Today we're going to try to answer the question why do we suffer. The very first class that I was able to take in seminary was entitled the problems of evil and suffering. That class raised the same question that we're going to try to answer today. Why do we suffer?
No matter which direction you turn, it won't take long to come across someone who is suffering. And the common question that is asked in the midst of that suffering is, why me? Unfortunately, many individuals never get past those words.
Even though the Bible doesn't tell us specifically why there is suffering and why we will all experience it at some point in our lives, we do know that God has promised to meet us in our suffering, and we can trust and lean on Him as He walks with us through it. No greater example of this can be found but in the life of a man named Job. We will be using Job chapters 30 and 42 today. Prayer.
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Have you ever been around someone who was a chronic complainer? Sure, you have. The chances are pretty good that you have. They tell you everything that's gone wrong in their lives and continues to go wrong. They believe they deserve better and they struggle to know why it's only happening to them.
We may not know why we suffer, but God meets us in our suffering. And that is really all we need to know. The account of Job's life in the Bible opens with Satan asking God for permission to test Job, and God permitted Satan to do so.
Job was stripped of virtually everything he held dear, including his possessions, his children, and even his health. But Job remained faithful. And in the heart of what Job was feeling is the question we've all asked at one time, “Why am I suffering?”
Job 30:26-28 – “But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness came.27 I am churning within and cannot rest; days of suffering confront me.28 I walk about blackened, but not by the sun. I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.”
Job had lived an upright, righteous life, and he had hoped for good, but he experienced just the opposite. Here we find Job elaborating on the emotional and physical pain he was going through, and these were just the tip of the iceberg of difficulties that came his way.
The things that once brought Job joy, now led to mourning and weeping. Haven't we all had times when life seems overwhelming? Sometimes we can feel paralyzed by everyday tasks. We ask others for help but don't receive the support we hope for. But as children of God, we have a God who is with us no matter what's happening.
The more we read Job's account, the more we think of him as a chronic complainer. He might have thought life was only rainbows and good things, but he found out otherwise no matter what direction he turned, there was no light at the end of the tunnel. Have you ever felt that way?
In the Christian standard Bible translation that I use today, verse 27 uses the phrase “churning within.” The King James version uses the word bowels. The bowels were regarded as the seat of deep feelings. Job was overwhelmed with grief over the suffering he had to endure, it was never ending. Job’s suffering was deep within his gut, and he could see no way out.
But, believe it or not, we can learn a lot from Job's life. He was a good man going after all the right things and still he went through some very tough and rough days of suffering. This should tell us that it doesn't matter how good a person is, suffering is a part of life. We can't just shrug it off and try to believe it isn't going to happen to us, because it will.
Does complaining about it help? Only to possibly relieve some of the tension and ill feelings we may have deep within. That is what Job was doing.
Job 30: 29-31 – “I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin blackens and flakes off, and my bones burn with fever.31 My lyre is used for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping.”
Over the years as pastor, there were a lot of things that I looked forward to. But there are things that I don't look forward to as well. Watching someone suffer is on that list.
Job compared his crying to that of an animal. His suffering continued to get worse and worse as his skin became diseased to the point of flaking off. His body was ridden with fever. The things that used to bring Job joy, no longer did. Those things now brought mourning and weeping. All this suffering left Job in a deep state of depression.
Job had been a prosperous man. Along the way he expected that he would have a long and joyful life. But what he came to experience was evil, darkness, affliction, and mourning.
Job was always a man who sought to do what was right, not just for himself, but for others. Previously, he had been able to bring encouragement and hope to others, but now he was alone and unable to find encouragement and hope in his own heart.
There's no question about it, we live in a world where suffering is a given. At the same time, suffering isn't the end of the story. We should be thankful that God is always with us, even in the midst of our suffering, and in Christ, we can experience the comforting presence of God.
I am sure that is the answer you expected to hear from me. Just trust in God and things will be better. But many of us know that building that trust is not always easy. So, God uses this story of Job to show us that trusting in Him will help us to overcome any suffering we may encounter.
Job 42:1-3 – “Then Job replied to the Lord: 2 I know that you can do anything
and no plan of yours can be thwarted. 3 You asked, “Who is this who conceals my counsel with ignorance?” Surely I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wondrous for me to know.”
Just like any of us who begin questioning God and asking why we are having to go through suffering, Job confessed that he had also been questioning things beyond his understanding and experience. You see, we don't see the big picture. We don't know the whole story. We go through things for a reason. It is not ours to question why. Like Job, we probably wouldn't fully understand it anyway.
So Job has a conversation with God and admits that he was insignificant compared to the incredible things God had made both on the earth and above the earth, but he never admitted that God is sovereign. Finally, in 42:2, Job acknowledged the sovereignty of God when he said, “I know that you can do anything.”
