the glory of suffering

"why do bad things happen to good people..."

the common belief
we've all heard this before:

'since i [fill in with some good/nice/thoughtful deed], why did [fill in  with a terrible circumstance] happen to me? if there is a God, why would He ever let something so bad happen to me when i do good to others?'

 'im not going to believe in a God that let me go through [blank]'

'if God really wants me to believe in Him, He would have to take all the suffering/death/sickness/poverty/hunger out of the world'

this way of thinking is damning... i really have no idea where people get the notion that our God exists only to bring us happiness/fortune and a stress free life full of nothing but blessings.

if Christ had to suffer, how do we have the audacity to think that we don't have to

i hate to bring this to light, but it needs to be - sometimes people get these absolutely nonsensical ideologies from the church. for example, there is something out there called 'word of faith' or the 'prosperity gospel' also known as the 'health and wealth gospel'.

the prosperity gospel 


basically, the foundation for such a belief is that anyone who is right with God will have money and never be sick, and if you so happen to be poor or ill, that must mean that you are not a true believer.

lest i point out these verses:
'again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' - matthew 19:24

'Jesus answered, 'if you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. then come, follow Me.' - matthew 19:21

'no one can serve two masters. either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. you cannot serve both God and money.' - matthew 6:24

i had first heard of such beliefs while i was in africa summer of 2011 and was shown a sermon of justin peter's called 'a call for discernment'. you can watch the incredibly enlightening sermon here.




“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which you have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.” (Romans 16:17-18)


tickling of the ears


there's a song that is being played on a few Christian radio stations that's called 'He said' [you can listen to it here] but the message of it is that no matter what hard thing you are going through, God knows your limits and won't give you anything that will break those limits.

the chorus goes something like this :

"...remember what He said- 'I won't give you more, more than you can take, I might let you bend, but I won't let you break'..."

..and as positive and uplifting as that sounds, you will not find anywhere in the Bible where God says He won't give you more than you can handle as it refers to trials and tribulations. in contrast you will find that we are to be the clay in His hands and often we pray for Him to break us in order to make us who we ought to be in order to bring Him glory.

the passage that is all too often misquoted is 1 Corinthians 10:13:

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 

what we should get from this when we read it is that we will never be tempted beyond our ability, not that we wouldn't ever be tried beyond our capabilities.

When Paul writes that God will not tempt us beyond our ability, he means that we will never be in a situation where we have no other choice but to sin.

this is entirely separate from the issue of trials... where God WANTS us to break - bc this is when we come to the realization that we are vulnerable and in need of Him. 

through our trials is how we figure out if God is our portion - if without anything/anyone else, He is enough. this is when, if we choose to worship Him, we are glorifying Him.

the truth
if you are a follower of Christ... YOU WILL SUFFER.  and the reason you will suffer is this... to bring glory to God.


what we, as humans want:

•  to bring glory to God ['so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.'  - 1 corinthians 10:31]

how we do it:

•  by worshiping Him

what satan wants:

•  to decrease our worship to God

how he does it:

• by trying us with temptations/suffering [since at those times we are LEAST LIKELY to worship God]

what God wants:

• FAITHFUL/AUTHENTIC followers, no matter your circumstance  [give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.' - 1 thessalonians 5:18]

how He does it:

• By ALLOWING satan to bring on hard times in order to test our faith, ultimately leading us to seek Him

got it? the first thing we need to understand is this simple truth: behind our tribulation is satan, but behind satan is God - NOTHING gets to us without passing through the hands of God first.

we are to worship God for WHO He is, not WHAT He does.


weep, why, & worship 

'therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to His name.' - hebrews 13:15

i LOVE that this verse says to offer a 'sacrifice' of praise-  this tells us that sometimes when we offer praise, it hurts - yet we are to do so, continually.

now where can we see this manifest in the bible? the WHOLE BOOK of JOB!

lately at church, we've been in Job, it's quickly becoming one of my favorite books of the bible. it shows the omnipresence of God, the vulnerability of man and the dependence of satan on God for anything he does.

if you are at all familiar with the story of job, a few things should gain your attention - when satan is in the presence of God in Job 1, GOD points job out - almost as to offer that satan mess with him.

let's take a look at the dialect that occurs between God and satan in job 1:

'then the Lord asked satan, 'have you noticed my servant job? he is the finest man in all the earth. he is blameless - a man of complete integrity. he fears God and stays away  from evil' - job 1:8     

job's faith didn't keep him safe from suffering, it INSTIGATED it!

'satan replied to the Lord, 'yes, but job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. look how rich he is! but reach out and take away everything he has and he will surely curse to Your face!' - job 1:9-11

here, satan tries to say that job's faith is contingent on his possessions/money/health/blessings...

'all right, you may test him,' the Lord said to satan. 'do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don't harm him physically.' so satan left the Lord's presence. - job 1:12

i won't drag you through the rest of the first chapter [you may read it at your leisure], however, it's imparative that i draw your attention to job's reaction, after satan leaves the presence of God, he is 'let loose' if you will, on job's life [minus his health - at this point, but later in chapter 1, God allows satan to attack his health as well]... in the 39 seconds [literally] that it takes for job to lose all his oxen, donkeys, farmhands, sheep, shepherds, camels, servants, sons and daughters... job's response was this:

'job stood up and tore his robe in grief. then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. he said 'i came naked from my mother's womb, and i will be naked when i leave. the Lord gave me what i had, and the Lord has taken it away. praise the name of the Lord!' - job 1:20-21

what we learn from this is that human nature prompts us to grieve when we take a loss... and it is even human nature that we ask 'why' - however, it is the mindset and willfullness of the devout follower of Christ to quickly transition to worhsip - IN ALL SITUATIONS.

therefore, the conclusion that i draw is this: the closer you are to God, the more vulnerable you are to suffering, NOT the closer you are to God, the less your suffering...

my experience

i can tell you first hand, i spent a lot of time growing in my relationship with God when i was in africa - the almost 3 months i spent over there drew me closer to Him than ever, the last week i was there, i got malaria as well as a nasty case of strep throat and when i got home, i was so entirely sold out to Him, that something else to try my faith was bound to happen.. within the 1st 24 hours back in the U.S., i was told that my position at my job was no longer available and my boyfriend of 3 yrs broke up with me. WITHIN THE FIRST 24 HOURS! ....so i got on my knees.

my challenge for you ... is to do the same. 

resources:
Justin Peter's Website