A Biblical Perspective on Suffering

Once upon a time there was a successful businessman named Joseph B. Saintly.  He was remarkably well respected by both his peers and his employees.  He offered the finest low-cost health plan to his workers, and when they came up short, he paid their bills himself.  He was the director of The Saintly Foundation to Aid Widows and Orphans, and his anonymous gifts to other charities were thought to be almost scandalously generous.  Joseph B. Saintly was a good man, in all the ways people mean that word.

He had a wife Mildred, who occasionally disapproved of his generosity, but to whom he was utterly faithful.  He had a son Bill, who enjoyed the comfort provided by his father's wealth, but was by no means a playboy.  He had a daughter Jill, who had married well and was expecting Joseph B.'s first grandchild.  Mr. Saintly was a happy man.

He was a deacon in his local Baptist church, head of the building committee, teacher of the teenage boys' Sunday School class, and he provided scholarships for kids to go away to summer camp.  His views on religion were both orthodox and correct, focusing rightly on the glory of God, but not neglecting a life of good works.  Joseph B. Saintly was a faithful man.

One Thursday night, Joseph B. was at the church, meeting with the building committee, and just about to suggest that there was no need for a special offering for an upcoming project, because he could just cover it, when the phone rang in the church office.  The church secretary came in with a hastily scribbled note, and whispered something to Joe B. for a moment that left him visibly shaken.

"What is it, Joseph B.?" asked the pastor.

"It seems that the chief accountant at The Saintly Foundation to Aid Widows and Orphans has been suspected of embezzlement and misappropriation of funds.  The police have led him off in handcuffs, and they've seized all our records and put a padlock on the doors."  He ran a hand through his hair, and said, "I'm sure it will work out all right in the end; I've always tried to do things honestly and above board."

"We know you have," said the pastor.  "In fact, let's say a prayer for you right now."

While the pastor was still praying, the church secretary came into the room again, apologizing and saying, "Mr. Saintly, you're needed at the hospital.  It's your daughter."

Fear clutching his heart, he asked in a pale voice, "What is it?"

"There seems to be some difficulty with her pregnancy."

He stood up, excused himself, and strode briskly but unsteadily to his car.  With tears blurring his vision, he prayed as he drove, never seeing the stop sign that he drove through, or the police car parked at the corner with its lights off.

A few moments later, as the officer was reading the information on his license and registration, he said, "You're Joseph B. Saintly?  Of the Saintly Corporation?  We've been looking for you, sir.  It seems that there's been an explosion at your factory, and the whole building is in flames.  There are fatalities."

Joseph B.'s heart was saddened at this, of course, but his only thought was for his daughter and grandchild.  Upon telling the officer where he was going in such a hurry, the officer replied, "Sure, I understand.  Come on, I'll escort you there myself."

Joseph B. and the officer hurried to the hospital, where he found Mildred his wife waiting, wringing her hands and pacing.  "Thank God you're here," she wept.  "Bill is on his way, too.  Jill is in surgery right now.  They think they've lost the baby!"

The police officer was waiting politely at the nurses' station as he watched Joseph B. try to comfort his wife, when his radio crackled at his hip.  He listened for a moment and then walked softly over to the Saintlys and tapped Joe B. on the shoulder.  "I'm sorry, sir, but it's about your son.  There's been a traffic accident."

At the same moment, a doctor came through the operating room doors, his blue smock spattered with flecks of blood, catching Mrs. Saintly's eye and shaking his head sadly.  "The baby?" she whispered.  The doctor said, "I'm afraid we weren't able to save either one of them."

Mildred wailed with grief as Joseph B. slowly sank to his knees, asking heaven just one word: "Why?"

The officer walked back over to the nurse's station, where one of the nurses said, "He must have gotten God awfully mad somehow."

The cop said, "Well, all these rich guys are bound to make some powerful enemies--it's bound to happen."

Another nurse said, "It's corruption.  You wait and see if that isn't it."

