Through Thick And Thin

One Jewish rabbi bemoaned the suffering of mankind because he said that since God is almighty and God is good, why is our suffering. People basically complain about suffering and what happens to them especially. There are many alternative realities to suffering among the various worldviews and religions. Eastern philosophy grasps Karma, which means that there's an ironclad rule that governs good and bad and you get punished for all the bad or rewarded for all the good, they cancel each other out and you cannot escape from Karma. In fact, when they see someone else suffering, they say, "Well, that's his karma!"  And they don't have any mercy to help other people because they don't want to interfere with one's Karma. Another ancient philosophy was that of the Stoics in ancient Greece taught us to grin and bear it,, in that case, we must be glad to just go through suffering because there's no other choice but to be hardened and to grow in character we just must accept it as reality. 

The old Christian rule that gets in the way sometimes is that we reap what we sow and we only get what we deserve and we don't get half the punishments that we deserve, et cetera. Paul suffered more than any other Christian and he said that we should rejoice in our sufferings Rom. 5:3. Job was known for his patience in his suffering and we are to take him as an example. Jesus however suffered more than any other man he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and he went the way of the Via Dolorosa. 

Even among Christians there are various alternate realities that people see in suffering they see it as mere punishment from God or a curse of God or it's all of Satan or the enemy or that's only a test we must pass the test or that is just a thorn the flesh and we need it to keep us humble we all Christmas must realize we all have a cross to bear. There are only two types of Christians. Those who have been humbled and those who will be humbled. 

We must not get a martyr's complex in our suffering, thinking that we are humble or we have suffered more than anybody else or that suffering brings salvation. We must realize it's suffering is for the glory of God and that God means it for good no matter how we see it, he sees the big picture, so we should thank God even in our sufferings not thank for our sufferings we shouldn't we have the right attitude in other words and trust in the province of God as it says in Rom. 8:28 "All things work together for the good of them that Love God and our lows are called according to his purpose."

Only in Christianity, is there true meaning in suffering and I promise of a God who knows us and has suffered more than us and looks upon our suffering with sympathy (he can relate to us!) and we can relate to it that he will help us and comfort us in our suffering as Joseph said you meant that his brothers meant it for evil but God meant it for good.   So this is a Providence of God, a God who guides our lives and we must trust that he knows what's best for us and we will we look back upon the years and see that God indeed was wise and knew what was best for us.   And we will realize finally that God's Grace is sufficient for us and there are others who suffered more than us like they said you complain about not having shoes until you see someone that has no feet.

In the end, we can say that we have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith )(2 Tim 4:7) we have been with God through thick and thin, and come what may we know that God is with us all the way wherever we go. And we will not leave us nor forsake us.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Seeking Ultimate Security In God

 "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the ar no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior," (cf. Hab. 3:17-18, NIV).  

We are all on a quest for security and safety, even salvation.  In our jobs, marriages, friendships, faith, retirement savings, children's futures, education opportunities, and avocations.  But life is more than security and there can be no real sense of security without God in the picture.  "Unless the LORD builds the house, they build it in vain!" (cf. Psalm 127:1).    Unless our final security is in the LORD, we believe in vain and there can be no rest, respite, or peace in our quest. 

We will always have doubts and fears and especially that our worst fears will come true, as happened to Job when he lost all his blessings from God as a test of his patience and faith. God was getting his attention (cf. Job 36:15) and may do the same to us. We are not to just admire his endurance but emulate and put it into practice what we personally espouse and believe. We must come to the conclusion that apart from God there can be no security unless we are in the will of God, which is the safest and securest place to be.  If God got us to it, He'll get us through it!  We must learn that even when we pass through the waters that He is with us and we will never be overwhelmed by God (cf. Isaiah 43:2). 

We are not to become desperate as if God has forsaken us but to learn to claim His promises and abide in Christ as we learn to walk with Christ by faith, not by sight.   The real world will have our downtimes and bad times when we may question God's wisdom or guidance in testing our faith; a world where faith is easy is a world without real faith.  Faith must be difficult to be worth anything.  Our walk is not on Cloud Nine nor are we always on a spiritual high and it certainly isn't Pollyannish. We must learn in the real world of on-the-job training in the trials of life and sometimes learn in the school of hard knocks.  Feeling distant from God doesn't mean He is far, for He is not far from any one of us and will never leave nor forsake us.  God didn't move--we did!   God is only at times withdrawing Himself to see where our hearts are (cf. 2 Chron. 32:31), as He did to King Hezekiah.  

We must realize that the devil seeks whom he may devour (cf. 1 Pet. 5:7) and that we must not be ignorant of his schemes (cf. 2 Cor. 2:11) and that we are most vulnerable after victory or a spiritual high.  He knows us well enough to appeal to our lower natures (cf. 1 John 2:16) and knows if we are desperate or faithless. This is why we must always have our head in the real world and realize that our faith isn't pie in the sky but Christ offers more abundant life (John 10:10) in the here and now.  We can indeed live the good life right now, for eternal life begins at salvation (cf. John 5:24)!

But we can't do this in our own power or strength: "Not by power, nor by strength, but by My Spirit, says the LORD..." (cf. Zech. 4:6).  We must acknowledge and find out that when we are saved, we don't have permission to live in the flesh, but the power ot live in the Spirit!   We've never had a problem knowing what is the right thing to do because of our God-given conscience and moral compass but we have always lacked the power to do it! Even Paul struggled here (cf. Romans 7:18):  "... for I have the desire to do what is right, but I can not carry it out," (cf. Romans 7: Ovid said, "Why is it that I know what is right and do what is wrong?"    The only free life is in Christ:  "If the Son shall set you free, you shall  be free indeed." 

It can be said that grace is not cheap, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in The Cost of Discipleship.  It is free but it costs everything we've got.  It costs more to reject it!  When we fall for easy-believism or that good works must not be the natural byproduct of our faith and that we are known by our fruits, we misconstrue grace altogether. We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone, according to the Reformers.  No fruit means no faith!  We are not saved by works, but not without them either--they authenticate and validate our faith for faith without works is dead.  

As far as security goes, in summation, if you have God, we have all we need and this is why we are to have no other gods before Him and realize God will supply all your needs (cf. Phil. 4:19) and we are complete in Him (cf. Col. 1:27); having a fear of God means not fearing anyone else or anything else. We do not have a "spirit of timidity"  (cf. 2 Tim. 1:7) but realize that perfect love casts out fear (cf. 1 John 4:18) and realize that God is with us even unto the end (cf. Psalm 48:14).  Courage is not a lack of fear, but acting despite it, standing up to your fears and facing them knowing God is with you.    Soli Deo Gloria! 

Isn't Suffering A Bad Way For God To Show Love?

 

God never promised heaven on earth—a bed of roses or easy life. Earth is a trial or staging area for eternity—a test. We are preparing for our rewards. At the Bema or Judgment Seat of Christ, we will see the glory of God and be rewarded and enter into the joy of the LORD. (cf. 1 Cor. 3:15). We only grow in character through adversity, not the good times. Jesus was honest enough to warn us that following Him would entail suffering and He didn't even make Himself immune or exempt from it. But our crosses pale in comparison to His. As a test of faith, we must take up our crosses and follow Him. (cf. Luke 9:23).

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (cf. Psalm 34:19). “Through many tribulations, we enter the kingdom of God.” (cf. Acts 14:22). He doesn’t expect anything of us that He didn't endure. “In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (cf. John 16: 33). An easy faith is no faith at all; only where it is difficult is it worthy.

Life isn't all pain and suffering, I think that’s an exaggeration, but contains trials and tribulations: Job said, “When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (cf. Job 23:10). Life is not extremely difficult, if we walk with Christ, but supposed to be victorious over the world and Satan and experience a “more abundant life,” (cf. John 10;10). We must learn to walk in faith. “The just shall live by faith.” (cf. Romans 1:17).

“We walk by faith, not by sight.” (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7). Jesus came to give us a “more abundant life and if this is in your experience, you are doing something wrong and shouldn't blame God for your suffering. Much suffering is due to divine discipline and one‘s sin and disobedience or lack of faith. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, be zealous therefore and repent,” (cf. Rev. 3:19). “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your Word” (cf. Psalm 119:67).  Soli Deo Gloria! 

Why Is There Suffering If God Loves Us?

