Why Do We Suffer?

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.

Church: Joining Your Imperfect Self to Other Imperfect Selves

By Scott Sauls 
When the local church falls short of Jesus’ vision for the church as a “radiant bride” reflecting his glory, a “city on a hill” that shines with attractive good works, “the salt of the earth” that prevents decay and promotes flourishing, and “the light of the world” that makes dark places less dark, some Christians are tempted to leave the church for some other alternative.

For many such Christians, the common refrain is, “I want to be part of something that’s more like the New Testament Church.”

I always scratch my head when I hear Christians say this. In several incidences, the actual “New Testament Church” was less attractive, less authentic, less flexible, less loving, less truthful, less beautiful, and less Christ-like than the church of today. If anyone has ever been tempted to hit the eject button on the local church in favor of creating their own, more robust faith experience, it was people who were part of the actual New Testament church. It is because so many first century Christians had a foot out the door that the writer of Hebrews urged them to not give up meeting together, “as is the habit of some” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

One “New Testament Church” that we would all be tempted to abandon was the church at Corinth.
One of the most celebrated passages in the Bible is 1 Corinthians 13, famously known as “the love chapter.” In this magnificent chapter, we are told that love is patient and kind. It does not envy or boast, and it is not arrogant or rude. It is not demanding or irritable, and it does not hold a grudge. It resists things that are wrong and celebrates things that are true. It bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things.

Wonderful, right?

Did you know that when Paul wrote to the Corinthians about love, he didn’t have wedding ceremonies or cross stitch art in mind? Did you know that he was actually rebuking them because each of the attributes of love was something that they lacked?

The Corinthian church, a prominent “New Testament Church,” was filled with problems. A brief journey through Paul’s first letter to this community of misfits tells us that they were known for judging each other harshly, creating major divisions over minor theological issues, committing adultery, initiating frivolous lawsuits, divorcing without biblical grounds, parading “Christian liberty” in front of people with a bruised conscience, ignoring the needs of the poor, and the list goes on. Paul could have very easily written off this community. He could have very easily thrown in the towel.
Why didn’t Paul throw in the towel on the New Testament Church? For the same reason that Jesus didn’t thrown in the towel.

Church is family.

Membership in a local church means nothing more and nothing less than this: Joining your imperfect self to many other imperfect selves to form an imperfect community that, through Jesus, embarks on a journey toward a better future…together.

Surprisingly, Paul begins his confrontational first letter to the Corinthians with affirmation and assurance. In spite of their many flaws, sins, inconsistencies, hypocrisies, and weaknesses, he is hopeful for them, not because they are stellar people but because Jesus is a stellar Savior. Jesus will complete the work that he began in them, and Paul knows this. So, instead of hitting eject on them, he doubles down on his involvement with them. Instead of shunning and shaming them, he speaks to them as his beloved brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters in the faith. Instead of running from them, he runs toward them. He names them not according to their failures but according to their redemptive status, using words like “saints” and “sanctified.” He thanks God always for them and reminds them that Jesus will sustain them until the end. Though they are messed up now, Jesus has a plan to transform them into people who are glorious and guiltless.

Paul looks at the broken local church and envisions beauty. He looks at the sinful local church and envisions sainthood. He looks at the undesirable local church and is overcome with desire for her flourishing. Paul thinks about the church in the same way that Jesus does. He thinks about the church as family. Daughters and sons of God, with whom he is well pleased. The bride of Christ, to whom he has betrothed himself forever. Sisters and brothers to one another, fellow heirs of the Kingdom.

Family.

As Saint Augustine once said, sometimes “the Church is a whore…but she is still my Mother.”

Not only is the Church our Mother, She is also Jesus’ wife.

By Scott Sauls   http://scottsauls.com/2014/07/10/church-whore-still-mother/  

Learn From Asaph's Struggles

Asaph wrote Psalms 50 and 73-83, a total of 12.  Psalm 73 is about Asaph’s struggles with aspects of life that seemed UNFAIR.   Wicked people were making money off the poor, and seemed blessed in spite of their sins, while good, faithful folks struggled and suffered.  And Asaph was one of the good, faithful ones.  In fact, he was Israel’s Music and Worship Leader. 

Have you ever struggled while trying to serve the Master faithfully, and while evil people seemed blessed?  That’s what Asaph experienced before writing Psalm 73.   So how did Asaph get beyond his problems?   He “entered the sanctuary of God”(v. 17).  Sanctuary here refers to abiding or living in God’s presence.   Do you have a place where you go for prayer, to meet God in prayer?  If not, you need to go to God directly; most people find a quiet, private place to be the best place to experience God’s presence. 

After Asaph had felt God’s presence, he saw that evil people were headed to destruction and judgment, which made his envy evaporate.  He also saw his own limits and sin in v. 22, “I was senseless and ignorant.” 

Asaph also found a high vision of God that filled him with gratitude and confidence in God.  He ended Psalm 73 with these words:  “you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory… My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart
… But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge.” 

Steps for those who struggle include:  1.  Go to God; seek his presence through prayer.  2. Confess your sins and shortcomings to God.  3. Give thanks for God’s blessings, and worship the God of heaven and earth.  Focusing on these steps will gradually change your perspective on your problems.  May the Spirit give you strength and endurance!