“How Can I Trust God’s Faithfulness When I’m Suffering” Part II

I. Intro

In an earlier reflection on Lamentations 3, I asked, “What enables us to keep on trusting in God’s faithful love when our lives are stung by suffering?” Today, I’d like to consider that question with you. To be sure, there are no easy answers to the problem of suffering. Christians believe in a loving, gracious, all-powerful God. We also affirm the reality of suffering. Thus, we are caught between affirmations that are hard to reconcile. Moreover, it’s one thing to wrestle with the problem of suffering from a distance and quite another thing to do so when you’re in the midst of great pain. Even the best philosophical responses to the problem of pain can fail to satisfy when our bodies are aching or our hearts are breaking. I know this both from my own experience as a pastor. do believe, however, God has given us resources to help us when we wrestle with suffering. I will mention one of these today. One of the greatest resources God gives us when we suffer is the Bible. Though this book does not offer easy answers, and though it does not provide philosophical proofs, it provides insights and testimonies that guide us in our thoughts and comfort us in our lamentations. For one thing, the Bible testifies to the fact of suffering. We see this in Lamentations, of course, but also in so many other biblical books. Scripture teaches us that suffering is not imaginary, but rather an inescapable part of existence in a world broken by sin. The Bible also affirms that suffering is not part of God’s good intentions for us. Though God can certainly use suffering for good, he did not create the world as a place of pain (see Genesis 3, Romans 8). So, we rightly sense that suffering reveals that the world is broken. And we rightly long for the day when God will wipe away every tear. In the meanwhile, those tears are an unavoidable part of our lives. Scripture also offers words of assurance when we hurt or doubt. We rightly receive for ourselves the promise once given to Israel: “Don’t fear, because I am with you; don’t be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will surely help you; I will hold you with my righteous strong hand” (Isa. 41:10). As Jesus said to his first disciples, so he says to us today: “Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age” (Matt. 28:20). QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: What helps you to understand suffering? What has helped you to remain faithful when life has been hard? What passages of Scripture have been particularly encouraging to you as you have experienced pain in life? The problem of suffering is not new. Just three chapters into the biblical narrative, pain and sorrow gripped the world. It was not God who caused it. Instead humanity chose to go their own way, and everything fell apart. Today we are still groaning under Adam and Eve’s choice — and our own. Humanity continues to do things that cause harm to ourselves, others, and the world. And as a result, brokenness and suffering continue. The Bible is clear. Everything that happens in this world passes through God’s sovereign hand. But just because God allows suffering does not mean He causes it (James 1:13-18). Instead He uses all of it to accomplish His perfect plan. When life fell apart in the Garden of Eden, God was not surprised. He knew what Adam and Eve would eventually choose. And so “before the foundation of the world” He made plans to fix it (Revelation 13:8). God would send His Son, Jesus, to fix everything that had broken in the world He made. But it would not happen the way humanity expected.

All Things Work Together for Good

Amidst pandemics, wars, and disasters, God is still at work. He has a plan and will complete it, even amidst pain and suffering. The Bible reassures us “that for those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28). Suffering is not good. Sorrow is not good. Death is not good. But for those who have experienced the eternal hope of Jesus, it is all going to work out — in the end — for good. The suffering of this life is making us more like Jesus, who suffered everything on our behalf. And when this life is over, we will finally experience life as it was meant to be experienced in the beginning. There will be a new heaven, a new earth, and Jesus will be the perfect ruler over all of it. What was broken will be mended. Until that day comes, we hope in Him and trust He will fulfill His promises. In the meantime we ask honest questions. We seek real answers. And we do our part to relieve suffering and reveal hope to those in need until everyone knows someone who follows Jesus. God puts dreams in our hearts and writes a destiny over our lives. And if we trust Him enough to take Him at His word, we will find ourselves on a journey toward the fulfillment of that dream. Unfortunately, the path that takes us to the promise is always wrought with thickets and thorns. Nothing worth having ever comes easy or without opposition. Storms will come, lions will roar, and our fears will be confronted. God allows the path to be difficult because He intends on refining us and preparing us for our place of promise. He is intent on extracting from us, that which our enemy would love to leverage against us. We all have weak spots and areas of inconsistency in our character. Until we see Jesus face to face, we will need His guidance and correction. He wants to take us from strength to strength; from glory to glory. Ephesians 3:20 tells us that He wants to do abundantly above and beyond ALL that we could ever ask or think, but there’s a clincher in this verse…it’s according to His work within us. To the extent that He’s allowed to work in us, will be the extent that He does great things through us.