Will my suffering last forever?
This week’s devotions are based on the Week 3 “Explore God” – Why does God allow pain and suffering? (WATCH HERE)
It won’t last forever.
Is this a comforting phrase when you are in the middle of a season of suffering…especially when there is really no answer or end in sight? People who offer these words we may dismiss as petty, not really understanding our situation, or unrealistic optimists.
But is it true?
Will suffering last forever?
Unfortunately, the Bible is clear that for those that have rejected Jesus as their Savior will perhaps long for the suffering they experienced in their lifetime because their eternity is marked by an eternal suffering separated from God. The wages of sin is death. The consequence of sin is hell. Without Jesus there is no “better place,” but rather a much worse place and experience waiting for people. We don’t like to talk about this. We would like to think that ANYONE who dies after a life of suffering is “in a better place” or “without pain” or whatever other picture of comfort we conjure up. But the BIble does not teach relief from suffering for those that have rejected Jesus as Savior. Jesus himself teaches:
Matthew 25:31-46 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” . . . Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. . . . And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
But an eternity of suffering is not Jesus’ desire who wants all people to be saved and enjoy the eternal joy of heaven with no more crying or pain. For the believer in Jesus, there is an eternal answer to suffering from the one who entered this world to suffer the consequence of sin for us. Isaiah prophesied of Jesus’ work:
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
Trusting Jesus as the way to heaven assures the believer that suffering truly does have an end. Even when suffering ends in death, here is God’s promise to his children:
Revelation 21:3-5 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
When we are gifted this perspective, we can truly endure whatever pain or suffering on this earth because we have confidence that a time of no suffering is coming:
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
So why does God allow pain and suffering in this world? Perhaps it’s simply to remind us that we live in a broken world because of sin, but we have a Savior who has overcome sin and promises us a home in heaven where pain and suffering will no longer be a reality. Look forward to that day!
Apply: How does the promise of heaven help you in a time of suffering today?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for sending Jesus to endure suffering for us and do all that was needed so that I might avoid eternal suffering in hell and rather look forward to the eternal joys of heaven. AMEN.
Rejoice in our sufferings?
This week’s devotions are based on the Week 3 “Explore God” – Why does God allow pain and suffering? (WATCH HERE)
Is pain and suffering bad?
Our knee jerk reaction is, “Yes. Yes it is.”
Of course, very few of us would seek out pain and suffering and invite it into our lives. Most of us seek to avoid pain and suffering and help others do the same. When pain and suffering do occur, our natural reaction is to cover it so we don’t feel it, or try to end it so we don’t have to continue enduring it. And we often ask God to be the one that does that for us.
I am the same way.
But when the pain and suffering don’t cease immediately, it is easy to turn inward to self-pity or turn outward to blame and anger.
However, what happens when we turn to the Lord and don’t just ask, “Lord, take this suffering away from me,” but ask, “Lord what do you want me to learn from this suffering and pain?”
When we ask the second question, we open ourselves up to the work of God’s Spirit to form and strengthen our faith instead of following Satan’s wishes to question and abandon our faith.
So, what might the Lord teach us in a time of suffering?
First, he teaches me to rely on his power and his grace.
The Apostle Paul had a “thorn in his flesh.” He pleaded three times for the Lord to take it away…but the Lord chose to allow the “thorn” to continue. However, it was not without cause. What the Lord used the “thorn suffering” for was to keep Paul a) focused on the grace of God and b) relying on the power of God. This is recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
In times of suffering, we can be 100% confident that the ultimate suffering for sin was completed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. As a result we will NEVER have to suffer forever in hell, separated from God. Seasons of suffering remind us we are mortal and not all powerful. As we rely on the power of God, it also leads us to rely on the grace of God to affirm in us that our biggest problem is solved at the cross and empty tomb (where Jesus suffered for us!).
Second, the Lord uses suffering to mold and develop our faith and character.
Suffering is not always the end game of an event in life. Suffering may just be the catalyst by which spiritual growth and tenacity occurs. Paul again writes:
Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Rejoice in our sufferings? Hard to do, but when we realize that God allows and uses suffering to strengthen our faith and convictions in him, they become reasons to rejoice. For when suffering produces perseverance, so it develops our person, our character. As our character as a follower of Christ develops, our confidence in the hope God gives grows. We may be disappointed because our plan for life was interrupted by a season of suffering. But the hope that God gives through seasons of suffering moves us away from the temporal to find hope in the eternal. (We’ll finish the week with that thought tomorrow!)
