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!

Do You Struggle With God?...

 We must be honest in our relationship with God and admit everything isn't a perpetual spiritual high or some Cloud Nine!  Our walk of faith is not Polyanna!  We all struggle with our faith if it is genuine because it must be tested for its genuine grit.  It's okay to tell God like it is and be honest about your issues, problems, and trials.  The patriarch Job threw a fit with God and found out that it was his way of venting with God and his personal lament was finally recognized and God heard him. the struggle with faith is faith!  Doubt in faith is not just a Christian issue but a  human one. If faith were not difficult and it was easy, it wouldn't have much value (therefore it must be tested), and the only reality where faith isn't easy, can it really exist.   God has placed us all in the same boat where only faith pleases Him and we all have the ability to exercise some degree of faith.   We must take a leap of faith, not into the unknown, but into the light!  

We must learn to take our problems directly to the top and seek God's face in our deepest and lowest funks and when we are in the pits and have the doldrums. We have this privilege because Christ has promised He will hear any petition in His name.  We are not the only believers to ever suffer depression; if you read Psalm 42-43, 147,  and you will see how discouraged the psalmist got at times, yet he never gave up on God. God wants us to learn to turn to Him in our troubles; we will either become bitter or better by the process!  We cannot learn to trust God in the good times; in fact, these are the times we are likely to forget God. 

Did you know that honesty with God and not hiding our true feelings is a form of worship!  If we come to God on false pretenses or with some coverup, that is hypocrisy. Do you even think you have a case against God like Job did, well tell it to Him but don't turn to men for your answers; take it directly to the LORD in prayer. It is not a sin to be depressed but this is a matter of our disposition and can be because of circumstances that can befall anyone.  Don't be like Asa who sought not the LORD in his illness but the aid of the physicians! (2 Chron. 16:12).  We will find out that God is still with us in our time of trouble and that He is our Deliverer. We will then realize that the answer to our problems is not some philosophy or ethic but a Person.  Jesus is the Answerer! 

In the end, we will have a stronger tried, true, and proved faith that can face any problem because we've learned to go directly to God first and not as a last resort.  "If you do not stand firm in your faith you will not stand firm at all," (cf. Isaiah 7:9).  Soli Deo Gloria! 

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!

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!   

Don't Tread On Me!

 NOTE HOW GOD ALONE IS ABLE TO MEDIATE OUR CASES BECAUSE HE ALONE KNOWS US INTIMATELY:  
Pertinent verses:  
"... Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?.." (Romans 8:33, ESV).  
"... If God is for us, who can be against us?"  (Rom. 8:31, ESV). 
 "Put Me in remembrance, let us argue our case together; state your cause, that you may be proved right"  (Isaiah 43:26, NASB).
"Consult together,  argue your case.  Get together and decide what to say..." (Isaiah 45:21, NLT). 
"I have refined you, but not as silver is refined.  Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering" (Isaiah 48:10, NLT).   
"... [T]hrough many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God"  (Acts 14:22, ESV).
"We hear that some of you are living an undisciplined life.  They aren't working, but they are meddling in other people's business"  (2 Thess. 3:11, CEV).  
"The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts"  (Prov. 20:27, ESV).   "The LORD's light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive" (Ibid., NLT).  
"Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life"  (Prov. 4:23, NKJV). 
"... [F]or the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought..." (1 Chronicles 28:9, ESV).  
"O LORD, you have searched me and known me! . . . and are acquainted with all my ways"  (Psalm 139:1,3, ESV). 

Scripture teaches us to mind our own business and not to get on each other's case or become busybodies, "meddling in other people's business" (cf. 2 Thess. 3:11, CEV).   Just as Paul admonishes the saints at the Thessalonian church:  "Aim to live quietly, mind your own business, and earn your own living, just as I told you"  (1 Thess. 4:11, CEV).  In other words, get off your brother's case!  We all have unique situations and cannot judge by the outward appearance, for God looks on the heart (cf. 1 Sam. 16:7) and sees the motives:  "All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit [motive]"  (Proverbs 16:2, ESV; cf. Prov. 21:2); Jesus also commanded us not to judge by appearance but with righteous judgment in John 7:24.  We are fruit inspectors, for we shall know them by their fruits (cf. Matt. 7:20):  "....for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh"  (Matt. 12:34, KJV).