 

1. We are not called to live for the “here and now.”
2. We are to grow in faith through adversity, knowing there is an Adversary.
3. Even Jesus learned obedience through suffering (cf. Heb. 5:8).
4. God tests our motives by withdrawing temporarily from us (cf. 2 Chron. 32:31).
5. God gets our attention via suffering and adversity (cf. Job 36:15).
6. Adversity, not prosperity, builds character; it either makes us bitter or better.
7. God has not promised a rose garden or a bed of roses to anyone.
8. God blesses everyone in some ways, but is not obliged to bless equally; inequity isn’t necessarily injustice (cf. Psalm 145:9).
9. God is unjust to no one; He will have mercy on whom He will (cf. Romans 9:15).
10. Man ruined his own world by introducing sin into it.
11. Jesus suffered in all ways as us yet without sin (cf. Heb. 2:18; 4:15).
12. Our faith is no Pollyanna or without problems (cf. Romans 5:5).
13. Our reward is in heaven, not on earth.
14. God is just and His justice will not sleep.
15. Justice delayed is not justice denied.
16. God will make up to us for all our suffering which isn’t worthy of our reward (cf. Romans 8:18).
17. It is an honor to suffer for the sake of the Name and counted worthy (cf. Acts 5:41).
18. Jesus doesn’t call us to suffer anything He didn’t (cf. Heb. 4:15).
19. Jesus truly understands and feels our pains (“was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”—cf. Isaiah 53:3).
20. We can know the “fellowship of suffering” filling up Christ’s  sufferings (cf. Phil. 3:10)

Finding Meaning In Suffering...

PERTINENT VERSES FOR REFERENCE:  
"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" (Psalm 147:3, NIV).  
"In their affliction they will seek Me early" (cf. Hosea 5:15). 
"Come unto me all ye who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28, KJV). 
 "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18,  NKJV). 
 "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him" (Phil. 1:29, NIV).  
"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word" (Psalm 119:67, NIV).  
 "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold" (Job 23:10, NIV). 
"But by means of their suffering, he rescues those who suffer.  For he gets their attention through adversity" (Job 36:15, NLT.
"He makes these things happen either to punish people or to show his unfailing love" (Job 37:13, NLT).  

"It is through much tribulation that we enter the kingdom of God," (cf. Acts 14:22).

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all," (cf. Psalm 34:19). 

"For it is through much affliction that we enter the kingdom of God." Acts 14:22

As Christians, we believe God has a purpose for everything, even our suffering (cf. Prov. 16:4).  It can be used to get our attention (cf. Job 36:15 above) or to even discipline us when we won't learn any other way and are wayward and don't heed the Word.  C. S. Lewis said that God shouts at us in our pains, it's God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world.  Sometimes we turn a deaf ear to God and become hard-of-hearing spiritually and need this little special attention-getting device.

But we know that "many are the afflictions of the righteous," but God always delivers us (cf. Psalm 34:19).  And that God is a "very present help in trouble" (cf. Psalm 46:1).  It's an honor to suffer for the sake of the Name, to be worthy, for which we will be rewarded, remembering that experience is not what happens to us, but in us, according to psychiatrist Dr. Viktor Frankl, himself a victim of Nazi atrocities. We're fulfilling the sufferings of Christ (cf. Col. 1:24).

Paul was joyful to suffer and he probably suffered more than any believer of his day that it was part of the fellowship of suffering (cf. Phil. 3:10) or a red badge of courage, or even a Medal of Honor, or Purple Heart to wear with dignity (cf. Phil. 3:10).  But all in all, only in Christ do we find meaning and purpose in our sufferings and trials and can grow by them. No religion has a complete explanation for suffering but we believe in the Suffering Servant who learned obedience by what He suffered on our behalf.  Christ didn't exempt Himself from any adversity and was honest enough to warn us to count the cost of following Him and to bear our cross--no cross, no crown.  Remember:  Jesus feels our pains and we couldn't believe in a God who couldn't. 

Christ doesn't ask us to do anything that He didn't do or expect of Himself and it all comes with the territory we signed up for a part of Reality 101, THE DIVINE CURRICULUM, as a believer, matriculated in Christ's school.  As believers, we enroll in a ministry of Suffering 101; rejoice in it as Paul did in prison:  "Rejoice in the Lord always."  "... [B]ut we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience" (Romans 5:3, KJV).  Why?  Because they give the opportunity for good and to show the testimony of Jesus and our grit. God doesn't willingly afflict the children of men (cf. Lam. 3:33). 

Job was the example par excellence of suffering in the Bible where God gave him a crucible that tested his faith to the utmost, and he passed and didn't give up even his own integrity.  This story shows that not all suffering is due to sin or because we deserve it, but also that we shouldn't judge another who is experiencing a trial. For it's in adversity that our character grows, not in our good times; show me someone who's never had any troubles, and I'll show you a person without character. 

We don't pray for an easy life but a strong character.  God frowns on those "at ease in Zion," living the easy life or as idle rich.   But God knows our breaking point and we can trust Him to lead us through what He leads us to, just as we pass through the waters, He'll be with us (cf. Isa. 43:2).

In Eastern thought, suffering is due to bad karma and we shouldn't interfere with one's karma when they suffer.  There is no place for charity, relief organizations, and lending aid to those in need and less fortunate, "untouchables," or those "down on their luck." We must always realize that God gives us trials to strengthen us so that we may strengthen others in their trials: "Been there and done that!"  We comfort others with our comfort.

We are capable of enduring any trial as long as we have hope, and there is hope in Christ, but without hope, there's nothing but despair that overwhelms us.  Thus, the more purpose-driven we become in our suffering, the more we can endure and we can see God at work in our lives through it all, for we are assured He is with us all the way to the end for "... he will be our guide even unto death" (cf. Psalm 48:14, KJV).

In sum, we must accept these trials with the blessings of God and realize that no cross means no crown!  "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but He delivereth him out of the all" (Psalm 34:19).   It is written in Acts 14:22 that "through many trials, we enter the kingdom of heaven."     Soli Deo Gloria!

Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

PERTINENT VERSES TO PONDER:

"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good..." (Gen. 50:20, ESV).  
"But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks [gets their attention] to them in their affliction" (Job 36:15, NIV). 

"God left him, to try him, that he might know all that is in his heart," (cf. 2 Chon. 32:31) 
"[F]or he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men" (Lam. 3:33, ESV).
"I create the light and make the darkness.  I send good times and bad times..." (Isa. 45:7, NLT).
"But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold" (Job 23:10).  
"... Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10, NIV).  

"He speaks to them in their affliction." (cf. Job 36:15, NIV).
"Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver, I have tried you in the furnace of affliction" (Isa. 48:10,  ESV).  
"... 'We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God'..." (Acts 14:22, NIV). 
"... But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering" Romans 8:17, NLT).
"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" (Rom. 8:28, NIV).  
"Who best can suffer, best can do."  --John Milton

Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote the book, Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?  Note:  There are many quick answers:  There are no good people!  In the book Robinson Crusoe Friday asks why evil isn't destroyed:  "What about you?" Robinson replies.  And so why do good things happen to bad people?  What is good and what is bad then, if there is no God?   When we call something good or evil, we are referring to some standard or Supreme Good, which was seen as God by Plato.  Ponder not about debating good but wondering where the idea of goodness came from, if not God?

In short, God is love, but we must see the big picture of what God is doing for His glory and also not forget that God is one of justice, wrath, vengeance, vindication, and judgment.  God will surely fulfill all His attributes.   Also, justice delayed is not justice denied!  We see no justice, but God lives in eternity and sees the big picture.  When we say that it's not fair for innocent people to suffer, how we do know of their innocence?  And if God were to eliminate all evil in the world, what about the evil in us--Jesus said that only God is good!  We must have faith that God is working for the greater good and short-run evil will result in long-range good.  Likewise, we must praise God for the opportunity to do good when we see evil.  Instead of asking where God is, we must realize where the devil is!

The point is that we only see good in light of evil and evil is not God's fault!  God didn't create evil, but only the possibility of evil, which was necessitated because of free will!  This would make no sense if no one turned evil and rebelled against God; therefore, evil exists and must be reckoned with and judged.  Remember, Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and they come as a package: we can distinguish them and separate them, but evil exists only as a parasite on good.  If mankind had no choice of good or evil, there would be no love or hate in the world; we'd be robots, puppets, automatons, or animals with no free will or opportunity to know and love God.  Don't break faith because we all have to pay our dues.  God simply couldn't create a world of free people who have a chance to obey Him and then have none disobey or do evil!

