Thoughts on Suffering

One of the certainties of life is suffering. There is flooding in Texas. In my personal world, a young woman is fighting cancer and treatment is uncertain. Friends lost their 25-year-old brother unexpectedly. Our world is one of pain, grief, loss, disappointment, failure, betrayal, and anxiety. No one is exempt. It may come in different forms, but suffering is certain.

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Job's suffering was unexpected and devastating. He lost material wealth, his children, and his health. Like some of us, this is how others responded:

1. Relief at all costs: “Curse God and die.” This was Satan’s goal. If Job’s relationship with God was dependent on his circumstances, he would love God when life was good and curse Him when life was bad. Job’s wife, unfortunately, was on Satan’s team for this one. Isn’t it interesting that of all the things Satan asked to take away from Job, his wife was not one of them.
2. Experience is the solution: “I’ve seen this. It happened to ____.”  Job’s friend, Eliphaz, related Job’s suffering to his own experiences. We may have seen, heard, or experienced things in our lives but that is a) not a comfort someone who is suffering and b) not an accurate measure of who God is or how He works.
3. Traditional practice is the solution: “If you’d done this (name it) this (name calamity) wouldn’t have happened.” We may not come right out and say it, but it’s easy to carry the same undertone as Zophar ‘s message: “We’ve always done it this way.” In other words, it’s your fault for not following the accepted pattern. “What did you do to bring this on yourself?”
4. Rules or legalism is the solution: “You can fix this by ____.”  Bildad professes a health, wealth and prosperity doctrine: If you do such and such, you can make it go away. This is another form of, “It’s your fault” with the added burden of changing the circumstances.

None of them were helpful. In fact, they made things worse. On top of external forces, Job battled his thoughts, emotions and the untruths of his "friends."
 

These friends were focused on why Job was suffering. If they knew why, they could escape, avoid, or control suffering in their own lives. They pointed the finger, “It’s your fault” as another way of saying, “As long as I don’t do what you did, I’m safe.” There is something threatening about suffering—something ominous, dangerous, and unpleasant—we want to avoid. In reality, we can't. And we won't.
 

What about Job? In the face of disaster and calamity, who, like him, doesn’t want to talk directly to God?(7:20, 10:2, 13:3, 15, 22; 16:21; 23:4, etc.)
 

Once they ran out of arguments--Job included--Elihu, the youngest, silent observer spoke. Unlike the others, Elihu persisted in presence with a listening ear and keen thoughts. Because he escaped God's criticism, we would do well to listen to his words and attitudes.

In humility, he admitted his own failures. He found common ground with Job and proved it by sitting through this entire discourse (7 days of silence plus 28 chapters' worth of discussion). He did not lay blame, tell Job what to do, or criticize him harshly. He practiced what Dr. Bob Kellemen calls, "climbing in the casket." And after lying in that dark, despairing place with Job, he provides perspective: don't forget God's grace and generosity, look for God's hand and purpose even in suffering, if God controls the lightning, wind and wild beast, He is able to care for you, and remember, God cannot be moved or manipulated by the works of man.
 

God, in His goodness, wisdom and sovereignty approached Job in chapters 38-41, but not to answer Job's “why?” Instead, God assured him that He saw, knew, controlled, and governed in might, goodness and wisdom.

Job's reply?
 

“I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
 

‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’

Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.”
 

‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:2-6)
 

Then the Lord spoke to Eliphaz (how terrifying!), “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has” (42:7). They offered sacrifices, Job prayed, and they were forgiven. The Lord returned Job’s wealth and “blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning…” (42:12)
 

In our suffering—in suffering with others—we may never know why, but we can always know Who.
 

Behold, the Lord God will come with might,

With His arm ruling for Him.

Behold, His reward is with Him

And His recompense before Him.

¹¹ Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,

In His arm He will gather the lambs

And carry them in His bosom;

He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
 

¹² Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,

And marked off the heavens by the span,

And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,

And weighed the mountains in a balance

And the hills in a pair of scales?

¹³ Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,

Or as His counselor has informed Him?

¹⁴ With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding?

And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge

And informed Him of the way of understanding?

¹⁵ Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,

And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales;

Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

¹⁶ Even Lebanon is not enough to burn,

Nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering.

¹⁷ All the nations are as nothing before Him,

They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.
 

¹⁸ To whom then will you liken God?

Or what likeness will you compare with Him?

¹⁹ As for the idol, a craftsman casts it,

A goldsmith plates it with gold,

And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.

²⁰ He who is too impoverished for such an offering

Selects a tree that does not rot;

He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman

To prepare an idol that will not totter.
 

²¹ Do you not know? Have you not heard?

Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

²² It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,

And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,

Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain

And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

²³ He it is who reduces rulers to nothing,

Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.

²⁴ Scarcely have they been planted,

Scarcely have they been sown,

Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,

But He merely blows on them, and they wither,

And the storm carries them away like stubble.

