Recently, someone
began a discussion of this topic by stating, "If I was God" and then
proceeded to say how they would run the universe. I answered that by humbly stating that I am
not God and don't have all the answers.
I went on to say:
Let me begin with your statement, "If I was God." That's the problem. It's why we have
suffering. Satan offered humanity the temptation, "Eat this fruit and
you'll be as God." Adam and Eve ate and sin entered the world along with
all the horror that accompanies it.
Things are broken and God will fix them. We may be sure that infinite
intelligence and perfect love is working out all for His glory and the ultimate
good.
God gave us freedom to love Him or reject Him. Sadly, most choose the
latter. It was never God's original plan
for there to be death and suffering.
Jesus said that God sees even a sparrow when it falls to the ground and
cares. So we know He cares for little children. He suffers and grieves with us
and for us.
Some suffering is
a direct result of personal sin—either our own, or evil done to us because of
the sinful choice of others. If I drink
and destroy my liver, the suffering is from my sin. If I get injured from being hit by a drunk
driver, I suffer from their sin. Sinful
choices bring consequences—there is a cause and effect relationship.
It is
particularly hard to deal with the pictures of suffering of little children,
hungry and starving in third world countries.
It isn't from lack of resources but sin—selfishness and false
religion.
I have been to India, where
there is still this kind of grinding poverty.
While people are begging for a morsel, or scavenging garbage for scraps,
sacred cows wander around. India produces
enough grain to feed its populace, but rats consume a lot of that grain. You can’t kill them. It might be grandma or Uncle Joe
reincarnated!
Then there is the
sin of the church that is meant to be the extension of Christ’s love to the
world. We throw away enough food and eat
more than we ought which could be used to feed these starving children. The sin of covetousness is routinely practiced
among those who claim to be followers of Jesus.
Furthermore, if
false religion proliferates and people suffer from its effects, we must ask how
much we are investing in sharing the Gospel.
Too often we waste money on trivial trinkets that could have been used
supporting missions. Have we even
considered that God might want us to step out of the comfort of our consumer
mentality and go into the world with the Word? So, we must not blame an apathetic God who is
anything but that. He has given us a
plan and the provision. The apathy is
owned by us!
Some suffering is
divine discipline—which is not necessarily punitive, but formative—meant to
shape us into the image of Christ. One
ought to study Romans 8
intensively. A couple of verses are at
the core of this vexing problem of suffering and God’s involvement or seeming lack
thereof:
And
we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those
who are the called according to His purpose.
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image
of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:28-29)
Far from this
being a sign of God's spite, it is the assurance of His love. Hebrews
12 gives us the classic call to look to a suffering Savior for the
example of endurance. We are reminded
where there is no pain, there is no gain.
This is not only true in the realm of sports, but in the sphere of the
spiritual. Discipline, although painful,
serve a purpose.
Therefore
we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay
aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run
with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of
God. For consider Him who endured such
hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged
in your souls. You have not yet resisted
to bloodshed, striving against sin. And
you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do
not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked
by Him; For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He
receives.” If you endure chastening, God
deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not
chasten? But if you are without
chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and
not sons. Furthermore, we have had human
fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more
readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they
indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our
profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the
present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of
righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:1-11)
James, half-brother of our Lord Jesus, writes in his letter
to a group of Jewish believers scattered abroad by persecution. He encourages them to not only endure the
suffering, but enjoy the result,
My
brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the
testing of your faith produces patience.
But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and
complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4)
The trial itself is not the joyful part. We are not called to be spiritual
masochists! If God did not want us free
from pain, He would have us “enjoy” that for all eternity! The fact is that we will rejoice in God’s
work through thrusting us into the fire and hammering us on the anvil to temper
our faith when we get to glory.
The song writer said it well:
“It Will Be Worth It All”
Sometimes the day seems long,
Our trials hard to bear.
We´re tempted to complain,
to murmur and despair.
But Christ will soon appear
to catch his bride away!
All tears forever over
in God’s eternal day!
At times the sky seems dark,
with not a ray of light;
We’re tossed and driven on,
no human help in sight.
But there is One in heaven,
Who knows our deepest care;
Let Jesus solve your problems,
just go to him in prayer.
