Category: Finding meaning

How Does God use Suffering and Evil to Bring about Good?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

We celebrate in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope- Romans 5:2b-4 NASB

Suffering and evil are ubiquitous in this life (John 16:33, 1st Peter 4:12).   Every human irrespective of race, socio-economic status or religious affiliation will suffer in some way during their time on this earth. 

Sigh.

The Bible tells us humans suffer because we live in a world that was broken by sin, rebellion and evil. When Adam and Eve chose to blow off God, go their own way and do their own thing they did way more than become free moral agents. They opened the door wide for sin, evil and suffering to become a key element of the human experience (Genesis 3:1-24). Misery, pain and difficulty have been hard-baked into life ever since. For those who don’t know Jesus, suffering just sucks. Life is a whole lot of pain with no real promise of hope or gain (Ecclesiastes 2:17).  Thankfully, God’s people have hope beyond the hardness of life. God does not cause suffering and evil but He will (if we let Him) use it as a force for good in our lives (Romans 8:28, Romans 8:38-39).  

Here’s how it works:

God uses suffering to take us from one place to another- 

Oftentimes God uses suffering, persecution and trouble to take His people out of a less-than-productive but comfortable spiritual situation into a far less comfortable but much-more-productive spiritual situation.   Such was the case with the early church. The early days of Christianity were in many ways idyllic. The early Christians love for Jesus and each other enabled them to create a beautiful little faith community where everyone was loved and cared for (Acts 2:42-47). Nonetheless, early Christians did little (like no) evangelizing outside of the Jewish community (Acts 2-7).  If it hadn’t been for some really nasty persecution Christianity would likely have remained a small sect of Judaism and it would have likely died out by the end of the first century. The stoning of Stephan and the persecution that followed changed the trajectory of Christianity forever. That awful event forced Christians out of their idyllic existence (Acts 8:1) and as a direct result of their suffering the gospel spread all over the world. If you are a gentile Christian then you have directly benefitted from their hardship. God does the same thing today. Oftentimes, persecution, personal tragedy or job loss is a catalyst for change that brings about a whole new level of spiritual usefulness in our lives.

God uses sinful behavior to reveal spiritual truth to the sinner-

 God does not make people treat other people badly. However, the way people behave reveals a lot about who they really are and what they’re all about. Such was the case with Saul. Saul was rejected by God as King (1st Samuel 15), then over the course of the next ten to fifteen years Saul caused David to suffer horribly by treating him very badly. When it was all said and done everyone (including Saul) knew that he one-hundred-percent deserved to be rejected as King.  God uses bad behavior as mirror to help individuals see their sin. What they do with that knowledge is entirely up to them. The only thing we are responsible for in these situations is our own response. We can respond like David did and allow difficult situations to refine us and prepare us for the next big blessing or we can become just like the jerks who hurt us (Ephesians 4:26, Hebrews 12:15, Ephesians 4:30-31). 

Suffering produces wisdom-

Suffering and hardship cut through the noise of life and makes us aware of all the things that really matter in life.  Suffering, pain and hardship cause us to cry out to God for help and wisdom in a way we don’t in times of prosperity and ease. Anytime we ask God for wisdom two things happen: He gives it in abundance without finding fault and we grow closer to Him (Psalm 57:1-3, James 1:5, Proverbs 2:3-6)

Our suffering has the power to make us like Jesus- 

Suffering is hard. There is literally nothing fun about it. That being said, suffering is what makes us more like Jesus. In fact, suffering even made Jesus better (Hebrews 2:9-10, Hebrews 2:18, Hebrews 5:7-9) Suffering made Jesus more obedient, more able to sympathize with the pain of others, and more able to comfort the hurting (2ndCorinthians 1:5). Ultimately, it was Jesus’ suffering that gave Him glory in His resurrection (Luke 24:25-26, Romans 8:17) If we allow it to, suffering does the same things for us. Suffering has the power to make us better, kinder, and more sympathetic. It also gives us a better resurrection and makes heaven more heavenly (Hebrews 11:35-38, Philippians 3:10-11, Revelation 20:6). 

We control how we respond to suffering.

We can shake our fists at God. We can let our personal pain transform us into harsh, angry, haters. Or we can allow God to take our suffering and transform us into something beautiful and precious. Faith is the key to becoming something beautiful in the midst of hardship. Hebrews eleven tells of those who lived by faith. All suffered. All were confused by their circumstances. Some were flogged and tortured. Some were imprisoned. Some even died for their faith. 

