For all of our married life, my wife, Paula, and I have been in ministry of one sort or another. Everything changed for us as on April 4th, 2018. As the doctor gave us the final report, she knew the impact it would have on us. Gathering her emotions, she said, “I think you need to find a new career.” After 10 years of ministry as an evangelist, and pastoring churches in Georgia and Ohio, my voice was reduced to less than a whisper. At this point, my voice is completely gone. Paula and I have wrestled with this gut-wrenching reality. We are learning together what our Lord teaches about suffering.
According to Scripture, suffering is a universal certainty. Every creature on the planet and even the planet itself has, is, and/or will suffer (Genesis 3:14, 17; Romans 8:22-23). Just to be crystal clear, no one, repeat, no one who is clear headed volunteers for suffering. It is not like dodge ball in elementary school, we don’t mind being picked last for Team Suffering. Still, at some point everyone will be picked and we must join the team.
You and I are incapable of imagining a world where suffering does not exist. We live in a sin-cursed and, therefore, suffering-cursed world. Every graveyard, funeral home, and hospital is a stark reminder that suffering is real, painful, and indiscriminate. Suffering will continue its’ devastating effects until Jesus makes all things new. Despite the devastation, God has a redeeming purpose for suffering; He has a divine purpose for the pain.
Suffering has a holy purpose – Philippians 3:10
When we speak of the holy purpose of suffering we are referring to the process of becoming like Jesus. Biblically speaking, the terms holiness and Christlikeness are synonymous. Some believers mistakenly think of holiness in terms of a mantle to be displayed or a monument of self effort that should be very impressive to all who see. Suffering and pain is the scalpel that God uses to extract the idol of self effort.
Philippians 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death:
So how does suffering make us like Jesus? When our family had the privilege of traveling in full-time evangelistic ministry we often took advantage of our itinerary to visit historical and interesting places. One trip was near enough that we were able to visit Niagara Falls. Words fail to describe how powerful and awe inspiring the Falls truly are. The torrent is deafening. To watch the water race over those cliffs and then seemingly descend in slow motion to the rocks and river below is shockingly overwhelming. There are some places in the park where you can stand surprisingly close to the raging water. I remember getting drenched just standing near the falls. The overspray is enough to leave you soaked to the skin.
Jesus and his glory are like that. Stand close and his glory soaks in (2 Corinthians 3:18). But standing close to Jesus is dangerous. To be close to Jesus means that we will certainly go to the place of suffering and sacrifice. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that to be with Jesus means that we will have to go with him outside the mainstream and bear his reproach (Hebrews 13:12-13). Jesus, himself, makes clear that suffering (his terminology is bearing our cross) is a mark of genuine salvation and true discipleship (Matt. 10:38; 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; 14:27). The audience of Jesus’ day would have a very clear understanding of what Jesus meant by “cross.” We have a very anemic concept of what he meant. The “American Dream” way of thinking has, sadly, stripped away the brutality of the term to simply mean arthritic joints or going without wifi. A cross is a place of unimaginable pain and ultimately, a slow and agonizing death.
Suffering has a helping purpose – 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Unquestionably, suffering produces questions. Why? What now? How long? Whose fault? In other words, suffering leads to uncertainty and most of us have difficulty living a life of uncertainty. “I don’t mind a life full of questions,” said no one ever! Some people may “deal with it” better than others do, but my guess is, no one is completely comfortable with it. We want concrete answers. We want to be able to make plans without the interference of unforeseen circumstances. When we go through suffering we learn quickly that pain has a way of pulverizing the security of misplaced certainty.
As we have gone through this current trial, one of my most significant “uncertainties” centered around the question of usefulness. Without a voice, how could I, as a preacher, be useful to God or anybody else? God has a very clear answer to that question.
2 Corinthians 1:4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
God’s answer is that suffering allows those who suffer to have a unique ministry of being able to comfort other sufferers. So, even without a voice, I can communicate grace. Do I always do that? What do you think? Of course I don’t. I can, though, and I should. God help me!
Suffering has a higher purpose – Psalm 29:9
Years ago I was having a conversation with a young man who was struggling with some questions about God. As is often the case, many of his questions focused on the subject of God and suffering. I remember him, in desperation, exclaiming, “God would never want anyone to suffer!”
Let’s be honest, many believers live with this same philosophy. We may not say it the same way but we live like it’s true. Comfortable, western-christianity has warped our thinking on the necessity of suffering. A wrong view of suffering reveals a wrong view of God. Ironically, though, suffering is one divinely designed means for growing in a right view of God.
Like so many others, suffering has made me, rather, compelled me to rethink my thinking about God. I still have so much to learn and heaven will not be long enough to learn everything there is to know about him but I am slowly learning one thing.
God, not only has answers to my questions, He is the answer.
He is the answer when nothing makes sense. He is the answer when human comprehension fails. He is the answer when platitudes ring hollow.
I have recently been slowly and methodically working my way through the Psalms. I am intentionally looking for reasons to praise. Honestly, having a totally different, suffering-produced, perspective has allowed me to see God in the psalms like I never have before. A vivid illustration of seeing what I have never seen before is in Psalm 29.
The psalm describes the awesome and destructive power of the God’s voice. A psalm about a voice got my attention. The way God is poetically pictured in these verses is counterintuitive to much of our thinking about God. Verse nine arrested my attention.
Psalm 29:9 The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, And discovereth the forests: And in his temple doth every one speak of his glory. (KJV)
There is debate as to the meaning of some of the Hebrew terms used here by David. For instance, in verse 9 the KJV translates the Hebrew word יֶּחֱשֹׂ֪ף as “discovereth.” Other English versions (ESV, HCSB, NASB, NKJV) translate the term as “strips bare.” The latter rendering seems to be more in keeping with the tone of the rest of the psalm. Please don’t let the debate divert our attention from David’s point. The voice of God causes such fear that does give premature birth to their fawns. His voice has power to do more damage than a raging forest fire! David has described scenes of pain and destruction and devastating loss. Yet, in the place of worship there is a collective choir of voices singing, “Glory!” The singers could be the angels mentioned in the first verse. The voices could be those of choirs assembled by David. The song, though, is very similar to another that was sung by heavenly host on the night our Savior was born. “Glory to God in the highest…”
The lesson is powerful. David is saying that in our suffering, even through our tears we can sing. We can worship and shout, “Glory to God!” Personally, I do sometimes shout while suffering, but it isn’t in praise. My spirit is shouting in anger and bitter complaining. Suffering will help us to see a higher purpose in our suffering. The very purpose for which we live. Pain, suffering and loss purge and purify so that our lives will be a “sacrifice of praise to God continually” (Hebrews 13:15).
I truly believe that I have had the privilege of meeting some of the godliest and dearest saints to ever grace this fallen world. I have envied their joy, their wisdom, their visible and almost tangible peace. What I don’t envy is how they came to this point. They all suffered greatly. Their life stories read like the ones in Hebrews 11. Their suffering, while horrifying and heartbreaking, brought them closer to Jesus. So close, that his glory soaked in and shined through.
Conclusion
How often do we either hear or use the phrase, “Easier said than done?” It certainly fits the scenario of suffering. It is much easier to talk about the purging fires of suffering than it is to wade through them. Yet, we know that to be like Jesus requires suffering. Some sincere believers seem to think that Jesus is a panacea for whatever is hurtful or harmful. “I didn’t sign up for Team Suffering; I signed up for Team Jesus.” How can we be like Jesus if we are unwilling to suffer like Jesus? We can’t!
Used by permission fromFrontLine magazine. To subscribe to FrontLine, go to https://fbfi.org/frontline