We talk of injustice, intolerance, inequity, et cetera.  How could there be injustice without justice?  If there were no good, there could exist no evil!  Mankind was created good and went terribly bad, even Satan was once good!  But, fortunately, God is able to turn evil into good and His glory and wisdom will be shown in the end.  Most people just object to evil when it happens to them, but don't realize they are part of the problem too if they don't know God.  The point is that God sends good in envelopes of affliction to make us grow in our faith.  In the final analysis, we ought to celebrate the opportunity to see good in light of evil and to turn evil into good and to have the opportunity to do good when evil seems so certain and unavoidable to everyone to some degree--no one goes through life trouble-free.

Jesus learned obedience by what He suffered (cf Heb. 5:8) and didn't exempt Himself from suffering, nor guarantee we would lead a life in a bed of roses or in a rose garden.  "Jesus was honest enough to tell us we'd have tribulations" and that life was a test of our faith.  Would you believe in a Savior who wasn't sympathetic to suffering and had experienced none first-hand?  But God is the great Sufferer and when we break God's laws, we break God's heart.  When bad things happen, people act differently: some become bitter, some better!

Therefore, it is by adversity in life that we build character and learn the lessons of life to become mature.  And the existence of Satan, evil, sin, death, and adversity is not an argument against God, but for Him.  The ultimate question should not be:  "If there is a God why is there evil?" but the opposite:  "If there is no God, why is there so much good?" God is able to make "the wrath of man to praise Him" (cf. Psa. 76:10).

Faith is a choice and we must decide between good and evil. If faith were easy, it wouldn't be worth anything!  There is no easy answer to the existence of suffering, but it's just as likely to produce sincere faith as to destroy insincere faith; in a way, it's a litmus test!   There is no smoking gun evidence for or against God, so it takes faith both ways.  It isn't a matter of faith versus reason, but faith versus faith--which set of presuppositions you want to accept;  Faith in man and science, or God and His Word as the revelation.  Most people don't have enough faith to be atheists!

We must decide to believe and be willing to do God's will for our eyes to be opened to the truth.  God will authenticate Himself to us if we are willing.  God will not force someone to believe against their will, though He can make them willing (a paradox).  Faith can only be valid and of value, if it's difficult to attain!  That's because God is all-powerful or omnipotent and can overpower someone's will and make the unwilling willing--no one can reject His will (cf. Jer. 20:7; Rom. 9:19).

In sum, upon salvation, we enroll in the school of suffering, which is a given, and we must celebrate it as a red badge of courage that gives us braggadocio as it were and the right to say, "Been there, done that!"--this is Reality 101 and no one escapes it! God owes us no explanations:  "He is too deep to explain Himself, too kind to be cruel, and too wise to make a mistake!"  We answer to God not the other way around!  We are not to second-guess God: John Wycliffe tenet says, "All things come to pass of necessity."  We ought not get a martyr's complex, thinking the more we suffer, the more holy we are, but everyone is called to go through the school of hard knocks at times.

God knows that in our affliction, we will seek Him (cf. Hosea 5:15) and we should know that He gets our attention by affliction (cf. Job 36:15).   "People are born for trouble as sure as the spark flies upward" (cf. Job 5:7, NLT).  In the final analysis, one must acknowledge the fact that there are no easy answers as God didn't even explain Himself to Job.  God is too deep to explain Himself, too kind to be cruel, and to wise to be wrong or mistaken.  No religion, philosophy, or faith has the complete answer!  Soli Deo Gloria!

A Reason For Suffering...

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." --C. S. Lewis
"For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone" (Lam. 3:33, NIV). 
"... Who dares to ask, 'What are you doing?'" (Job 9:12, NLT).  

"...He speaks to them in their affliction," (cf. Job 36:15, NIV). 

"We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," (cf. Acts 14:22, NIV). 
"Don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through. ... Instead, be very glad--for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering" (1 Peter 4:12-13, NLT).
"Now I rejoice i what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's affliction, for the sake of his body, which is the church" (Col. 1:24, NIV).
"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him" (Phil. 1:29, NIV).

NOTE: NO RELIGION OR PERSON HAS THE FULL ANSWER TO SUFFERING, BUT CHRIST GIVES MEANING IT BECAUSE HE SUFFERED AND WAS STILL VICTORIOUS AND CAN RELATE TO US IN OUR SUFFERING BECAUSE OF IT; HE LEARNED OBEDIENCE BY WHAT HE SUFFERED (CF. HEB. 5:8).  TRUE FAITH ENDURES EVEN WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WHY.  WHAT A RELIGION SAYS ABOUT SUFFERING IT CANNOT EXPLAIN IS WORTH BELIEVING. 

Christianity, as a religion, alone offers a reason for suffering besides it being karma or deserved from sin or wrongdoing. We see temporal events in light of eternity and everything strikes a chord to vibrate into the next life.  No religion offers a complete and definitive reason for it though, but Christianity helps us endure it; if man has a reason for his suffering, he is able to while it away.  Realistically speaking, God has His reasons we cannot fully know, for His thoughts are infinitely higher than ours.  God is too deep to explain Himself, too kind to be cruel, and too wise to make a mistake.  The challenge is to keep the faith in spite of our suffering and trial and to learn from it, as we chalk it up to experience in the school of hard knocks.  As Paul said in his swan song, 2 Timothy, v. 4:7, KJV, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."  In our suffering, we must never ask where God is, but where He isn't.  "He is there, and He is not silent,"  according to Francis Schaeffer.

In part, our suffering's purpose is so that we can "console" others in their affliction and suffering and relate to them (cf. 2 Cor. 1:4). We are not called to be stoics who think that the ultimate purpose in life is to endure (literally grin and bear it) and accept the bad times and our so-called fate, not doing anything about it.  God can help us live above and beyond our circumstances.  We are not to be defined by them or limited in our ability to do God's will and achieve our calling.  Instead, we ought to be unfazed like Paul and say, "But none of these things move me" (cf. Acts 20:24).

We must acknowledge though, that all trials are Father-filtered and God has allowed them, even if Satan is doing the harm, and God will bring about His glory in the end--behind every cloud, there's a silver lining.  There is a chance to sympathize and with and encourage the bereaved or tested, when we can say that we've been there and done that.  This is the open door to sympathizing with our fellow man and not turning a deaf ear to his predicament, for it could happen to us--no one is immune from suffering and it comes with the territory of being saved.  Job's comforters made the mistake of having the presupposition that all suffering is caused by sin and they thought he was only getting half of what he deserved and ought to repent.  God didn't apologize nor offer reasons for his suffering, but showed His face to him, and instead of answering "why?" God answered "who?"  Who are we to question God?  God doesn't owe us an explanation!

In the final analysis, God never promised us a bed of roses and we signed up for this upon salvation.  Reality 101 is realizing that character comes from affliction!  No believer gets to skate through life trouble-free.  Even Christ didn't exempt Himself from suffering and suffered more than we will; our crosses to bear pale in comparison!   Sometimes we aren't aware of just how hard-of-hearing we can become and need a spiritual wake-up call.  Times like these are times to make a spiritual inventory and see where we get our strength from.  And we must expect trials, tribulations, affliction, suffering, loss, and even defeat.  God is on our side, but there is no guarantee of coming out on top all the time; however, all in all, we are more than conquerors in Christ and winners in a win-win situation because Christ won and we are identified with His victory at Calvary.         Soli Deo Gloria!

The School Of Suffering

"[F ]or he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men"  (Lam. 3:33, ESV).
"Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?"  (Lam. 3:39, ESV).
"My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father, the son in whom he delights"  (Prov. 3:11-12, ESV). 
"I create the light and make the darkness.  I send good times and bad times..." (Isa. 45:7, NLT).
"But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold" (Job 23:10, NIV).  
"... But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering"  (Romans 8:17, NLT).
"Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later" (Rom. 8:18, NLT).
"Who best can suffer, best can do." --John Milton

Unfortunately, some of us have to learn the hard way--the school of hard knocks. Don't call your mistakes a failure, but an education--now you know what not to do!  Experience, the trial and error method that we chalk up to a learning experience, the O.J.T. in the trenches of life, and the pitfalls of everyday life are the best of all teachers.  No one escapes life problem-free!  Aldous Huxley, no Christian himself, remarked wisely, "Experience is not what happens to you.  It is what you do with what happens to you [what happens in you!]."  They say experience is not what happens to you, but in you and what you do with it. Two persons with the same experience react differently--the same clay melts the butter, hardens the clay!