After all he had been through, Job figured out that he couldn't change or alter God's plan. Job pushed his pride out of the way and admitted he was doing wrong. Even though he didn't understand why the suffering he had experienced took place, Job knew that God was in complete control. These are assuring words for us.
You see, if we have the right perspective, we will see more clearly God's plans. It is like the guy that went to see a 3D movie but did not pick up any of the 3D glasses as he went into the movie. As the movie began, he became concerned that everything was blurry. He began to question if his eyes were going bad. His wife, sitting next to him, asked him why he didn't put on his 3D glasses. What 3D glasses?, he asked. It was then he realized that everyone else was wearing 3D glasses. Once he got a pair and put them on, he saw what a difference it made when he was able to see the movie as the creator intended for it to be seen.
Job didn't need a pair of 3D glasses. His conversation with God opened his eyes so he could see clearly. He admitted that he'd been wrong to question God's ability to govern His creation. Job realized that nothing he did or tried to do was going to change God's plan. The things that Job had spoken of and accused God of were things he knew nothing about. They were things that only God could know and understand.
Was there ever a time in your life when you spoke about things you knew nothing about? What about things concerning God and His works? Now we begin to see that it is not ours to question God. It is His plan and He knows why it is occurring.
Job 42:4-6 – “You said, “Listen now, and I will speak. When I question you, you will inform me.”5 I had heard reports about you, but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore, I reject my words and am sorry for them; I am dust and ashes.”
Job is beginning to see where he comes in the midst of God's plan. We too can experience the goodness of God even in the midst of suffering. We don't know how long Job’s suffering lasted, but what a relief it must have been when he finally surrendered it all to God, who never directly answered Job's question of why he had to suffer.
God's ways are always perfect, even if we don't understand them. In this scene, we can see that Job is having a heart-to-heart talk with God. He confessed that he had been influenced by traditional but incorrect understandings. By saying, now my eyes have seen you, Job meant that he'd experienced God's presence and understood God better.
See if you might fall into this same category. Job admitted that he had known about God before, but now he was able to see him in a totally different light. This new view of God that Job was experiencing wasn't physical but spiritual. Job had met God personally and as a result, he was able to see God for who He really was.
When job mentions in verse 6 of repenting in dust and ashes, Job was abandoning self in full dependence on God. In those days, throwing dust in the air so that it came down on their heads and sitting with ashes on their bodies, bore testimony to being humbled. Job had been humbled to the point of repentance and grief over his sin.
Hopefully we'll never be in a position like Job where literally everything is taken from us, but we still may encounter times of suffering in our lives. Job's greatest gift out of all of his suffering he went through was knowing God better and being able to understand that God is sovereign, and His ways are always perfect, even if we don't understand them.
Many of you know that my bachelor's degree is in the field of biology. I thought I would never use that education when God called me to the ministry. But I want to use something that you are probably familiar with to explain this whole process of suffering.
The emperor moth is a beautiful creature. It's transition from caterpillar to moth begins in a cocoon as you probably know. As the moth begins to emerge from the cocoon it creates a small hole in that cocoon. It may take hours before anything seems to be happening. While it may appear that no progress is being made, the moth inside the cocoon is working and struggling to open the cocoon. For the moth to emerge from the cocoon as the beautiful creature it's intended to be, struggling is part of the process. In struggling, the moth forces fluid from its body into its wings so that when it finally emerges from the cocoon, it's ready to fly. If you were to cut the cocoon to make it easier for the moth to emerge, that moth would never be able to fly.
Now let's use this analogy in trying to answer the question of why we suffer. Look at this passage.
1 Peter 5:10-11 – “The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while. 11 To him be dominion forever. Amen.”
In this passage, Peter is telling us the same thing. A life without struggles - a life that has endured no suffering - won't realize it's ability to fly. Just as God designed that moth to emerge and fly despite its struggles, we're able to do the same thing because of God's grace in our lives.
Peter's message of encouragement is that the suffering we experience in this world is only temporary. No matter what we face, we can rest assured that Christ will personally bring about restoration, give us new strength to walk ahead, and provide a hand to hold and a shoulder to lean on.
We can learn a lot from Job's journey through suffering. He responded to God and repented. Job also embraced a new relationship with God as a result. Regardless of why we suffer, we can trust one constant through it all - the presence of God.
In Peter's writings, he gives praise to Christ who has the power to bring strength to those who suffer. When those who don't know Christ go through times of suffering, it's easy for them to lose all hope. When believers go through times of suffering, those times can increase not just our hope, but our faith and trust in God who is promised to always be there.
Do you know him?
Do you know Jesus as your Savior.
If not, why not come today and ask Him to be the Lord of your life so that when your times of suffering come, and they will, you'll have someone's hand to hold through it all.
I extend that invitation to you now.
