Personal Observation
This is a real danger, you know? Not just to those who have fallen into the Prosperity Gospel trap! For years I knew about the dangers of the Prosperity Gospel. I was one of those Christian guys who always made fun of Joel Osteen. I was that guy who listened to Paul Washer all the time and spoke of the difficulties of being a disciple. But still, deep down inside, I somehow convinced myself that everything will still be fine for me as long as I lived by what God said. I had this list of things that I thought would NEVER happen to me. If you were to look at that list now, you'd think I'm the dumbest optimist ever.
Anyways, things I feared ended up happening and I had to learn the hard way that bad things happen to Christians and non-Christians alike. Doesn't matter how godly you are, doesn't even matter how much faith you have, God will, at some point in your life, permit you to suffer. There are many possible reasons why He decided to do so, but all I know is, it happens, and that's the way it is.
Those of us who have lived a privileged life will oftentimes have the misconception that our easy lives will go on forever. When we read of terrible accidents on the news or hear tragedies from our friends, we think: "that'll NEVER happen to me!". How very naive! It doesn't help that our culture is continuously telling us that suffering is evil, and going through suffering is a symptom that must be immediately replaced by relief. Christians know that suffering, though it can happen without purpose, can be given purpose by God, who works ALL THINGS together for the good of those who love Him.
Suffering In the Bible
The apostle Paul is my favorite example, and I'm sure you are familiar with his suffering (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Three times he asked God to remove his thorn in the flesh, but God said no. His suffering was to keep him humble and to allow god's strength to shine forth in Paul's weakness. So, we can see that God allows suffering in even the godliest men.
Another example is Job. Job suffered tremendously, losing basically everything he loved. The kicker is: God sanctioned his sufferings, and did NOT give Job a satisfactory answer to what the purpose of his sufferings was. Though Job restored everything in the end, God never gave him an answer, He only gave Job a glimpse of His power, and Job repented, no longer asking for an answer. Again, Job, the most righteous man of his time, suffered divinely-sanctioned sufferings! What should we expect from ourselves then?
The chief example is the Lord Jesus, who asked God to take the cup of suffering on the cross away from Him. Yet God's will was to have Him suffer as no one has ever suffered before. It's God's will, no one can change it. But we know that Jesus' sufferings had a tremendous purpose: it saves sinners. Yet to the disciples, this suffering seemed unnecessary and purposeless, perhaps that is why they all ran away and deserted their master. Of course, the purpose is revealed later at the Resurrection, and the disciples' lives were forever changed. Do you think our sufferings might be like that too? Maybe we're just too blind to see the purpose behind them now, but when we are finally restored to God's true image, we will know!
Other examples of godly people suffering are all the disciples, Elijah, David, and many more.
Pushback
Of course, this topic will raise questions. What about those verses that tell us how Jesus will grant us any prayer that is made in His name? What about the verse that says faith can move mountains? Why can't God take away my sufferings? I asked Him in faith! Either we are interpreting those verses wrong or the Bible is not lining up with reality.
This is a massive topic. I have my own thoughts about it, but here are some resources that will present the case better than me:
This article by the Gospel Coalition
I hope this will help. We must always remember the whole counsel of the Bible before taking any one verse by itself. I have met people who nearly lost their faith because God didn't meet their misguided expectations. Take the time to know the real God, His character, and His promises by reading the Bible for yourself, then you can decide whether He's worth following or not.
Final Exhortations
If man only looks within himself to find meaning, and always expects things from the world for himself, he will quickly realize that disappointment and despair await him in the end. However, if the man realizes that true meaning is only found in something outside of himself, in our case, God, then he can have hope. If we only live life expecting God to fulfill our every desire, we will be disappointed, because God doesn't work like that. However, if we realize that life is ultimately about what God wants from us, we actually find meaning and purpose in something that's greater than ourselves, and that purpose will never fade away.
When I man understands the "why" of his existence, he can endure almost any "how". This is an idea from Nietzsche, though I disagree with the man on many things, this I can get behind. Victor Frankl in his book Man's Search for Meaning gives very wise counsel. He says, and I paraphrase, that when man endures suffering and finds meaning within, that is the moment when one really realizes and appreciates his life. That is one of the ways for someone to find meaning. I think that lines up pretty well with the Christian life. Jesus pulls no punches and tells us that Christians should expect hardship (Luke 14:26-33) in their life. Yet to live a life following the Lord is the ultimate purpose (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
If you are suffering and fail to find meaning, I empathize, and I pray that you will get through it with God's help. Just know that though we live in a broken world where suffering seems random and arbitrary, God is able to instill meaning even in the worst of circumstances.
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