Joe B. heard them say these things through his agony, and didn't even bother to tell them that it wasn't true.  He knew it wasn't true.  He was a good man, a happy man, a faithful man.  He just kept on asking the one word over and over: "Why?"

*****

I'm sure most of you recognized that Joe B., the protagonist of this little story, is actually the Old Testament saint Job.  While we don't have enough time this morning to study the story of Job exhaustively, a brief recap of the main events would perhaps be helpful.

You will remember the scene in the throne room of heaven, where Satan comes to give an account before the Lord Almighty, and God says to him, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?"

Satan basically says to God, "Why wouldn't He serve You, when You've set him up so good?  He's as rich and comfortable as anyone in the whole world."

So God says, in effect, "Well, have at him, then."  And so the disasters begin.

A couple of things to note about Job: He really was, apparently, the most righteous man on earth.  He didn't know about the scene in heaven.  When disaster befell him, he asked God to answer him: "Why, Lord?  Why me, Lord?  Why?"

And finally, after more than 35 chapters consisting mostly of accusations from Job's friends, Job's complaints against God's justice, and utter silence from the throne of heaven, God does answer Job.  But does He say, "There, there, Job, it's not really so bad.  I'm desperately sorry that you had to undergo such harsh treatment.  I never intended you to endure such hurt; I'll make it all better, so you can start living Your Best Life Now."?

Let's look:

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:

“Who is this who darkens counsel

By words without knowledge?

Now prepare yourself like a man;

I will question you, and you shall answer Me.

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Tell Me, if you have understanding.

Who determined its measurements?

Surely you know!

Or who stretched the line upon it?

To what were its foundations fastened?

Or who laid its cornerstone,

When the morning stars sang together,

And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

“Or who shut in the sea with doors,

When it burst forth and issued from the womb;

When I made the clouds its garment,

And thick darkness its swaddling band;

When I fixed My limit for it,

And set bars and doors;

When I said,

‘This far you may come, but no farther,

And here your proud waves must stop!’

“Have you commanded the morning since your days began,

And caused the dawn to know its place,

That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,

And the wicked be shaken out of it?” (Job 38:1-13 NKJV)

The Lord continues on in this vein for several more chapters, asserting His authority in creation, the splendor of His power, and His right to do with all creation whatever His will decrees.

So how did Job respond to this?  When the Lord finished His holy tirade, listen to what Job says:

“I know that You can do everything,

And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.

You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’

Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,

Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

Listen, please, and let me speak;

You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,

But now my eye sees You.

Therefore I abhor myself,

And repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:2-6 NKJV)

When Job saw the splendor, the magnificence, the utter holy majesty of God, he had no further question; in the light of God's sovereign will and mighty power, he was silenced; he was satisfied.  He had no further complaint.

To recap: Job suffered.  Job demanded to know why.  God answered: "I am God, and you are not."  Job answered, "That's right; You are God, and I am not."

*****

Why is there suffering in the world?  Why is there war and violence, flood and famine?  Why is there failure of health, failure of families, failure of finances?  Why are there tears and sorrows and pain and, at the end of it all, death?

Is it a partial payment for man's record of sin in the world?  Is it the devil wreaking havoc upon unsuspecting mankind?  Is it the hidden counsel of God, working out His own ineffable purposes?  My answer is this: I don't really know, except to acknowledge that, in fact, God's inscrutable purposes will ultimately be accomplished.

*****

For most of us, though, the question isn't so much why is there suffering in the world, but rather, "Why is there suffering for me?"

We like ourselves awfully well, don't we?  We feed ourselves the choicest foods, we pamper ourselves with every luxury we can reasonably afford, we primp and preen before our mirrors, and whenever we get into arguments, we always award ourselves the victor's laurels.  After all, who could be more reasonable and just than us?

