YOU ASKED FOR IT
IF GOD IS SO GOOD WHY DO I FEEL SO BAD? Pt.2
Sunday May 14, 2006
Scripture Reference: 1 Peter 4:12-19
Intro.
A. Today we are going to finish our look at this very important subject of suffering especially as it relates to suffering in the lives of Christians. Since it has been two weeks since we talked about this let’s take a moment to review what we have learned so far.
1. The first thing I told you was that we ought not to be surprised when we suffer, even when we suffer as Christians. The scripture text we are using makes this point very clear. What more can Peter say than to tells us, “Why are you surprised when you encounter trouble?” The obvious point Peter is making is that suffering in the lives of Christians, even when they are doing everything right is normal. In fact we can take that a step further to say that if we are not suffering then something may well be wrong.
2. We also learned that most of us are living under a false premise when it comes to the issue of suffering in our lives. The first of those is that if we are living good lives, if we are doing all the things we feel we are supposed to be doing then we ought not to suffer. Another false premise is that if we do suffer it ought not to be for any extended period of time. Our suffering ought to be short lived. Another false premise is that suffering is the result of doing something wrong that made God angry with us. If we suffer it must be because of sin in our lives, but Peter tells us in these verse we read that we should rejoice if we suffer for doing good not for doing wrong. Another terribly wrong premise about suffering is that I must be suffering because I lack faith. If I just had more faith then I would be healed. If I had more faith I would have more money and on it goes.
3. Another truth we learned is that God did not create suffering. The suffering we experience today whether it is from natural things such as earthquakes, hurricanes, or diseases, or if it is the suffering that comes from moral evil, poor decisions or choices in our lives are the result of our forefathers, Adam and Eve and the choice they made in the Garden of Eden. The key here even or us today is to realize that this was not the world God created but the world that exists because God chose to create people with a free will and that free will opened the door for the suffering that now takes place.
Trans. What we want to do today as we conclude our look at suffering is to see the good that can come from the suffering we now experience and also to know what our long term outlook towards suffering ought to be. So let’s explore first the purpose of suffering.
I. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF OUR SUFFERING?
I think that honesty for most of us we would draw the conclude that most of the time we cannot see any purpose in the suffering we go through. This is intensified even more if we feel we are not deserving of any suffering. If we are living our lives the way we are supposed to and then we are stricken with cancer or we lose our job I think most of us would say, “I see no purpose in this.” “What good is my life to God if I am weakened by chemotherapy or if I have no money because I lost my job?” What do I do with scriptures like Jeremiah 29:11 that tell me that God knows the plans He has for my life, plans to prosper me and not to harm me? If that scripture is true then there is a plan in this trouble I am going through, so what is it? The first thing I will tell you is that not all God’s blessings come wrapped in beautiful packages.
A. Not All God’s Blessing Come In Beautiful Packages.
1. I love these words from Joni Eareckson Tada, “Every sorrow we taste will one day prove to be the best possible thing that could have happened. We will thank God endlessly in heaven for the trials He sent us here. This is not Disneyland – this is truth.” Now that is powerful stuff coming from the life of someone who understands what it means to suffer in this life. When we think of blessing we naturally think of good things. When we pray for someones life to be blessed we are surtely not praying for them to get sick or lose their job, of have one of their children run away from home are we? Of course not, but this is because we think that every blessing comes beautifully wrapped but suffering shows us otherwise.
Trans. I can share with you one purpose behind our suffering.
2. Suffering draws us to Christ. Now this can have one of two effects. For some it draws us to Christ in accusation. We get mad at God and even though He has not had our attention before he certainly does now. It is amazing to me the times that people completely ignore God and live however they chose but when trouble comes all of a sudden God has their full attention but it is all in a blaming or accusing way. We all know this is true, that when life is good God does not get our attention, as He should. We are to busy enjoying the spoils of life as it were, but let some suffering occur and then we start thinking of God. Of course the right way that suffering ought to draw us to God is in greater trust and dependence. Listen to what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 7:10 TEV For the sadness that is used by God brings a change of heart that leads to salvation—and there is no regret in that! I want you to notice here that as we said last week God does not cause the sadness but that God uses the sadness and this verse tells us that He uses it to draw us to Him so that He can save us and give us eternal life. We never applaud the sorrow that comes into the lives of those we love but if that sorrow can be used to bring that person to a personal relationship with Jesus then we ought to rejoice just as Paul said that “All things work together for good...”
