Chapter 30
"Dear Friends, don't be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you. Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed." I Peter 4:12-13
"Dear Friends, don't be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you. Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed." I Peter 4:12-13
If we love someone, the last thing we want to do is cause them pain. In fact, we will go out of our way to keep our loved ones from pain. So if God is loving and all-powerful, why does He let us suffer?
The truth is, God not only allows suffering, he sends it our way for a lot of reasons.
I know you are not going to want to hear this, but I have to say it because it is true. God uses suffering in our lives to shape our character. He wants us to be the kind of people who can comfort others in their distress, and if we never suffered ourselves, we would not understand the suffering of others. How could a mother comfort her child if she had never suffered herself? The suffering that you experience today may help you ease the suffering of a loved one some day.
God also uses suffering as a test. Remember Job? Satan told God that the only reason Job was so faithful was because he had it so good. Satan was convinced that if Job suffered, he would turn away from God. But God proved him wrong by letting Job suffer unbelievable things. Imagine losing ten people in your family all at once. No chance to say good-bye or get one last hug. I know what that is like. And then add losing all your stuff. And add to that getting really really sick. And what did Job say? He said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust Him!”
God uses suffering to draw us closer to Him. When everything is going perfect for us, we forget how much we need God. But when we suffer, we are on our knees asking Him for His help to get through it. These past few years, we have known more suffering than ever before. We have lost several family members and have suffered from major health issues. Thanksgivings and Christmases without family are like just another day on the calendar. It has been the saddest time of our lives—and still is. But God uses our sorrow and grief to draw us close to Him. He sent us many people to take care of us and to love us. And now we also look for people to take in so we can comfort them.
Even though God sends suffering our way, he never leaves us or forsakes us. Did you know that God is using the suffering in your life to make you capable of experiencing tremendous amounts of joy in heaven? Suffering exercises your soul, and makes it capable of carrying a great amount of weight. The Bible calls it “the weight of glory.” I read something recently by John Piper—a very famous pastor—about suffering. Maybe this will make you feel better about your own suffering:
Not only is all your affliction momentary, not only is all your affliction light in comparison to eternity and the glory there. But all of it is totally meaningful. Every millisecond of your pain, from the fallen nature or fallen man, every millisecond of your misery in the path of obedience is producing a peculiar glory you will get because of that.
I don’t care if it was cancer or criticism. I don’t care if it was slander or sickness. It wasn’t meaningless. It’s doing something! It’s not meaningless. Of course you can’t see what it’s doing. Don’t look to what is seen.
When your mom dies, when your kid dies, when you’ve got cancer at 40, when a car careens into the sidewalk and takes her out, don’t say, “That’s meaningless!” It’s not. It’s working for you an eternal weight of glory.
Therefore, therefore, do not lose heart. But take these truths and day by day focus on them. Preach them to yourself every morning. Get alone with God and preach his word into your mind until your heart sings with confidence that you are new and cared for.
So you see—every single millisecond of your suffering is being used by God so you can handle the extreme joy of the life to come. How you respond to your suffering is really important. Don’t try to avoid it or minimize it by using drugs or drinking alcohol or cutting on yourself or running away or thinking about suicide. Just let the suffering do its work. Now that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take an aspirin if you have a headache or that you shouldn’t take pain medications if you are in physical pain. We have to use common sense here. Don’t run away from God, and don’t get angry and take it out on everyone around you. Go to your Bible and keep reading until you feel God’s comfort. Cry your eyes out every day for as long as it takes—and it may take years. But when you finish crying, get up and wash your face and use your pain to help others.
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