Suffering and TLC
2 Corinthians 1:3
T is for Trials
For some reason people actually believe that if you are a believer or even a good person you shouldn’t or won’t experience pain and suffering in this life. From personal experience I can tell you this is not true.
Suffering is one of the universal truths of living. We can all be assured of trials and tribulations in this life. On Monday, a lone gunman killed and wounded students and professors on a college campus. Families and friends were thrown into terrible suffering. Everyone suffers. Regardless of status everyone suffers.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:45,
He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Even Paul, one of God’s most faithful servants said,
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I Corinthians 12:7-9
Vance Havner said, "At the Nicene Council, an important church meeting in the 4th century A.D., of the 318 delegates attending, fewer than 12 had not lost an eye or lost a hand or did not limp on a leg lamed by torture for their Christian faith."
Oswald Chambers in Christian Discipline said, "Suffering is the heritage of the bad, of the penitent, and of the Son of God. Each one ends in the cross. The bad thief is crucified, the penitent thief is crucified, and the Son of God is crucified. By these signs we know the widespread heritage of suffering."
The question that many ask is, "Why is there such widespread suffering if God is in control?" If God is truly God then why does he allow this type of thing to happen in our life and in the lives of those around us? Better yet, why does he allow His saints to suffer as they do? Where is God in all of this suffering?
Why do we suffer?
Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world. Since Eve took a bite of the fruit of the tree and Adam joined her we have been living in a world corrupted by sin. At the moment of the bite sin entered this world. Romans 8:22 says,
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
There is another cause to our suffering. We do stupid things. We make choices that lead to natural consequences. If you smoke crack over a period of time you will not look good physically and your mind will decay. Eventually you will die. If you drive over the speed limit and get caught enough times you will go to jail. Or, if you drive under the influence you might kill yourself and possibly someone else. There are consequences to our behavior. If you put your hand on a hot burner you will....you get my meaning. We can avoid these kinds of choices but not the ones who make these choices.
As a believer there is another consequence to just being a Christian. If we live a Christ-like life we will share in His sufferings. Our nation has begun to persecute Christians in ways not seen before in this country. The mention of Jesus Christ sends people into anger and rage. Even today, in other countries people are still imprisoned or put to death for professing Christ as Lord.
Everyone suffers. So where is our Lord in all of this suffering?
L - is for Love
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
We can be assured of the Lords love. He is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. He loves us to the extent that He gave His own Son for us for the forgiveness of our sin. In the midst of our trials and troubles the Lord provides His unconditional love. That is why Paul received the response he did even though he had prayed earnestly and diligently.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I Corinthians 12:7-9
He is also the Father of compassion. It can also be translated compassionate Father or merciful Father. I prefer the word mercy to describe the Fathers "compassion. Mercy is what we have received from God the Father in that He gave us His Son.
A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death.
"But I don’t ask for justice," the mother explained. "I plead for mercy."
"But your son does not deserve mercy," Napoleon replied.
"Sir," the woman cried, "it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for."
"Well, then," the emperor said, "I will have mercy." And he spared the woman’s son.
The language implies that He, the Father, is the very source of mercy and compassion. Without the Father imparting this to us there would be no mercy on this earth. Compassion to me is the "emotion", it is what the Father experiences when He looks upon His creation and that prompts His mercy toward us. He saw our plight and acted toward us with compassion and mercy.
C - is for Comfort
We are comforted by God from what one writer says is "the fountain from which all consolation, happiness, and bliss flow to angels and to men." Those who have received Christ as Lord also have a Comforter, the Holy Spirit. He indwells our lives and comforts us with His abiding presence.
Robert Louis Stevenson tells of a storm that caught a vessel off a rocky coast and threatened to drive it and its passengers to destruction. In the midst of the terror, one daring man, contrary to orders, went to the deck, made a dangerous passage to the pilot house and saw the steerman, at his post holding the wheel unwaveringly, and inch by inch, turning the ship out, once more, to sea. The pilot saw the watcher and smiled. Then, the daring passenger went below and gave out a note of cheer: "I have seen the face of the pilot, and he smiled. All is well."
We receive comfort so that we might comfort those around us. Our ministry of comfort comes from the fact that we have been comforted. We above all people should know the grace, mercy, compassion, and love of the Lord and because of that truth we can go forth and comfort others. It is our ministry.
A little girl came home from a neighbor’s house where her little friend had died. "Why did you go?" questioned her father. "To comfort her mother," said the child. "What could you do to comfort her?" "I climbed into her lap and cried with her."
His promises give us hope. No matter what we endure on this earth we know of a better place. As scripture says, our citizenship is not here, we are citizens of heaven. We are on a temporary journey. We are heading through this life on our way to the everlasting abiding life in Christ.
The famous preacher D.L. Moody told about a Christian woman who was always bright, cheerful, and optimistic, even though she was confined to her room because of illness. She lived in an attic apartment on the fifth floor of an old, rundown building.
A friend decided to visit her one day and brought along another woman -- a person of great wealth. Since there was no elevator, the two ladies began the long climb upward. When they reached the second floor, the well-to-do woman commented, "What a dark and filthy place!" Her friend replied, "It’s better higher up." When they arrived at the third landing, the remark was made, "Things look even worse here." Again the reply, "It’s better higher up."
The two women finally reached the attic level, where they found the bedridden saint of God. A smile on her face radiated the joy that filled her heart. Although the room was clean and flowers were on the window sill, the wealthy visitor could not get over the stark surroundings in which this woman lived. She blurted out, "It must be very difficult for you to be here like this!" Without a moment’s hesitation the shut-in responded, "It’s better higher up." She was not looking at temporal things. With the eye of faith fixed on the eternal, she had found the secret of true satisfaction and contentment.
There in lies our hope. For the believer the ultimate act of Mercy shown to us was the cross where Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. Jesus is the Father’s ultimate act of compassion and mercy to us. "For God so loved "us" that He gave...." We receive in Christ not what we deserve, death, but what we don’t deserve, everlasting life. We receive "grace" through Jesus Christ. He is the Fathers ultimate mercy, compassion, and comfort.