Trans. Let me share with you another purpose behind our suffering.
3. Suffering Identifies Us As God’s Children. Listen to Hebrews 12:7-11 NLT As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Whoever heard of a child who was never disciplined? 8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children after all. 9 Since we respect our earthly fathers who disciplined us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to the discipline of our heavenly Father and live forever ? 10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always right and good for us because it means we will share in his holiness. 11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it is painful! But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. Now let me share something that I feel is critically important and is very often misunderstood when it comes to this issue of suffering or trouble in our Christian lives. Here is the principle and then I will elaborate on it. DISCIPLINE IS NOT PUNISHMENT. Did you hear me? Discipline is not punishment. Here is a real problem when it comes to suffering. It goes back again to what I spoke of in the first message. We feel that if something bad happens to us we are being punished. Punishment is to impose a penalty for some wrong that was committed. It has one purpose, to punish. The fact of the matter is that some of what we like to call “punishment” is really nothing more than the consequences for our actions or decisions. We may experience financial setbacks and feel that God is punishing us when the reality is we have not been careful with out finances and we have been spending or borrowing in a way that is irresponsible. The financial setback in a consequence of our actions not punishment. It is what naturally occurs when we make poor financial decisions. Discipline is action taken to correct behavior so that it will not be done again in the future. There are those who feel that we ought not to discipline our children and sometimes discipline includes a spanking. If we are disciplining correctly we are doing so to correct a behavior in our children that we know will hurt them in the future if it is left unchecked. * Here is the problem all of us have when it comes to discipline. None of us understands the big picture. We only see what is happening in our lives right now. We know that right now we are experiencing discomfort or even pain and all we know is that we want it to end. Paul even spoke of this in that great love chapter 1 Corinthians 13 when he said that we see in a glass darkly. The picture is not clear to us now but if we will endure we will see that God’s plan for us is always perfect. Before I leave this point let me emphasis part of the verse we just looked at. In V.10 it said this, But God’s discipline is always right and good for us because it means we will share in his holiness What this verse tells us is that God wants to use discipline in our lives to develop HIS character in us! We are called through out the Bible to be Holy and here the Bible clearly tells us that godly discipline will develop holiness in us. By the way we will be talking about Holiness Sunday May 28th so you will want to be sure and be here.
Trans. Let’s conclude our look at suffering by thinking about what the end of all this can be like if we will fully submit ourselves to God’s plan. The fact is:
III. YOUR SUFFERING CAN HAVE A HAPPY ENDING.
I want you to notice that I purposely used the word “can” in this final point because there is still this issue of our choices that are involved here. As it is with my children they have the choice to submit to my discipline and discover what a good life can be like or they can chose to live their own way and experience the harmful consequences. I want them to choose the right way but I cannot force that, they still have this personal freedom. The same freedom God gives to us. If we are to experience this happy ending to our lives then I think we need to learn to do some spiritual math.
A. We Need To Learn Spiritual Math.
1. This goes back to some things I have shared earlier and that is that for us and our limited perspective on this life, things do not always add up for us the way we think they should. If you recall what I said in the first message I told you that we think that if we go to church every week, if we read our bibles and pray every day. If we pay our tithe and work in the church then according to our math things ought to go well for us. We don’t think we ought to experience any suffering because we have done the math and out math says, good things not bad. My math tells me that I should not get sick. My math tells me that I should not lose my job or see my stock portfolio crash. As a pastor my math tells me that my church should always grow and there should always be enough offering to cover expenses plus more to do ministry.
Trans. Here is what has to happen for us.
