In a previous post, I talked about some of the reasons for suffering in this world. This whole topic is complex. The truth is that there are no easy answers. And there are many times we don’t have the answers. Our simple response is to put our faith in our Lord. As Peter writes:

“Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” (1 Peter 4:19, ESV)

But how do we do that? In this post, I want to outline some different responses to help us endure.

1. Repentance

The first thing Jesus proclaims in his ministry is repentance (see Matthew 3:2). The first thesis of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses reads:

When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said “Repent,” he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance.

Repentance is a posture to which God invites us. It is in this posture of repentance that we discover forgiveness and healing.

Our suffering is that constant reminder that we are sinners before a holy God. It is a sharp dagger that reveals we have not lived as God intended us to live. It is a calling to humility. It beckons us to forsake our pride and presumption.

Suffering has a way of revealing our hearts. Do we truly confess that we are sinners who deserve nothing before a holy God? Do we truly believe that all our righteous acts are but filthy rags (see Isaiah 64:6) that merit us nothing before the Lord Almighty? Do understand that all we have to appeal to is the undeserved grace and mercy of God? Or do we think God is obligated to spare us of suffering because we try to be good people?

2. Intentional Prayer

Prayer seems like such an obvious response. But I fear that we give more lip service to the idea of prayer than anything else. We easily equate prayer with positive thoughts. Worse, we equate prayer with worry.

But prayer is to speak to God. This can be done informally as we go about our day. But when we enter into suffering, we are invited to more formal prayer. This is to take the time to pray while setting aside other activities. It is consciously forming our thoughts and expressing them before God.

Turn off all your digital devices. Separate yourself from distraction. Put yourself in a posture of humility. Kneel or to sit in an upright position. Express yourself. Don’t just think your thoughts. Speak your thoughts out loud. If you don’t speak them, then write them. Create a prayer journal. This will give you a record of how God helps you through suffering. Journaling will build your faith to endure when suffering comes again.

The point is to approach prayer intentionally. See it for the lifeline that it is. It is not an optional discipline for the Christian life. It is an essential one.

3. Ask for Help

So much of our suffering is the result of pride’s hold on us. We fail to ask for help. We pride ourselves in our self-sufficiency. We don’t want to be seen as being “needy.” So we try to go it alone. We try to do it ourselves, so we end up failing to get the help we need.

This week we will celebrate the independence of our nation. Most of us live our entire lives trying to maintain our independence. But God never created us to live fully independent. He created us to live dependent upon him and upon each other.

Suffering is often an invitation to surrender our independence. It calls us to give up our “I-don’t-need-any-help” attitude. You may feel embarrassed to ask for help. You may think that you are admitting failure. But few things will free us from suffering like the word “help.”

4. Wait

We spend much of our lives trying to avoid any sort of discomfort. We do everything we can to eliminate the pain. Rather than wrestle with the cause of the pain, we look to cover it up.

Sometimes we just need to sit with the pain. If you have a headache, the answer is to take an Advil. But consider that your headache might be caused by dehydration. It might be that you are overworked and not getting enough sleep. It might that your blood sugar is low because you have not eaten enough. It might be the result of indulging in too much alcohol the night before. Rather than dealing with the cause of the headache, we simply try to make it go away.

God put nerves in our bodies to sense pain. That is a good thing. Pain tells us that something is not right. When you have an open wound, the pain tells you that you are bleeding and that the injury needs attention. You don’t want to ignore it. Otherwise, you could suffer from loss of blood. If the wound is not properly cared for, you could easily develop an infection. The pain informs action.

There are times when we need to live with the hurt. It teaches us. It informs us. It often prepares us for what comes next. Listen to God for what is to be learned. Listen to God for how he would have you respond. Learn what the pain and hurt are teaching you.

5. Serve Generously

There are times that our suffering is the result of our self-serving interests. We look to be served rather than to serve. We strive after comfort. We look with longing at those who have more than us. We scroll through our Facebook feed and see friends with their happy family taking wonderful vacations to beautiful places. Our suffering is the discontentment that we don’t have their life. We consume media filled with advertisements whose goal is to create discontent in our hearts.

We create an idol called “happiness.” We strive for this elusive ideal that we believe will be found if we acquire enough of the right things. Our suffering is that we are not “happy” with our life.

But Jesus says:

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25, ESV)

Jesus invites us to live generously. He invites us to a life of service. Too many people in life are discontent because they are consumed with “getting.” But Jesus points out the way to fulfillment comes through “giving.”

