God’s Purposes in Hardship
Romans 5:3-8
This morning I want to talk with you about a subject that is close to each and every one of our hearts - and that is this . . .
God’s Purpose in Hardship
As hard as it is, we have to answer the difficult questions. We cannot simply ignore them hoping they will go away.
Life ought to come with a list of side effects. There should be a tag on every newborn baby saying life can be full of fun and adventure and excitement and joy, but there are side effects. There’s illness . . abuse . . . broken relationships. . . betrayal . . . sorrow . . . loss . . . injuries. . . disappointment . . . heartache . . . crime . . .and death.
The truth is that for each and every one of us suffering asks some very hard questions. Why are Christians in Sudan raped, murdered and sold into slavery? Why are Christians in Indonesia tortured and killed for their faith? Why does God not answer our prayers to heal our children or to cause a wayward loved ones to repent? What about our financial woes, or our family challenges, or our work troubles? Why do we face temptations to sin and why does God even permit us to fall into sin? Does the Bible have anything to say about these things?
I want us to start off this morning recognizing three things.
a. God is Conforming Us to Be Like Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:29 "For whom He (God) foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son that He might be the first born among many brethren."
b. This Conforming Work Is a Process.
2 Corinthians 3:18 "But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory."
c. God Is Working in the Very Circumstances You Are Struggling With.
Romans 8.28-29 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son."
May I suggest to you why that is important tp understand? That is important because unless you understand the purpose of hardships, you may find yourself disappointed with God. May I say that again? Unless you understand the purpose of hardships, you may find yourself disappointed with God.
I want to suggest five things that God is doing in your suffering this morning.
1. In Suffering, God Purifies You.
James 1:2-4 "Count it pure joy my brethren whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
You see my friend, the difficult things we experience in life, big and small, are not random freak accidents or streaks of bad luck. They are allowed - and at times even orchestrated BY God to purify us, to root sin out of our lives, and to make us more like Jesus Christ.
It was CH Spurgeon who said, "There is no university for a Christian, like that of sorrow and trail." The truth is that I learned precious little through my comfort and ease, but it is in the school of suffering that I learn the great lessons of life.
2. In Suffering, God Protects You
1 Cor. 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what is able but with the temptation will provide a way of escape also so that you will be able to endure it."
Psalm 119:50 "My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life."
You see my friend, it does not matter what you are going through this morning, if you will embrace God and His purpose, He will protect you.
Back in 1921, a missionary couple named David and Svea Flood went with their 2-year-old son from Sweden to the heart of Africa – to what was then called the Belgian Congo. They met up with another Scandinavian couple, the Ericksons, and soon the 4 of them felt led by the Lord to move out of the central mission station and take the gospel to one of the more remote areas of the Congo.
At the village of N’dolera they were rebuffed by the chief, who would not let them enter his town for fear of alienating the local gods. So the two couples decided to go half a mile away and build their own huts.
They prayed for a spiritual breakthrough, but there was none. Their only contact with the villagers was a young boy, who was allowed to sell them chickens and eggs twice a week.
Svea Flood, a tiny woman only 4 feet, 8 inches tall, decided that if this boy was the only African she could talk to, she would try to lead him to Jesus. And in fact, over a period of time she succeeded.
But there were no other encouragements. Meanwhile, malaria struck one member of their little group after another. In time the Ericksons decided they had had enough suffering and left for the relative security of the central mission station.
Then, in the middle of this primitive wilderness, Svea found herself pregnant. When the time came for her to give birth, the village chief softened enough to allow a midwife to help her. A little girl was born, whom they named Aina.
The delivery, however, was difficult, and Svea was already weak from malaria. The birth process was a heavy blow to her stamina. She only lasted only another 17 days after the birth or Aina.
Well inside David Flood, something snapped. He dug a crude grave, buried his 27-year-old wife, and then took his children back to the central mission station.
Giving his newborn daughter to the Ericksons, he snarled, "I’m going back to Sweden. I’ve lost my wife, and I obviously can’t take care of this baby. God has ruined my life." With that, he left, rejecting not only his calling, but God Himself.
It’s true. Sometimes tragic things happen, even in the lives of those who seek to walk closest to Him. Bad things do happen to good people. Suffering is a part of all of our lives. As a matter of fact, David Flood left the mission field, left his calling and from that day on he turned his back on God.
3. In Suffering, God Provides For You
Joseph was obviously his father’s favorite son. And as a result of this favoritism, his brothers were filled with hatred and bitterness towards him. Then one day their hatred boiled over and they sold him as a slave to a caravan traveling to Egypt.
Life couldn’t seem to be any worse for Joseph, but God had a purpose and a plan for his life, and He was watching over him, protecting him, even though Joseph didn’t realize it then.
Years later, during the time of severe famine, Joseph saw his brothers once again when they came to Egypt to beg for the privilege of buying food. And, of course, you know that at first they had no idea that this Egyptian ruler standing before them was Joseph.
But finally, Joseph revealed himself to them. When that happened his brothers were petrified with fear and begged Joseph not to kill them. Joseph knew how much his brothers had hated him, but he also saw the hand of God working in his own life, and how God had protected him through it all. So listen to what Joseph said to his brothers:
Genesis 45:4-8 - "… do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. … So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt."
It may not have looked like that to Joseph when he was in the pit.
It may not have looked like that to Joseph when he was in the prison.
But through it all God had a plan, and Joseph never stopped believing that God would come through for him.
The greatest provision of God for you in suffering is Himself.
"He who does not know Christ does not know God hidden in suffering" - Matin Luther
4. In Suffering, God Perfects You
Romans 5:3-5 "And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
Winston Churchill once notes that "the only thing wrong with Christianity is the lack of suffering."
