Growing Through the Pain: Bible Verses About Life Struggles

Life comes with struggle; it’s as inevitable as the day following night. That is the reality of the human condition in a world broken by sin. The struggle will come – the question is what you’ll do when those struggles come. Consider these Bible verses about life struggles to find encouragement and support.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, who is known for conceptualizing the five stages of grief, has been quoted as saying, “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.”

When you go through a hard time, lots of questions go through your head that you might not otherwise entertain or contemplate, such as:

• Is God there?
• Does He care about me?
• Have I done something wrong to deserve what’s happening to me?
• How long will God let this carry on?

These and many other questions are real in seasons of struggles, and they don’t always have answers. Scripture can help orient us as we encounter and seek to overcome life struggles of various kinds.

Bible verses about life struggles

Being a follower of Jesus does not insulate you from pain or struggle. Arriving at that truth will help you avoid bewilderment. Jesus said to His disciples,

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33, ESV 

Another word for tribulation is trouble. Trouble comes in many guises, and it happens to us as well as because of us. Sometimes it’s easy to tell when we’ve brought trouble to ourselves and other people. In other circumstances, trouble comes unexpectedly or without an obvious cause. We can get trapped in a loop asking why trouble came, but there aren’t always easy or clear answers.

What Jesus says is that trouble will come to His followers in this world. They should take heart and have courage because Jesus has overcome the world. He rose from the dead, and that’s a reality His disciples can look forward to. That resurrection power is available to them here and now as they face daily challenges (Ephesians 1:18-21).

Whatever the source or cause of trouble, we can go to God with our honest questions, our pain, doubt, anger, and our confusion. We may not always have clear answers to the questions we have, but God meets us in our questions and walks with us. That is what the many Psalms and prayers of lament in the Bible teach us. God is big enough to handle those emotions.

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us. – 2 Corinthians 1:8-10, NIV

This is an apostle in the thick of things. We don’t know fully the circumstances that Paul was in, and precisely what the troubles were that he experienced. From reading the rest of the New Testament, we know that Paul endured much suffering because of the gospel of Jesus. He was arrested, beaten, stoned near to death, harassed, shipwrecked, lost friends, and so much more.

Sometimes we don’t know why we’re going through life struggles, but sometimes we do. As Paul struggled, he relied on God for strength and comfort, and not on his wits or skill. Our struggles often reveal our weaknesses, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it can teach us humble reliance on God.

Dealing with life struggles

Your struggles in life may be related to your health, relationships, finances, anger issues, or another challenge. Perhaps your deepest struggles are connected to a loved one, such as addiction. Whatever it may be, you don’t have to deal with it alone.

Individual and group counseling can be a space for you not only to process what’s going on in your life but to learn healthy coping strategies so that your struggles strengthen you and don’t break you. If you’re looking for additional support beyond these Bible verses about life struggles, seek a Christian counselor in The Colony, Texas to begin working through the questions and concerns you may have.