Apply: What development has the Lord taken you through as a result of a season of suffering?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for working in all things to mold me as your child…even in a season of suffering. AMEN.
Can a loving God allow suffering?
This week’s devotions are based on the Week 3 “Explore God” – Why does God allow pain and suffering? (WATCH HERE)
How can a loving God allow suffering?
In the message on Sunday, the second point was this: Suffering and pain challenge our perception of God, but it does not change the nature of God.
How do we reconcile God, who is loving with suffering which is no fun.
Does God’s nature of love prevent every type of suffering one may encounter?
For those of you who are parents, let me ask this, “Do you ever knowingly allow your children to suffer?” Or maybe put it another way, “Do you ever knowingly allow your children to go through something THEY perceive as suffering, but you know is for their benefit?”
If a child goes through a period of suffering, might they blame their parents for allowing it?
Does a child going through a period of suffering change the love the parents have for them?
Often, when I try to sort out the way God deals with me, I consider how I as a parent deal with my children. The analogy is not always perfect, but it can help.
Here’s a few scenarios.
As a parent, you warn your child not to hang out with those who are drinking and doing drugs. You child makes a choice to do that and they are arrested. You don’t bail them out but allow them to serve the time in jail. They accuse you of not loving them. Their perception does not change the reality. Your love led you to warn them of the dangers of hanging out with the wrong crowd. Your love allowed them to suffer the consequence of their sin (see yesterday’s devotion) so that, you would pray, they would never make that same choice again and thus avoid future suffering as a result. Love drives a parent to do what is best, not what is easiest for the child.
Your child is failing a chemistry class. The reason isn’t necessarily because they are not able to pass, but they are not putting in the time to pass the class. Again, you encourage them to do their homework, you offer to get help or tutoring, but they refuse. When the semester grade comes out and they have failed and are being asked to take the class over again, they want you to step in and talk to the teacher and get them a passing grade. You refuse. They accuse you of not loving them, not wanting them to succeed, etc. Their perception of you changes, but the essence of your love for them hasn’t.
Parental choices that choose to allow a child to go through a season of suffering are tough. We want to “save” them from any challenge. However, you as a parent know that there are times where a child has to address a situation or deal with a situation on their own and at times suffer the natural consequences to prevent the same thing from happening in the future.
Is it possible God carries a similar approach to his love? Yes. What he allows is always the perfect thing we need. Sometimes our perception may be negative about God’s motives, but our perception does not change the heart of God who loves us as children and allows just what we need to grow and develop as a child of God.
Hebrews 12:5-7 “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
Sometimes what we perceive as suffering is the Lord allowing it to happen, not to question his love for us, but to realize he loves us enough to draw us closer to himself.
Apply: What suffering in your life have you been able to see the hand of a loving God behind?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for not just doing what I want, but always doing and allowing what you know is best for me. AMEN.
Who can I blame for my suffering?
This week’s devotions are based on the Week 3 “Explore God” – Why does God allow pain and suffering? (WATCH HERE)
Who gets the blame for suffering?
When we go through times of pain or suffering, it is natural to try to find someone or something to blame. It is really hard for us to accept that there may be something I did that resulted in a period of suffering.
So we blame God. He seems to be the natural one to blame.
But why?
We feel he could have prevented it. We feel guilt and feel like God is out to punish us and make life miserable. We feel it isn’t fair and we don’t deserve it.
So we blame God.
But we shouldn’t…at least not every time.
Here’s the reality. Suffering most often is caused by a direct or indirect result of sin. Suffering wasn’t part of God’s original creation because sin wasn’t part of God’s creation. Until it was. In Genesis 3, Satan tempted Adam and Eve with an offer they couldn’t resist. “You will be like God.”
Genesis 3:5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
All of a sudden sin entered the world, guilt entered the world…and blame entered the world.
