This winter has been for some, a struggle to survive. During Lent, we Christ-followers turn toward Jerusalem & the Cross, as we remember Jesus' sacrificial suffering, for us. Remembering the Savior's sufferings, can be a time to reflect on our own suffering. Why do we suffer?
Billy Graham deals with why God's children suffer in his book, Hope for the Troubled Heart. One reason we all suffer is because we sin or disobey God. Graham writes: "If a Christian loses his temper, tells a lie, or commits a sin of any kind, he will suffer God's judgment... just as a child needs correcting, so God's children need correcting."
Sometimes, like a loving Parent, God needs to discipline us, his children. Graham tells about his father punishing him as a child, but he knew that his father loved him. Jesus says, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline." (Revelation 3:19) A wise person considers whether his problem is deserved as God's discipline.
Graham asks: "Can we profit from pain?"
Remember Job? If ever a man had trials, it was this fellow. But this is what he
concluded: When God has tested me, I will come forth as gold (Job 23:10) This is
reacting positively to testing, building on it, rather than criticizing it for interfering
with life's normal patterns.
Trials often come {because God} seeks to make us into the sort of person He
planned for us to be when He first thought of us. Like a sculptor, He begins with a
lump of marble. But He has in mind a picture of what He intends to create. He
breaks, cracks, chisels, and polishes until one day there emerges His vision, like
Michelangelo's David. At the moment, His sculpture of us is incomplete. God has
not yet finished with us. (page 91)
Sometimes we bring a problem on ourselves. Ever know a man who has an affair, and then his marriage fell apart? She smoked for years, and now she has breathing problems. A parent allowed a child to what whatever he pleased for years, and now wonders why he cannot be managed.
Suffering deepens our relationship with God. Graham writes, "Nothing will drive us to our knees quicker than than trouble... God hears our prayers, but our prayers must be in accordance with His will." (page 92) Our problems can cause us to ask if we're praying for the right things. Our struggles force us to look deeper.
Take another look at these causes of suffering, and ask yourself: Why am I suffering? Accept responsibility for what you've said or done. Seek to learn from your suffering. In this season of journeying toward Jesus' sufferings and death, let us remember His prayer on the night before He was crucified, "Not my will, but your will be done." Our problems keep us humble and cause us to pray. Struggles can lead us to us to a deeper relationship with the Savior. Let God's Spirit lead you.