We don't have the wisdom to label people and labeling is wrong, as an amateur diagnosis or prognosis--what's more, it's judging!   What would you take a man for who constantly psychoanalyzed you and tried to peg you or label you?  We shouldn't put our friends and neighbors into boxes and think we have them figured out, for only God sees the heart.  We cannot judge simply because we don't have access to all the facts and we are inherently biased.

But there comes a time to intercede for someone and to come to his aid by taking up his case and giving him all the aid we can accommodate.  'You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life.  You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD;  judge my cause"  (Lam. 3:58-59, ESV).  God is in the position and has all the authority to come to our aid in our time of need. We are likewise to become a Good Samaritan and see the needs of others in their time of crisis and do all we can muster of our God-given resources.

Job thought he had a case against God and relied on his own righteousness; the flaw of his character was self-righteousness, though. Keep the faith!  "[F]or he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men" (Lamentations 3:33, ESV).  They say:  God is too wise to make a mistake, too kind to be cruel, and too deep to explain Himself--so we never have a case against God, and He doesn't owe us an explanation for anything He allows to happen by His sovereignty in our lives.  "No one can tell him what to do, or say to him, 'You have done wrong'"  (Job 36:23, NLT).

God is all ears if we want to come to him in sincerity and seek truth and an honest dialogue:   "Let us review the situation together, and you can present your case to prove your innocence"  (Isaiah 43:26, NLT).  Let me end with one more verse:  "For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil'  (2 Cor. 5:10, ESV).
Soli Deo Gloria!

To Advance The Gospel

 "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the church"  (Col. 1:24, ESV)
"For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake"  (Phil. 1:29, ESV). 
"[T]hat I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings..." (Phil. 3:10, ESV).

Paul rejoiced "that what has happened to [him] has really served to advance the gospel" (Phil. 1:12, ESV).  If we have a meaning behind why we're suffering, we can endure it for Christ's sake.  It serves a larger purpose than ourselves, God is turning evil into good and all of our trials, tribulations, tests, and sufferings are but to bring glory to God as we are vessels of honor in His sight.  We must cling to the promise of Romans 8:28 that all things will work together for our good and God is too kind to be cruel, too wise to make a mistake, and too deep to explain Himself; even Job got no reason or explanation for his trial, only a revelation! Even when evil befalls us, God means it for good (cf. Gen. 50:20).  It's not a matter of "Why?" but "Who?"  It is a proven psychological fact that when people are given a "why" for their suffering, they can endure nearly any "how."  This is focused on our attitude, to rejoice in the Lord always! When we see the big picture of God's providence, we can have the right attitude.  Only we can choose our attitudes. 

If we know God, we will trust Him through thick and thin, and when the chips are down our faith will be all the stronger.  There is no kismet or blind fate of Islam, but we have a personal God who gives us a destiny.  We aren't called to be stoics of depressing fatalism though and sing "Que sera, sera," "What will be, will be..." as Doris Day sang, nor to gladly let the chips fall where they may, but seek God's preceptive will through Scripture, knowing that His decreed, hidden will is none of our business (cf. Deut. 29:29 says, "The secret things belong to the LORD our God...").  Stoics are called the philosophers of the "stiff upper lip," because they just believe we have to grin and bear it, no matter what and just accept our fate--resignation or accepting the status quo is not faith.  But Christianity is not determinism!

We have a destiny to participate in and God has plans for our good and to bless us in doing His work. (Jer. 29:11, ESV, says, "For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, plans to give you a future and a hope." God will fulfill His purpose for us (cf. Psalm 57:2; 138:8).  "He carries out his decree against me, and many such plans he still has in store," (cf. Job 23:14).   God doesn't have to explain Himself to us and we aren't His judge, but we have to explain ourselves to Him and He is our judge.  We are suffering to bear witness to the world, but we aren't saved through suffering; it's only an honor to suffer for His sake as we fill up the sufferings of Christ in the body. Actually, the blood of the saints was the seed of the church according to church father Tertullian, and martyr means witness--it was the suffering of the church that gave it such growth.