Think back again to Job.  He was the most righteous man in his generation, yet he suffered, and he questioned God "why."  Now there are three things that I think I know about you, brothers and sisters in this congregation.  You have all experienced suffering in your life; you have all almost certainly asked God, at least once in your life, "Why is this happening to me?"  And you are clearly not the most righteous person in your generation.

Now, I won't presume to tell you how to handle your own suffering, whatever that may be.  I don't want to tell you that you're doing it wrong, or come off as sounding arrogant or unsympathetic.  I know you're hurting, somehow--we all are.

So, what are we to do with this question of our own personal, private, and very real suffering?  Like so many themes introduced in the Old Testament, which show themselves as types and foreshadows, we must look to the New Testament for the fulfillment, for light and clarification.

What did Jesus say about suffering?  What did the apostles have to say about pain and disappointment?  What we find in the pages of holy scripture may surprise us.

… you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ … (1 Peter 1:4b-7 NKJV, emphasis added)

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. (1 Peter 4:12-13 NKJV, emphasis added)

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4 NKJV, emphasis added)

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,  while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.   (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NKJV)

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:16-18 NKJV)

Did you hear what the Bible has to say to us as followers of Jesus Christ?  There were words like these sprinkled throughout those passages: Rejoice!  Count it all joy!  This is good for you!  This is God's will for you.

Okay, so that's what the apostles said.  So, what about Jesus?  What words of comfort did He have for those who suffer?

Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:

“Blessed are you poor,

    For yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who hunger now,

    For you shall be filled.

Blessed are you who weep now,

    For you shall laugh.

Blessed are you when men hate you,

    And when they exclude you,

    And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,

    For the Son of Man’s sake.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!

    For indeed your reward is great in heaven,

    For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.

“But woe to you who are rich,

    For you have received your consolation.

Woe to you who are full,

    For you shall hunger.

Woe to you who laugh now,

    For you shall mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you,

    For so did their fathers to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:20-26 NKJV)

These passages represents a way of thinking that just does not compute for us as 21st-century American Christians.  We have been taught to pursue the "American dream" and all of its attendant luxuries, but Jesus says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven."  Our bumper stickers proclaim that "he who dies with the most toys wins," while Jesus says, "Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

Suffering is part of the balance to that paradoxical equation.  "He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God."  So says 1 Peter 4:1-2.  When we suffer, we learn to love our lives a little bit less--and that's a good thing.

Suffering has the power to focus our attention, to let all of the peripheral clatter and clutter of our lives fade into obscurity, to the point that it's just me and my pain … and God.  Suffering also reveals to a Christian what he's made of.  Anybody can smile and bless you when they have no pain, no worries, no fears.  But when all of our comforts are comfortless, when our health or security is snatched from our grasp, then we see the true measure of the Christian.  Are we ruled by our fears, or do we exhibit that wonderful quality we call "peace that passes understanding," by the Holy Spirit's help?

*****

I titled today's sermon, "A Biblical Perspective on Suffering."  There are many other scripture passages I could have referenced, such as Hebrews chapter 12, which tells us that when we suffer in this world, it is proof that our heavenly Father is disciplining us as His own children, or Revelation chapter 21, which tells us of our eternal reward: "God will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."  But the few that I selected seemed sufficient for their purpose, at least in that the sermon didn't end up being two hours long.  In two words, a biblical perspective on suffering would be: "trust" and "rejoice."

I don't mean to misrepresent myself: I have not attained this perfectly, not nearly.  But at least I know it's the mark I'm aiming for.  And if these thoughts have never been introduced to you before, now they have.  Ask the Holy Spirit to weed out the truth from the deception, and bring forth His fruit in your life.

One thing seems to me to be certain--and here I break ranks with the Norman Vincent Peales and Robert Schullers, the Kenneth Copelands and Joel Osteens of the world: Somehow, sometime, some way, you're going to hurt.  In fact, Jesus promised it.

Our Lord Jesus, the meek and lowly Lamb of God, who was called "a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief"--Jesus said, "In this world you will have tribulation.  But be of good cheer; for I have overcome the world."