Genesis 3:12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Neither of them wanted to take responsibility for the sinful action, so they blamed Satan (another popular choice) and they blamed God. They didn’t accept the responsibility for breaking the command God gave. As a result? Pain and suffering. (Read the rest of Genesis 3)
The legacy of Adam and Eve continues today. When we suffer because we sin, we have a hard time taking responsibility. Our culture today excuses the sinner and makes the victim of sin wrong. Attorneys find the loophole to get a criminal off the hook. We make excuses, justify, and dismiss our errors (even though we are quick to point out others). The result? I can never suffer because I have sinned, because I have a hard time admitting I have sinned. But suffering can come because of sin. One gets drunk, gets caught and loses their job while they are in jail. Suffering because of sin. One neglects their spouse, abuses them, or abandons them and they go through an ugly divorce. Suffering because of sin. One cheats on their test and they fail an important class and are not allowed to graduate. Suffering because of sin.
This isn’t God’s fault. Only in the sense that he allows suffering to discipline those he loves. Should we accept suffering as a blessing, it will bring us back to God. If we make excuses for our actions, it will lead us to blame God.
We can also suffer indirectly because of sin in the world. Someone breaks into our home and we lose material possessions we have spent years saving to have…suffering because of sin. We are maimed by a shooter randomly shooting into a crowd…suffering indirectly because of sin. We are made to redo a test because someone cheated and no one fessed up…suffering indirectly because of sin.
While we do not have to accept specific responsibility, it leads us to realize we live in a broken world that is affected directly and indirectly because of sin. Fortunately, God, like he did with Adam and Eve, didn’t leave them with their sin, but rather promised a solution to their sin.
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring[a] and hers;
he will crush[b] your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
The blessing is when we realize God isn’t to blame for suffering, or if he is allowing it to draw us back to himself, we can see God not as the cause for sin and suffering, but the solution for it.
Apply: When was the last time you blamed God for suffering? Was it fair to do so? What did you realize about the season of suffering that perhaps God used to bring you closer to him?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your love that you are willing to provide the solution to suffering. AMEN.
Why God?
This week’s devotions are based on the Week 3 “Explore God” – Why does God allow pain and suffering? (WATCH HERE)
Why?
All of us have at some point in life asked this question of God. “Why is this happening to me?” “Why are you making me suffer this way?” “After all I have done for you, why are you allowing this to happen to me?”
The question of pain and suffering has long been a challenge for individuals to reconcile with a loving God. If God were loving would he all the suffering to occur or would he eliminate all suffering?
In yesterday’s message (Click the link above to listen), we surmised that we don’t blame God for all kinds of pain or suffering. When we are working out or getting in shape for a sports season and endure the pain of sore muscles, we realize, “No pain, no gain.” If we take a calculated risk and get hurt doing it, we realize that the hurt is the result of our actions and don’t blame God for it.
It’s the pain and suffering we don’t inflict on ourselves, or the pain we don’t think we deserve that challenges us. At the heart of the question is a sense of fairness. But perhaps let’s peel one more layer off this onion. Why do we challenge or blame God for certain pain and suffering in our lives or the world around us?
- We don’t think we deserve it. We reconcile in our mind that we don’t deserve the illness we have. The children don’t deserve to die at the end of a deranged person’s gun. A loving mother doesn’t deserve to suffer with Alzheimer’s for years. Our template of what is fair is pressed over God’s infinite wisdom and WE determine the suffering isn’t fair and blame God.
- Another reason we can blame God is when suffering leads us to realize that part or all of our lives are out of our control. We want to protect our children, and then they are unjustly hurt or killed. We want to enjoy life as a family only to have it broken apart by a the actions of drunk driver. We have plans for retirement only to have them challenged by a new illness. We were saving our resources for a future vacation only to have unforeseen lawsuit come our way.
The things that are out of our control, we expect God to control for our benefit. When things don’t go the way we think they should go, we can easily turn on God and blame him for allowing into our lives things that create hardship for us and we perceive he could have and should have prevented them.
Suffering is hard. No one enjoys suffering and pain that they didn’t chose to endure themselves. Really the issue of suffering is very much a spiritual battle. Satan wants us to “curse God and die.”
So how do we face suffering…even when we perceive it is not our fault, unfair or out of our control? Satan wants to use the time of suffering to lead us away from Jesus. The Lord wants to lead us closer to him. So what will it be? This week we will explore the truths about God that get challenged when we suffer so that as we go through a specific pain or a season of suffering we can conclude as Job did, even after he lost his material possessions and his family:
Job 1:20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.[c]
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Apply: What is your biggest challenge when you go through a season of suffering or see suffering in the world around you?
Prayer: Lord, help me to see your perspective and your heart when I go through a period of suffering. Lead me to look to you and never doubt your love for me, AMEN.