6. Worship

Declare God’s greatness in the face of Satan’s apparent victory in this world. Suffering will easily blind our faith. It will lead us to think that God has abandoned us. We might think our suffering is greater than our God. We may doubt his goodness.

Worship is warfare. It defends us from Satan’s assaults. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we declare God’s Word and promises to battle our doubts. We sing God’s praises while still wondering if he deserves our praise. But there is something that happens when we declare God’s truth (which seems untrue) over Satan’s lie (which seems true). God’s word does not return void. God’s Word will accomplish its purpose (see Isaiah 55:11). Our faith will increase and will conquer our doubt.

What comes first? Faith? Or the spoken Word? It is the Word! It is the Word that creates faith. Worship is not about telling God how great your suffering is. Worship is telling your suffering how great your God is.

Declare that the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is alive in you.

“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11, ESV)

Declare that Jesus has won the victory. There may be a struggle today. But every day you wake up, you are one day closer to the end of suffering. You are one day closer to healing. You are one day closer to the fulfillment of all things. Suffering reminds us that there is a better day. Our hope is not our life now. It is the life to come. 

Come Lord Jesus. Amen!

Many questions I have received revolve around the topic of suffering. Why would God allow suffering? Why is life so unfair? How can I endure this?

There is no easy answer to these questions, and they can hardly be answered in a simple blog post. Even an entire book on the subject would leave questions unanswered. But that does not mean we cannot speak into this subject.

I plan to share several posts on this topic. And this will hopefully give some guidance for further exploration for those who have asked questions.

Today, I consider some of the possible reasons for suffering in this world. As long as we walk in this world, there will be suffering. No one gets through life without enduring multiple hardships. Even those who seem to have the best things in life will have struggles.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of reasons for suffering. But I hope to show some possible explanations. Some possible explanations include:

1. The Consequence of Your Choice

Sometimes your suffering is the consequence of your choice. When you chose a diet of fatty foods that are high in sodium, you will reap the consequence of that choice with your health and well-being. When you frivolously spend your money and fail to live with a budget, you will discover financial challenges in your life. You reap what you sow.

God gives us the Commandments. They are not the 10 suggestions. When we think we know better and chose differently than God instructed us, it should not surprise us when we fall upon hardship. He gives us the Commandments not to be a tyrant. He gives us the Commandments for our welfare.

2. The Consequence of Other’s Choices

We can suffer because of the choices of others. Last week, I stepped out of my car and onto a piece of gum someone decided to spit out into the parking lot. This other person had decided it was too inconvenient for them to dispose of their gum properly. They took the lazy approach and just spat it out on the ground without concern for the possibility of someone stepping in it. They figured it would not be their problem, so why worry about it. Because of their choice, I had to suffer a sticky mess on the bottom of my shoe.

Gum on the bottom of the shoe is a small matter, but there are choices of greater magnitude that affect many. A wife suffers because of the substance abuse of her husband. An unborn child suffers because of the choice of his mother to have an abortion. A family suffers a loss of a loved one because a person chose to drive drunk.

3. Failing to Depend On God and Others

Americans pride themselves in their independence. We spend much of our lives trying to live independently. We struggle when our independence is taken away. We do not want to rely upon anyone else. We consider it a failure when we are not self-sufficient.

The problem is that God did not design us to live independent. He designed us to rely upon him and others. A newborn baby is dependent upon parents for survival. When we come to our later years, we often depend upon the children we once cared for. Most of us living in urban or suburban settings are dependent upon farmers in rural areas to provide food. Employees are dependent upon the owner of the business to provide continued employment. We could go on about the complex interdependence of this world, but the point is that God did not create us to go through this journey of life alone. We lean on each other. Our suffering is sometimes the result of our failing to ask for help. Maybe there is help provided for your trouble, but you are too embarrassed to ask to receive the aid you need.

It is not just asking other people for help, but it is also asking God for help. We are dependent upon God for everything we have in this life. Maybe the trouble you are struggling with is because you have failed to ask God for help. As a pastor, I am amazed at the number of people who tell me that they went to the doctor or they had surgery but never asked me to pray with them. Of course, I offer to pray with them. But the point is that we often seek to handle our problems without asking God. A potential blessing of suffering is that it often drives us to prayer and leads us to reconnect with God.

4. Doing the Right Thing

There are many times when doing the right thing will cause you to suffer. It is not easy to be a person of integrity. There are plenty of times where the Psalmist wrestles with the idea of the ungodly prospering while the righteous suffer. The way to “get ahead” in this world sometimes comes by compromising your integrity, taking short-cuts, or taking advantage of others.