Life’s day will soon be o’re,
all storms forever past;
We’ll cross the great divide
to Glory, safe at last!
We’ll share the joys of heaven:
a harp, a home, a crown;
The tempter will be banished,
We’ll lay our burdens down.
CHORUS:
It will be worth it all
when we see Jesus!
Life’s trials will seem so small
when we see Christ.
One glimpse of his dear face,
all sorrow will erase.
So, bravely run the race
till we see Christ. (Esther K. Rusthoi)
The Apostle Paul—a great sufferer and a godly saint—spoke to
this in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.
Therefore
we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward
man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a
moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are
not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are
not seen are eternal.
We are reminded that there are things we do not know. To look around at the circumstance is to see
only from a materialistic view and find little meaning in our mess. To see with eyes of faith the invisible,
spiritual dimension is to discover God’s glorious intent for light, momentary
affliction. That is, God limits the
scope and span of suffering to that which will not truly harm us (only our body
which in its present state is incapable of dwelling in heaven anyway), but will
actually help us to become more like Jesus!
The stories of two Old Testament characters give us a peak
behind the veil into the sometimes mystifying ways of God.
Job presents to us this struggle of coming to grips with why
God allows suffering, and although not giving us all the answers, manifesting
to us a Sovereign God who is all we need in the midst of our heartache. We do not know if Job ever understood the
clash of forces in the heavenly realm because of God’s challenge to Satan that
would transform Job’s life into the battlefield, but we know by the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, and can be helped through knowing that we too choose this:
Then
Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and
worshiped. And he said: “Naked I came
from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the
LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.” In
all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong. (Job 1:20-22)
Joseph’s story brings us another angle. In summary, Genesis 37-50 recounts a man
who was faithful to God, and yet it seemed God was not faithful to him. He tried to follow a God-given dream and each
step took him into deeper misery. From
the pit of slavery and deeper into the prison of abandonment; hated by his
brothers, slandered by his employer’s wife, forgotten by a man he
befriended—for two years—and God was where?
Engineering all things to elevate Joseph eventually to prominence in Egypt where he
would be used to save his family and see God keep His covenant promise. Think about this: if there had been no Joseph
in his suffering, there would be no Jesus with His salvation!
Several times Joseph acknowledges the unseen hand of God
orchestrating events—even evil ones—for good, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good,
in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” (Gen.50:20)
If you want to argue with Paul about the amount of pain you
are going through and claim it to be anything but light and momentary, consider
it is a relative term in comparison to the weight and length of eternity.
Neither was Paul sitting in an ivory tower
insulated from hurt and writing mere theories.
Here is a summary of his sufferings:
Are
they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant,
in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty
stripes minus one. Three times I was
beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and
a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in
perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles,
in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in
perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in
hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—besides the other
things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made
to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?
If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the
king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to
arrest me; but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and
escaped from his hands. (2
Corinthians 11:23-33)
While I would not minimize the pain that anyone goes
through, not many of us would claim to be on the level of intense suffering as
the Apostle.
And he was not Superman!
He was a real man of flesh and blood, and who sought to be delivered
from pain if possible. That is our
instinctive reaction—God-given for preservation! Was Jesus wrong to pray in Gethsemane
that the horror of the cross might be avoided if possible? No!
Not when He went on to submit Himself to the Father’s will. We hear this
echoed in Paul:
It
is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and
revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether
in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God
knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or
out of the body I do not know, God knows—how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not
lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not
boast, except in my infirmities. For though I might desire to boast, I will not
be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think
of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me. And lest I should be exalted above measure by
the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a
messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord
three times that it might depart from me.
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is
made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my
infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore
I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in
distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)
Another question
I was asked is connected to this, "WHY DOES IT SEEM THAT THE PEOPLE THAT
SERVE YOU SUFFER MORE?"
The reality is
this is apparently true. Living in a
fallen world means none are exempt from pain.
The rain falls on the just and the unjust. Storms come to those who build on the Rock of
Ages and those who build on the sands of time.
