Glory of God Series
June 1st, 2008
Glory of God in Suffering
How are you doing? Bunch of liars. Now I am sure that for some of you that is true. Life is good and you are happy. By some of you are liars. When someone asks you at church: “How are you?” You know the proper Christian answer is: “I am doing fine.” But honestly, if you were asked that same question at a bar your answer would be different. We acknowledge that life is good and we are blessed to have the grace of God, but that doesn’t mean that at this present point of your life everything is good. Some of you are suffering right now. I know some you don’t really want to be here. There are things going on in your life that you need to deal with and you are just not really that comfortable being in church. Some of you are sitting next to someone because you are suppose to not because you want to. While you may smile and pretend that everything is ok, at home it isn’t. Your marriage is not fun right now. You are having problem with your children, at work, with a close friend or family member. Some of you have some serious health problems that you do not know how to get through. When people ask you say you are fine, you are doing great but that is not true. You are scared, afraid, alone, and you are wondering why. Why did this have to happen to you?
Sometimes when we suffer we cry out to God: Why? Job just happened to get caught on papyrus. Now I don’t care how you look at this story or what you take out of it. It is not fair. You may think that everything God does is right, but that doesn’t mean it is always fair. Satan and God get into an argument and Job is caught in the middle. How is that fair? Job has target put on his head because he is a righteous God fearing man. He is punished for fearing God. How is that fair? Just look at what happens to Job. Job had seven sons and three daughters. He was a wealthy man with many livestock and servants. Then when Satan and God start to argue Job gets stuck in between. Job’s oxen, donkeys, and camels were taken away by thieves and raiders. This is his livelihood. This would be like if someone hacked into you bank account and emptied all of your savings, your checking account, and any money that had been invested. Basically these raiders came through and liquidated all of Job’s assets and left him with nothing. In a moment everything Job had was taken from him. But that was only the beginning. His children were all together for a family meal when a sudden wind crashed into the house and caused it to collapse. All ten of them died. You know that Job was devastated. This was a time in which your children were your legacy. He had been blessed with seven sons. In a moment they were all gone. All of his money, his livelihood, and his family, everything Job had was lost in the blink of an eye. You know this guy is hurting. As Job gets all this bad news one piece after another you can imagine some part of him starts to ask why. Why is this happening to me? Job lived in a culture that viewed suffering and pain as punishment from God. So not only has Job just lost his children, his legacy, his source of income, and all his wealth Job also has to deal with the fact that everyone is going to think that he has done some terrible thing to deserve it. Maybe he was asking himself why during all of this, but Job praises God in his suffering. I just have to say, I love Job. He endured in a moment more than hopefully all of put together would deal with in a lifetime and Job praised God.
He was given one small curse in disguise. His wife was still alive. Now that sounds chauvinistic but just wait until you see what she does. Satan goes back and takes up the argument with God again. Job has another bad day. His body was stricken with painful sores from head to feet. This disease is so bad that his friends don’t even recognize him. The pain is so bad that Job used a broken pot to scrap at his flesh. Job has endured so much. The painful lose of a quality life, not to mention the devastation of having to bury all ten of your children. Yet Job did not curse God. Even when his body was struck with a painful disease that seemed to have no cure he did not curse God. Here is why I don’t like his wife. Job has suffered all these things. He is in physical and emotional pain, and rather than coming and comforting her husband. Rather than weeping together. His wife says: “Oh, just curse God and die already.”
Job’s friends come to see him. When the get to him they weep aloud when they see the suffering he has endured. Have you ever had something so bad that the people that came to comfort you wept for you? That is how you know you have suffered a lot. Job’s friends well intentioned as they may be give him poor advice. They tell him that he must have done something to make God made for he was certainly being punished. Perhaps because of the pain he was feeling, perhaps because of the isolation from his wife. Perhaps because his friends provoked him Job finally speaks up. He shows some honesty. Finally after all of this Job asks: Why. In Job 23 we see the honesty of Job’s words:
Job 23:3 If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling!
Job 23:4 I would state my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.