B. We Need To View Our Lives From An Eternal Perspective.
1. Listen to what Paul told the Corinthian church, 2 Corinthians 4:1-618 MSG So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. 17 These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. 18 There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever. I have to tell you that it is hard for me to elaborate on this verse because I really feel that it says it all. This life is so temporary and yet many of us (myself included) hold on to it so tightly. I am certainly not suggesting here that we live this life sort of foot loose and fancy-free as we might say. There are things that we have to do while we are here, like providing food, shelter, and clothing but all these things have to be kept in perspective of eternity. I am working very hard right now to prepare for my eventual retirement. It is important that I do so but it is more important that I keep myself prepared for heaven because Jesus may well come back before I retire and then what will all the Stocks and Mutual Funds mean to me if they got in the way of my love for Jesus?
2. I know that it is hard for all of us to realize this but as we just saw in the words of the apostle Paul the suffering we are now going through will pale in comparison to what God has in store for us in heaven. [] Let’s try to put this in some perspective. Imagine that as 2006 began your stock portfolio crashes; you go to the doctor and discover that you have cancer, you return to work only to discover that you have been laid off, then on your way home from work you get in a car accident and your car is totaled. If I asked you how your year was going you would tell me that it was horrible, awful, a disaster. Now imagine that for the rest of the year everything reverses. Your stock portfolio that was work a $1000.00 to begin the year is now worth over 1 million dollars. The doctor can’t explain it but your cancer is gone and he has given you a clean bill of health. After you got home from being laid off another company called you and offered you a job with better pay and benefits than you had before and now you are driving a brand new corvette. Now I come to you at the end of 2006 and I ask you how your year was. Now you tell me that the first few days started out pretty rough but the rest of the year was fantastic. Now consider this; you may spend at the very most 100 years in this earthly life. Let’s say that all 100 of them were filled with suffering and trouble, but one day I meet up with you in heaven after let’s say 10,000 years. I ask you how is life treating you? You will tell me that it is absolutely fantastic! The first 100 years were rough but it was worth it all. Here is how one Christian author put it, “In light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth, a life full of the most atrocious tortures on the planet, will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel.”
Trans. Finally let me say this about suffering.
C. The End Of Suffering Is At Hand.
1. I am sure that you have asked or someone has asked you, “If God has the power to end our suffering, why doesn’t He?” That is certain a good question and here is a great answer to give yourself or that person. The answer is “YOU”! You are the reason God is holding up the eradication of evil in this world or that person who is asking you this question. Here is what I mean, Peter told us in 2 Peter 3:9 NLT The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent. Jesus could return today and put an end to all the suffering and evil that is going on in this world but don’t you have a friend or family member, or co-worker that still needs to accept Christ? I am sure you do and God wants them saved even more than you do so He waits patiently for them to turn to Him. Listen to these words from Revelations 21:1-4 NLT Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. 3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever."
LIFE APPLICATION
A. I would imagine that most of us would like to have an answer for suffering and trouble in this life, whether it is for us or someone we care for. In spite of all the questions that will remain unanswered about suffering God did provide an answer for us. The answer was in what we theologically call, The Incarnation. What that simply means is that the answer to our suffering is in Jesus. Suffering is a personal problem and it requires a personal response. God is not a distant detached Deity. He is close and personal and He showed us this in coming to us as Jesus.
1. Are you broken? He was broken for you on the cross. Do you weep? He wept also and was a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. Have you been betrayed by those who were closest to you? He was sold out for a few pieces of silver. Have people spoken falsely about you? Jesus was despised and rejected by men. The prophet Isaiah went on to say But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
2. A Christian writer named Cliffe Knechtle said this, “Although I don’t know why God allowed evil, I know that he wants to destroy it. That is why there is hell. Although I do not know why God allowed pain, I do know he wants to wipe every tear from our eyes and give us joy for eternity in His presence. That is why there is a heaven. Although I do not know why God allowed suffering, I do know God is a suffering God who became human in Jesus, suffered and died on the cross in order to forgive you and me.”
3. I do not know all the reasons behind pain and suffering in this life but what I do know is that if I keep my eyes on Jesus one day in heaven he will be able to explain it all to me if then it will even matter to me. Is this the hope that you have today? If it isn’t then it can be.
