul goes on, "so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too" ( II Cor. 1: 5). To those who turn to God in trust, Paul assures us, God does give strength to meet whatever life may bring, and the job then becomes one of giving that same God-given strength to others.

This means that the most creative use of suffering is achieved when through it you are able to minister to the sufferings of others. The real question should not be, "Why did this happen to me?" but rather, "How can I use what has happened to me as a means of serving God more fully?"