²⁵ “To whom then will you liken Me

That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.

²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high

And see who has created these stars,

The One who leads forth their host by number,

He calls them all by name;

Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,

Not one of them is missing.
 

²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord,

And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”?

²⁸ Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth

Does not become weary or tired.

His understanding is inscrutable.

²⁹ He gives strength to the weary,

And to him who lacks might He increases power.

³⁰ Though youths grow weary and tired,

And vigorous young men stumble badly,

³¹ Yet those who wait for the Lord

Will gain new strength;

They will mount up with wings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

They will walk and not become weary. (Isaiah 40) 

 

 

 

 

Ah-hah's of the Creation Account

There is more than one way to use the Bible. It can be read, studied, memorized, listened to, and meditated on. That sounds self-evident, but the purpose of each will make a difference in one's spiritual walk.

Many of us study the Bible to teach a class or make a presentation. Studying the Bible is a great way to learn because we know who gets the most out of it--the teacher. Another way to use the Bible is to read, think about and pray it in fellowship with God with a desire to enjoy time in His presence, get to know Him, and ourselves, better.

My daily fellowship time has varied over the years--I've kept journals, made spreadsheets, hand-written Scripture, looked for patterns, and gone on rabbit trails. Yesterday I started on a chronological tour from the very beginning.

Here is an "ah-hah" from the first chapter of the Bible. (Since it's an ah-hah for me, that means it's  obvious and may make you say, "duh." I apologize for needless enthusiasm.)

Each part of creation follows the same pattern:
1) God said
2) "Let there be _____" for _____
3) and there was
4) God called ______, ______
5) God saw
6) it was good.

This is the basic pattern for light, waters above and below, land, sky, plants, stars/moon/sun, fish, birds, animals, man (with variation for man, but the same basic concepts).

In a world gone made with identity and self-fulfillment, these stood out with clarity. This entry is not intended to be a response to people or culture, it is a response to the Word of God. Take it personally or not; that's not my motivation.

1) God is the source of every good thing
2) God created specifically, completely, and with purpose (earth to sprout vegetation; plants to give seed and fruit, lights to separate night from day, etc.)
3) It happened the way God said it would (and nothing has changed)
4) God determined creation's name and identity
5) God was not absent from His creation, but present
6) God makes things well.

How does this affect my life today? Malachi 3:6 tells us that God does not change, so the truths of who God is and how He works carry over. Here are some implications for today:

1) God is the Giver of every good gift (James 1:17). When we accept Jesus' payment for sin in our place, God begins the transforming work of recreating us in righteousness and holiness (Eph 4:24).

2) God made man to image, or reflect, the Godhead. He determined creation's purpose--all of it, each part.

3) Everything happens according to God's will and plan. "Truly I have spoken, truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it." (Isaiah 46:11)

4) God is the source of identity. He was then, He is now.

5) God continues to be present. It may not be evident in our circumstances or emotions, but it is a fact. "The Lord is near." (Philippians 4:5)

6) God does all things well (Mark 7:37).  We may struggle and suffer and sin, but we can trust that God who originally designed and created all things continues to work out His plan and purpose with wisdom, patience and goodness.

And above all, as we endure suffering and sin, we know Jesus has suffered for us. He took our final judgement and we are free from condemnation through faith in Him (Romans 8:1-2). He is our advocate and has given us His Spirit as a guarantee and Helper. For that reason, it is well (1 John 2:1-2).

O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
² From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
Because of Your adversaries,
To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.

³ When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
⁴ What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
⁵ Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
⁶ You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
⁷ All sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field,
⁸ The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

 

⁹ O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

(Psalm 8)

Knowing God's Will

Last weekend our church teamed up to provide free furniture and household goods for international students at the University of Iowa. As I rode in the back seat of a pickup with Brother John, we  talked about what we've been learning lately. When I told him I've been thinking about God's will as singular, finished, and complete from eternity past to eternity future instead of a progression of events or series of circumstances, he said something like this:

"You know, I've given that some thought.... Our Savior prayed, 'Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven,' and on the night He was betrayed He prayed for God's will to be done, not His. That's God's will--that what it comes down to, God's will, not ours. It's what Jesus did. He emptied Himself--the kenosis--that Paul talks about in Philippians 2. John the Baptist said the same thing, 'I must decrease, He must increase.' And we're vessels, earthen pots in 2 Corinthians 4. Now if we were really empty of ourselves and what we want, and full of what He wants and who He is, that would really be somethin'....Then we'd know God's will, wouldn't we?"

All that in about 2 blocks' time. And I'm still thinking about it. Maybe you will, too.

Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
¹⁰ Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread,
¹² and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6:9-13 ESV)

 

And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. ³⁶ And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”  (Mark 13:35-36)

 

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:5-7)

 

‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ ²⁹ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. ³⁰ He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:28-30)

 

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. (2 Corinthians 4:6-7)