The Suffering of God

As Hard as Wood

And as Sharp as Nails

We will all suffer. At some point we will cry like David in Psalm 31;

“Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress,
my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
my soul and my body with grief.
My life is consumed by anguish,
and my years by groaning;
my strength fails because of my affliction,
and my bones grow weak.”

We will feel pain, be it emotional, physical or spiritual. Having suffered and wrestled with many issues I want to share my thoughts with you. I hope they help prepare you for suffering, so that you remain a Christian when you suffer.

We suffer because the world is a fallen place. We find this out early in the bible when the whole world is cursed because of humanity's rebellion. The world is fallen and so there is suffering. Suffering is part of God's judgement on us, telling the whole human race that everything is not the way it should be. Although this helps us understand suffering two questions arise; “If the world is so fallen, why me and not others?” and “Is God cruel, why doesn't he do something?”. Knowing that the world is fallen still left me with questions about suffering. I had doubts about God's love for me.

In suffering God disciplines us. This is another biblical truth that is hard to deal with when you suffer. The bible says that when we suffer we grow as Christians becoming mature and like Christ. (James 1:2-4, Hebrews 12:5-13). It is great news that we become more and more like Christ. But after my suffering had gone on and on I was plagued with the question. “Am I so bad, wicked and in need of discipline that I must suffer like this, other Christians aren't suffering like me?” I questioned if there was unconfessed and cherished sin in my life which is a wise thing to do. I had loved sins but I was confessing them and wrestling with them. I couldn't understand why I was suffering so much.

As my suffering continued the issue of being disciplined by suffering became harder to understand. I felt like I must have been a terrible Christian to be disciplined so harshly. And soon it became worse. I started to think that God was a hard God, uncaring and ready to break me so that I met his standard. Both these thoughts were unbiblical but were raised because I doubted God's love for me.

However my merciful God made me understand his love for me. He did this by opening my eyes more fully to Jesus' death on the cross. God sent his Son, Jesus, to die on the cross because of his love for us. God gave up his precious Son because he wanted to save us from our sin, even though we were his enemies. When I think of that I know that God loves me, I'm convinced that God loves me. How can I doubt God's love for me with evidence like the death of his Son? When I'm at my lowest physically, emotionally and spiritually, when all is dark and I can't stand it anymore this is when I cling to the Cross hardest of all. I have hard evidence of God's love for me, as hard as wood and as sharp as nails.

Also, because of Jesus death I know that God understands suffering. He has gone through it as God the Son and God the Father. As God the Son he suffered insult, beating, whipping, desertion and death. As God the Father he suffered watching his Son suffer and he suffered from a relationship ripped apart. So I know that God understands my suffering and cares for me. He made himself suffer because he is more loving than I can possibly imagine, not hard as stone.

What's more the Cross makes sense of being disciplined by God. God bought our holiness through the suffering of his Son. And now he makes us more and more like his Son because he loves us as his children. (See Hebrews 12:5-13). This is a difficult concept idea for us to accept. We think that things are best when everything is rosy. This is true if only our brief life on earth matters, not the afterlife, nor the state of our heart. But God cares about us more deeply than we care for ourselves (seen clearly in the death of Jesus) and so he disciplines us here on earth to make us holy. A loving parent will teach, rebuke or encourage their child because the parent is concerned for their child. And concerned for the man or woman the child will become. So God is like a loving parent, he cares so much about us that he planned the death of his Son and now disciplines us to produce a “harvest of righteousness and peace” (Hebrews 12:11) making us like his Son. This does not stop the discipline from being painful but it does make sense of it and helped me to accept the discipline.

The fallen nature of the world is also dealt with by Jesus' death and resurrection. When Jesus died and was raised to new life God did something about our fallen world. He gave us a way out through hope in Jesus. This world will pass away, the new one will come and we will live with Jesus. So what we have to do is hold onto our hope and know that God is warning all people through this fallen and cursed world. God wants people to turn to him so he warns them that things are not like they ought to be.

When you suffer cling to the Cross. Try to understand the Cross better, dwell on what happened there and what that means. Read the accounts of Jesus death and wrestle with the truth that God sacrificed his one and only Son. As you understand the Cross it will comfort you when you suffer and rebuke you when you despair. The Cross cries out the character of our God, it shows God's amazing love for us which is what I doubt most when I suffer.

The question of why I am suffering, and not others, still remains. But I know that God loves me and is working through my suffering to change me. The question of “why me” is as unanswerable as the question, “why did God save me and not someone else”. So I cling to the Cross and trust in my God because I know he loves me.

Glenn is married to Kathryn, and after doing an MTS Apprenticeship at the University of New South Wales for 2 years is now studying at Moore Theological College.

Comments

• Home
• About
• Archives
• Writing

All content © 2000–2009 Ben and Karen Beilharz, and the respective authors.

Powered by Expression Engine