Even Jesus "learned obedience by what He suffered" (cf. Heb. 5:8). Blessed are those whom God teaches and corrects out of the Word, though (cf. Psalm 94:12; Job 5:17). Suffering is par for the course and comes with the territory--no one is exempt, for even Jesus didn't exempt Himself and requires nothing of us He didn't overcome. "For since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested" (Heb. 2:18, HCSB).  He was tempted in like manner as us, yet without sin and we have no right to complain (cf. Lam. 3:39 above), having not resisted sin to the point of shedding of blood (cf. Heb. 12:4).

God knows how to get our attention ("He gets our attention through adversity," Job 36:15), and pain is God's "megaphone to rouse a deaf world" (C. S. Lewis) that has become spiritually hard-of-hearing.  It is inevitable that adversity, suffering, trials, tribulations, temptations,  calamities, and hardships happen to us all in order to bring us closer to God and fashion us into His image and help us relate to Him: How does a sculptor forge a horse from a slab of marble?  By removing everything that doesn't look like a horse, of course! God is chipping away at everything that doesn't look like Jesus in our sanctification. The key is that adversity and hardship build character.  If Christ led us to it, He'll lead us through it!

Jesus warned of the man who was set free from a demon and didn't fill the void with Christ, only to be filled with seven demons and become worse off than before (cf. Matt. 12:45, NLT):  "... This will be the experience of this evil generation." The problem with man is that he cannot clean up his act and needs a supernatural work of grace to echo the words of Paul: "I am what I am by the grace of God." We all have feet of clay, or a flaw not readily visible or apparent.

Even evangelist George Whitefield said of a criminal going to the gallows: "There but for the grace of God, go I."  French mathematician and philosopher/theologian Blaise Pascal said that "we have a God-shaped vacuum only God can fill," while Saint Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, North Africa, said concerning God, "You made us for Yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in You."

Christianity is not just a reformed or recovered life, but a relationship and/or fellowship with the living God through Christ--a wholly new life in Christ--getting to know Him!  The goal is not to clean up our act, but to fill the emptiness and void with Christ living in our hearts.  Christ didn't come to make bad men good, but dead men alive, one preacher claims.  With Christ living in us, the demons cannot harm, hurt, nor even touch us. Jesus healed a man and later found him in the temple and admonished him:  "... Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you" (John 5:14, NLT). It is ill-advised to return to a life of sin after having been cleansed (cf. Heb. 10:26-27), and dangerous policy return to one's vomit like a dog (cf. 2 Pet. 2:22; Prov. 26:11). 

Remember the warning to the woman caught in adultery: "Go and sin no more! (Cf. John 8:11)" And don't look back! (Cf. Luke 9:62).  We must leave our life of sin!  Caveat:  We are not saved by good behavior or good deeds, but unto good behavior and good deeds, viva la difference! "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works"  (cf. Eph. 2:10).  We are not saved by good works, but for them!  

There must be genuine repentance in the believer's life and our lives must show forth its fruits (cf. Acts 22:20).  Jesus saves us to bear fruit (cf. John 15:8, and those branches not bearing fruit are pruned).  We must prove we are up to the challenge and have changed by the good things we do in our attitude and behavior (cf. Acts 26:20). We don't want a new suit for the man, but a new man in the suit!  We don't merely "turn over a new leaf," but are born again or anew in the Spirit.  The whole point of our new life is that's it's radicalized in Christ and we are freed from the power of our sin--Jesus died to save His people from their sins (cf. Matt. 1:21), and he who is saved is freed from sin (cf. Acts 13:38-39).  "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed"  (cf. John 8:36). Christians are "overcomers," and this is the victory:  our faith! (1 John 5:4).  We must take God seriously when He warns us and not to put confidence in the flesh, but in the Spirit and learn to draw on His power as we walk in the Spirit by faith (cf. Gal. 5:16, 2 Cor. 5:17).

All Christians are called to suffer for Christ and in His name according to Phil. 1:29, NLT, which says, we have the "privilege of suffering for him."  Acts 9:16, NLT, says of Paul, "And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake." The disciples gloried in and celebrated the fact that they were considered worthy to suffer in His name! (cf. Acts 5:41). This applies to us as well: The Christian life is not a bed of roses, but that doesn't mean we should get a martyr's complex either, thinking that the more we suffer, the better Christians we are!  We share in the "fellowship of His suffering" as we walk with Christ in the Spirit (cf. Phil. 3:10; Gal. 5:16). Paul was glad and could boast in the Lord, and gloried in his sufferings (cf. 2 Cor. 11:16ff).  Christ did say that Paul was to suffer great things for the sake of the Kingdom of God, but all of us "suffer that which is lacking in Christ's sufferings" to bring glory to Him (cf. Col. 1:24).

Christians are not called to be Stoics, whose primary objective is to cheerfully accept our lot in life, also known as the philosophy of the "stiff upper lip."  We are not ruled by blind forces of fate like the Islamic kismet (blind fate), or what's called determinism; we have the destiny to be fulfilled in Christ doing God's will.  We are not called to grin and bear it, though in Christ we can endure any trial or temptation, knowing Christ relates to our dilemma and predicament. 

It is a fact of psychology that one can endure almost anything if one sees purpose and meaning in it and has hope; we are in the voyage of a lifetime in our walk with Christ unto the eternal city!  We are not to sing "Que sera, sera, what will be, will be..." like Doris Day, and complacently resign ourselves to life of impersonal, mechanical fate beyond our control; however, we have input and a choice in our destiny and Christ is with us and on our side throughout the way to guide us as the pilot in charge on our flight to heaven.

Caveat:  Sometimes our sufferings are self-induced and from our own stupidity or ignorance in the ways of the world or in the Christian walk; if you've never made a mistake, you've never made anything, it's been well put.  Saint Augustine, said it well:  If I err, I am.  This was the prelude to Rene Descartes' formulation:  I think, therefore I am; and also: I think, therefore, God is! He should have thought:  "God is, therefore I think."

Thinking requires a thinker which precedes it, and the universe gives the impression of being one vast complex thought by a Supreme Mind that is also a Great Mathematical Thinker.  When we break God's moral laws ingrained in our conscience we must suffer the consequences, just like when we break physical laws or try to defy them (e.g., gravity)--God is the Great Lawgiver who rules over all and metes out due justice as well as mercy.

We must never wallow in self-pity and say, "Woe is me!" when we suffer for Christ's sake, it's an honor and will be rewarded.  Instead of wondering why unfortunate things happen to us, realize that good things happen to the unsaved--that's a bigger puzzle!  We must "through many hardships enter the kingdom of God" (cf. Acts 14:22), and they are part of the job description that we signed up for! Finally, a word to the wise is sufficient:  "Don't doubt in the dark what God told you in the light"--faith is not a leap into darkness, but a step into the light with God at your side as a guiding light, "until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (cf. 2 Pet. 1:19).    Soli Deo Gloria!   

Bearing Burdens

Sometimes the burden gets too heavy to sustain and we must unload, as it were, or vent.  We all need someone to share our problems with because we cannot go through the maze of life alone.  We need to be part of a body or church family, and not be rogue believers or Lone Ranger Christians.  There are no lone wolves out there!  The body is meant to share burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ as they take requests in common to the Lord in prayer, both corporate and private.  No one can go it alone, no matter how strong your faith, you will find yourself going off course and in your own way ("All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way").  We receive comfort so that we can share it with others, and we go through adversity to be able to counsel others and guide them on the good and noble path of righteousness, like 2 Cor. 1:20 says--then we can say, "Been there, done that!"

Now we bear each other's burdens per Galatians 6:2, but each must carry his own load--we don't become freeloaders or moochers on others, refusing to work out of laziness!  God allows you to experience hardship so that you can comfort others and you will grow to become Christlike.  It's meant to be a team effort to strengthen the body because you never know who will be able to relate the most to any given burden.  In conclusion, let me stress that prayer support is vital and a loving way to bear a burden and to carry it to the throne room of the Father.  Intercession is our priestly duty and calling!   Soli Deo Gloria!

Harvesting Trouble

"People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire"  (Job 5:7, NLT).
"...'I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me'" (Jonah 2:1, NLT). 
"For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow"  (Lam. 3:33, NLT).
"For He does not afflict willingly
Or grieve the sons of men"  (Lam. 3:33, NASB).