Perhaps those who
choose to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season are allowed by a gracious God
to have a taste of goodness since they will suffer forever in hell
eventually. That very goodness of God is
meant to capture their attention, “Or do you despise the riches of His
goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God
leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4)
We may also say that whatever pain we go through as God’s
children is only for this world. There
is no purgatory after death, but there is one before it—and that is this planet
of pain. Here is the truth according to
Jesus, “These things I have spoken to
you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but
be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John
16:33)
Suffering, as all
things, will eventually redound to God's glory.
The ninth chapter
of John’s Gospel points this out:
Now
as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi,
who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his
parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. (John
9:1-3)
The disciples had bought into the erroneous doctrine that
all suffering is the direct result of one’s personal sin. In this case, it would be the prenatal sin of
the man or some evil of his parents that caused him to be born blind. This was the false ideology Job’s “friends”
had when they accused him of suffering because of his sinful acts. The book of Job refuted that, but apparently
the disciples hadn’t studied that as they should.
From eternity, an omniscient God knew that one day a baby
would be born blind. That child would go
through years of growing up in darkness—and despair. But, this omnipotent God was also planning to
send His Son to exhibit that power. The
end result would be the man’s good and God’s glory. All things are moving inexorably toward His
glory and all Satan does cannot stop it.
I heard the late Dr. Bruce Dunn tell this story in a sermon
years ago at Ben Lippen Bible Conference.
Please overlook the term used to describe a child with Down’s
syndrome. It is not a politically correct
term, but was a common expression for the times. The message is insightful nevertheless.
I would like to share with you a
true story which has made a great impact on me and truly touched my heart. A
special week of meetings were being held by a guest speaker, Dr. Donald
Barnhouse. During the course of the week, the pastor’s wife gave birth to a
mongoloid baby. Both the pastor and his wife were grievous and wondered how to
cope with the situation. Dr. Barnhouse shared with them a portion of Scripture
in Exodus 4, where God
seemed to have taken upon Himself the complete responsibility for human
suffering. Moses had stubbornly refused to accept God’s call because of
inadequacy and
the Lord’s reply was, “…who maketh the dumb, or deaf,
or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?” (Exodus 4:11).
Through prayer and tears with one
another, the pastor and his wife were able to say, “God has blessed us with a
mongoloid baby.”
The next step was for the pastor’s
wife to call her family and share with them their recent experience. There was
a switchboard operator in the hospital who ‘had it in’ for Christians and
couldn’t stand them. With a cynical attitude, she processed the call and
listened in on the conversation. She was appalled at what she heard and
immediately spread the word to the rest of the hospital personnel.
The following Sunday morning the
pastor stood to preach and in closing he gave an invitation for people to come
forward. He bowed his head in prayer and didn’t look around. There were several
dozen or more of the hospital staff in the service that morning and when he
gave the invitation, a couple dozen of them were standing down at the front of
the altar asking Jesus Christ to be their Savior.
That mongoloid baby grew to about
15 years of age and then went home to Heaven. Some years later, a woman called
the pastor expressing a real need for his help. She explained that she was the
wife of the doctor who had brought his mongoloid baby into the world. She
proceeded to explain that at this moment her husband was locked in his room
with a revolver in his hands ready to kill himself. The doctor had told his
wife that the only person he was willing to talk to would be this pastor. The
pastor immediately went to his home and asked for his gun and talked to him
about Christ. The doctor gave the gun to the pastor and also received Christ as
his Savior at that time!
The pastor and his wife knew that
God was involved in their lives! They were willing to say that it isn’t all
sweet roses and perfume, but God is involved and they were not going to rebel
and be bitter, but they were going to say, “Lord, we can’t figure things out
and we don’t like it, but Thy will be done.” Then peace came and as a result
many people came to Jesus.
(
http://www.biblicalevangelist.org/index.php?view=Sermons&id=797&issue=Volume+32,+Number+4)
Now, I have written a much longer article than most of min,
but have only scratched the surface of this perplexing matter. Volumes have been written by some of far
greater intellect than me, so I have no illusions as to give you all the
answers. I hope I have given you something
to chew on to nourish your faith.
Even so, we must acknowledge with Paul,
Oh,
the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! “For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or
who has become His counselor?” “Or who
has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?” For of Him and through Him and to Him are all
things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)
Amen!
