True Love in the midst of Suffering
written: June 5, 2020
<author’s note: this observation applies to believers and is not attempting to explain universal suffering.>
I always chose to believe that crap happens because the world is a fallen and broken place. But because God loves us, he uses those moments to teach us, to grow us. Basically, we as broken people will make bad choices, but because God is graceful he will use our broken choices to then redeem us. Although that may be true, to a certain degree, it doesn’t seem complete.
It never brought me comfort to know that God was the cause of my suffering. (Ie It was God that hardened Pharoh’s heart) That it’s something he conjurs or allows, like he did with Job. As I ponder on this more and more I can see how this is due to my small and possibly narrow understanding of God’s love.
To understand how our suffering is a display of God’s love we need to first ask ourselves, what is God’s ultimate purpose for us? Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones from his book Spiritual Depression pg. 253, he says, “In order that He may bring me to perfection.” He goes on, that we are now adopted into his family. Therefore, because he loves us he doesn't leave us the way we are, but transforms us to perfection. A transformation that continues into eternity. CS Lewis talked about how, we are continually sanctified even after our life here in the flesh. (I want to say this was from his book A Grief Observed) N.T. Wright also talks about this in his book After You Believe. That because of God’s grace he doesn’t wait for after our death of our flesh to begin the process of sanctification, but that process begins as soon as we believe. Even though we remain in this world of sin God, out of his love for us and because of Christ’s sacrifice, we have the honor to begin our transformation immediately.
For such a lofty goal shouldn’t we expect God to do anything and everything he can to mold us into perfection? To use all that he has in his arsenal?
This brings us back to the subject of suffering. Could we safely say then, that he uses suffering to mold us into perfection? But why must we suffer? Why must we be tossed into such deep trials?
I believe the simple answer to this is sin. Let’s establish the core of what sin is. Sin makes us believe that we are our own gods and that we are capable of living this life without God. (Adam and Eve choosing the fruit over God) That mentality and behavior creates skewed priorities, loves, and goals in our lives. It contradicts everything about God and what he says we are. Suffering is an outcome from the Fall. To realign to God’s design requires us first give up our own way, re-orient our own understanding, and ultimately it requires massive change. Change hurts. Change is hard. Change requires one to let go. To admit it’s not working right now, I need to let go of my current ways, and accept the way that works. The new way, the true way. This goes against our assurance and pride in sin, therefore the process inevitably brings suffering. Ultimately, we as a people and society never really change until we are forced to. And that force comes in the form of suffering.
This begs the question, do those who suffer greatly have that much more pride and sin in their lives? Is the degree of their suffering correlated to their degree of sin and pride? Do they have to suffer more to learn their lesson? I dont think our level of imperfection is directly correlated to the degree of our trials. We can never compare our stories with others. God moves and talks to each one of us differently. At the end of the gospels, Peter asks Jesus about his thoughts on the other disciples. Jesus is response is literally “what’s it to you?” Essentially he’s saying be concerned with yourself, my relationship with him is my relationship with him, and my relationship with you is my relationship with you. To bring closure to this thought, we need to revisit the story of Job. God from the very beginning said that Job was a good man. But we know that he suffered greatly. So the degree of our suffering cant be in relation to the degree of our ’sin’. More than being circumstantially redeemed, Job was reminded of the greatness of God, the holiness and grandeur of who God is. This was the fruit of his Job’s suffering. Job didn’t know what we know now, that his life is now, after thousands of years, the subject of suffering for the human race. His story has been studied, copied, and followed for generations. How many lives have been impacted by his testimony. This shows that we really can’t fathom the scope of God’s ultimate, universal plan and reasons for doing what he does.
God couldn’t tell Job the impact of his story during his suffering. A) there’s no way he would be able to understand or accept it. And it definitely wouldn’t have made him feel better. And B) if knowing this outcome Job wouldn’t be enduring his suffering solely for the sake of God, but for the end result; the everlasting impact on the human race. What is that motivation, but pure self pride, fulfillment, self-worth, and self-value? Again, sin. We want to be the arbiter of our own existence and purpose. We want to be our own God. You see the conflict? Due to our sinful nature, it’s impossible for us to seperate our selfish motives with God’s. When we are given all the information of what the outcome of our suffering will bring, its inevitable for us take on that credibility and nobility to showcase "I have endured for goodness sake, look at me." It’s an amount of glory that we sinful people can’t handle. We are incapable of juggling such responsibility. It would be a lack of grace from God if he put that expectation on us. But because he loves us he keeps us away from that magnitude and says instead ‘I’ll take care of you’.
Trusting in God when we don’t know the why, not only frees us but gives us an opportunity to see how much he truly loves us. One can’t help but notice and recognize God’s character and purpose. Without knowing God like this, how can we ever begin to trust him. Trust can only come when we truly know the person we are trusting in- their values, character, and heart.
Which brings us to our conclusion: Yes, God is in control and He allows what He allows. To make us perfect.
God doesn’t give you anything that is unnecessary. He is purposeful. Therefore, when things happen maybe we need to stop and ask ourselves: Why is this needed? What am I not seeing? What is God trying to tell me? Am I being prepared for something?