Job 23:5 I would find out what he would answer me, and consider what he would say. Job 23:6 Would he oppose me with great power? No, he would not press charges against me. Job 23:7 There an upright man could present his case before him, and I would be delivered forever from my judge
Job has endured so much and in a moment of honesty he asks God why. The scary thing is when God answers. If you are list person, here is something that should go on your top ten things you never want to hear from God. In chapter 38 God speaks to Job:
Job 38:1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm which if you don’t know is never a good thing. He said: Job 38:2 “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Job 38:3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. If God says this to you: it’s probably time to change your pants.
This week we are finishing up our series on the glory of God. We are looking at the glory of God in suffering. What I want to do is simply answer a question: “Why do bad things happen to good people?” It is a simple question to ask. Answering is not so simple. Sometimes when we experience suffering we cry out “Why?” These are some of our more honest moments. So I want to start out by looking at the question why. Why do bad things happen to good people?
Now before we go about answering that question, I need to correct it. Who among you is good? The short answer to the question: why do bad things happen to good people is: they don’t. Who among you is good? The law says do not commit adultery. Jesus says I tell you the truth if you look at a woman lustfully you have committed adultery with her in your heart. If you think about her in that way, it’s the same as doing it. So guys, can you honestly tell me you never look? Can you honestly say that in your entire life you have never thought about or taken a second glance at a woman who was not your wife. You are not good. The only difference between you and that bad person who actually commits adultery is fear. You are a coward. The reason you don’t act on those desires is because you are too afraid to get caught. Now ladies, before you start smacking your husband’s arm hear this. The law says do not murder. Jesus says do not be angry with your brother. If looks could kill, every one of you would be murderer. That girl at work flirts with your husband. Dead. You heard that other mom complaining about you kid. Dead. You know why don’t kill? It’s not because you are good, it is because you are afraid of the consequences. We all have evil that exists inside of us. We think evil thoughts, feel evil feelings, but for some reason we have believed the lie that says if you don’t act on those thoughts you are good. That is simply not true. Evil is in our hearts. The only reason we don’t always act on it is because we are afraid. Failure to act on evil desires does not make one good. There are no good people.
That doesn’t really answer the question. Why is their suffering in the world? I want to give you five reasons for the suffering that exists. The first is because we are sinful. We are part of the problem and sometimes we suffer because we have sin in our lives. You suffer because Eve ate the apple, and so did you. You are sinful and that sin causes suffering in your life. The second is because others are sinful. You know that other people have been hurt by you. You know that your imperfections and your sins have caused pain to others, why is it a surprise that their actions would cause pain for you? The third reason for why there is suffering in the world comes from the fact that we have an enemy. There is one who fights against us and uses everything at his disposal to keep us from a relationship with God and from serving His kingdom. The forth is more of a benefit of suffering than a reason for it, but God uses our brokenness, our weakness, and our suffering for His glory. If you look back at the times in your life when you suffer the most what you will almost certainly find are the defining moments of your life. The hardships and the pain have helped shape and mold us into who we are today, and those painful moments in our past have become some of our greatest sources of strength. The final reason for why we suffer is because God is molding us into who He wants us to be. You might not like the sound of that. You might not like that God is causing us to suffer. How can God do anything that is evil? Well, why do you presume that pain is always evil? We interpret anything we don’t like as evil but that is not a proper definition. Sometimes you face hardships and trials because God is molding you into who He wants you to be.
I was talking to my dad about farming the other day and he was explaining some things to me. When you harvest a crop you are talking only a portion of what is actually there. You take the ear of corn but the stalk is left behind. That stalk and other plant material is called cellulose. Many times you take the bigger portions of cellulose out of the field to feed livestock but there are still a lot of stalks and straw left in the field after the harvest. Now if you do not deal with the stalks they cause some problems. When it comes times to plant for the next season you till the soil and plant the seeds. If you leave the cellulose there and just till it into the soil what happens is the nitrogen which is an essential nutrient in plant growth with bind with the cellulose to break it down. This means there are less nutrients in the soil so the crop that is grown will not be as fruitful. When you are a farmer in the ancient world, that crop is your life. If that crop does not produce enough to live on, you don’t eat. There is a solution. If you burn the field it breaks down the cellulose and chaff. Then it does not bind with the nitrogen in the soil but actually provides nutrients to the soil. So when you burn the field the chaff that would hinder growth actually helps support growth.
