Learning To Suffer Well

Learning to suffer well There are times when we do not escape the pains of life circumstances. When we command healing or resurrection into a body and nothing happens. What do we think when healing doesn’t happen, or when our situation does not change? My 2002 through 2006 story: 5 minutes Two kinds of suffering we are discussing 1) Suffering from a variety of health problems including death of loved ones or total loss of property (like a business closing or a home burning). 2) Suffering for being a witness of the gospel Have you ever suffered like this? Where did you draw strength from in the Bible? Where would you direct people for answers? What if healing or change doesn’t happen? Two sources in the Bible I draw from. 1) Job...Job lost his children and wealth. He suffered intensely. 5 And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, "It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did continually. 6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." 8 And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" 9 Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." 12 And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. 13 Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 14 and there came a messenger to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you. (Job 1:1 ESV) 2) Paul suffered the loss of his freedom and personal comfort. He was in prison for preaching Christ crucified. See Philippians 1 (latter half of the chapter). Also praying for one another is crucial. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. 27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. (Phi 1:1 ESV) What are the crucial elements in Job and Paul’s two stories to help us face suffering? Two responses 1) Refuse to entertain the idea that God is bad. He is good through and through. Reject the idea that you are being punished. Reconvene your devotional time at the foot of the cross and see yourself as crucified with Christ! 2) Remember there is a spiritual world with many facets to it that intersect in our lives. This spiritual world has evil spirits who may be involved in our causing pain for us. Being very sure of this enables us to trust God is good even when our circumstances don’t change. It enables us to have a faith that endures to the very end. He who stands firm in His faith to the end will be saved. My Grandma’s home burned. Still effects her to this day even 93 years later. She is now approaching 101 years of age and always finds something good to focus on. She can recount tragedies, but always comes back to what is good in people around her. I'd like to share a little bit from a book that helped us when we were in Memphis five years ago. It's a book called 'Learning To Suffer Well' by Peter Fitch. Commenting on the comfort of the Holy Spirit that scripture teaches, Peter says this on pg 24 This is the secret (Paul's). When suffering comes to the children of God, so does the Holy Spirit. He flows to the deepest places of our pain. He comes to release grace: the sweetnesss and beauty and strength of His unmerited presence. He develops fruit, and we suffer well as we bear up under difficulties. He grants gifts, and we suffer well as we fight against the sources of our pain. He forms in us the character of Jesus, and we suffer well.