I just reviewed some of my previous articles. I seem to write quite often on suffering. I don’t really know why. At any reasonable estimation, I live a fairly comfortable life. I don’t have a debilitating physical condition. I’m not battling cancer, or anything like that. I have a comfortable home. My wife loves me, my children love me, my dog loves me. But I tend to think about suffering. I tend to think about why things aren’t they way they are supposed to be. I don’t have a debilitating physical condition, but I know people that do, and it seems wrong and unfair. I’m not battling cancer, but I know people that are, and it seems wrong and unfair. I have a comfortable home, but there are believers in Christ all over the world that don’t. I have a wonderful marriage and family, but I know too many believers that don’t—spouses where betrayal has occurred, children where rebellion has occurred, parents where abuse has occurred. Life is hard; there’s no getting around it. (Your dog, however, will always love you.)

I recently preached a short series of sermons at a friend’s church while he was taking a few Sunday’s off, and I chose to preach on . . . unjust suffering. There is a phenomenal passage in 1 Peter that addresses the issue of unjust suffering better than any other passage in the Bible, in my opinion. Peter begins by talking about how servants should submit to their masters, and not only to those that treat them well, but also to those that treat them unjustly (2:18). We don’t mind treating well those who treat us well. But to be honest, that doesn’t require very much of us. It certainly doesn’t require the power of the Spirit or the work of the cross or the truth of the gospel. It is sort of a “I’ll scratch your back as long as you scratch mine” version of Christianity, which really is no Christianity at all. Christianity requires Jesus; that doesn’t.

Peter says that we are to submit to those in authority over us even when they treat us unjustly. He says that we are to treat kindly those who treat us poorly. He really echoes the words of Jesus who said that we are to love our enemies and pray for those who hurt us (Mt. 5:44). Peter gets specific when he says this. “For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly” (2:19). At that point, he moves away from specifically talking about servants and masters and begins talking more generally. Any time we endure sorrows while suffering unjustly, it is a gracious thing. It is a thing of God’s grace. But then he throws in a phrase that almost gets lost in the shuffle. He says that we must be “mindful of God.”

And that’s the key. For our response to unjust suffering to be a gracious thing, to be a thing—an expression—of God’s grace, then it must be because we are mindful of God. There it is. That is how we can respond well to unjust suffering. We must be mindful of God. So, what does that mean, and how do we do it?

To be mindful of God means that we interpret every situation in life through the grid of the character of God. That’s it. To be mindful of God means to remember him, to keep him in mind, to think about God and who he is, and to do so while we are being treated wrongly, poorly, unjustly. We remember that God, in the person of his Son, Jesus, was also treated unjustly. And we remember how Jesus responded to that unjust suffering. Later in the same passage, Peter reminds us that Jesus did not retaliate when he suffered unjustly. Instead, he entrusted himself to his heavenly Father. And if we are his disciples, when we are treated unjustly, we will do the same.

So, what do we actually do when we are treated unjustly? What does it look like to be mindful of God during unjust suffering? I think what we do is view unjust suffering (really, all suffering) in light of two particular characteristics of God: his goodness and his sovereignty. The first thing we are tempted to do when we suffering unjustly is to doubt the goodness of God. “God must not be good if he would allow something like this.” Don’t go there. God is always good and everything he does is good. And because of that, even the unjust suffering in your life comes from the goodness of God. He believes that this is the best for you. God is good. He can be trusted in all he does in your life. Don’t change the character of God. Don’t view the character of God through your unjust situation; view your unjust situation through the unchanging character of God.

Secondly, we view unjust suffering in light of God’s sovereignty. God is in control, and he is in control of all things, at all times. Your unjust situation did not sneak up on God when he wasn’t aware. In fact—and here’s the hard part—it is part of his plan, his good plan, for your life. Your unjust situation is under God’s control. And God has promised to work all things together, even unjust things, wrong things, for your good. God has planned good to come from your unjust suffering. That good will be in your heart, as you learn to trust him in deeper ways. And that good will come even in the life of the one who has hurt you and treated you unjustly.

So, be mindful of God—keep God in mind; and keep all of who God is, his goodness and his sovereignty, in mind—in every situation of life. Interpret all of life through your strong confidence in the good plan of God for you.