WHEN "WHY" DOESN'T MATTER

Some final thoughts from Piper's Suffering and the Sovereignty of God.

Steve Saint, in his chapter in the above book, suggests there are four reasons for suffering.
    1)Punishment for sin
     2)To display God's power
     3)To build perseverance and character in us
     4)To keep us humble

As I read that, I was interested in my own reactions to it. I understand the first reason, as I am very aware of the wickedness of my own heart. I get the second as well, as a sovereign God's right to receive the glory due Him. I just flat don't like #3 & #4. In my own great wisdom, I see them as less valid reasons to endure pain and heartache. Why is this? In part I think it is because I somehow assume that I can gain perseverance, character and humility some other way. Both scripture and experience would indicate otherwise. But lets look at the above list one at a time.

The reality is that we understand #1 even as a part of what our hearts see as "fair". We expect the criminal to receive justice. We anticipate that a good judge will sentence the murderer for the crime he has committed. So it is fairly easy for us to see that God would do the same.  But sin is not the only reason for suffering, and we need to be wary of assuming that we know what the reason is.

We may see #2 as God's right as the creator, albeit grudgingly giving him permission to leave us in pain. If we are honest, we still probably at least feel  like this is a little unfair, wincing a little at the thought. I read the story in John chapter 9 with just a little bit of reservation. Jesus disciples assumed that a man blind from birth had either sinned or his parents had. Jesus said that it was neither, but that this man's entire life of blindness was so that he could at this moment be the avenue through which God would show his power. Personally, I would have thought that he could have gone blind last week, be healed this week, and achieved the same result. God apparently saw otherwise, and the blind man truly suffered.  It was not a theoretical discussion for him, it was real heartache. Accepting that God chose this path for the blind man requires us to bow to God's sovereignty. Job's friends were equally as sure that the heartache he endured was the result of his sin, and were in the end chastised by God.  What Job endured was also in order to bring glory to God.

I don't know about you, but for me the third and fourth reasons are more difficult to accept. I don't want perseverance and character, not if I have to endure...(fill in the blank). I want it to be easy. I want to win the Olympics after two days of workouts. Sounds pretty foolish, doesn't it? Let me give two scriptures that address this, though there are countless more. Psalm 119:71 says "It was good for me to be afflicted, so that I might learn your decrees." Obviously the Psalmist thought his pain was necessary to know his Lord well.  The second verse is Romans 5:3-4, and gives the sequence of this third reason almost word for word.   "...we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." I found myself  wondering if I would have hope without character, character without perseverance, or perseverance without suffering. When things are easy I go play tennis. When things are gut-wrenching I have no trouble praying.
     Our pastor preached today from James 1:1-18, on How God Grows Faith. James says in part that testing produces perseverance, perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete.

And finally, suffering teaches us to be humble. Cuts through our pride and self-sufficiency. Reminds us our next breath is purely by His grace. (Ever think about how many things in our bodies have to work to make that next breath possible? Boggles the mind.) God requires of us a bended knee, a bowed head, a recognition of his sovereignty. Only then will we really know Him.

There is a certain element where why we suffer really doesn't matter nearly as much as how we suffer. Suffering will come, though in differing forms and degrees. We have an opportunity to show to the world that He is worthy of our trust even when, and maybe especially when, we go through deep waters.




 When we don't see that God is faithful, we need to remember Psalm 119:75, "In faithfulness you have afflicted me." God is, as a part of his character, faithful. That means He is always faithful, even when we don't see it, because it is not based on us, but on Him. God was every bit as faithful when Israel was in slavery as He was when they were led out of slavery.