Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart! But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling; my steps had almost slipped (Psalm 73:1, 2, NASB).
For I was envious of the arrogant, as I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pains in their death: and their body is fat. They are not in trouble as other men: nor are they plagued like mankind (Psalm 73:3-5).
No doubt you too have noticed the apparent prosperity of the wicked from time to time as did Asaph, the author of Psalm 73. His observation, however, was more than a casual one. Asaph's "feet came close to stumbling," his "steps almost slipped." Asaph was giving expression that his understanding and faith in the fairness of God had been shaken!
Perhaps you have experienced the same helplessness, the same frustration, and have asked the same questions about why you seem to suffer and not make the same progress in life as those who seemingly are oblivious to God's ways and plan. Perhaps you too are left with the haunting question, Why do the righteous suffer?
Lesson Learning?
Lesson learning has become life's proverbial bitter pill, especially when one considers suffering. Suffering has become a generic term, carrying with it all the stigma attached to pain, want, misery, and death. We may agree that some pain is good. If you step on a nail, break your arm, or suffer with a toothache, the pain tells you to stop whatever else you are doing and correct the problem. Unfortunately, life's pain does not stop with these rather limited examples.
Consider the young woman stricken by multiple sclerosis, or the high school graduate destroyed inch by inch from cancer, or the small child whose strength is drained by a heart defect. And there is the toddler who endures the physical pain of abuse at the hands of a sick parent. What lesson is in the suffering of those individuals and their families? What is to be gained from the beatings suffered by a wife at the hands of her drunken husband or the violent death of a loved one? What hopeful response is there to the parents of an infant found dead in its crib? What explanation can be offered to the parents of a ten-year-old who suffers brain death while on the operating table undergoing minor surgery?
Is It God's Will? Is God Teaching Lessons or Punishing?
Questions of this nature must be addressed, just as you must address your own questions: Why is my family being destroyed by divorce? Why is my child on drugs?
A cartoon strip entitled, Scenes We'd Like to See, pictured a girl in a canoe without paddles heading straight for a waterfall. The hero on the bank, seeing her in danger, shouted, "I'll save you!" As he ran to a point near the falls, he climbed a tree beside the water and crawled to the end of a lower branch hanging out over the water. She looked up and just knew she had been saved from certain death. When passing under the branch, she reached up. The rescuer reached down to her-and he missed! This cartoon is illustrative of how you may feel toward God in times of suffering.
But, is suffering always the result of God's dealing? Consider two categories of suffering described in Scripture:
1) Suffering for the cause of Christ;
2) Suffering because we live in an imperfect world.
Peter, in his first letter, chapter 4, states: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you . . . but to the degree you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing . . . if you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you" (verses 12-14).
There may be some suffering associated with your living, according to God's plan and will for your life. Consider Paul's account of his service in 2 Corinthians 11:23-27. However, neither Paul's nor Peter's suffering and their suggestions that others might suffer for the sake of Christ cover such trials as broken down transmissions, washers and dryers, plumbing, divorce, drug addiction, child abuse, or terminal illness. Their references are only to suffering related directly to living the way of Christ.
Peter further described how this kind of suffering is rewarded: "And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace . . . will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you" (1 Peter 5:10).
The results of suffering for the cause of Christ need not be tragic, but when viewed in light of God's reward, are indeed of a positive nature and benefit. Paul confirms such reward: "We also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts" (Romans 5:3-5).
The writer of Hebrews looked at this suffering for the cause of Christ as discipline. "It is for discipline that you endure: God deals with you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?" (Hebrews 12:7). This discipline identifies the believer as a legitimate child of God, discipline that is less to be regarded as punishment than it is discipline for direction and strengthening. Again, notice the positive nature of such discipline: "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful, yet . . . afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness" (Hebrews 12:11).
Paul expressed much the same thought: "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:17, 18). Of those sufferings, he went on to say later in the chapter (verse 37) that we overwhelmingly conquer through Christ those difficulties the disciplined life of a believer can produce.
When Seemingly Conquered!
What about the times you are conquered by sufferings? Is all suffering initiated and overseen by God?
Some would have you believe yes, stating that God plans all tragedy, either to teach a lesson or to make us more like Jesus. Still others would insist that the righteous are above suffering and if one does experience hardships, then there is a problem with his or her commitment. This position continues: If we are in right relationship with our God, He protects us from all suffering. That logic says that in such a God-protected life, all planes would be divinely free of mechanical defects, pilot error, and weather conditions when a believer is on board. If that is the case, the world would like to have a believer in every hotel, plane, car, and home to ward off all harm and danger.
These explanations, however, do little if anything to ease the pain of losing a child to crib death or of suffering a crippling heart attack eventuating in early death. They do not heal bad marriages or a family member of cancer. The question remains unanswered when it comes to the routine tragedy of life: Why did God allow this to happen to me? Or, why did God cause this to happen to my family?
