A man woke from a coma at the hospital after suffering a terrible accident. He began yelling “Doctor, please help! I can’t feel my legs!” The doctor said, “That’s because we had to amputate both your arms.”
Job 14:1 “Man who is born of woman Is of few days and full of [a]trouble.
The Bible is clear that suffering and trouble are part of the human experience. It has been said that God only has one Son without sin, but God has no sons without suffering. The reality is nobody is immune from the difficulties of life. It is good that Christians develop a Theology of joy, but we must also develop a Theology of suffering. Christ followers must develop a world view that does not allow difficulties to drive them from God but draw them closer to Him. Spiritual maturity helps us to move past asking “Why me?” to asking, “What now?”. We must learn to look through our circumstance and concerns to our Christ and His comfort.
Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to [a]be abased, and I know how to [b]abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through [c]Christ who strengthens me.
We don’t have much trouble understanding why wicked people suffer. We understand that God allows consequences to lead people to repentance and belief. As is often repeated at The Mission Church of Lexington, “We can choose our choices, but we can’t choose our consequences”.
Proverbs 13:15 Good understanding [a]gains favor, But the way of the unfaithful is hard.
Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
However, its more challenging to comprehend when God’s saints are passing through trials and tribulations. When this happens many begin to question the character of God! They will start to think or even say… If God is allowing this tragedy to take place, He must not be both loving and powerful. Because surely, if God was loving and powerful, He would do something to stop all this suffering.
As a pastor, I have heard this same argument packaged in many ways and I have seen the issue of pain and suffering to cause many people to volitionally turn their back on God. Many liberal theologians and secular philosophers have used this very thing to undermine the faith and commitment of many vulnerable people from trusting in the goodness of God.
Therefore, I am writing this blog post today to help us think through the significance of suffering and the purpose of pain.
John 9:1-3 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.
The Lord did not mean that this man never committed any sin, nor that his parents were perfect. Everybody is a sinner by birth and by choice. Everybody is disobedient to God by nature and by nurture. This is why we all need a Savior!
Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Jesus was clearly stating that this suffering of blindness was not a punishment for sin but rather an opportunity to reveal God’s power and glory. It was for the same reason that Lazarus was permitted to die.
John 11:1-4 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” 4 When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
When Lazarus was sick, his sisters (Mary and Martha) called for Jesus, but Jesus did a strange thing. Instead of coming immediately, He waited until Lazarus was dead and had been buried four days. When Jesus eventually arrived, He merely spoke, and Lazarus walked out of the tomb. As a result of this miracle, many of the people who witnessed it were convinced that Jesus really was the Son of God and they believed in Him. Certainly, the death of Lazarus meant some short-term heartache for Mary and Martha but the long-term joy of seeing Jesus being worshipped and glorified made it all worth it! Paul felt the same way about the suffering and persecution that he experienced throughout his ministry.
Philippians 1:12 But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.
Many have experienced seasons of prolonged and terrible suffering. There is everything right and good to ask God to heal you and others; to take away the pain and suffering but ultimately, we must pray for God’s will to be done. When we do this, we follow the example of our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Luke 22:42 Saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
2- Suffering and Pain Corrects us and Helps to Perfects us
The Scriptures make it clear that God’s purpose for us is primarily our holiness not our happiness. God wants us to become more and more like His Son Jesus Christ in our character and our conduct. This spiritual maturation will not take place apart from the experience of suffering and pain because these experiences serve as sandpaper for the spiritual rough edges of our lives.
Romans 8:28-29 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. 29 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.
Ephesians 1:4 Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.
Hebrews 12:10 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.
1 Peter 1:15-16 But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Sometimes we suffer in order that God might teach us the spiritual discipline and the holy habit of prayer. Prayer is an expression of dependance upon God, therefore when we don’t pray it reveals a heart of self-sufficiency and pride. When suffering and pain takes place in our lives (physically, emotionally, spiritually, relationally, etc.) it should serve as a call to prayer and seeking the Lord.
Psalm 34:17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.
Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Sometimes we suffer and experience pain in order that God might teach us the lesson of humility. Some people are so proud they can strut sitting down. However, pain and suffering remind man of our fragile state. We are never more like Christ than when we operate in humility, and we are never more like the Devil when we operate in pride.
1 Peter 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.
James 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before [a]a fall.
Galatians 6:3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
3- Suffering and Pain Provides a Ministry for Us
This world is filled with suffering and heartaches, and one of the greatest needs that suffering people have is for somebody who can empathize with them in their troubles. Not trying to “fix” them or the situation but to simply practice the ministry of presence. We cannot truly empathize with those in sorrow unless we have suffered some sorrow and have found the Lord faithful and sufficient. God never wastes a hurt and neither should we! God wants to turn our pain into praise and our hurts into Hallelujahs. God is willing to transform our misery into our ministry. Chuck Swindoll once said, “It is doubtful that God can use anyone greatly until He has first hurt him deeply”. So, have you suffered with depression, have you experienced the death of a child, have you walked through a divorce, have you ever been laid off from a job, have you ever had cancer, have you ever been in drug rehab, have you ever been incarcerated, have you ever been hurt? Then you are just the kind of person that God is looking for to reach others who are experiencing similar hurts, habits, and hangups now!
Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
2 Corinthians 1:4 Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any [a]trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Galatians 6:1-3 Brethren, if a man is [a]overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
4- Suffering and Pain Turns Our Attention Toward Heaven
It has been said that humans are the only living creatures that know they will eventually die but do everything they can, not to think about it. Death is a reality with the staggering static that one out of every one person will have this experience. As Christians we know that this earth is not Heaven, and this physical existence is not our eternal existence. We live as pilgrims and sojourners. We live with dual citizenship… we are citizen of this world, but we are also citizens of the Kingdom of God. When life is going wonderful, we often forget this truth and get too comfortable with the here and now… but suffering and pain turns our attention toward Heaven.
Luke 12:13-21 Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of [a]covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Colossians 3:1-4 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Sometimes it takes sickness and sorrow and disease and disaster and shattered dreams to bring us to the end of ourselves and turn hearts to God. The suffering and sadness that we experience often gives us a desire and a longing for the promises of a very real place called Heaven. C.S. Lewis once said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf word”. For a Christian the suffering of this life will one day be no more, but until that day may we continue to embrace the significance of suffering and the purpose of pain, for our good and God’s glory!
Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Revelation 21:4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
If this blog post has grabbed your curiosity and you would like to know more, please pursue any/all of the below options:
1- Contact me at pastor@missionchurchlex.org
2- Check out our church website Misisonchurchlex.org
3- Visit us for Community Celebration and Worship every Sunday at 9am and 11am (Facebook livestreaming available at 9am) and Mission Groups each Wednesday at 630pm. We are located at 3288 Beaver Creek Dr. Lexington KY 40515.
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5- Continue to read this weekly blog- “Find your Why with Pastor D”