Doing the right thing may cause you to miss out. You may lose friends, be despised, or be passed by. In fact, Jesus says this will happen if you follow him. But this is the very essence of what it means to take up your cross. There is a wide road and a narrow road. The wide road is the easier road with fewer hardships. But it is the narrow road that is more satisfying in the end.

5. Unfairness

Sometimes there seems to be no explanation. I think about the child who has a rare and debilitating disease. Or the person who never smoked a cigarette in her life who develops lung cancer. Or the helpless refugee who driven from their home because of warfare or disaster. We can do everything right and still suffer.

It is not always for us to know the answer. It is for us to trust. That is to trust in God. I am not going to pretend I have the answers. God is God. We are not him. There are times we will plead and plead, but God seems silent.

Still, you need to know that God is bigger than our troubles. The Bible tells us that his ways are higher than our ways. He is more mysterious, more awesome, more holy, and more incomparable than anything else. We easily presume to know everything about things which we know nothing about. Think about the child who presumes to know better than a parent. The child thinks they know so much when they know so little. The role of the child is not to question the parent but simply trust and obey.

God is far more glorious and beyond any experience of ours. Yet, it is in the trials and the sufferings of this world that he chooses to meet us in ordinary ways. Jesus is not found on a throne in the lap of luxury but on the cross. That is his throne. It is the emblem of suffering and shame. God does not promise to spare us from suffering in this world. Rather he promises to meet us in our suffering and to help us through it.

Question

In Matthew 15:21-28, Jesus said to the Gentile woman whose daughter was tormented by a demon, “I was sent only to help the people of Israel- God’s lost sheep- not the Gentiles.” This quote, along with Jesus’ statement, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs”, portrays a completely different Jesus than what we see in the four Gospels and Paul’s messages in latter books in the New Testament. Can you explain how our loving Christ would speak in these terms? – Barbara

Answer

We read the Scriptures as Americans living in the 21st Century. But we need to recognize that the stories of the Bible took place thousands of years ago in a different part of the world. That means there will often be things which are difficult to understand because of the cross-cultural context. Something that is offensive in one culture may be common in another culture.

Also, when we carefully read the Gospels, we will often find a Jesus that is much more controversial and offensive has been portrayed to us. Certainly, Jesus is the embodiment of God’s love to this sinful world. But that love would lead him to confront sin and be intolerant towards wickedness.

Think about Jesus overturning the table of the money changers. He starts by braiding a whip. Then he trashes the area by tossing tables. It doesn’t sound like something from Jesus. It sounds more like a professional wrestler creating a scene for entertainment. This was not mild-and-meek Jesus. This was get-out-of-my-way Jesus. It may be hard to picture Jesus’ rage in this scene as “zeal for God’s house would consume him.” (see John 2:15-17)

In the Mark 14:14, it says Jesus was indignant towards the disciples who were preventing the little children from coming to him. Being indignant is not a word that I would associate with being “nice.” I picture a scowl on his face as he rebuked his disciples with a tone of disgust.

Jesus also had choice words for the religious establishment. He called them a brood of vipers, hypocrites, and blind guides (see Matthew 23:1-36). In another situation, he called Peter Satan (see Mark 8:33). Jesus spoke the truth. The truth was not always pleasant to hear, but it was what needed to be heard. Compassion is often shown by saying the difficult and unpopular things that may be upsetting.

In this particular story, Jesus confronts this Gentile woman who was described as a Canaanite. The Canaanites were often portrayed in the Scriptures as idolators. They did not worship the Lord, Yahweh. They worshipped man-made idols. They did not seek the Lord. Rather they used idols to manipulate the gods to accommodate their worldly passions and desires.

As a sinner, she was unworthy to ask anything of Jesus. She only came before him as a beggar. Jesus had every right as the Holy God to ignore her and refuse her request. The compassion is that he grants her request. But he does not grant her request because of who she was nor because of what she did. Jesus grants her request because of who he is.

I believe the reason we struggle with this story is that we struggle with the depth of our depravity. God does not tolerate sin. We are not worthy. We are the dogs that are fortunate enough to get the crumbs that fall off the master’s table. But we don’t deserve even the crumbs. We fail to grasp the fact that we are beggars before a Holy God.

The only way we have to come before God is to humbly come before him. That is we mourn and grieve our sin. We should not only expect harsh words. We should expect his temporal and eternal punishment. All we have is to beg of God’s mercy. The truth is we have rebelled against him and offended him. He should cast us all to the pit of hell.

