So that...

Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. - John 9:3-4

Why do bad things happen to faithful followers? In today's text, Christ reveals that God sometimes allows his children to go through hardship so that they can experience the works of God. 

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. - Romans 8:18

When you go through hardship and suffering, brothers and sisters in Christ, I want to encourage you to look back through your life and remember your encounters with God. Know that even in hard times, God loves His children.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. - 1 John 3:1-2