The problem of suffering is not answered definitively in Scripture; we must take God's Word that He means no harm, but our good and is wise enough to work it out.  But then again, no religion adequately answers this question, of why there's evil in the world.  Concerning Paul, who boasted of more suffering than any of the other apostles, and still thought himself unworthy, Jesus said, "For I will show him [Paul] how much he must suffer for the sake of my name" (Acts 9:16, ESV). We must not strive against God's will (kick against the goads) per Acts 26:14.   Paul reluctantly mentioned what he had endured for the sake of the gospel in 2 Cor. 11 and the suffering was really a feather in his cap, to his credit.  Even so, Paul was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble, because he had suffered so much for the sake of the Name.

Affliction is inevitable:  David says in Psalm 34:19, NLT, "The righteous person faces many troubles, but the LORD comes to the rescue each time."  "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God," (cf. Acts 14:22).  In summation, it is to be noted that only in our faith is there meaning behind suffering--Eastern thought of karma just says you get what you deserve in life or the next time around, but doesn't offer a higher understanding. Karma is negated by the undeserved sufferings of our Lord, of Joseph, and of Job; note also Psalm 103:10, "He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve."  Mercy is not getting what you deserve, and grace is getting what you don't deserve--only Christianity fully embraces in these doctrines.

In sum, "adversity, discipline, suffering, and trials inevitably happen to all Christians," but Christ was honest enough to warn us and doesn't expect anything of us that He didn't experience and didn't exempt Himself from suffering (He learned obedience through suffering, cf. Heb. 5:8)--in fact, our crosses pale in comparison!  Remember: no cross, no crown!  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--Suffering! ...

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!

Does God Apologize?

Sometimes when we go through trials and tribulations we tend to wonder "why?"  We are hardwired to think that there is a reason for everything that we can comprehend (for indeed God does have a reason for every purpose under heaven--"The LORD works out everything to its proper end--even the wicked for the day of disaster" (Prov. 16:4, NIV).  "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted"  (Job 42:2, NIV).  We will never be able to figure out God or put Him in a box:  "Canst thou by searching find out God," (cf. Job 11:7).  Nebuchadnezzar said in Daniel that "no one can stay His hand, or say unto Him, 'What hast thou done?'" "Can anything happen without the Lord's permission?" (Lam. 3:37, NIV).  We cannot second-guess God as if He were accountable to us!  The Bible does make it clear that when we get to heaven all our questions will be answered and there will be no more tears.  See John 16:23 that says, "In that day you will ask me nothing" (ESV). Rev. 7:17 says that He will wipe away all our tears.

The man in Scripture known for his longsuffering was Job and God never gave him an explanation even though he practically demanded his day in court and the opportunity to present his case before God. Job kept asking, "Why?" but God just said, "Who?"  He said, "Who do you think you are O man, to question God?"  We don't get our way with God, He gets His way with us--God's will be done with or without our cooperation.  He maintained his personal righteousness to the very end, and this was his fault in that this degenerated into self-righteousness and personal pride and stubbornness, not willing to admit that he could be in the wrong.

This is because he compared himself to others and not to God's standards.  We all fall short in God's eyes and no one measures up--God could throw the book at any one of us, and, in fact, He didn't have to save anyone to maintain His divine holiness, righteousness, or justice.  If He had to save anyone it wouldn't be grace, but justice.

God simply does not owe anyone an explanation because He is too deep to do so and it is a waste of time for the infinite to penetrate the finite.  It would be like explaining the Internet to an ant!  If God explained Himself and set a precedent it would be a bad one because there would be an end to it and faith would not be required to please God.  God wants us to accept the whole package on the basis of faith despite our doubts, uncertainties, and questions--we have just enough knowledge to make a leap of faith and keep walking in faith.  No one has all the answers and everyone has to have their faith tested because it is more precious than silver or gold.

Now consider Job:  God was honoring him by this test; remember what he said to Satan:  "Have you considered my servant Job?"  The more we know, the more responsible we become and it is best we don't know too much!   Sometimes we really would rather not know and it is for our own good--we may not be ready for it.  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!