Tag Archives: suffering

What Have I Done To Deserve This?

Bible Study, , ,

WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?

“Soon the whole city was in an uproar, people running from everywhere to the Temple to get in on the action. They grabbed Paul, dragged him outside, and locked the Temple gates so he couldn’t get back in and gain sanctuary.

“As they were trying to kill him, word came to the captain of the guard, ‘A riot! The whole city’s boiling over.’ He acted swiftly. His soldiers and centurions ran to the scene at once. As soon as the mob saw the captain and his soldiers, they quit beating Paul.” Acts 21:30-32 (The Message).

‘So where was God in all this?’ This is the first question we are likely to ask.

If Paul was God’s servant, carrying out all His instructions faithfully, why didn’t He protect him from this kind of trouble? Why did He allow Paul to go through all this, just to get him to Rome? Couldn’t he have just hopped on a ship and sailed there in peace?

Questions like these open up the age-old issue of suffering — why does God allow suffering? We all experience our own version of this universal problem, and there are probably as many solutions as there are experiences, but do they really give answers that satisfy?

The problem for believers is that the Bible itself does not give us an answer. It may address some peripheral issues like, for example, that we live in a fallen world; that Satan is the god of this world; that his intention is to kill, steal and destroy; that God has given human beings the freedom to choose and that people do bad things to each other and God does not interfere because we are not puppets.

But these do still do not answer the central issue: why does God allow these things to happen? Paul experienced God’s protection again and again during his travels in Europe and Asia Minor. When people rioted against him and tried to kill him, he escaped. God caused an earthquake to set him free from prison in Philippi. He raised him from the dead when he was stoned at Lystra. He survived hardships of many kinds, but now he was under arrest and in the hands of Roman soldiers. What next?

Apart from Jesus, Job probably suffered more than anyone whose story is recorded in Scripture. He went from being a fabulously wealthy man with a big family, a name and prestige in his community to a pathetic pauper sitting on an ash heap, ill and in pain, and not even a wife to comfort him because she had turned against him as well. It is quite natural that he would ask why.

His so-called friends didn’t help him either. They insisted that God had done this to him because he had secretly sinned, an accusation which Job vehemently denied. In all his ranting and railing, God said nothing. He allowed Job to get it all off his chest until he had nothing more to say. When He did finally answer him, God was angry. He didn’t speak gently to him; He came at him out of a storm!

What He had to say had nothing to do with Job’s demand to know why. He overwhelmed Job with the majesty of His power over nature. “‘Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.'” Job 38:4 (NIV). On and on He went until Job was struck dumb. What was the point of all this?

There is a sense in which God was telling Job that he was too puny to understand His ways. There is no answer to the question ‘Why?’ that we humans can grasp because God is painting His picture on a canvas as big as the universe itself. How can we possibly stand back far enough to see the whole scope of what He is doing?

The real issue is not ‘why are you doing this?’ but ‘what must I do in this situation?’ I can either become embittered, turn my back on God and never experience the grace He promised that sets me free from my emotional pain or I can trust Him because I know that He is a loving Father who is painting me into His big picture and will never do anything to harm or destroy me. It’s really my choice!

For the Last time

Christian Life, , ,

FOR THE LAST TIME

“When it was time, He sat down, all the apostles with Him, and said, ‘You’ve no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of suffering. It’s the last one I’ll eat until we all eat it together in the kingdom of God.'” Luke 22:14-16 (The Message).

Was Jesus crazy? It almost sounds as though He was looking forward to His coming crucifixion. He had shared Passover meals with them in the past. He knew this was the last one He would eat with them as a human being. He referred to other Passover celebrations in the future but they would take place “in the kingdom of God”.

In spite of the glimpses He gives us into the significance of His suffering, both to Him and to the Father, we will never fully understand what the cross meant – neither the experience nor the outcome.

The cross of Jesus – the pinnacle of history and the dividing line for all people for all eternity! For every person, the cross determines our eternal destiny, depending on our choice.

It was because of the cross that God’s plan to build a family of people just like His Son was put back on track. Satan’s deception in the Garden of Eden derailed it for a season, but Jesus paid the debt of man’s sin, reconciled His alienated human race and reinstated every son and daughter into His family through faith in Him.

It was through the cross that Jesus exposed the devil for the liar he is. In spite of the injustice of His trial and death sentence for who He was – the Son of God and the king of the Jews, He submitted Himself to their cruelty and to the Father’s will without a murmur. His death spelt the end for Satan. His judgment was coming and he knew it!

“When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate. When He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” 1 Peter 2:23-25 (NIV).

Jesus looked forward to the cross because it would be the completion of His mission on earth, the culmination of His revelation of the Father and the cue for His return to His place in glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit. So great was His love for the Father that He even relished His suffering because it was the Father’s will to rescue mankind from death and bring them back home to Himself.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God.” Hebrews 12:3 (NIV).

For Jesus, this Passover meal would be the opportunity to reveal the full significance of the historical event they were celebrating. Passover was a picture of the greater redemption from slavery to sin and Satan that He was about to accomplish as the sacrificial Lamb of God whose blood on the lives of those who believe in Him would protect them from death and open the door to everlasting life.

No, Jesus was not crazy! Once again, in His self-forgetful love for human beings, He relished the outcome of His suffering – redemption, rescue and reconciliation and the door to eternal life flung open to anyone who will receive His forgiveness and His invitation to return to the Father’s house and the Father’s arms to be a beloved member of His forever family.