“GOD IS GOOD, BUT LIFE STINKS SOMETIMES”
FBCF – 9/19/23
Jon Daniels
INTRO – A few things we all have in common w/ each other:
- All of us have a mother & a father.
- All of us are breathing oxygen right now.
- All of us need water to live.
- All of us will suffer in this life – To put it bluntly: LIFE STINKS SOMETIMES!
Lot of reasons for the suffering we go through:
- We live in a fallen world. Paul said it this way in Romans 3:10-18: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
- We or someone we know & love can be victims of a crime – Watched documentary of the ambush on Dallas police officers back in 2016 at the end of a peaceful protest march – 5 LEOs killed – Lives destroyed – families ripped apart – a PD that will never be the same.
o People live in warzones & suffer b/c of violence.
o Many of us remember where we were on 9/11/01.
o Christian pastors in countries around the world are regularly persecuted & murdered.
- We all get sick or injured, many times in a lethal, life-altering way.
o We’ve got church members in battles right now w/ all sorts of sicknesses & diseases – heart issues, cancer, Alzheimer’s, depression, addictions, etc.
But in the midst of all of this – through our tears – through our pain – through our agony & anxiety – one truth comes ringing through: GOD IS GOOD! As the saying goes: God is good all the time, & all the time God is good!
EXPLANATION – Stand & read these verses out loud w/ me:
- Ex. 34:6
- 1 Chron 16:34
- Ps 23:6
- Ps 25:8
- Ps. 27:13
- Ps. 145:9
- Mk 10:18
“DEEP-Construction” sermon series: Wrestle w/ difficult issues related to the phenomenon known as “deconstruction.” End on Oct 29 – Dr. Wayne VanHorn – Over next few weeks, write your questions on these cards that we are providing for you. We will try to answer them.
DEFINITIONS: Gave some definitions of deconstruction last week. Here are a couple more:
“Deconstruction is the process of systematically dissected & often rejecting the beliefs you grew up with. Sometimes the Christian will deconstruct all the way to atheism. Some remain there, but others experience a reconstruction. But the type of faith they end up embracing almost never resembles the Christianity they knew before.” (Alisa Childers, Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity, 24)
“…a process of analysis that Christians who want to follow Jesus engage in b/c they ‘doubt the faith they’ve received is the fully refined good that God intends & are seeking to sift out the dross & keep what is most precious.’” (Peter Schuurman, https://www.faithtoday.ca/Magazines/2021-Sept-Oct/Deconstructing-Faith-Growing-Up-In-Christ)
Remember that deconstruction is not always a negative thing, as that definition says to us. The Church needs to come alongside those who are struggling w/ faith questions & walk w/ them, not run over them, or push them aside. Deconstruction is not a wrong thing or a bad thing as long as you REconstruct the right way on the strength of the Gospel, the sovereignty of God, & the singular message of the cross.
FACTORS THAT LEAD TO DECONSTRUCTION:
- DISTRUST – of the Bible, people in authority, the Church
- DISAPPROVAL – of the beliefs of conservative evangelical Christianity; some of the hypocritical actions & behaviors they see & experience in the Church; spiritual abuse in the Church; of anyone telling them how to live their lives.
- DISAPPOINTMENT – that no one is willing to let them ask questions, no one is willing to talk to them & interact w/ them, that they get pushed aside & treated as an outcast.
- DISILLUSIONMENT – for a lot of reasons, but one in particular: suffering & why it comes into our lives. Blogger named James – “wore the ‘evangelical’ label for many years, until 2000 when his mom passed away. “Suddenly the God I had known & grown up w/ was no longer big enough. I had questions & doubts & nowhere to take them.” (https://www.premierchristianity.com/features/deconstructing-faith-meet-the-evangelicals-who-are-questioning-everything/267.article)
That’s where I want to park today & try to deal w/ some of the disillusionment that comes when we are knocked down in a season of suffering b/c…
APPLICATION: Overwhelming suffering can sometimes lead to deconstruction.
One of our core foundational beliefs as Christ-followers is the sovereignty of God (talked about it some last week). Means “ the supreme rulership of God” (Ungers Bible Dictionary, p. 1041). Much Scriptural support for this. One of my favorites – Psalm 115:3 – “Our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.” So, the question comes:
WHY DOES GOD ALLOW LIFE TO STINK SOMETIMES? 3 reasons:
THERE’S SOMETHING WE NEED TO DEAL WITH FROM OUR PAST – Galatians 6:7-8
In our world today, no one likes to have their sins pointed out to them. We don’t want to be told that what we are doing or how we are living is wrong. We don’t want to be held accountable for our actions.
