Don’t waste your sorrows

Suppose you notice an advertisement in the newspaper offering a wonderful opportunity to make a lot of money. The starting salary is one-half million dollars per year. You fit all of the qualifications for the job! Then, in the last paragraph in the advertisement, you find it stated that one of the qualifications for this position is that the applicant must be able to endure prolonged and intense physical pain and suffering, like prisoners of war have had to experience undergoing intense torture. Still interested?

     No normal person likes pain. Pain and suffering are things we like to avoid. Even moderate pain is something most of us like to avoid although we may know that it will do us some good. When I used to exercise, I followed the familiar motto “No Pain - No Gain.” My response to that slogan now  is “No Pain - No Pain.” You may feel the same way.

     But the truth is that we all must face a certain amount of pain and suffering in life. Suffering has been and will always be a part of living. We don’t like it very much, but this is the reality of the situation. It should be said, however, that suffering has always been a problem for us. We do not understand suffering. We do not understand why God would allow us to suffer.  Indeed, unbelievers have used this very question to dismiss God. You are probably familiar with the philosophical arguments that have been used by unbelievers along these lines.

     C. S. Lewis states the argument well in his book, The Problem Of Pain:  “If God were good, He would wish to make His creatures happy, and if God were almighty He would be able to do what He wished. But His creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness or power or both.”  (Lewis goes on in the book to refute this thinking).

This argument assumes that the question is only one of God’s love or His power, and that the ultimate good is served by a lack or absence of suffering. Let’s restate the problem.  The problem is that we do not understand why we are suffering. While we are suffering, there does not seem to be any point to it.  It doesn’t make any sense. And if you don’t believe that God is there to somehow make sense of suffering, then what are the ways in which you can respond?

     There are three ways the non-Christian can respond to suffering.  The first response is despair, or hopelessness. Life is tough, so you may as well just give up. It has rolled over them like a bulldozer. The second non-Christian response is Epicureanism.  Life is tough, so grab for all the gusto you can get. This is a popular philosophy of our day in handling life.  Since we cannot make sense out of the pain, we try to offset the pain with pleasure. Someone described this kind of living as “qualified hedonism.” The third non-Christian response is Stoicism.  Take it like a man. Keep a stiff upper lip. Grin and bear it.

     What should be the Christian response to suffering?  Romans 5:3 tells us: “We also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance,  endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. If we understand God’s purposes in it, suffering doesn’t have to be a waste. Suffering accomplishes something good in us. The first is endurance, or perseverance. It makes us steady under fire. The second benefit is character. The word in the Greek language is based on a word that means “tested” or “approved.”  When you go through the fire without getting consumed, you become a person of worth, a person of character.  A third benefit is hope. Because we believe in God, we can have hope for the future. We know that God is at work. We know that God is doing something, even when we do not understand what that is. Hope is a conscious decision to trust in the sovereignty of God.  And we need hope.  It makes us optimistic that God is doing something eternal in us.

     The key to dealing successfully with suffering is not only knowing God’s purposes but also trusting God’s love.  Romans 8:28-29: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.”

     We can trust that God is making us better through suffering because we see His love for us demonstrated in Christ’s suffering and death for us. If you trust in God’s love for you and know His purposes in your suffering, then you can rejoice – not in the pain, but in the results - perseverance, character, and hope.

Pastor Samuel can be reached at sskrouse@succeed.net or (530) 696-0563