Why Does God Allow Us To Struggle?

Written By Irene Pierce Panayi

The real question might not be “Why does God allow us to struggle?” but rather “Do struggles take over our lives because we aren’t really listening to God’s instructions on how to avoid them or how to find our way out of them?” 

The reality is that God wants us to be happy, to enjoy life, to love and help one other, and to stay close to Him (And Jesus). While God may use life’s challenges to teach us important lessons, there is no doubt that He would much prefer to teach us through happy situations. The problem is that learning to fully surrender to God—giving Him complete control over our lives—is something that we aren’t always willing or able to do. There is a difference between wanting to let go and truly doing it.

We all carry expectations, desires, beliefs and assumptions that dominate our thought process and shape our decisions. On top of that, fears, doubts, confusion and second-guessing can interfere and get in the way, too. When something doesn’t make sense to us, we hesitate. But we have to remember that God’s ways are not our ways. Just because we don’t understand what God is doing, doesn’t mean we never will. God’s plans and purposes are revealed as we walk not before we begin the walk.

Another reason that we struggle is because our lives are deeply interconnected. When one person falters on something (as we all do at times), that pause or delay can affect others—a kind of domino-effect that ripples through the lives around us. 

For example, after I divorced back in 2021, I moved to Sea Girt, NJ, and began working to launch a new career. Around that time, I heard a radio host on iHeart Radio share a story about how he and his family had to relocate for his new position at the station. They were struggling to find a house they could afford and wrestling with whether the move was truly what God wanted for them or not. In that moment, I felt God say to my heart, “Irene, when your career launches, you should help that family financially so he and his family can buy a house.” 

At the time, I really believed my career was about to take off, but it never did for reasons beyond my control. Perhaps I was part of a similar domino effect. As a result, I was never able to help that family. Had I been able to, he and his family would surely have avoided the struggle of not finding a house and not only felt God’s hand in their lives, but received the confirmation they needed to know that the relocation was in fact the step God wanted them to take. 

Their struggle during that time wasn’t because God wanted them to endure the struggle—He actually had a solution lined up for them. But the struggle was because God’s plan wasn’t able to unfold as He had intended it to unfold. Still, God worked it out another way. I recently heard the radio host say that other things happened in their lives to show that the relocation was the right move for them and I assume they found a house by now, too, because that is how God works. When there’s a diversion, He finds another route to accomplish His purpose and it’s often a better way, too. We just have to be patient and trust that God is still working behind the scenes. 

When you walk with God and trust Him, the process is always good—Things are either “easier” or “better” and both options have a positive aftermath. “Easier” means that things may happen faster or without complications while “better” means the plans may be more complex, take a little longer to unfold or may be harder to go through, but that also enables God to reveal His power and glory in bigger and better ways, too, which makes it a “better” process. The more you experience God working in your life, the better!  

God has an infinite number of ways to fulfill His plans for our lives. We just have to continue to pray, trust and keep our faith strong even when human choices and missteps cause struggles, diversions or delays along the way.

For more perspectives, visit www.IrenePiercePanayi.com and follow me on instagram @IrenePiercePanayi