If you can see the purpose of suffering in this field it can help you understand why these things happen in our lives. Sometimes we suffer because God is burning away the old to make room for the new. Sometimes we suffer because there are things in our life that are hindering growth and the only way to get rid of those things is to burn them. You see fire essentially breaks things down to their basest elements which makes it easier to build on them. You see God created us at our core and we have built our lives on that base element that He created in us. Sometimes the life that we built is not the life that He intended for us, so with fire God breaks down what we built on that core so that He can build what He has always meant for us to be. Sometimes the answer to why do we suffer, is because God is refining and purifying us. Zechariah 3 says:
Zec 13:8 In the whole land,” declares the LORD, “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. Zec 13:9 This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.
We are not made better by comfort and complacency, we are made better by overcoming trials and suffering. Sometimes the suffering in our lives comes from the sin being burned out of us by the refiner’s fire. Sometimes the pain that we feel comes from the fires that purify us. Purification comes through suffering. When you have bacteria on food, you know how to kill it? You heat it up. When you cook food any bacteria that was on it is destroyed and the food becomes clean. Sometimes it is the suffering that makes us who we are. Look at your greatest strengths, what are they? Where did they come from? Generally, they come from experiences. It’s not that we suffer so that we can minister, but God can use our suffering to turn us into ministers. When we understand who God is and what He is doing we might start to see why we suffer the thing we do.
Actually I think we are asking the wrong question. I am not so much interested in why. The question why is their suffering in the world is a meaningless question. Even if I could answer the question and explain every instance of pain and suffering in your life it would not take that pain away. Answering why doesn’t change anything. If you look at the story of Job, Job finally does ask why. God answers Job but He never answers why. In Job 2 God Himself says He ruined Job for no reason. This may seem cruel but only when you do not understand the reality that exists. The problem with this is that we are asking the wrong question. I am not so concerned with why there is suffering but with who. Who is the cause of your suffering? When you suffer who is it that you turn to? Who is it that you look to when you have pain in your life?
When we ask the question why is their suffering in the world? We are making our pain and our suffering all about us. When it isn’t. When are we going to learn that this life is not about us. We are the creation, we belong to the creator. We have no more right to complain about how we are used than the a vase in your home has to complain about what you put in it. This life is not about us, it is about the creator God. When we ask why instead of who we put all the attention and all the focus on ourselves when perhaps the reason that you are going through these trials is in fact to get the attention off of yourself.
Sometimes we hurt because we are sinful. But sometimes we hurt because God is creating something in us. When God purifies He uses fire to do so. He uses one fire, to save us from another. Don’t you see? When we face trials and sufferings sometimes it is those very trials that give us the strength to get through the tougher times in life. Sometimes you have to cause pain in order to prevent more pain.
I know that each and every one of you have had troubles in your life. Everyone in this room has felt pain. Some of you, maybe even most of you are feeling that right now. Ex-wives or ex-husbands are causing you grief and you do not know how to deal with it. Your children are rebellious and you do not know how to keep them in line. Some of you are having troubles with people at work. They are causing you pain and you just don’t know how to handle it. Others of you are having a hard time with friends and neighbors. Everyone has undergone suffering. That is not just true of those in the church but also of those outside it. The question is not why. It’s who. Who is your suffering going to lead you to? Will your suffering lead you to fall into yourself and live in unrighteousness, or will it lead you to God and purification.
Suffering can be something that brings us closer to God. Or it can be something that tears us away from Him. The direction you are torn is dependent on the object that you make your suffering about. Not all suffering is from God. It’s probably safe to say that most suffering isn’t from God. But there are times when God means to refine us so as to make us like Himself. The process can be painful, the result is definitely worth it. So who will you make you suffering about? When you suffer will you turn to God, let Him be your strength and let Him help you through? Or will you take care of it yourself and lose any value that might come from your pain?
