Yan Hadley brought a very timely message tonight on ‘the mystery of suffering.’ Life is fragile and fleeting and suffering is inevitable in this world, but we have a God who is faithful and who can help us through suffering.
The causes of suffering are manifold:
- Sometimes suffering is the result of our own wrong choices and the consequence of breaking laws.
- Suffering can be the result of demonic attack (Job is an example of this.)
- Suffering comes from the general polluting effect of living in a sin-stained world.
- Suffering can come from natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and hurricanes (themselves the result of the Fall).
- Suffering can come because of accidents.
Whatever the cause of suffering, there is often a correlation in people’s minds between sin and suffering. Jesus told us this is too simplistic a view (see John 9), and we must remember that we will never have all the ‘answers’ to our questions about suffering in this life (see 1 Cor 13:12). Nonetheless, there are positive effects of suffering if we allow God to help us respond in a Biblical way:
- Suffering increases our compassion and our ability to help others, softening our hearts and giving us empathy (see 2 Cor 1:3-4).
- Suffering makes us depend on God and not on ourselves (2 Cor 1:8-9, 2 Cor 12:7-9)
- Suffering shapes and strengthens our character (see Rom 5:3-4). The clay pot has to be strengthened in the furnace heat before it becomes porcelain (see Js 1:2-4).
- Suffering purifies and refines our faith (see 1 Pet 1:6-7).
- When we stand strong in times of suffering, our faith is demonstrated to Satan (Eph 3:10). God spoke of Job’s integrity to Satan (Job 1:8) and the saints overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. (Rev 12:11)
- Suffering can be for the greater glory of God (see John 9:3, John 11:4). We have to keep in mind that God’s ways are not our ways and He often has greater purposes than we can see at the time.
- Suffering keeps us in the place of obedience to God (Ps 119:67, 71).
- Suffering changes our wrong attitudes and helps us to ponder our ways (Jonah 3:5-9)