In spite of their circumstances, all the heroes of Hebrews eleven held tenaciously to the belief God is good. God’s assessment of these people is that they were so good and pure and beautiful this world was  literally not worthy of their presence (Hebrews 11:37-38). They trusted God with their suffering and He transformed them into spiritual gold. 

God is still in the business of doing beautiful things with hard situations.

Surviving Unwelcome or Unplanned Change-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

 

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there~ Genesis 39:1 NIV

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when I believed with all my heart I was one of those unicorn-like individuals who actually liked and even thrived on change.

 I now know I was an idiot (Proverbs 29:20).

Seriously.

I’m pretty sure I  aggravated the decency out of anyone unfortunate enough to have a conversation with me about the subject. I suspect there were a large number of people who sat quietly contemplating homicide, as I waxed eloquent on my love for change and my nearly superhuman ability to adapt to whatever came my way.

Insert gagging sounds here.

 Then about five years ago I had an unpleasant reality check in the form of at least a dozen different changes I did not like, want or understand.

 Sigh.

 The good news is that I got to be a lot less annoying really quickly as I figured out that I, like all normal people really only like change I have a level of control over. Change is wonderful in the abstract or when you’re contemplating something fun, like a move to a new city, a new baby or a job promotion.

Change is just not nearly as thrilling when it is thrust upon you like an ugly blind date, completely lacking in social skills. Or when it shows up uninvited in the shape of something awful and unwanted like a job loss, a car accident, a death in the family, a grim diagnosis or a divorce you didn’t ask for.

Sigh.

 However. As Christians we have the confidence that nothing enters our lives without God’s foreknowledge. We also understand that if we choose to live for God, even in the midst of circumstances we do not like or understand, good will eventually come out of even the ugliest of situations (1st Corinthians 7:17, Romans 8:28). Because I truly believe those things to be true, I came to terms with the fact that God had a purpose for the changes disturbing my peaceful reality.

 I learned some hard lessons during that period of my life; and not just to shut my pie-hole about circumstances I didn’t fully understand.  I also learned that whether or not we barely survive changes or thrive in the middle of it all depends on whether or not we understand and live-out these four truths…

 Unwelcome change brings losses that should be grieved-

 I am not intimating that the trauma of a married woman’s unplanned pregnancy is somehow equal to the trauma of the death of loved one. However, both changes involve loss and all losses deserve at least a quick trip through the five stages of grief. Taking the time to feel the feelings that come with loss, rather than pretending those feelings don’t exist, or worse, putting on a happy face that’s basically just a lie will prevent emotional problems (such as depression) and spiritual problems (such as bitterness) in the future (Hebrews 12:15).

 Guard your heart against bitterness and hate-

 The greatest danger in unwelcome change is bitterness. We can easily become embittered towards the people who wronged us, didn’t see our value or who betrayed our trust in some way. We can also become bitter towards God for not working our circumstances out in a different way. Bitterness towards anyone is poison to our souls and must be dealt with decisively by grieving the loss, forgiving the jerks that hurt us and choosing to accept the new normal (Ephesians 4:15, Psalm 71:20, Colossians 3:13).

 Embrace the opportunities change brings-

 I hate trite sayings. Truly I do.  However, it’s just a fact that when one door closes another one opens and it only makes sense to bloom where we are planted (Jeremiah 29:4-12) That being said, we can get so caught-up in what we are losing that we don’t see the opportunities that opening up right in front of us. If you find yourself in the messy middle of unwelcome change, ask God to show you the doors He’s opening on your behalf. I guarantee there will be some (Isaiah 43:19, Philippians 2:13).

 Unwanted changes are a time for reflection and self-improvement-

 God did not bring unwanted change into my life because I was doing anything wrong or sinful. However, in retrospect I was really bad at being assertive with certain people. As a result I was going in a direction others had chosen for me and I had little inclination (or time) to do the things I was actually called to do (Ephesians 2:10). That period in my life gave me the downtime I needed to self-analyze and eventually become a lot more assertive when I needed to be. I also got to know God and myself a whole lot better. In the process of all that reflection I figured out who I really was and what I was really good at.

 Joseph (Genesis 37-50) is the poster-child for surviving and prospering in the midst of unwelcome and unpleasant change. He was sold as a slave by his brothers, jailed for a crime he didn’t commit and forgotten by the person who had the power to rescue him. Through all that he never stopped learning, growing and trusting God. As a result of his willingness to embrace the opportunities that came with unwelcome change he literally transformed the future.