For a while now, my theology of suffering has been well defined. It's a
topic I often do not engage people in, because often people find comfort
in their coping mechanisms and so I do not seek to alter their
mechanisms and hope for them that life doesn't serve them up something
that would challenge them.
If we're going through suffering and I hear:
"I'm sure God will turn this into something good for you one day." I
understand that people are trying to comfort me, and I take it as that.
But I do not agree with the basic premise that:
1 - God is using and maybe even causing my suffering
2 - That the good would be for me or my family
3 - That the idea of a future good would somehow assuage the current
suffering.
Every epithet spoken betrays basic assumptions, but I take it for the
good intentions that people mean, because it's often hard to know what
to say to someone when you want to comfort them. Sadly, some people
take these sayings and let it turn into reasons why they hate Christians.
Last night, seemed to have a theme for me, which is always a bit spooky
because that is how God speaks to me. Through repeated themes that I
notice around me.
We watched this sermon:
http://marshill.com/media/rebels-guide-to-joy/the-rebels-guide-to-joy-in-suffering
It says in words my thoughts regarding suffering in ways I could never put it. The first 47 minutes of this sermon hit the NAIL ON THE HEAD for me.
then at night I read myself to sleep with the book
"Sleeping Coconuts" which I'll talk about later. In the chapter I read, the missionaries involved were going through a lot of suffering and learning how to grow closer to Christ through it.
So, here is my basic theology of suffering.
-For me almost everything boils down to your relationship of closeness with Christ.
-God is good, and He WILL work all things to His good.
-We are not assured that we will ever see any good to us while on this earth. There is no gaurantee of that.
-So the question you have to ask yourself is this.... Do I care enough about God to care if He accomplishes good? Do I care enough about God and His kingdom, that if you told me today 'the rest of your life is going to be miserable, and you will see everyone you care about die, and you will be destroyed and then die in misery'... that I would still choose to follow Him?
-We know God delights in giving us good things, but we have no guarantee of them.
-So how well do I know Christ? How well do I love God? How much in love with the person of Him, the true person, not the one I've convinced myself is real... but the REAL GOD. How well do I know Him? And do I know him well enough to say 'yes' to the question above? Would I still follow Him?
Of course no one hopes for that. No one wants the bad stuff. Well, some people run around wanting to be martyrs, at least until they see true suffering. Some people run around feeling and acting like they are suffering when they are not, because they feel they are somehow more righteous. But they are just being prideful and silly.
Christianity is not about rules. It's not about do's and don'ts. It is about coming to know Jesus Christ so well, that you fall in absolute love with Him and can't tear yourself away.
Let's rephrase the question:
-Do you love your wife or child enough to stand in front of a moving bus to protect, wind up in a hospital bed for the rest of your life?
Most people would answer 'yes'. Well then, every day you're not in a hospital bed is a good day!
And every day spent in a hospital bed, is an opportunity to let people see that the difference in your life is Christ.
Let the nurses ask 'why doesn't that one complain as much as the others?'
If we put our minds on heaven, our limitations are not on this earth, suffering takes on a whole new connotation.
But being able to live with suffering well is a coin toss.
My prayer for Christians going through suffering is that they find a way to draw closer to Christ.
My prayer for people around Christians who are suffering is that they see what being close to Christ means and are compelled to fall in love with Christ themselves.
But don't take my word for it. Listen to Paul in Philippians, he was pretty much an expert on suffering.