Job's friends had the presupposition that he had sinned and deserved his suffering:  "My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same"  (Job 4:8, NLT).  Don't ever assume that people are being punished by God for He is too deep to explain Himself, too wise to make a mistake, and too kind to be cruel.  One of Job's friends thought he was even getting less than he deserved; this hurt but it's true in the sense that all of us get less than our sins merit according to Psalm 103:10.  Jesus was honest enough to warn of life of trials and tribulations, much less adversity because it builds character and Christlikeness. He didn't exempt Himself from this and our crosses pale in comparison to His.  Life is short and full of trouble according to Job 14:1. But we must not become trouble-makers who generate adversity and are difficult to live with. 

Some people are firm believers in karma, but this cannot be true because Christ suffered more than anyone and didn't deserve it.  Troubles eventually do catch up to us and justice delayed is not justice denied--sometimes God's retribution is in the afterlife.  It seems like some people get away with murder but in the end, justice will prevail.  The question of why the innocent suffer (and Christ was innocent) or why do bad things happen to good people is basic.  There are no innocent people besides Jesus and no good people relatively speaking.

The question should be why do good things happen to bad people?  We all have our share of misfortune, adversity, suffering, calamity, trials, bad luck, and tragedy, but the experience is not what happens to you, but in you--it's what you do with the experience, because it's a challenge to grow better, or you will become bitter.  The same sun melts the butter, hardens the clay, the same hammer forges steel and breaks glass; however, the rain falls on the just and the unjust and the sun shines on the wicked as well as righteous; it becomes the time to do some soul-searching and find out where your faith is.

I do not like adversity, but it always brings a challenge and opportunity: you can see challenges in each opportunity and opportunities in each challenge.  We see good in contrast to evil and people doing good in bad times.  We have to orient ourselves to see the positive in events and not to become negative; our attitude is up to us and we choose it.  If you have the right attitude you can endure almost anything, with the wrong one you will faint in the day of adversity. Heed the words of the psalmist:  "Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory"  (Psalm 50:15, NLT).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Be Glad To Feel Bad

Bad things can happen to good people, but there are really no good people, of course.  The issue should be why good things happen to bad people.  We should be thankful to God for all His grace that we don't deserve, in everything--"He gives us richly all things to enjoy" according to 1 Tim. 6:17. Trials are inevitable and Christ was honest enough to warn us, and even count the cost of discipleship--it would be no bed of roses or rose garden.

But don't get a martyr's complex and associate suffering with inherent spirituality--some is merely reaping what we sow and divine discipline and pruning--not punishment.  We are not saved by martyrdom.  It is no indicator of spirituality.  We should never equate the two!  People who feel persecuted or have this martyr's complex think that the more they suffer, the more spiritual they are. We should rejoice in suffering that God has trusted us and believes in us enough to give it to us--suffering brings about and yields character and Christlikeness.  It's like a sculptor who makes a figure out of a block of granite by chipping away at everything that doesn't look like the subject--God wants to rid our character of everything that doesn't reflect the Son. \We are works in progress! 

It's also good to feel so bad, even depressed and melancholy so that we can relate to reality and put life in proper perspective. We can say that we've been there and done that and console others in their troubles.  Otherwise, you would always think everything was fine; the Christian life isn't Polyanna or always Cloud Nine or on a spiritual and perpetual high. .  If life were a trip or always on cloud nine, we wouldn't learn anything. The school of hard knocks is experiencing hardship by definition, not luxury.

No one ought to be on "Easy Street." Discipleship is the way, less traveled, not going with the crowd, and following the beat of a different drum.   Case in point:  If we never felt guilty, we would always feel we had met our expectations and standards, and never get convicted of sin--it's sort of a warning that is built into our nature as part of our conscience--and God can be speaking to us through this.  C. S. Lewis said that "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts at us in our pains, it is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world." . Sometimes we need a wake-up call or to be alarmed so that we realize everything isn't hunky-dory in our relationship with God

All of our trials, tribulations, discipline, temptations, tests, sufferings, and crises are Father-filtered and have a divine purpose to make us better people.  Our experience is not happening to us but in us.  It's what we do with our experiences that counts.  No one is exempt from troubles, Christ didn't even exempt Himself and He surely didn't deserve any of it and suffered far more than we are called to do in carrying our cross or the thorn in our side.  It is just so that we can identify with Christ more and have more in common, as we can relate and realize what He did on our behalf as the perfect expression of divine love.

In conclusion, guilt is real, though the psychiatrist may deny it and rationalize it away, and the only way to be free from it is by forgiveness--and Christ is able to do this as the only Savior of the world from our sins.  As a priest, he saves us from the penalty and guilt, and as prophet gives us the knowledge and awareness of sin and saves us from ignorance of sin, and asking he saves us from the tyranny and dominion of sin.

Sigmund Freud popularized the concept of a "guilt complex" and thought it was a neurosis to be treated, and not real.  You can be forgiven for a sin, but only Christ can heal and wipe away the tears and guilt to set us free. One thing pop-psychology will tell you is that there is no ultimate meaning in suffering; this is controverted by Scripture.  Our suffering is tailor-made for us by our loving Father and is for our best.  We ought to rejoice even in our sufferings like Paul did in the jail with Silas in Acts 16.  Soli Deo Gloria!

At The Crossroads

"... We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.." (Acts 14:22, NIV).

We all have to go through the refining fires of God's trials and tribulations or confront our hour of trial and decision in God's crucible to prove our faith is genuine, and to find out what manner of people we are.   Don't break faith in crises, because we all have to pay our dues.  To be rewarded you must endure to the end and follow Jesus through thick and thin, regardless the cost--we have committed ourselves to taking up our cross. Jesus faced His great confrontation between Himself and the cross at Gethsemane, knowing what He was getting into, He had second thoughts and besought the Father for another way, if at all possible. It was like having a moment of truth spiritually and He found out who He really was (and may have suffered an identity crisis)--the only way for our salvation.   His prayer of relinquishment, committing Himself to the Father's will and ratifying it (i.e., not using His divine powers independently), settled matters for Him and assured that His sacrifice would be totally voluntary and not coerced.  It was the Father's plan and purpose to be fulfilled in Christ and the Lord's accomplishment and work, and there was no Plan B!

The three members of the Trinity all collaborated in this and each had a necessary role to play.  If Jesus had to pray for the Father's will to be done, how much more do we?  We can be assured that Jesus identifies fully with the weaknesses of our flesh and can adequately intercede on our behalf--for he recognized that the flesh was weak, even though the spirit can be willing, meaning we're only human.  Jesus didn't rely upon his supernatural powers to make it through the Garden of Gethsemane experience and was immediately strengthened by an angel after he had sweat like drops of blood to show what angst He was experiencing.  We can be assured that Jesus was tempted in all manners as we are, yet without sin (cf. Heb. 4:15), and no one has surpassed the way He defeated Satan's temptations.

A silversmith refines his metal until he can see himself in it, getting out all the dross.  God does so with us, and when He can see the reflection of Himself in us He is pleased with our sanctification process.  Once a famous sculptor was asked how he could make a horse out of an odd piece of stone; he replied that all he had to do is take away everything that didn't look like a horse!  God does likewise with us, taking away our human shortcomings and perfecting virtue and godliness in our character and takes away everything that doesn't resemble Jesus.

Jesus was honest enough to warn us of the trials we would face, possibly even the test of martyrdom and our crosses pale in comparison to His.  He didn't ask us to do anything He didn't do Himself, for He always practiced what He preached and preached what He practiced. It is the trials, adversities, temptations, divine discipline,  and suffering from calamity et al. that God brings into our lives that is for our own good (Rom. 8:28 says:  "... [Al]l things work together for good...").  We do not build character by an easy life without these difficulties and this is God's way of building our character.

Experience is not what happens to you, but in you, it is well said.  What do you do with your experiences?  The reason bad things happen to good people (and bad people!--and there are no good people!) is that the same sun melts the butter, hardens the clay or people either become bitter or better by the same experience!  There is such a thing as negative stress that works for our benefit and keeps us from becoming weak people. It was discovered by Viktor Frankl during WWII that, if a prisoner in a concentration camp knew the "why," he could endure any "how." Modern psychology denies that suffering can have meaning and be beneficial to our character.