The world in which you and I live and rear our families and earn our livelihoods is an imperfect world. It is a fallen world, subject to death, not brought about by God's hand, but by the choice of God's creation, man! Our sufferings are the results of living as humans subject to death in this fallen world.
Concepts from Job
Job is the source of many concepts about suffering. Now, some of those concepts are arrived at in error, not least of which is a mistaken understanding of the statement, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away" (Job 1:21). Job's statement is referring to the losses he suffered which included the death of his children and the loss of his livelihood. Nevertheless, Job is described as blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil (Job 1:1). Why would God cause such suffering on the part of one so righteous?
Was it God who took from Job?
"Then the Lord said to Satan, 'Behold all that he has is in your power, only do not put your hand on him' " (Job 1:12).
Job's statement, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away," was an expression of how he viewed the situation. Noble, yes. In all his suffering, Job neither blamed God nor sinned. Yet, God had nothing to do with Job's suffering-it was Satan who brought the devastation!
Much of the suffering you and I experience is the direct result of our choices and the influence of the evil one, not God. "For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead" (1 Corinthians 15:21). Suffering death in its many forms was man's choice, not part of God's plan, which instead includes eternal life! Presently, in our fallen state, we are victims of tragedy and illness because of our vulnerability to them. Paul rehearses for us the state of these, our human bodies: perishable, dishonorable, weak, natural, and mortal. Victory over our current state comes only as the result of the resurrection. Neither our faith nor our commitment can change that. "But when this perishable will have put on imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, 'death is swallowed up in victory' " (1 Corinthians 15:54).
The writer of Hebrews discussed the humbled Messiah and His victory in chapter 2: "that through death He might render him powerless who had the power of death, that is, the devil" (verse 14b). Jesus our Lord is the only One at this point Who has triumphed over the power of death. Until our resurrection, we remain subject to that power, yet from this verse we can understand God is not the grim reaper. He is the One who has provided us the ultimate escape from our suffering and death through His Son!
We, like Job, suffer because of our flesh. We experience tragedy and affliction because of our mortality. Our lives are subject to the calamities of this present world because of the evil one who maintains the power of death. Until the resurrection, the righteous will be subject to the illnesses, the weaknesses, and the tragedies that naturally beset our fallen world. In spite of this, our God's concern and love provides us with consolation, comfort, and hope.
Consider the observation made by Jesus in Luke 13:1, 2, and 4. "There were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered, . . . 'Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered this fate? Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them, were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?' "
Jesus had been asked about the fate of those victims killed by Pilate, especially relative to their suffering. Was there a lesson to be learned by the widows and orphans left by the tragedies mentioned above? Jesus indicated there was not! If suffering were punishment for sins, there would be much more of it. The suffering of these folks was NOT a punishment, neither was it a lesson for their families. Those deaths and tragedies experienced by the individuals and their loved ones were matters of time and circumstance. God was not involved.
It is the same with many of the difficulties you and I experience. The suffering in this world that you and I, even as believers, experience is the result of human choice.
You and I live in a fallen, imperfect world. This truth is illustrated in Paul's discourse of Adam's sin in Romans 5 and further expounded in the historical record of the suffering that spread to all mankind in Genesis 3-6:1. Because of human choice, mankind suffers: "Just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men" (Romans 5:12).
Conclusion
Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father . . . do not fear, you are of more value than sparrows (Matthew 10:29, 31).
Jesus did not say the sparrow will not fall, but He did say that God is aware. Through His Son, God has offered an invitation, an invitation I invite you to accept:
Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my load is light (Matthew 11:28-30).
Understand that you have a comfort and a solace in times of suffering. It is a comfort that is available to the believer in the Lord. Understand, too, the difference in the trials you face in your walk with Christ. Determine the source of your affliction, whether it is for the cause of your belief or it is because of the natural events of time and circumstances in this fallen world.
Paul reminds us that God is "the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God" (2 Corinthians 1:3, 4).
This is the giving side of suffering, the recognition that God's mercy is available to you in times of your trials and that this mercy and comfort are to be shared with others!
We leave you with Paul's words about the tremendous treasure you as a believer have as a disciple of Christ.
For the God who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness, " is the one who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not forsaken: struck down, but not destroyed, always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body (2 Corinthians 4:6-10).
Know God is the giver of life. Understand your trials are not necessarily signals that God has forsaken you. Know that God is the God of comfort and mercy. Understand that many of the difficulties you face stem from the mere time and circumstances of a fallen world.
This understanding and knowledge can be yours. Accept the Lord of Life, Jesus, as your Savior. Submit to His care and keeping and establish that relationship through your prayer life and study of His Word, the Holy Bible.
Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all! (2 Thessalonians 3:16).
*Unless otherwise noted, all scripture references in this discussion are
from the New American Standard Bible, The Lockman Foundation, 1973. All
rights reserved