We also need to know that God does not overlook our sin. Our sin is not dismissed as being nothing. The full consequence of our sin is measured out. But the consequence is brought upon Jesus at the cross. He took our place as the dog on the floor so that we could become the children at the table. Our unworthiness is more than we ever imagine. Yet, God’s grace is more than we could ever conceive.

The cross is offensive because it exists. It is needed because I am a sinner. It is something that I don’t want to hear. I would rather have a God passes off my sin as nothing. The cross is offensive because people in this world don’t think they need it. We would rather stand defiant in our sin than beg for mercy.

Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy upon us.

Kathleen asks: “How do I know if I am living the life God wants me to live? How do I know if I am following his path for me?”

Another reader, Vicki, asks: “How do I find my purpose and feel confident it is in his plan? I feel so unsure!”

I received a good number of questions about purpose. The question of why I am here weighs on many. We want to live a life of significance. We want to do what God created us for.

There are three things that I would identify as our purpose. They are:

1. Love God
2. Make disciples
3. Do good

Love God

To further explain, there are a few Scripture passages that I will direct your attention towards. The first is commonly referred to as the Great Commandment.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (Deuteronomy 6:4–5, ESV)

God calls us to love him. It is to give him our devotion and affection. It is that we make him the priority of our life. We seek to serve him and honor him. This means making worship a priority. It means spending time with him every day by listening to him (reading the Scripture) and talking to him in prayer. It is done by loving our neighbor. Through loving our neighbor, we show our love for God.

Make Disciples

The second verse I direct your attention towards is what we refer to as the Great Commission. Here Jesus says:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19–20, ESV)

The main verb of the Great Commission is “to make disciples.” This is at the heart of our mission as followers of Jesus. Discipleship starts with us. What are you doing to be discipled as a follower of Jesus? How are you learning, growing, and applying the principles of God’s Word in your life? How are you allowing yourself to be challenged in your pursuit of godliness?

As we move beyond ourselves, we look to how we are mentoring, teaching, and encouraging others to be followers of Jesus. You may not teach a Bible class, but recognize that discipleship doesn’t always happen in a formal setting. Some of the most effective discipleship takes place as we live life.

Discipleship happens at the dinner table. It happens in coffee shops. It happens in small groups. It happens as we commute to work. It happens every time we interact with others.

Do Good

The third and final verse I will point out is Ephesians 2:8-9:

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV)

Jesus saved us so that we might do good in this world. And there is much good that we can do. There is much suffering in the world. There are many people who lack. There are many people who are broken. God equips and helps us to make a difference in the lives of others. He empowers us to serve the need.

Instead of focusing on doing the right thing. Look to do good things. Do good things for the sake of the kingdom! You can’t go wrong when you do good for others. You can be so worried about doing the specific thing that God has called you to do that you miss all the good ways he puts before you to make a difference.

The good that God calls you to do is often in your home. He calls us to love our parents, spouses, and children well. It is hard to do good in our world if we can’t do good in our own homes.

Beyond that, most churches have ample opportunities to serve. And if a church does not have an opportunity for you to be put to work, then consider finding a church where you can serve. But don’t limit yourself to the church. There are many needs in our communities and many ways to volunteer and make a difference.

It is not as important what you do. What is important is that you are doing something. And when you set your heart on serving and start doing good in this world, God will make the path clear and open doors of opportunity to make a greater difference.

Get Involved

We live in a nation of consumers. More people are focused on receiving good things than they are in doing good things. You are not going to find your purpose:

• Watching hours of TV.
• Scrolling your Facebook feed.
• Shopping at the mall.
• Cheering your favorite pro sports team.
• Reading the latest and greatest mystery novel.
• Attending a church service and listening to a sermon.

All these activities are consumption activities. It is not that all these things are bad. But most people spend a disproportionate amount of time in consumption activities rather than activities that contribute to making the world a better place. Know that God would have you “do.” To do the good in this world! But so many people don’t “do” because it is too hard, uncomfortable, or inconvenient.

It is easier to listen to music than it is to play music. It is easier to read a book than it is to write a book. It is easier to listen to a sermon than it is to preach a sermon. It is easier to eat cookies than it is to bake cookies. It is easier to be served than it is to serve.

It’s About the Journey

It’s more about the journey than the destination. We sometimes treat our purpose as a destination. We think we are on a journey to discover our purpose. And once we discover our purpose we will find fulfillment in life.