And so we must expect a difficult life, not a bed of roses!  It's is the sign of God's love letters sent in mysterious envelopes.  Oftentimes they come so we can find out what kind of person we are because God already knows.  Job courageously and patiently said, "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold"  (Job 23:10).   We can endure any trial if we realize this and that there is a reason for it.  No cross, no crown!   Jesus didn't exempt Himself from the rough roads and will be with us in ours.  "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest" (cf. Ex. 33:19).  Isaiah says, "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver, I have tried you in the furnace of affliction" (Is. 48:10, ESV).

When we suffer for Christ, consider it an honor to suffer for His name's sake and there is a great reward.  Let's thank God for the manifold opportunities trials bring to witness and share in the sufferings of Christ.  "... [E]ven Christ learned obedience from what he suffered"  (Heb. 5:8).  Lay out the welcome mat and rejoice in sufferings like Paul and Silas in jail singing unto the Lord--they are friends and opportunities to find new ways to trust God's providence in all circumstances.  The trials are inevitable and no one is promised an easy path to heaven as in the book I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.  We could not grow without this negative stress and it is God's pruning process--not punishing process!  "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10). "... [F]or he does not willingly afflict, or grieve the children of men" (Lam. 3:33, ESV).  Our faith is more precious than gold or silver and must be tested to see if it is the genuine article.

Jesus didn't have to go to the cross because He knew all things are possible with God; He asked for a way out, but in the end, He exercised faith in the Father in His commitment to His will.  His prayer was not answered in the affirmative, but God assured Him that He would be with Him throughout it.  So don't be surprised if God doesn't answer all your prayers as "yes!"  "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you..." (Isa. 43:2a, ESV).  But His hour of trial guaranteed it would be voluntary and He ratified the agreement He made in heaven to secure our salvation.  Jesus was a man on a mission and was born to die and He knew that only He could accomplish our salvation--He could then proclaim, "Mission accomplished!"  He did this at Calvary after His cry of dereliction ("tetelestai," "Paid in Full," or "It is finished.").  The reason He asked for a way out, is because He knew what He was getting into--a taste of hell itself on our behalf, or a separation from the Father. Jesus suffered this punishment of hell so we wouldn't have to--this is called penal substitution.  He is our substitute and now represents us to the Father interceding at His right hand.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Christ's Karma

Believing in karma (also called "What goes around, comes around") is one of the oldest traditions, in fact, Job's friends accused him of wrongdoing and asserted he was only getting what he deserved, maybe even less.  In antiquity, people assumed that God rewarded good and punished evil in an immediate payback or recompense.  Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote When Bad Things Happen to Good People and questioned God's goodness whether He was unjust in allowing evil to happen to good people.

His premise, of course, was that there are good people; the Bible says there is none good, no not one. Jesus said only God is good!  It turned out that God is too deep to explain Himself, too kind to be cruel, and to knowledgeable and wise to be wrong or make a mistake. God knows what He's doing and works all things together for our good.  These are coterminous events and not fortuitous at all, God's providence is able to superintend all events to His glory, which is His ultimate goal in all of history.

Why did Jesus suffer then?  He was suffering in our stead and on our behalf; He didn't deserve it and completely volunteered for it:  He said not to weep for Him but for ourselves (we are the sinners that need forgiveness!).  Mercy is not getting what we deserve and Christ paid the price so we wouldn't have to on a debt we couldn't pay.  Grace is when we get what we don't deserve, can't earn, and can never repay in all eternity.  The cross makes possible both mercy and grace as the ultimate expression of Christ's love and compassion for mankind.

If karma were true, why did Christ have to suffer?  He was innocent and certainly suffered more than anyone in history.  It wasn't the nails that kept Him on the cross--He could've come down at will or called 12 legions of angels--but the love in His heart that kept Him to the cross.  The weeping women on the Via Dolorosa (on the way to Calvary) were puzzled as to why Jesus told them to weep for themselves and not Him--He knew what He was getting into.

When Jesus was teaching they asked Him who sinned:  Was it the man born blind or his parents? Jesus had to explain that it was unto the glory of God.  God knows what He is doing and will turn evil into good.  He was able to turn and predestine the most diabolical act in history (cf. Acts 2:23; 4:28) into the crux of history or the most wonderful thing ever done on man's behalf--our salvation!  Joseph said in Gen. 50:20 that even though his brothers meant evil, God meant it for good.  We are all God's vessels, it's just that some of us are vessels of honor and some of dishonor.

In the Eastern traditions they also believe in karma and cannot reconcile the suffering in the world--they think that if someone is suffering, that is their karma and leave him alone to suffer what he deserves.  When the Khmer Rouge and the Pol Pot regime stranded 300,000 refugees in a no-man's--land (known as the "killing fields"), it was Christians who came to the rescue, not Buddhists or Hindus.  This is known as the exact-reward concept and that everyone gets what he deserves in life as payback. Buddha taught man to be an island unto himself. He said you are not to interfere with another person's karma.

But the Bible says, "he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities" in Psalm 103:10.  We too readily say to God when something happens:  "What did I do to deserve this?" But adversity, discipline, suffering, and trials will always come to believers and Christ was honest enough to warn us of the rough road ahead--it will be no bed of roses.

But adversity is meant to build character and Christlikeness:  In a proclamation of faith, Job said, "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10, ESV).  We don't build character through an easy life but through challenges and experience.  It is not what happens to us but in us. The same trial affects different people in different ways: "The same sun melts the butter, hardens the clay."  We are not to question God and judge Him, but He us--we answer to Him!  Christ's passion debunks karma.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Par For The Course

Believers sign up for suffering on behalf of Christ when they get saved.  Philippians 1:29 says that it has been "granted unto us ... to suffer for His sake."  Without suffering or bearing our cross there is no glory.  We are not called to be martyrs (God wants "living sacrifices"), but must be willing if that is God's will for us.  Catholics refer to this as supererogatory or above and beyond the call of duty. They view it as merit that can be transferred to others.  Suffering and adversity make us like Christ and builds character.

As long as there is evil in the world, there will be suffering, but God can make it work out for the good like He did to Joseph in Egypt (cf. Gen. 50:20).  We aren't supposed to be doormats; however, we must learn to persist, for "if we endure, we shall also reign with him," according to 2 Timothy 2:12.  If we suffer for the name of Jesus, we should be joyful that we were "counted worthy." Remember what Jesus said of Paul:  "I will show him what great things he must suffer for My sake." When adversity comes, it has God's permission, even if the devil instigated it.  It is inevitable, and Christ didn't even exempt Himself!  It is like purifying silver:  When you can see your reflection, the impurities are gone. Christ is chipping away everything in us that doesn't resemble Himself, just like a sculptor making something of a rock when he chips away everything that doesn't look like his subject.

Jesus endured more suffering than any man who ever lived on our behalf, but His sufferings are completed through us!   If we know the "why" we can bear almost any "how" in suffering or trials.  Remember, God never promised us a bed of roses.  No cross--no glory!  Paul wanted to "share in His sufferings" or the "fellowship of His sufferings" (cf. Phil. 3:10).  Our crosses pale in comparison to His.  When we suffer, it is so that others don't have to; when we don't have to it's because others have!   Why suffer?  The same sun melts the butter hardens the clay.  The same hammer that breaks glass forges steal.  God doesn't have to explain Himself (consider Job!) and we should thank God for every opportunity our suffering brings to glorify Him.   Suffering is the crucible we all go through in sanctification.  It is not what happens to us, as much as what happens in us, or what we do with it.  "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?"  (Job 2:10).  Bad things happen to good people and to bad people as well.  The question should be:  Why do good things happen at all?

We are "transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit"  (2 Cor. 3:18).  This is the way we share in His holiness and learn to love God and relate to Him.  We should have the attitude of Job:  "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold"  (Job 23:10).  Paul said in Romans 5:3 that "we also rejoice in our suffering."

There is a psychological need for "negative stress" because we are not meant to live in luxury or without any problems and attitude determine how we meet the challenge.   One psychiatrist wrote, "Why It Feels So Good to Feel So Bad."   Isaiah knew what he was talking about when he said, "When you pass through the waters I will be with you."  Put out the welcome mat and welcome adversity as a friend and challenge to grow in your relationship, knowing that God is trusting you that you can learn from it.  We cannot avoid it, and if we sin there is divine discipline because it comes with the territory.   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Sun That Melts The Butter Hardens The Clay

We must never forget our Maker and that we are just clay in the Great Potter's hands to use us for His purposes--God will fulfill His purpose for you, with or without your cooperation because He is sovereign and is Lord of all, whether we accept it or not; it is just a matter of our enjoyment and glorification that matters. "...as I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand" (Isaiah 14:24).  We are always to be prepared to meet our Maker says Amos 4:12.  God doesn't have a Plan B or other emergency exit, backup strategy, or alternate route to take--it's up to us!

