Suffering Part 5

Suffering Part 5

 

I've been reading Job to see what this book has to say about suffering. Even in the very first chapter something jumped out at me. Right after God allows Satan to cause the deaths of Job's 10 children Job shows us the godly way of dealing with suffering. Those who have lost a child know that this is the worst thing that can happen to a parent. There is no greater suffering then that of a parent who's child has died. So how does Job react when all of his children die in an accident?

Job 1:20-22 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Yes, he grieved, as any parent would, but even in the very midst of his horrible grief, he worshiped the Lord! Instead of getting angry at God and yelling at Him and saying "why me" or "why my children", he accepts that the Lord is in control and that all will work out in the end for his good. He confirms that the Lord is good and in control of all.

That's got to be the hardest thing in the world to do. To offer up the sacrifice of praise. Because when we're suffering, it IS a sacrifice., as praise is probably the last thing that we feel like doing. To affirm even in the midst of disaster or suffering that God is good all the time, and that He is in control and knows best, and to worship Him shows a very mature faith.

Next Satan is given permission to cause Job to have a disease that made painful boils erupt all over his skin. Still Job didn't sin, even when goaded to by his own wife:

Job 2:10 He replied, You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

I have always felt that the Lord included this book in His Word to teach us how to deal with suffering in a Godly way. So far, in the first two chapters we've seen that God wants us to remember that He is good all the time, even when He's allowing us to suffer through something, and we don't understand why. Job had no idea that the reason he was going through all this was because of Satan. All he could know was that for some reason, God was allowing it. He chose to trust God and affirm God's goodness and to worship God even though he was in emotional, mental, and physical pain.

Heb 13:15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise”the fruit of lips that confess his name

Note the word, "continually" in the above verse. That means even when we're suffering, just as Job did. I'm always curious as to the "why" of things, so I asked myself why God would want us to do this. Is it because He has a big ego and needs to be praised all the time? No, I honestly don't believe that for a minute. What I discovered was at least one of the reasons He wants us to do that is because it actually helps us! Have you ever been really upset about something and decided to stop the merry-go-round that your mind was on, and to start praising God instead? I have. Do you know what happens to you when you do that? You start feeling better! Praising and worshiping the Lord, makes us feel better emotionally, spiritually, mentally and physically! The Lord of course knows this and I believe that's one reason He wants us to do this.

Of course I also wondered why it makes us feel so much better when we start praising and worshiping God. I have come to the conclusion that it is because when we worship Him we are actually making a connection to Him which causes our spirit and soul to be refreshed and recharged. When we are worshiping Him, our eyes are no longer on what is causing us to suffer, but are now on Jesus. As long as we maintain that connection with Him, He can renew our minds, restore our souls and refresh our spirits. In essence, He recharges our batteries.

Remember the story of Peter walking on water? He was doing great until when? Until he took his eyes off Jesus and started looking at the water. (the water represents any crisis, or suffering you're going through) So that story too is trying to teach us to keep our eyes on the One that can carry us through this rather then on the suffering we're going through.

Also, when we take our eyes off what is causing us to suffer and put them on the Lord, we are allowing Him to be our strength, rather then trying to go it alone, just as this verse says:

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 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 Christs power may rest on me. That is why, for Christs sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Does that make sense to you? I know that learning this really helped me a lot. Of course the Lord still has to remind me to put my eyes back on Him and take them off the pain, but little by little I'm getting better at it.