But life is a journey. Our purpose is not something that is found underneath a rock. It is not something that we uncover. We don’t need to fear missing our purpose. Rather than making it about our purpose, make it about God’s purpose. Don’t worry about getting it right. Set your heart on following him. To do that, just ask three questions each day:

1. How am I showing love and affection towards God?
2. How am I being discipling myself and others?
3. How am I doing good?

I am confident that if you start asking yourself these questions, God will direct your steps.

Thank you to everyone who submitted a question to my blog this past week. I have received several dozen questions. Some of the questions were similar. So I may not answer every individual question, but rather combine some questions. I will be looking at one or two questions each week throughout the summer.

Question

I have been told all my life that I need to go to church every week. I would go, but I got nothing out of it. Someone told me you get out of it what you put into it. So what am I supposed to put into it, so I get something out of it? What am I supposed to get from going to church every week? – Holly

Answer

Holly, the first thing I want to say is that God does not call us to go to church. He calls us to be the Church. A big part of being the Church is attending worship with fellow believers. It is hard to be the Church if we are isolated from one another and do not gather on any consistent basis.

To go along with that, the idea of attending worship should not be about what we get out of it. Worship is about what we give. We gather to worship God. We give God the gift of our praises through song. We bring him tithes and offerings. These are ways we honor him for his amazing love and sacrifice. So we put into worship our time. We put into worship our voice. We put into worship our financial gifts. We put into worship our attention and energy. All these things are done, not to get something out of it, but to give glory to God.

Another thing, look for ways to contribute beyond simply showing up. Worship is not like a typical American consumer experience. Rather, it is the community of believers coming together with a common purpose. Each person has a role to play.

Every Sunday, our local church has ample opportunities to serve. We have people who serve as ushers and nursery workers. There are Sunday School teachers and sound techs. There are Praise Team members and Scripture readers. Ideally, it would be great if every person would find one way to serve on a Sunday morning. The life of faith is not to sit in a pew, but rather exercising our gifts and abilities with other believers for the building of the kingdom.

If you attend a church where there is not an opportunity to serve, then you might consider finding a different church. I am not an advocate of church-shopping. But if you don’t have a way to make a meaningful contribution to the ministry of said church, then I don’t believe you are where God would have you be.

Furthermore, serving does not mean we don’t get anything out of it. You may not always see the benefit of the discipline at the moment. For example, we know it is good to eat healthy food. When you choose to have a salad instead of pizza, you may not think you gained much from this choice. You may wonder what the benefit was. The salad does not taste nearly as good as the pizza. And the salad did not make you feel any better.

In our culture of immediate gratification, we look for quick fixes and immediate results. But the most beneficial things in our lives come through disciplined commitment and consistent habits. The benefit of a salad instead of the pizza does not come from making that choice one time. Instead, the benefit comes from making that consistent choice repeatedly.

In a similar fashion, it may feel more satisfying to sleep in or go to the beach on Sunday morning instead of gathering with fellow believers. But a consistent disconnection from the family of faith will leave us disconnected God. When we honor God, by consistently giving him the first hours of our week, the bond with our Lord will strengthen over time.

When we miss worship, we also miss out on the Sacrament. When Jesus gave his body and blood through the bread and the wine, he said, do this often. By faith, we receive the presence and power of God in our lives when we encounter the bread and the wine. What you may be failing to connect is that conflict with a spouse, a feeling of being overwhelmed and anxiousness, the anger and resentment that has been building towards your boss at work are the consequence of a disconnect with God. So many of our challenges difficulties in life are caused because we lack a deep and meaningful relationship with the Lord.

When we miss worship, we also miss an opportunity to pray with others. Maybe the illness or pain I am suffering is because I have not called upon the elders of the church to anoint me with oil and pray with me. I know a lot of people who could have saved a lot of money along with trips to the doctor if they had seen prayer as their first option rather than their last resort. Certainly, you can pray on our own. But so many promises of God connected to prayer involve the community.

Finally, if you are going to worship because you “got to,” then you are going for all the wrong reasons. Worship is a “get to” experience. We should not approach worship as an obligation to “please” God so that he will be generous and gracious to us. Worship is a response to what God has already done for us. When our faith is placed in Jesus as Savior, the desire to worship with others is the natural result. And if you do not have the desire to worship, then consider if it is Jesus in whom your faith is placed. We all worship something, the question is not if we worship, but what it is that we worship.

So why do you believe it is important to attend worship on Sunday morning with fellow believers? Please share in the comments section.