We must never forget that adversity, suffering, testing, tribulation, heartbreak, ordeals, tragedy, crisis,  trouble, and trials will come to all believers and Christ didn't even exempt himself from them!   Our crosses pale in comparison to His!  He is our exemplar and we need to bear the cross and follow Jesus as part of what we signed up for.  It is our crucible and God knows as Job says, "The LORD knows that way that I take when He has tried me I shall come forth as gold."  God never promised us a bed of roses and we must acknowledge that without a cross there is no crown.  If we have a "why?" to our suffering and see Jesus with us, we can bear almost anything!  There is a place for negative stress, even a psychiatrist will admit that--if we have an easy life we become soft.  Don't pray for an easy going life, but to be made strong!  "Been there, done that!"  Knowing the "why," we can bear any "how."

It is the crises of our daily grind that molds our character to become more Christlike and God does it for our own good, as a parent disciplines a child he loves.  God has good intentions: "Behold, the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope"  (Jer. 29:11, ESV).  Some of us learn only from the school of hard knocks, while the wisest ones learn from Scripture and take God at His Word.  We don't want to learn life's lessons the hard way.  It is pruning and not a punishment that God uses to develop our character. God punished Jesus for our sins, and we are not punished for them too.  (It has been said that experience is what happens in you, not to you.)  Suffering is par for the course.

We have a will to exercise according to our desires at the moment, but God is in charge of the circumstances.  God made our natures that sanguine, melancholy, impetuous, impulsive, introverted, happy-go-lucky, ad infinitum, and we act accordingly. We are not the captains of our souls nor the masters of our fate. God knows how to manipulate and orchestrate events to get His will done and can change our minds; for instance, it may have been your notion to never get married, but you discovered God had other plans!   If a man can change a ladies mind, certainly God can.  "I do not like crises, but I like the opportunities they afford"  (Lord Reith).

The flip side of butter being melted by the same sun is being hardened like clay.  We can become bitter or better as they say.  Habakkuk experienced the worst of experiences when he seemed to have lost all but made a hymn to the joy that he still had God and if we have Him we have all we really need--sometimes we have to get to the end of ourselves or lose everything to discover this:  "Behold the goodness and severity of God" (cf. Rom. 11:22).   His confession was simply:  "Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation" (Hab. 3:18).  Note that God reserves the right to have mercy on whom He will have mercy and to harden [i.e., judicial hardening] whom He will harden (cf. Rom. 9:18).  Remember what God did to Pharaoh and know that God can do the same today.

God is in control of the hearts of kings to make them do His will according to Proverbs 21:1 (ESV) which says:  "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD, he turns it wherever he will."   God leaves nothing to chance--Albert Einstein noticed that "God doesn't play dice with the universe."  It is equally said that God doesn't leave one out of His control and that there is not one maverick molecule in the universe.  God doesn't just reign like the British monarch, but actually rules over all ("For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations," says Psalm 22:28 and in Isaiah 40 God says the nations are but a "drop in the bucket" to Him.)

Let me add that God works on us to the very end and doesn't give up, we are always a work in progress and won't be glorified in this life, which is only a training ground, a test station, or proving grounds for glory.  You may ask the silversmith when he is done refining the silver:  when he sees himself in it!   The sculptor takes away everything that doesn't look like his subject--his icons!   Soli Deo Gloria!

When It Seems Like A Raw Deal

"...I will wait till my renewal should come" (Job 14:14).

It is a normal initial human reaction to be angry at God after a traumatic event (to do do something foolish because of it though or to stay that way isn't), and I would doubt one's humanity if he had no reaction. We want to avoid internalized anger through which can lead to psychiatric problems or of exploding in a fit of anger.  But we all need to see the perspective of others who have been there and done that; for instance, my own father killed himself when I was a young man of 21.   I commend any public acknowledgment or confession to get any inner feelings out there to deal with and not have a show of piety or of a Pollyanna Christianity that pretends everything is okay--this cannot last--Jesus sees through the veneer; sooner or later we all have to face the music.

No trial comes into our life that isn't "Father-filtered" if you will--God knows we will overcome and learn from the experience.  It is said that God whispers in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains.   We should never pray for an easy problem-free life because we will become weak people--Jesus didn't even exempt himself from suffering.  From my own experience, I am glad and grateful for what I have gone through and survived, though I had a tendency to get very bitter after my wife of 10 years divorced me and left me homeless.  I am a survivor!  We either become bitter or better it is well said (the same sun hardens the clay and melts butter), and I confess that I was not without bitterness or anger at first--God won however and I now praise God for His wisdom (indeed all things do work together for good).

I asked God why I had to go through all the problems I had in subsequent years which seemed far more than my brothers (from my point of view it seemed like their lives were smooth sailing, now I realize their trials were different), I kept saying to myself: "Why me, Lord?"  But God spoke to me in the Bible:  "My grace is sufficient for thee."  These problems were actually compliments, that in the end I would benefit and give glory to God.  God has made it up to me and blessed me more than I had dreamt of as He promises in Joel 2:25.  I didn't want to be another "victim of circumstance" as so many people are and don't rise above the occasion.  Horace Mann said that difficulties show what men are.  It is not what happens to us but in us, that counts; our experience is not as much as what happens to us but what we do with that experience, or how we respond (not react).

We eventually learn to cope and develop therapeutic skill and by this wisdom, we are able to pass it on to others (2 Cor. 1:4 says God is a God of comfort so that we can comfort others).  It's not abnormal to get angry or depressed, as long as we are in control and know that there is a time to put it to rest and go on with our marching orders.  Perhaps this even is our ministry and we are called to do something proactive to prevent it from repeating.  It is easy to say God was speaking to them, but He is also speaking to us and we should heed what He is saying.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Time To Weep...

As Ecclesiastes 3:4 says:  "A time to weep, a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance."
"...to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion--to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit [a spirit of heaviness]..." (Isaiah 61:2-3, ESV).  PLEASE  READ ON!

God works everything according to His timetable, "...for he hath made everything beautiful in its time" (Eccles. 3:11); also, "There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven" (Eccles. 3:1, NLT).  We must not question Him:  Job 12:13 (ESV) says, "With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding [His wisdom is profound, His power is great]."  And  King Nebuchadnezzar says:  "...none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What hast thou done?" (Daniel 4:35).   We wouldn't do any better of a job running the cosmos as God, who is still at work micromanaging the time-space continuum with all its matter and energy--there is not even one maverick molecule that escapes His sovereignty, and nothing surprises Him that He has to revert to Plan B. 

One reason we have trials, tribulations, suffering, and adversity or calamity is to show what we are made of--Christ didn't even exempt Himself because it's part of the required curriculum of life (Reality 101) and everyone should experience it.  It doesn't show what they were made of but what you are made of.  The same sun hardens the clay melts the butter.  Experience is not always just what happens to you, but what you do with it--what happens in you.   God is determined to make us in Christ's image.  When does a silversmith know when he is done polishing;  when he can see himself in the silver!  When asked a sculptor how he could make a horse out of a rock, he said he simply takes away everything that doesn't look like a horse!  Michelangelo found a rock of granite that had been rejected by other artists as useless and formed the statue of David out of it.

Therefore, God can make something out of nobodies and uses common people to accomplish His purposes just as readily as anybody else.  It follows that we are works in progress and must keep in mind that He will not give up till He is finished with us:  "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion..." (Phil. 1:6).  Remember that God isn't finished with us yet and no one has arrived:  "I have seen a limit to all perfection" (Psalm 119:96); "Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12); also, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended..." (Phil. 3:13).

I postulate that God is the"...Father of all mercies and the God of comfort..." (2 Cor. 1:3).  God's in the "comfort business" so be comforters!  That's why Paul says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep" (Rom. 12:15, ESV). He wants us to have empathy and that means putting ourselves in their shoes.  We find out what we are made of and not what kind of people they are by our experience.  He comforts us so we can return the gesture to others in their bereavement in kind.

