1 Peter 4:1-2 NLT
[1] “So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. [2] You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.”
Here is a gem to ponder! Many have tried to explain the mystery of suffering. Why does God allow so much suffering when He is love? How can He be loving when innocent babies and children, for example, go through so much hardship that it warps their entire lives? Is God really in charge?
In this short meditation, I have no intention of explaining the mystery of suffering but rather pointing to one of suffering’s unexpected outcomes.
God hates pride. He resists the proud. Pride started the rot in the universe and on planet earth in particular. He acted decisively against a created spirit being who stood up against the Almighty.
Isaiah 14:12-14 NLT
[12] “How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. [13] For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. [14] I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’ “
Ezekiel 28:17 NLT
[17] “Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. Your wisdom was corrupted by your love of splendor. So I threw you to the ground and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings.”
Jesus constantly confronted pride in the Pharisees. He hated their arrogance which made them unteachable hypocrites.
Matthew 23:2-3, 5-7, 33 NLT
[2] “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses… [3] So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.
[5] “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. [6] And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. [7] They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’…
[33] Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?”
How does God deal with our pride?
Peter says that those who have suffered have done with sin. What does he mean? It seems to me, then, that God specifically allows people to suffer, even sets it up, to confront and deal with sin, the root of which is pride.
This may not work for unbelievers because they refuse to consider that God is good, or even exists, because they cannot understand His ways.
However, for the believer, suffering is one of God’s most effective tools for achieving His goal. However, before we examine His goal, let’s look at the core nature of a human, be they believer or unbeliever, to understand what suffering is and how it works to deal with sin.
Satan’s aim, in the garden of Eden, was to disconnect people from God. “You don’t need God,” he insinuated. “You can be God.” By sowing mistrust in the motive for God’s instructions (His pure and perfect Iove), he lured the first man into going it alone. Once Adam had embraced this notion, Satan had him in his clutches because he had now become man’s master. Pride became the core of man’s life.
Habakkuk 2:4 NIV
[4] “See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright…”
By contrast, Jesus said that there is an attitude that gains God’s favour, one who lacks ‘wind’ or ‘breath’, ie, one who is not puffed up.
Matthew 5:3 NIV
[3] “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
The core philosophy that the devil had introduced is pride, i.e., that man is now like a balloon filled with helium, puffed up with ‘hot air’ that lifts him above God and people by luring him into thinking that he is in charge. So, humans in the main, reject God in favour of self and live to please and satisfy selfish desires.
Like Winnie-the-Pooh, we float around in the air, clutching our helium balloons. We believe that we are better than other people, that we can cope on our own and, in this or any situation, we don’t need God.
When God works in His own children, His first task is to bring the balloon down by emptying it of pride before He can begin the work of transforming us into the image of His Son. He must pop the balloon in an effective way.
His method of choice is suffering, but what kind of suffering? Peter said that Jesus suffered physically and, in that way, He dealt with sin.
That’s one form of suffering, but there is another form of suffering that gets to the core of who we are in Adam.
To be continued…