READ: 2 Corinthians 1:3-12
“Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place;” – 1 Corinthians 4:11
It is important to seek the will of God about the different suffering experiences God allows you to go through. Why are you suffering? Why are you experiencing what you are experiencing?
You see, there are always two possible reasons for what you are experiencing. You may be in the will of God suffering according to His will that is predetermined. On the other hand, you may be suffering from the fruits of your own disobedience.
All through the New Testament, Paul explained why he went throughcertain experiences. He would seek the will of God to understand why he was going through these different experiences.
When he suffered from a strong demonic battering, he sought the Lord who told him why a thorn in the flesh was given to him to prevent him from becoming proud. The Lord actually explained to him that Satan had been allowed to buffet him for certain mysterious reasons. “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure” (2 Corinthians 12:7).
On another occasion, he explained that he had suffered so much, and had the sentence of death on his life so that he would not trust in himself at all. “Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9, NASB).