There are very few weeks in a year when I am not asked to pray for a person who is suffering. Very few! Suffering is a part of the human condition. “Sin brings forth death” the Bible declares. Our church family and personal friends are sources of great joy for me personally, but I don’t think I know any of them that don’t have something weighing them physically, emotionally, financially or personally. The universal truth is we all have hurts.
Joseph Parker was a British Pastor in the 1800’s in London, England. His church was the City Temple, and hundreds would attend the services multiple times each week. He was a brilliant man who authored at least sixty books. He struggled his whole ministry and especially after his wife of thirty-five years died. His struggle was emotional yet, through it all he remained faithful to his calling. His most famous saying was given to preachers. “Preach to the suffering and you’ll never lack for a congregation; there’s a broken heart in every pew.” Right now, I have five specific men on my prayer list for the same reason. These brothers in Christ experienced the death of their dear wives. Each of them now struggles with missing their mate. We have many more widows than widowers in our congregation. These ladies struggle the same way as the men. Then there are those that physically suffer. Others struggle to make ends meet financially. Just yesterday, a generous man asked me to take some money he wanted to give anonymously and help people with groceries. The three families I gave the money to were so grateful. Their suffering was satiated at least for a moment.
Now I want to share a hard truth with you. None of us get a pass from suffering. Not a single one. We all have crosses to bear in our Christian life. The Lord never promised us a flowery bed of ease with big bank accounts; no hospital stays or visits to funeral homes. Philippians 1:29 says, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;” I Peter 5:10, “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” Psalm 119:71, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statues.”
Throughout the scriptures suffering in the lives of God’s people is everywhere. Why would God do that to us? Let me, in the remainder of this blog, share some those reasons.
1. We forget the goodness of God. Apathy on the part of God’s people has always been a problem. That is the cycle of the people in the book of Judges. Israel would be in bondage (slavery) to a heathen people. They would cry out to the Lord. He would hear their cries and would send a Judge, a Savior. The Israelites would be delivered and for a time remembered the Lord and served him, but then apathy. What was next? God sent judgment and back into slavery they went. The cycle then happened again, and again and again. The whole book of Judges is a proof text. Deuteronomy 8:11-17 is also a great passage about how the people that knew God lost their focus becoming apathetic. Is that you? I know if I don’t pay attention to myself and watch out it will be so with me.
2. Suffering Deepens our Walk. When we or a loved one is laying on our backs in a hospital bed, we have one direction to look. Upward. It gives us time to think, to ponder, to muse. When we are walking around a house that is now eerily silent, it is times such as that that the still small voice is heard clearly. The great C.S. Lewis said this, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” My greatest prayers have been in times of greatest pressure. It has been those times when the greatest strides spiritually have taken place.
3. Suffering is a Gift from God. I know you have this thought as you read that. Well, if this is a gift, I don’t want it. I understand. I am not writing about your actual pain necessarily but the result of that pain and suffering you’re enduring. This is the time when the presence of God becomes greater and our joy overflows. Psalm 16:11, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” The Lord is with us during these times. Psalm 138:7, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me; thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.” Isaiah 43:2, “When thou passeth through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”
4. Afterward, We Encourage Others. When the faithfulness of God has brought us through the deep waters, remember to share it with those whose nose is barely about the waterline. The things that have happened to us, once past, should be used to encourage others. There is a reason God allowed it. Romans 8:28 should be committed to memory. I close with a verse from Philippians 1. “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; (1:12). Paul has a huge list of his sufferings in II Corinthians 11:23-28. The one who suffered the greatest of course is the Lord Jesus at Calvary.
The people we meet in the streets and in the byways are the same as those in the pews on Sundays. “There’s a broken heart in every pew” and there’s a broken heart in most of those you meet, even if there’s a smile to fake you out. Everyone suffers in some way. As Christians, we can learn from our own sufferings and then help others with theirs.