Mourning is a therapeutic thing to do for coping with tragedy and death (it is not escapism or a sign of weakness) and all of must get the closure sufficient to readjust and carry on.  For instance, in the military, they practically force you to go on emergency leave when your next-of-kin passes on, because they don't want you to be maladjusted and have emotional problems later coming on.  You cannot predict a moment of breakdown into tears and sorrow.  When Jesus wept I'm sure He was taken aback Himself and didn't anticipate it.  A person may go to a funeral and seem unmoved, but it will sooner or later hit him and he will pay the piper as it were.

Rest in faith and be assured that God has a purpose for everything He does:  "The LORD has made everything for his own purposes, even the wicked for punishment"  (Prov. 16:4, NLT).   Jesus had to get "acquainted with grief" and weep for Lazarus to be in the position to identify with our sorrows. "He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" according to Isaiah 53:3.

It is not appropriate to have a spirit of levity, or jest at funerals for the sake of humor (we don't want a comedian there to change the mood, for instance) but to feel their loss and comfort them in their bereavement.  We console them and not make light of it if we can relate to them at all.  Humor should be appropriate:  I have seen much laughing going on at funerals, which isn't wrong per se; there is a place for holy humor, but we shouldn't get carried away and put it into its place (if something funny happened in his life, that's different) and not let it disturb the spirit--that's why we attend funerals with our condolences:  Solomon says that "it is better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting [mirth]" ( Ecclesiastes 7:2).

Somehow it seems that we are closer to God in our tears than in our laughter for Jesus said, "Woe to you who laugh [inappropriately] now, for you shall weep" (Luke 6:35).  "Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief" (Prov. 14:13).   It is harder and better to make someone cry than to laugh;  anyone can tell a joke:  "Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad"  (Eccles. 7:3).

Funerals are a necessary ingredient to the healing process whereby we get closure and reach a conclusion about the matter and can go on living, having learned something from it--they are to console the survivors and not to judge the deceased.  Like God said of Abel's blood, that it spoke, though he was dead ("And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks," from Heb.11:4b, ESV), every person that dies has a story to tell and we have something to glean and relate to--our chance to get to know them from people that did.  The concept of putting ourselves in their shoes and empathizing, and trying to say their message as they would tell it if they were with us, is quite a gift and part of the grace we can give others from our learning experiences or wisdom.  We may experience the gamut of emotion and show transition from tears to joy and even laughter!  We must all say our goodbye's and go on living and know that we have done all we could have done and have no regrets,  (we must acknowledge that it's over and we must go on)--not blaming ourselves and develop guilt that could scar us, for instance.

We don't want to be inappropriate but supportive in our fellowship with the mourners, and reassure them that Christ came to "comfort those who mourn in Zion" (cf. Isa. 61:1).  When we grow strong from our afflictions, we can testify with Paul:  "But none of these things move me..." (Acts 20:24, KJV).  Soli Deo Gloria!

Father-filtered Tragedy

"We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).
"Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you enter various trials"  (James 1:2).


DISCLAIMER:  I DO NOT CLAIM TO HAVE A COMPLETE ANSWER TO MAN'S SUFFERING, IN FACT, NO ONE, NOR ANY RELIGION, DOES.

Good quotes:
Lord Reith said, "I do not like crises, but I do like the opportunities they provide."
"Within every adversity there lies a possibility" (Robert Schuller).

Jesus never said we'd be exempt from evil or tragedy in our lives; he didn't exempt himself, did He?
Suffering, trials, temptations, adversity, and discipline inevitably comes to all believers in Christ as part of our pruning and maturing process.  What good would an untried faith be?  Some people get mad at God and blame Him when something bad happens:  remember Job's wife who told him to "curse God and die" after losing all ten of his progeny.  "Should we accept good from God, and not trouble."  Nothing happens to us without God's sovereign permission; he is just using the devil as the instrumental means to accomplish his greater glory.  We can be assured that God will not bring into our lives anything that we cannot handle; he just trusts some more than others!

What happens to us reveals what kind of person we really are; the same sun melts the butter, hardens the clay!  It's not so much about what happens to you as to what happens in you.  Our experience is a combo of this interaction and what we learned in the so-called school of hard knocks.  Notice that we hear about tragedy around the world and never people cursing God on the media--they are usually humbled and realize that without danger there would be no courage.  We shouldn't say, "How can God be so mean?"  "No one can  stay His hand or say to Him, 'What are you doing?'"

Our reaction says more about us than about God.  You either become bitter or better in the tragedy they call life or Reality 101. It's not what happens to you, but in you!   Don't you want to find out what you are made of and more importantly, who your friends are?  Charlie Riggs says that adversity builds character and Christlikeness.  Our crosses to bear are nothing compared to His!  We are compared to silver refined in a crucible.  If we know the why of our suffering we can endure almost any how, said Viktor Frankl, the Viennese Psychiatrist captured and tortured by the Nazis.

So why do bad things happen to good (There are no good people!) people [A more appropriate question would be:  Why do good things happen to bad people?]?  Good also happens to bad people! Who's to say how much is too much or decide what is fair; God is the judge of what is fair, and He is our judge, and we not His.   "The He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me I shall come forth as gold," says Job 23:10.  God never promised us a bed or roses or a rose garden either.  However, we can rest assured of the promise:  "All things work together for good, to them that love God...."  As the crucifixion proved, God is able to make the most diabolical of events turn out for the good (e.g., Acts 2:23; 4:28).

It might be helpful to realize that if you are suffering it might be so that others won't have to, and if you aren't, it's because others have!  "We rejoice in our suffering..." (Rom. 5:3).  I like Philippians 1:29 to sum things up:  "For it has been granted unto you, not only to believe in Him, but to suffer for His sake."

Pertinent are two verses relating to God as the sole primary cause of the cosmos and using agents to accomplish His will in a voluntary manner:  Amos 3:6; Isaiah 45:7, and if one studies Job he will realize that evil from Satan must get permission from the Father--N.B. that God didn't answer Job's questions, but revealed Himself to him to humble him; God doesn't have to answer to man.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Jesus Bore Our Suffering...

Isaiah 53:4 mentions Christ taking up our pain and bearing our suffering ("He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases," according to another version).  Does this mean we are exempt from suffering and illness?  Are we to agree with the full-gospel-fellowship who believe healing is just as easy as claiming it and naming it in Christ and is part of our salvation?  Christ was made to suffer in our stead to taste of our weaknesses in order to sympathize on our behalf and to be able to intercede for us at the right hand of the Most High.

Scripture surely verifies Jesus reaching out to people in need and it seems no trouble is too small for His love, nor too big for His power.  Paul prayed 3 times that his infirmity or messenger from Satan would be removed, and God said "No."  Someone was once asked why they don't have as many healers working in America as in Africa:  "They don't have HMO's."  God is so big that everything is small to Him, and loves so much, nothing is too small for Him.

Charlatan healers claim that the miracle is part of our redemption and if you don't get healed, your faith is suspect.  It is true that Jesus said to the woman with the issue:  "Your faith has healed you," but when the apostles healed they had the gift to heal and it was not dependent upon faith.  It is deduced that it is a cooperative venture and it is done "unto you according to your faith" also.

If God doesn't immediately heal you by the anointing by the elders and prayers, for example, it has to be in God's timetable and He will work everything out according to His glory and plan.  In fact, we may have to wait until glory to experience our complete healing.  I know of examples where God has refused to heal and it has brought Him glory as to the building of a testimony.  Joni Eareckson Tada is a famous one that comes to mind and, believe you me, she sought out the faith healers at first as much as the next guy.

Sometimes the sickness or illness is a wake-up call and the person serves as an example or warning to others:  "Woe to me because of my injury!  My wound is incurable!  Yet I said to myself, 'This is my sickness, and I must endure it.'" (Jer. 10:19);  "There is no healing for thy bruise; thy wound is grievous..." (Nah. 3:19).   Hezekiah complained that God wouldn't heal him and that he was being taken in the prime of life!  God granted him 15 more years.

The primary reason Jesus healed the sick was to be an example to us:  How many hospitals have been founded by infidels?  God always has some disaster happen in order to give the opportunity for His children to do good:  Why does evil happen?  To give the opportunity for good!   There are certain things only God can do and what seemed impossible a generation ago is now within our grasp medically--who knows what man is capable of:  I only hope we don't forget that this knowledge comes from God.

Philosophers have said, "All truth is God's truth."  The church is the mother of science and science owes its very existence to it!  Now they seem to be at war and there is no conflict between true science and the Bible.  Let's hope God intervenes before man plays God and does immoral medicine just because he can.   Soli Deo Gloria!