A friend of mine who is going through a difficult time in
life right now sent me a request yesterday to do a Bible Time with Josh on the
topic of suffering. He wanted some encouragement
about how to have faith through the difficult seasons on life. Have you ever been there? When was the last time you looked up to
Heaven with pain in your face and said, “Why?!”
It happens to us all. As I
thought about where to turn in my Bible for just the right passage it occurred to
me how so much of the Bible deals with suffering. Here is what came to my mind in the first 30
seconds of thinking about it: Job
suffered the loss of everything in life and yet stayed faithful and God
rewarded him; King David was persecuted by Saul, his daughter was raped by his
son, that son was murdered by another son, then a third son rebelled against
David and tried to take away his kingdom; the High Priest Eli had two sons that
were wicked and God killed them on the same day; Joseph was betrayed by his
brothers and sold as a slave; Abraham and Sarah grew old without ever having
children until they were 100 years old; Stephen was stoned to death for sharing
the gospel; Paul was beaten, flogged, shipwrecked, and imprisoned for sharing
the gospel; and Jesus, who is God, became a man and was abused, beaten, and
crucified!
I could go on, but really I would
just be sharing the entire Bible! In all
of these stories what are some themes that we can pull out that might give us
some encouragement in our struggles? There
are probably too many themes to count, but one that always seems to stick out
in my mind is to keep an eternal perspective on life. I think for those people in the Bible that
saw their sufferings in the context of eternity had a drastically different attitude
and way of dealing with their struggles.
Think about Paul for a moment. He
suffered more than most of us, yet he wrote about hope, perseverance, God’s
grace, and joy in the midst of suffering.
Here is just one example of what he wrote from the book of Romans. Notice the chain of thought and what Paul
chooses to focus on instead of just focusing on the pain.
Romans 8:1-6, 15-18, 24-25, 28-39 ( I would encourage you to read the entire
chapter, but I shortened it here to save space)
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace…
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us…
24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience…
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Things to think about:
·
That middle verse about not considering our
present sufferings worth much of anything is not meant to make you go, “oh,
well I guess my pain isn’t all that bad…”
Paul is not telling you it doesn’t hurt.
He is not telling you to just suck it up. He is not telling you to get over it. He is not telling you that your struggles
aren’t that bad compared to other people’s struggles. Paul recognizes that life is filled with
pain, hardship, heartache, disappointment, and strife! He felt all of those, as do us all. What Paul is saying is that Jesus Christ is
so amazing and the gift of His salvation is bigger and better than anything
imaginable and life with Jesus forever in His presence finding all satisfaction
in who He is and what He has done will far out-way all the pain you could
possibly feel!
·
The Bible confirms that life is hard. It is full of people that lived those
difficult lives. But, we have hope! It is that hope that gets us through and
gives us the courage to still have joy in the midst of suffering. This life is not all there is! Jesus is real, and He really is that amazing!
For a great song that captures this idea click this
link: http://youtu.be/TftGIyzO-A8
