Spiritual Exceptionalism: When Being a Child of God Becomes an Expectation of Special Treatment

I admit that I once believed that because I was a Christian, there were certain troubles I should not have to experience. I thought that if someone was constantly facing hardships, perhaps God did not consider them spiritually mature enough to receive His blessings, or maybe there was some hidden sin in their life preventing them from experiencing His favor.

But as I have grown and begun questioning some of the things I was taught, I find myself asking: Does belonging to God mean we should be exempt from the ordinary struggles of being human?

I believe phrases such as "I am a child of the Most High God" and "I am fearfully and wonderfully made" can sometimes become distorted into the belief that Christians should not have to experience illness, fertility challenges, financial hardship, or other difficulties that are part of the human experience. We begin to think that our relationship with God should somehow place us above the circumstances that affect everyone else.

Yet Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5:45 that God "maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." In other words, both favorable and unfavorable circumstances are part of life, regardless of one's spiritual standing.

In John 16:33, Jesus told His disciples, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Notice that He did not promise His followers a life free from trouble. He openly acknowledged that they would experience difficulties.

Even the Apostle Paul, despite his devotion to God, spoke of a persistent affliction that he pleaded with the Lord three times to remove. Instead of removing it, God responded, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

If someone as devoted as Paul could experience ongoing suffering, why have we developed the belief that hardship must indicate spiritual immaturity, hidden sin, or a lack of faith?

Perhaps being a child of God was never intended to mean that we would be exempt from the human experience. Perhaps we have confused our spiritual identity with a promise of preferential treatment, creating expectations that Scripture itself does not establish.

And when those expectations go unmet, instead of questioning what we were taught, we sometimes begin questioning ourselves, our faith, or our standing with God.