Even though you can’t see it right now, God has been busy creating something breathtaking in you - through everything you’ve endured, through that confusing situation you’re facing right now.
The problem is that we can’t see what He’s doing while it’s happening. All we see are the chips flying. The chisel’s blow isn’t evidence that God has left us or is angry with us, but rather that God is right in front of us, eyeing our progress, smoothing the rough edges, patiently bringing the image of Jesus out in us.
"There are no crown bearers in heaven that were not cross bearers on earth" - Spurgeon
Hebrews 12:5-6 "My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves…"
Let me continue with the tragedy of the David and Svea Flood. It does not end there.
Eight months later both of the Ericksons were stricken with an illness and died within days of each other. The baby the David Flood had given them was turned over to other American missionaries, who adjusted her Swedish name to "Aggie" and eventually took her with them back to America.
As a young woman, she attended North Central Bible College in Minneapolis. There she met and married a young man named Dewey Hurst. Years passed. The Hursts enjoyed a fruitful ministry. In time her husband became president of a Christian college in the Seattle area.
One day a Swedish religious magazine appeared in her mailbox. She had no idea who had sent it, and she couldn’t read the words. But as she turned the pages, all of a sudden a photo stopped her cold. There, in a primitive setting was a grave with a white cross - on the cross were the words "Svea Flood."
Aggie jumped in her car and went straight to a college faculty member who, she knew, could translate the article. "What does this say?" she asked.
The instructor summarized the story: It was about missionaries who had gone to N’dolera long ago … the birth of a white baby … the death of the young mother … the one little African boy who had been led to Christ … and how, after the whites had all left, the boy had grown up and finally persuaded the chief to let him build a school in the village.
The article said that gradually he won all his students to Christ … and the children led their parents to Christ … even the chief had become a Christian. Today there were 600 Christian believers in that one village alone …
All because of the sacrifice of David and Svea Flood. Wow!
But that is not the end of the story. Let me continue:
For the Hurst’s 25th wedding anniversary, the college presented them with the gift of a vacation to Sweden. There Aggie sought to find her real father. An old man now, David Flood had remarried, fathered 4 more children, and generally dissipated his life with alcohol. He had recently suffered a stroke. Still bitter, he had one rule in his family: "Never mention the name of God because God took everything from me."
After an emotional reunion with her half brothers and half sister, Aggie brought up the subject of seeing her father. The others hesitated. "You can talk to him," they replied, "even though he’s very ill now. But you need to know that whenever he hears the name of God, he flies into a rage."
Aggie was not to be deterred. She walked into the squalid apartment, with liquor bottles everywhere, and approached the 73-year-old man lying in a rumpled bed.
"Papa?" she said tentatively. He turned toward her and began to cry. "Aina," he said. "I never meant to give you away." "It’s all right, Papa," she replied, taking him gently in her arms. "God took care of me."
The man instantly stiffened. The tears stopped. "God forgot all of us. Our lives have been like this because of Him. It was all for nothing." He turned his face back to the wall.
Aggie stoked his face and then continued, undaunted. "Papa, I have a story to tell you, and it’s a true one. You didn’t go to Africa in vain. Mama didn’t die in vain. The little boy you won to the Lord grew up to win that whole village to Jesus Christ. The one seed you planted just kept growing and growing. Today there are 600 African people serving the Lord because you were faithful to the call of God in your life …."
"Papa, Jesus loves you. He has never hated you." The old man turned back to look into his daughter’s eyes. His body relaxed. He began to talk. And by the end of the afternoon, he had come back to the God he had resented for so many decades.
A few years later, the Hursts were attending an evangelism conference in London, England, when a report was given from the nation of Zaire (the former Belgian Congo).
The leader of the national church, representing some 110,000 baptized believers, spoke eloquently of the gospel’s spread in his nation. Aggie could not help going to ask him afterward if he had ever heard of David and Svea Flood.
"Yes, madam," the man replied in French, his words then being translated into English. "It was Svea Flood who led me to Jesus Christ. I was the boy who brought food to your parents before you were born. In fact, to this day your mother’s grave and her memory are honored by all of us."
He embraced her in a long, sobbing hug. Then he continued, "You must come to Africa to see, because your mother is the most famous person in our history."
In time that is exactly what Aggie Hurst and her husband did. They were welcomed by cheering throngs of villagers. The most dramatic moment, of course, was when the pastor escorted Aggie to see her mother’s white cross for herself. She knelt in the soil to pray and give thanks.
Later that day, in the church, the pastor read from John 12:24, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." He then followed with Psalm 126:5, "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy."
(The story of Svea Flood was adapted from the book, "Fresh Power" by Jim Cymbala of the Brooklyn Tabernacle. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI)
You see folks, there is a fifth thing you need to know about suffering.
5. In Suffering, God Pursues You
Isaiah 43:1-3 "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel."
Precious believer - God loves you so very, very much.
"It’s not just that God knows and sympathizes with you in your troubles, as any close friend might do. For He is so much closer than the closest friend if you’ve put your trust in Him. Then, He is in you. And, therefore, your sufferings are His sufferings; your tears are His tears; your sorrow is His sorrow." - a theologian
In Suffering God Purifies You
In Suffering God Protects
In Suffering God Provides for You
In Suffering God Perfects You
In Suffering God Pursues You
On a wall in his bedroom Charles Spurgeon had a plaque with Isaiah 48:10 on it: "I have tried and chosen you in the furnace of affliction." "It is no mean thing to be chosen of God," he wrote. "God’s choice makes chosen men choice men...We are chosen, not in the palace, but in the furnace. In the furnace, beauty is marred, fashion is destroyed, strength is melted, glory is consumed; yet here eternal love reveals its secrets, and declares its choice."
Would you pray with me please?
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