Truth About Suffering (6/6/11)

Shalom,

Please begin by reading 1 Pet 4:12-19.

Have you ever thought to yourself, "I shouldn't have to suffer. I'm a good Christian. I go to church often. I read my Bible. I pray. I give time and money to my church." It seems many Christians think that problems and troubles are reserved for those who ignore Yahweh and refuse to believe in him. This simplistic understanding of suffering is unbiblical and comes from false hopes about how good our lives are supposed to be because we're God's People." First, it's based in humanistic thinking like fate and Karma. Second, read the Book of Job to see how Yahweh doesn't agree with this idea.

When it comes to suffering the main reason that Christians get surprised or upset by it is because we live under a false understanding of what suffering actually is. One false premise that many Christians live under is that if they do suffer it should only be for a short time. In other words, "I can accept the fact that I'll have some trouble in this life just as long as it doesn't last more than a day or two." Somehow we forget that we live in a fallen world where things aren't so easily laid out into neat and clean sections. We need to be well-versed in the reality shared with us throughout the Bible and not so attached to to such fairy tale hopes.

Another false premise is a very old one. Suffering is the result of some sin or failure in my life. Job's friends insisted he'd sinned and deserved all the terrible things that had happened to him. But if we think that way we'll end up being rebuked just like Job's friends were when Yahweh set everything right in Job's life after his testing was over. When we examine our lives and don't find any gross sin, what do we then think about our troubles? "Yahweh's being unfair. He's not showing me a lot of love." Please don't fall into this demonic trap which only has us looking at our earthly conditions. Contentment in Christ is available no matter what our external circumstances may be.

Another false premise is that if I'm not being healed or helped or whatever I've been praying for, then I don't have enough faith. How many times have well-meaning Christians, never mind the mean-spirited legalists, spoken that someone's faith was lacking? The Bible doesn't support such a blanket condemnation. Read the end of Hebrews 11 and see what some very faithful people suffered through. It just may be our lack of faith, but don't speak that to someone unless the Holy Spirit is urging you to.

Yahweh didn't create suffering. From the beginning of humanity, Yahweh gave us all a choice. We can obey him and experience eternal blessings or disobey him and reap the consequences of our rebellion. The result of our free will choices, at least so far, is the pain and suffering we see around our world. We don't like to consider this fact, but we are to blame for what's wrong in our world. The devil can only tempt us to do wrong things, he can't force us to do anything. And don't go blaming Yahweh for giving you free will either. It's not his fault that we choose to do evil. Don't blame Yahweh for your bad and evil choices. All the natural and moral evil in our world is here because we humans fail to obey our Creator's guidelines for living. All he's done is allow us to live the way we want to, the way we've chosen for ourselves.

When we humans told Yahweh to leave us alone and let us do our own thing, he partially honored our request. He didn't completely leave us to ourselves because he's still the sustainer and maintainer of all the earth. Without his sovereign hand controlling the natural resources we'd soon be dead and gone. The earth was cursed by our sin. Genetic breakdown and disease began. Pain and death became a part of the human experience.

Yahweh created a perfect environment. It was man's choice that released all the troubles and turmoil we now face. We can't even blame the devil for all that's gone wrong. All he did was convince us to sin against our Lord God Almighty just like he did. Tornados, floods, hurricanes, blizzards, droughts - illnesses like cancer, AIDS, Ebola, and many others - injustice, politcial corruption, drug addiction, and crime - and the list can go on and on. This isn't the world Yahweh created, but the world he allowed because he gave us the freedom to choose.

We continue to see continuing death and destruction from our evil moral choices. Much death and destruction is wrought by the hands of sinful humans. Someone has estimated the 95% of the world's suffering today is a direct result of our sin. I don't agree with that. I say it's 100%.

There is incredible power in our two hands. We can use these hands to hold a gun and kill someone, or we can use these hands to care for the hurting and needy. The choice is completely ours. We can't blame Yahweh when evil people shoot "innocent" victims. The death is the result of a moral choice by another human. There are many people killed by someone else's bad moral and ethical and emotional decisions.

A big question is asked when these kinds of tragedies invade our lives. "Couldn't Yahweh have foreseen that all this was going to happen and stopped it?" The answer is a resounding YES! In fact he did foresee it and chose to give us free willl anyway. He knows we all have the potential to make good and evil choices. The point we miss is that he created us to make good ones. He's given us his Word and his Spirit to help us make good choices. We just don't happen to believe that these God-things are necessary to life on earth, at least the majority of the world's population doesn't.

Consider this: When we became parents couldn't we foresee that these children have the potential to end up as criminals or drug addicts or that they'd be rebellious and would turn away from everything we tried to teach them? Sure we can, but we choose to have children because we also foresee the potential good things that can result from a life well-lived. Just like Yahweh we see greater potential for good than for evil.

Hawa Ahmed was a Muslim student in North Africa. One day, she read a Christian tract in her dormitory and decided to become a Christian. Her father was an emir, so she expected to lose her inheritance because of her conversion. She was completely unprepared for what actually happened. When she told her family she had become a Christian and changed her name to Faith, her father exploded in rage. Her father and he brothers stripped her naked and bound her to a chair fixed to a metal plate with which they planned to electrocute her. Faith asked them to at least lay a Bible in her lap. Her father responded, "If you want to die together with your false religion, so be it." One of her brothers added, "That will show your religion is powerless." Although they had bound her, she was able to touch a corner of her Bible. She felt a strange peace, as though someone were standing beside her. Her father and brothers pushed the plug into a wall outlet, but nothing happened. They tried four times with various cables, but it was as though the electricity refused to flow. Finally, her father, angry and frustrated, hit her and screamed, "You are no longer my daughter."

Then he threw her into the street naked. She ran through the streets, humiliated and in pain. People looked at her, curious rather than shocked. Shaking and tearful, she ran to a friend's house. Her friend let her in and gave her shelter. The next day her friend asked neighbors what they had thought when they had seen Faith running naked through the streets. "What are you talking about?" they asked. "The girl had a wonderful white dress on. We asked ourselves why someone so beautifully dressed had to run through the streets." Yahweh had hidden her nakedness from their eyes, clothing her in a beautiful white dress. She now works as a full-time evangelist among her people.

The suffering Faith's family inflicted on her was overcome by her loving heavenly Father. Too much of our perception of how bad we're suffering is seen through physical and emotional eyes. A true Christian is aware that this world has evil and struggles and persecution, but they also know that they have eternal life. That eternal life is so close we never need to be fearful of dying. This isn't necessarily easy for us to live out, but with faith and hope we don't have to be in fear like so much of the rest of our world.

Our ability to stand up under pressure, whether it be persecution or the normal suffering of our troubled world, will be a direct result of the foundation on which we stand. Is your trust and faith in Jesus alone, or is it in your ability to find answers for yourself? All the answers you need are found in the Bible, you just have to take the time to find them. Ask the Holy Spirit for help in locating the holy words which will soothe your aching heart and ease your troubled mind. We all would do well to remember Jer 29:11. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares Yahweh, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Please don't ever blame Yahweh for your suffering. Just stand strong on his solid foundation and rely on his amazing peace for your strength.

Blessings & Peace, Mike