March 20, 2024
Author: Pastor Gordon Cook
March 20, 2024
The Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23
I wanted to think a little bit about suffering. If you read your Bibles, you know that's a big theme. It only underscores how relevant our Bible is because we all suffer regularly and we recognize that suffering is unavoidable and inevitable all the days upon the face of the earth. Nowhere are we more vulnerable and more tempted to sin than in the midst of our suffering. Think of those disciples in the boat on the Sea of Galilee in the midst of that hurricane storm, that's when they begin to complain and find fault with Jesus, “Don't you care that we are perishing?” When Job was going through his difficult time, that's when he has problems with God and Job begins to look at God more as an enemy then as a friend in the midst of his suffering. Again, that's when Job was most vulnerable in sinning against God. I have found over the years that it is more easy to complain, murmur, be plagued with discontent, anger, self-pity, fear. Now some people have said, (and I think it has to be qualified), that suffering is the Achilles heel of Christianity. This is where Christianity or the Christian faith is its weakest, most vulnerable they say, because you really can't answer the questions with regard to suffering. And I would answer, that's just not true. It's the only world view that really does give us adequate answers for suffering. We don't have all the answers, but we have the best answers. We have important answers when it comes to our suffering.
Let me remind you of the three big reasons why we suffer:
1. We live in a sin cursed world, Genesis 3.
2. We have our own struggles, our own sin struggles. That's why there's tension and conflict, often times in relationships, our sin and their sin. The sin in the hearts of us and the sin in the hearts of others.
3. The devil. I don't think we think enough about the devil, but the devil was behind the suffering of Job. It's also the devil who was behind the suffering of the Apostle Paul in that thorn in the flesh. He calls it a messenger of the devil. Some even think that the devil was behind the storm on the Sea of Galilee. Some speculation there, but there's some arguments that could be made for that very argument.
Those are the three big negatives. Does any other worldview answer that kind of question? Those give us answers to the question of suffering. But here's something we have to keep in mind when the Bible deals with suffering, it doesn't just deal with it from a negative perspective. If we only focus on the negatives of suffering, we can easily go down the tube spiritually, we can become resentful, we can become bitter, we can be angry. We forget there are positives, that's right, wonderful positives when it comes to sufferings. Why can we as Christians rejoice, always rejoice even in the midst of suffering? Let me give you five reasons.
1. God is in control 100 percent. That means there's no trial, no difficulty, no suffering that is not under the sovereign control of God. Romans 8:28 is that text of scripture that we often go to when we think of suffering and also the comfort is that God works out all things for our good. I think it was Dr. R.C. Sproul who called the sovereignty of God the pillow on which every Christian can rest in the midst of suffering. So we never want to forget that God is working all things for our good in the midst of our suffering. The Apostle Paul goes on in that very verse to give us the great reason as to why God is bringing suffering into our lives - to bring us into conformity to his son. He wants us to be like Jesus. He wants us to become like Jesus. That's something we can always rejoice in no matter what our suffering is. If it's making us more like Jesus, that is certainly cause for rejoicing.
2. Trials draw us near to Jesus. That's why we read Psalm 23, “Yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death you are with me.” David saw the Good Shepherd especially near, not when he was in the green pastures, not when he was beside the still waters, but when he was in the dark valleys. The Apostle Paul, doesn't he say something along the same lines when he describes his suffering? Sitting in a jail cell he could say, “All have forsaken me, but the Lord stood with me. The Lord was with me.” And the painful thorn in the flesh, Paul was keenly aware of his dependence upon Christ and his need of Jesus and no doubt getting closer to Jesus, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will gladly boast all the more of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” When we suffer we often find ourselves weak. That's an opportunity for us to rejoice in Christ's power to sustain us and even give us opportunities to glorify him.
3. Trials and sufferings are often God's instruments, the main instruments to increase our graces, to build our character and to develop our endurance. If we're going to make it to the end, if you're going to run that race and run it right to the end, we'll need endurance. How do we get endurance? God uses trials to make us stronger. Romans 5, listen to what Paul says here, “We rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope.”
4. Trials and sufferings should make us better worshipers. Job at the beginning of his trial was a great worshipper, ”Blessed be God, he gives, he takes away.” There seems to be no problem with Job, he submits to God's sovereignty, he is worshiping God. Job was a great worshiper at the front end of his trials, but halfway through his trials, (how long they lasted we don't know), we see Job becoming a bit of a murmurer, complaining, looking at God through a negative lens. But when you come to the very back end, that's the key, the very back end of his trial, Job becomes a better worshipper. Listen to what he says, Job 42, “I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you. Now I know you better than I ever knew you before. I am worshiping you in ways I could never have worshipped before.” Again, Brethren, as I said earlier, all our suffering in this life is unavoidable, we will always suffer. Hardly a day goes by when we don't experience some kind of discomfort, some kind of pain. There is the negative lens that explains our suffering: the fall of man, sin, the devil; but there's a positive lens, much good can result from it.
So when we pray for one another, when we pray for the sufferings of our fellow believers, let's remember the positive. Let's remember that they would grow closer to Christ, that they would be conformed to Christ, that they would become stronger in those graces, more fruitful in their lives and they would become better worshippers. I remember Joni Eareckson Tada. She was asked the question, “If you can look back on your sufferings what do you most regret?” She said, “In those early years I wasted my suffering.” So we have to pray that we will not waste our suffering. That we would profit, that we would grow, that we would gain because God has brought suffering into our lives. So let's remember that as we come to prayer, even thanking God for our sufferings and that we would walk wisely, that we would profit from our sufferings.
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