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Suffering
“I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.” Psalm 34:4-6
One of the greatest mysteries in life is suffering. Why does God allow it to happen? The Bible tells us that a primary purpose of suffering is to make us better people. Our response to this may be to wish that God would find a less painful way. Why is it necessary for God to change us? Why didn't He just create us perfectly -- or did He? The book of Genesis tells us that before Adam and Eve rebelled against God, they lived in harmony with Him. They probably enjoyed perfect health as well as the absence of evil. When they chose to go their own way, God allowed them the consequences of their decision. They forfeited their fellowship with God and fell under the natural laws of the universe and under the power of evil. God created humanity to rule over the universe, but beginning with Adam and Eve we became subject to its order, suffering from the force and accidents of nature as well as the temptations of Satan. (Genesis 1:26, Genesis 3)
Much of the suffering in the world comes from rebellion or greed and we have made our problems worse by our abuse of food, chemicals, atmosphere, earth and water. The freedom God has given us means we will suffer the consequences of our foolishness. God is not the cause of suffering, but sometimes He allows it for a reason. Suffering can be the way of redemption, for when we suffer, we reflect on our way of living and many draw closer to God.
Suffering is an anguish, which lets us know that something needs to be changed. Our troubles may prompt us to begin asking questions about life and about God that we have never have asked before. God answers everyone who earnestly seeks Him. (Jeremiah 29:12-13) He gives us His truth and, as we learn to live by it, we discover that it sets us free. Therefore we can say that suffering is closely connected to freedom.
Jesus came to reveal the loving care of His Father and to set us free from the bondage of our weaknesses. “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows . . . he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5 RSV) Through His sacrificial death, Jesus paid the penalty for the suffering and sin of all humankind. If we do not offer Him our difficulties and ask Him to help us, His death for our personal suffering was in vain.
Our reaction to suffering will vary because we have the freedom to choose our attitude toward it. We can respond in a negative or a positive way. If we resign ourselves to our suffering or deny that it exists, we will not learn from it, and we will eventually experience a worse kind of suffering than what we meant to avoid. Unwillingness to deal with suffering pushes it into our very depths. But it finds its way back in other forms. It may come as anger, depression, fear or compulsive behavior. To support our denial, some of us try to blame someone else for our pain. We consider only how unfortunate we are rather than observe how we are contributing to our unhappiness. We allow dark moods of self-pity, resentment or rebellion to take over. We let them have the power to make us miserable. These moods are like poison making us physically, emotionally and spiritually ill. They use up energy that could have been used creatively, and they affect everyone within our influence.
Denial, self-pity and resentment produce unnecessary suffering and will always harm us. It is tragic when we suffer and do not learn from it, for it may have been our greatest opportunity. Why do some of us respond so poorly to suffering? Perhaps it is because the values of society teach us to appear successful and deny anxiety and sorrow. We try to act happy, but the deception doesn't work. Our pain re-surfaces and we are less equipped to deal with its hardship. As a result, suffering crushes and embitters us and makes us feel that life has no meaning at all.
In order to receive the blessings God can bring, we are to seek His wisdom regarding our suffering and experience a kind of death to our negative feelings. The Greek philosophers used to say, “the life of wisdom is the practice of death.” And Jesus said, “ . . . unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:25) We are also to die to (put behind us) bad habits and begin counting on the faithfulness of God to see us through. (Psalm 91) We can receive His wisdom, comfort and hope from reading the Scriptures (especially the psalms) and, when we fellowship with other Christians, our faith is strengthened. Even when we see nothing good happening and we wonder if God is at work, we can “live by faith, not by sight.” (II Corinthians 5:7 RSV) We do this by claiming in our prayers the promises of God. Then we can watch for any sign of blessing and give thanks to God, for He promises to work all things together for good for those who love Him and are seeking His purpose. (Psalm 145:13b, Colossians 4:2, Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11)
The author of the book of Hebrews wrote about Jesus, “For He himself endured a cross and thought nothing of its shame because of the joy He knew would follow His suffering.” (Hebrews 12:2 Phillips) We are to persevere in times of trial for the blessings that lie ahead. The same author wrote, “For we continue to share in all that Christ has for us so long as we steadily maintain until the end the trust with which we began.” (Hebrews 3:14 Phillips) And as we remain steadfast in our trust, God lovingly watches over us and helps us through our difficulties. (Isaiah 43:1b-3b)
Sometimes suffering is necessary to experience greater freedom and new life. If you are experiencing some kind of trial, trust in God's loving care for you. Seek His wisdom and ask for His gifts of comfort and hope. (II Thessalonians 2:16) Then praise Him that because of Jesus Christ, He will redeem your suffering and turn it into something good.
“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” I Peter 5:10-11
Do I have a negative attitude toward a problem that is making my difficulty worse?
Suggestion for Prayer-Listening
Heavenly Father, is there some difficult circumstance I have not surrendered completely to you so that your power may be at work?
Please show me if there is something (like fear or pride) that is keeping me from surrendering my problem to you?
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” II Corinthians 12: 8-9
Suggestions for Meditation
Begin your meditation by picturing Jesus on the cross. He suffered there for the very thing that is causing you suffering. Surrender your difficulty to Jesus.
Meditate on the following verse, imagining God calling you by name and taking you by the hand through your difficulty:
“Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the water, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” Isaiah 43:1b-3a
When I am suffering, I often ask the Lord to reveal to me the root cause. If I have been part of the problem, I ask Him to help me not to make the same mistake again. If it is a grievous loss and I am having difficulty surrendering my suffering to the Lord, I will go to a mature Christian friend to pray with me and help me give my pain to the Lord so I will be healed and He can redeem my circumstance (bring good out of it).
I try to remember to ask God if I need to change my attitude or do something to alleviate the suffering of others. I do not want to miss the blessing He intended in allowing me to suffer. I know He wants me to fully understand my response as well as His wisdom regarding my circumstance so I will be ready to comfort another in their suffering.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”
II Corinthians 1:3-5