I was once ministering to a cancer patient. One day while I was sitting with them, they told me their cancer was their cross to bear. They believed that the cancer was given to them by God. They believed it was God’s will for them to suffer the disease. They were not sure why, but they were convinced that this was their cross and that God was doing this to them.
The idea of bearing a cross comes from the words of Jesus. Jesus tells us several times in the Gospels to take up our cross and follow him (see Matthew 10:38, 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23). The calling to take up a cross is a calling to suffer for the sake of the gospel. Throughout history, many Christians have suffered persecution and martyrdom because the name they bear. It still happens today.
When it comes to bearing a cross, we must be careful to make a distinction between suffering for the name of Christ and suffering as a result of living in a fallen and sinful world. Cancer is not a consequence of following Christ. It is not a cross we bear. Cancer is a consequence our mortality. Recognize the origin of the suffering.
It’s Not God
It’s popular to put the blame on God for our hardship. We think God is the one responsible for the pain we face. We become angry at him. But beware that is anger misdirected.
God is good! Every good gift in your life is a gift from God. Every breath you breath! Every beat of your heart! Your friends and family! You would have none of these things without God. The evils of this world, are not on him. They are on us.
It Might Be My Poor Choices
The suffering we often experience in our bodies is not the result of God giving us a disease. Rather it might be the consequence of poor choices we made in the stewardship of our bodies such as failing to eat healthily and to get proper exercise.
Some people struggle to pay their bills. For many of us Americans, we don’t have a money problem. We have got a spending problem. God has given us more than many other people in other parts of the world and still it is not enough. Where does the problem lie? Who gets the blame? Even if God was to give us more, would it solve the problem?
How many of our ills in life have come as a result of not being attentive to God’s direction? What would be different if we actually lived obedient to his Word? Are you pointing the finger at God when you should be pointing it at yourself?
It Might Be the Choices of Others
Other times were are a victim of the evils in this world. We can’t explain why some are made to suffer greatly while others live relatively free of pain. All of us are capable of doing some terrible things. We heap the consequences of our actions on ourselves AND OTHERS AROUND US. My sin doesn’t just affect me. It affects my family, my church, my friends, and perfect strangers. It may not be fair that others are made to suffer because of my actions, but no one ever said the consequence of sin was fair.
I don’t suffer from my sin alone. Often I will suffer for the sins of others. Think about the evil dictator who makes his people suffer. One person can cause great misery.
Suffering for God
Recognize that there are times when you will suffer because you are a follower of Jesus.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Matthew 5:10–11 (ESV)
This is what Jesus means when he talks about bearing your cross. Doing the right thing is never easy. Taking a stand inevitably means that people will try to knock you down.
But there is a difference in this type of suffering. There is a joy that comes from this type of suffering. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who suffer for righteousness sake.” The Apostle Paul talked about how he counted it a privilege to suffer for Jesus. Recognize that a cross to bear may not be fun. It may be filled with great pain. But at the same time a cross to bear will bring a deep joy that goes beyond our external circumstances.
God’s Part in Our Suffering
God’s part is not to prevent the pain. He rescues us from it. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says:
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. John 16:33 (ESV)
The hardship we face points us to something greater. God did not create us to suffer in this world. He created us to wear the crown of righteousness in eternity. The pain that you face today is temporary, and Jesus has overcome. Every day you move one-day closer to his eternal victory.
Questions for Reflection
- Why do you think it is popular to blame God for suffering?
- How would you define a “cross to bear?”
- What is the origin of your suffering?
- Share your comments.
Ginger says
Thank you for sharing and posting this. You have no idea how many levels you hit on in my life, my daughters, my husbands, our families lives. This brings a sense of peace to me today with a tribulation that I am going through as well as my daughter and her health and just the other day she said “God did not give you type 1 diabetes” Her boyfriend looked right at her and said “this is not God’s fault” She was/is angry at this moment but we will get through this as well as a financial issue we have that through great prayer and our own discipline we will work it out. Thank you again for posting this and I will be showing it to my family to night to read and discuss.
Tim Schultz says
Pastor Ressler: First, thanks for your devotions. They are inspiring and thought provoking. I’m not a theologian, so I’m not asking for this to be posted. I’m certainly not entering into a debate. I’m writing to you personally.
Having said that, I think we need to recognize what could be another God-related reason for suffering apart from our sinful nature or persecution. Specifically, is it possible that God causes some suffering for the sake of bringing us closer to Him so that we can do his will or to recognize something about Him that we would not otherwise see ? After all, we are very stubborn sinners.
Think about Job and pre-conversion Paul. Each came through suffering that was allowed by or directly imposed by God. I see the suffering in these examples as being different than suffering for God in the sense that a missionary or a persecuted Christian might suffer for the sake of proclaiming the Gospel (of course, Paul endured that later). For me the suffering in these two examples seems to be more about preparing for doing God’s work, something that may be a necessary step of refinement in God’s eyes. Don’t we have to recognize the refiner’s fire?
And the good news is that both Job and Saul/Paul ended up closer to God and better able to proclaim His truth because God got their attention. I believe this can happen to us as well.
For example, I’m thinking about a pretty horrible accident that affected our family. In retrospect, it seems very clear that we were all pulled much closer to God through that. We learned how to trust God. We learned how to pray.
Now, did God cause the suffering to encourage an outcome that couldn’t have been reached another way (i.e., the refiner’s fire)? Or was the suffering the result of our life choices and God’s gift was the miraculous healing that followed? I can’t pretend to know God’s mind there (a lesson from Job). We may never know whether God had a hand in both the suffering and the healing, but I think it’s possible that both were part of God’s plan.
It’s hard to reconcile the God of love with a God that would deliberately cause suffering to achieve a higher good. There appear to be examples in the Bible, Jesus being the most important.
Beth Saltalamacchio says
The point made is clear, but there’s something that troubles me, and has for a long time. While some of our troubles come from bad choices we make or the sins of others, some, such as natural disasters and congenital diseases, just happen with no input from anyone. These are the hardest to understand for me. While I know God will help us through them, where they come from seems to be in the way God created the world. I think this may be a reason people blame God. I don’t want to do that, but why some things happen is very hard to understand. Perhaps this life was designed to be flawed so that we would strive for heaven.