I strongly believe that there are some who are deconstructing for that very reason – they’ve decided that they simply do not want to live according to the teachings of the Word of God. They’ve given in to the lie of moral relativism that basically says you can live any way you want to live based on whatever YOU determine is YOUR truth – which may not be MY truth. “For many, it’s a foolish attempt to, in pride, break free from the covenantal relationship w/ God & live a life that pleases THEM [not HIM].” (Brady Canright) For some, deconstruction is simply going w/ the flow of our culture – a culture of sexual promiscuity & immorality – a culture of “My body, my choice” – a culture of “Love is love” on a rainbow flag. Their deconstruction is a fulfillment of 2 Timothy 3:1-5
- “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power…”
Whether we like it or not, whether we believe it or not, there are & will always be consequences to our sin. We can deny it. We can say we don’t believe it. We can pretend like it’s not true. But there will always be consequences of sin.
Galatians 6:7-8 – “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
- God will not be mocked – disgraced, ridiculed, disrespected
- Law of sowing & reaping – “You reap what you sow, more than you sow, & later than you sow.” (Charles Stanley)
- Consequences of sin – Sometimes God allows suffering to come into our lives b/c we have not dealt w/ our sin.
Certainly not saying that all suffering is a direct result of our sin. But we cannot avoid the fact that many times it is the result of our sin.
- When Adam & Eve fell into sin, suffering came to them & to us.
- David suffered greatly after his sin w/ Bathsheba.
- Sowing to our flesh is a description of sin, & Paul made it clear in Galatians 6:7 that suffering will come.
THERE’S SOMETHING HE WANTS TO TEACH US IN THE PRESENT – James 1:2-4; Romans 5:3-5
James 1:2-4 – “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Romans 5:3-5 – “…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
These are “right now” passages – present tense. It’s where some of you are right now. You’re in the middle of a trial, a testing of your faith, a time of suffering. And while it’s not pleasant & you wish it wasn’t happening to you or to your loved ones, you can be sure that God is wanting to teach you something that is essential to your walk w/ Christ.
- “steadfastness” – military term – to have a “solid front”
- “endurance” – same word as “steadfastness”
- “character” – evidence that your faith is genuine & true
- “hope” – looking forward in confident expectation
Growth happens under stress. God uses the stress of suffering to drive our roots deeper into Him – HIS strength, HIS provision, HIS power, HIS promises. This is why it is such a tragedy when someone deconstructs & runs FROM God & His people instead of running TO God & His people.
- CHURCH: We MUST be there for each other in these times of suffering!
THERE’S SOMETHING HE’S GOING TO DO IN THE FUTURE – Romans 8:28
The Christian life is a life of faith.
- 2 Corinthians 5:7 – “We walk by faith & not by sight.”
- Hebrews 11:6 – “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists & that he rewards those who seek Him.”
For some, this is a point of deconstruction. They just simply cannot believe in & trust in an unseen God who is at work in ways that they cannot & may not ever understand. Times of suffering exacerbate those feelings of doubt & sometimes lead to the jettisoning of what little faith may have been there. Ironically, Jesus said all you need is just a little faith – “mustard seed” - & you can make it.
Sometimes in our suffering, we may not - & probably won’t ever know why it happened until we get to heaven. But we can know the TRUTH of Romans 8:28.
- “All things” includes our suffering.
- …someone else’s suffering.
- …things we understand & comprehend.
- …things we can’t understand or comprehend.
- …things that can be explained.
- …things that are inexplicable.
- …things that we will see in this life.
- …things that we won’t see until we are in heaven.
Our response to the suffering we are enduring now is going to ripple out & impact lives well beyond our years. What if God is going to use your suffering to be the catalyst that causes someone else to turn to Christ?
CONCLUSION – So how to respond in times of suffering:
- REPENT if God convicts you of sin in the midst of your suffering.
- REACH OUT to Him & others for strength when you’re suffering.
- REMEMBER that He’s at work now & in the future, no matter what circumstances look like.
