Following up on last week’s post on the blessings of
brokenness, I started thinking about various people in the Bible and how God
impacted their lives. I suddenly realized that I couldn’t think of a single
person who hadn’t suffered in some significant way. From Abraham to Moses to David
to Paul, every one of them went through some pretty tough times in order to learn
to depend on God and not themselves. Just think of the Hebrews 11 “Hall of
Faith” and what each of those people endured.
So the question is, why do we think we can go through life
without suffering difficulties? We are not naturally God-dependent in the
flesh, so we should expect to have to learn some lessons through pain and
trouble. Gerald Sittser writes in A Grace
Disguised, “Can I expect to live an entire lifetime free of disappointment
and suffering? Free of loss and pain? The very expectation strikes me as not
only unrealistic but also arrogant. God spare me from such a perfect life! …To
live in a world with grace is better by far than to live in a world of absolute
fairness. A fair world may make life nice for us, but only as nice as we are.
We may get what we deserve, but I wonder how much that is and whether or not we
would really be satisfied. A world with grace will give us more than we
deserve. It will give us life, even in our suffering” (110, 115).
That’s one reason the health and wealth “gospel” is so
insidious. Sure, we’d all like comfort and success, but at what cost? If
comfort means missing out on experiencing God’s sustaining grace, I’m not
interested. If earthly riches means eternal ruin, no thanks! (See 1 Timothy
6:9-19.) Sometimes I wonder whether we are doing people a favor by praying for
protection from suffering. We don’t want unnecessary suffering, but God can and
will use all suffering for His glory if we give it to Him.
I can identify with C. S. Lewis’s comment, “We are not
necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how
painful the best will be” (Letters of C. S.
Lewis). Having endured extended times of depression, I find that I am now
more willing to pray “Whatever it takes, Thy will be done” rather than “Deliver
me!” I’d rather go through the valley with God at my side than live on the
mountaintop without really knowing Him.
I think that when we get accustomed to the “good life,” we
find it harder to accept suffering when it comes. Would Job have complained as
long if he hadn’t been so rich to start with? So many people turn to God when
difficulties come, but then are inclined to ignore Him when life gets easier.
Some of the godliest people I have known are ones who have endured suffering
for a lifetime due to illness. John Piper said, “Any suffering person I’ve ever
talked to bears witness to the fact that they have seen more of God and have
come to know and trust God more deeply than if their suffering hadn’t come” (http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-should-i-read-the-book-of-job).
And Malcolm Muggeridge wrote, “Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness
that everything I have learned in my seventy-five years in this world,
everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my existence, has been
through affliction and not through happiness, whether pursued or attained.”
Mountaintop views are made more glorious when contrasted
with the dark valleys. And even the edge of darkness is glorious when you look
into the light. I recently started reading The
Pilgrim’s Progress, and John Bunyan describes well the sense of wonder and
gratitude as he looked back on the darkness through which he had come:
“O world of wonders
(I can say no less),
That I should be preserved in that distress
That I have met with here! Oh, blessed be
That hand that from it hath delivered me!
Dangers in darkness, devils, hell, and sin,
Did compass me, while I this vale was in;
Yes, snares, and pits, and traps, and nets did lie
My path about, that worthless, silly I
Might have been catched, entangled, and cast down;
But, since I live, let Jesus wear the crown.”
That I should be preserved in that distress
That I have met with here! Oh, blessed be
That hand that from it hath delivered me!
Dangers in darkness, devils, hell, and sin,
Did compass me, while I this vale was in;
Yes, snares, and pits, and traps, and nets did lie
My path about, that worthless, silly I
Might have been catched, entangled, and cast down;
But, since I live, let Jesus wear the crown.”
“We rejoice in our
sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces
character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame,
because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who
has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5 ESV).
