There are many examples in Scripture of the kind of suffering God uses to pierce our balloon and release the hot air that inflates us. I’ll use only three examples to show us how God works through suffering.
- David
David was riding the crest of the wave as God’s model king of Israel. The kingdom was united and expanded; his capital, Jerusalem, was secured; his enemies were subdued; his life was blessed…his helium balloon was full and…his lust got the better of him. He let go of God and went it alone. PRIDE!!
David fell very hard.
2 Samuel 11:2-4 NLT
[2] “Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. [3] He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” [4] Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home.”
HUMILIATION! His balloon was popped!
David’s response, when the prophet, Nathan, confronted him, reveals a fragment of his real suffering. First, his pride was so hurt that it was unbearable.
Psalms 32:3-4 NLT
[3] “When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. [4] Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.”
Second, his sin had cut him off from God’s presence and he was devastated.
Psalms 51:3-4, 11 NLT
[3]”For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. [4] Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just…
[11] Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.”
David used a word that aptly described how God had dealt with his pride – broken (dakah) – meaning ‘to crush’ or ‘collapse’.
Psalms 51:8, 17 NLT
[8]” Oh, give me back my joy again; you have BROKEN me— now let me rejoice…
[17]”The sacrifice you desire is a BROKEN spirit. You will not reject a BROKEN and repentant heart, O God.”
What did God do? Nothing!! He let David’s pride take its course. David pierced his own balloon by actions that left his pride in tatters. David’s sin nature won, and he was broken… crushed and collapsed!
Now do you get the picture? This kind of suffering is unbearable because the sufferer can do nothing about it. He can only throw himself on God’s mercy.
God wants to collapse our balloon of pride. Sometimes He simply allows us to be who we are, infused with an old nature that WANTS to be independent of God. Unless God allows our pride to be collapsed, we cannot have a ‘broken’ spirit, like a horse that has been broken in, to take a bit and bridle and submit to a rider.
- Paul
2 Corinthians 12:2, 7 NLT
[2] “I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows….
[7] even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud… “
Sometimes God exposes and helps us to deal with pride before it takes over. In Paul’s case, God intervened to keep Paul from riding his helium balloon. He introduced a form of suffering that kept pricking Paul’s balloon to keep his feet firmly on the ground.
Hardships, especially in the form of persecution, have a way of helping us stay in union with Jesus. When we suffer for Him, we suffer with Him. Our identity is strengthened by an awareness of how weak we are and how much we need His grace.
Exactly! This was the lesson for Paul as he struggled with the never-ending hostility of his fellow-Jews and the Roman government. God refused to remove Paul’s thorn, but He supplied the grace to give Paul joy in his suffering.
2 Corinthians 12:8-10 NLT
[8] “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. [9] Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. [10] That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
What a turnaround! It took Paul time, three times a “No!” from God before he got the picture, but God finally turned his complaining into celebration. That’s what God desires. Paul was learning to take the bit and bridle.
Joni Earekson Tada learned this lesson when she was seriously ill with Covid. She came to the point where, realising that she could rest in God, she ‘turned her cross into a crown’.
- Peter
Peter’s self-inflicted suffering didn’t happen by chance. It was inevitable. He was too cock-sure for his own good. His self-sufficiency oozed out of him like sweat on a hot day!
Jesus saw it coming. He knew Peter, and He knew the Father. He was alerted to the coward in Peter. So, He graciously warned him before the time so that, when it happened, Peter would feel the impact of his denial.
True to Peter, he conveniently forgot Jesus’ warning until the full force of Jesus’ glance hit him between the eyes. That look in the eyes of his Master said more than a thousand words. It was not an “I told you so” look but rather a glance of pure compassion. Peter was entering a season of suffering, a collapse of his balloon, a humiliation so great that it would expose the core of who he really was.
With shuddering remembrance he could write,
1 Peter 5:5-6 NLT
[5]… All of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [6] So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.”
Be sure, then, brothers and sisters, that our loving Father will do whatever it takes to bring down the pride that separates us from His grace. There is nothing God hates more than the arrogant attitude that says, “I don’t need you, God. I can do it myself.”
So, the warning,
1 Peter 5:8 NLT
[8] “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”
To be concluded…