We already know the obvious – that in this body, we groan (2
Corinthians 5:4). Suffering comes in all forms – moral and others failures,
pain, loss, grieving, rejection… However, the fact that it doesn’t seem that
God is answering our prayers makes our suffering even worse. Besides, we seldom
find any redeeming value in our suffering. Instead, it often seems that
suffering is without purpose.
How can we counsel our brethren through suffering. First of
all, it is helpful to show them that all of us have to suffer, even for great
periods of time. David had cried:
·
How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my
soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be
exalted over me? (Psalm 13:1-2)
We are not alone when we feel that God has forsaken us. Job,
the most righteous of all, also felt forsaken. He felt so tormented that he
even brought indictments against his faithful God. However, God had to even
humble Job and to lead him to repentance regarding his charges against God,
proving that none of us are above God’s chastening.
Even Jesus felt forsaken by His Father. While on the Cross:
·
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a
loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
If even Jesus felt forsaken, we too have to arm ourselves
with this same expectation. Many of God’s chosen have felt this way. Abraham
had given up on the promise of God after wondering in the Promised Land for
about 10 years. He, therefore, became convinced that his servant would have to
suffice as his heir (Genesis 15). Some years after God had reassured Abraham
that he would have a son, Abraham again despaired of God and His promise and
decided to raise a son through his servant Hagar (Genesis 16). However, 35
years after Abraham had left his family, in obedience to God, he was finally
granted the child of God’s promise, Isaac. We too must prepare ourselves to
wait.
We must also remind our brethren about Moses, who had sacrificed
everything in order to lead the people of God out of slavery. After he was met
with scorn from his own people, he fled for his life and became a lowly
shepherd. He had lost everything, even a shot at becoming the next pharaoh
(Exodus 2).
It wasn’t until forty years later that God appeared to him
in a burning bush and directed Moses to do the very thing that he had previously
envisioned. However, now Moses was a broken man, bereft of a vision, but this
was God’s chosen time for both he and Israel. God also has a plan and a
schedule for us, even for those who feel forsaken.
Paul, arguably God’s most famous missionary, must have felt
forsaken at times. He said as much:
·
For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,
of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened
beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we
had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves
but on God who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:8-9)
We will never learn to trust in God until we are taught to despair
of ourselves. God had instructed the reluctant Ananias to lay hands on Paul in
order for him to receive back his sight:
·
“Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to
carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I
will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” (Acts 9:15-16)
In order to becomes a faithful servant, we have to go
through the fires, which burn away the impurities. A faithful counselor must be
able to shine a light of hope into the darkness of suffering. Paul was beaten
and given up for dead on a number of occasions. However, that wasn’t enough for
God. In order that Paul would not become proud, God even allowed Satan to
afflict him. Paul prayed for deliverance and must have felt forsaken again by
God, who wouldn’t answer his prayers. However, God eventually:
·
…said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more
gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the
sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships,
persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians
12:9-10)
This is a principle that goes far beyond Paul’s own life. The
good counselor must teach the sufferer that even when they don’t see any
purpose in their suffering, in God’s hands, suffering accomplishes much. As
Paul learned, it eventually enables us to encourage others:
·
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all
our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any
affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For
as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share
abundantly in comfort too. (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)
We might not be able to see the fruit of suffering, but we
are assured that there will be fruit (Hebrews 12:5-11). After 42 years in the
Lord and decades of depression and years of panic attacks, I have begun to see
some of the fruit of suffering. While it had felt that God had abandoned me, He
hadn’t. Instead, He was performing painful surgery to remove an assortment of
tumors that would have killed me and any possibility of real ministry.
Meanwhile, I had begun to doubt that it was even possible for
me to be saved, in view of the extent of my failures, suffering, and the inner
darkness that God was beginning to uncover within me. Could the Savior really
love me? I needed the Scriptures to speak to me and to convince me otherwise:
·
For there is no distinction between Jew and
Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call
on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans
10:12-13)
It is only through such comfort that comes from God that we
can comfort others. And it is this ministry of comfort that draws us together
and builds oneness among us. I therefore thank Jesus for His gift of suffering.
No comments:
Post a Comment