Bishop Gerald and Rich Schroeder just returned from their trip to see the 90+ orphans that we sponsor. Pastor Thompson, the overseer there, sent us a note after they returned:
"After you left India I have been to some of the flood-affected areas and the condition of the people is so sorrowful. People have lost their homes and family members. The crops were completely damaged and it seems the drought will put the rest in great trouble. At present, the cost of living on every thing has gone higher, the condition of living to many becoming hard. Please continue to pray for all of us . I really appreciate your visit while you were here with us. All our orphan children felt great in your presence and enjoyed having you here with us..."
Why do people suffer even when doing good? Our study in 1 Peter on Wednesdays makes it very clear that Christians will experience suffering, persecution, trouble, hardship. The Christians that Peter was writing to were suffering persecution for their faith. In a similar way, not all sickness is healed. Not every child of God is delivered from tragedy, persecution and suffering. And Christians still die of natural causes.
The reason for suffering? Here are three:
- This is a broken world because of sin. The evil prince still has some jurisdiction over this planet because Adam relinquished his rightful place as prince. Because of Adam’s sin, nature itself was corrupted. Death became a reality. This is the result of the curse. (Romans 8:22; Gen. 2.17, 3:17)
- We make bad choices. People don’t make healthy choices regarding their bodies, their finances, their marriage, their employment, careers and education. As a result, there are bad outcomes. (Gal. 6:7,8)
- We don’t pray. We don’t ask for God’s intervention. (James 4:2; Ezek. 22:30)
Therefore, when we look at the promises of God as in Psalm 91, we must claim these in the light of God’s sovereignty. We ask for healing. We ask for an end to suffering. But if we still suffer then we endure it with joy knowing that God has not abandoned us. If in His divine providence, God thinks it is best for the apostle Paul and the apostle Peter, to lose their lives for the gospel, then we continue to glorify God believing that He is still just and righteous in all His ways. It is right to ask for “divine protection.” It is right to pray, “Deliver us from evil” and “Don’t put us to the test” (Matt. 6:13 BBE). But does God sometimes STILL allow us to experience suffering and testing? Yes! Does God still allow us to go through temptation? YES!
- Sometimes for our refining (Psalm 66:10)
- Sometimes for a witness to others that as we suffer we still honor God (1 Peter 3:14-18)
- Sometimes for reasons known only to God (2 Cor. 12:9)
The bottom line? We should still pray. We should still give thanks in all things. We should still believe that God is good, even though life is hard...sometimes.
3 comments:
Pastor Shawn,
I am always left different than before when I hear (or read) your messages. But, and I don't want you to take this the wrong way, it's not you. The power from the word of God is so awesome.
Thanks for the good words today.
This is very good stuff! I once heard it said, "Nothing happens that doesn't first fall through the fingers of God." God is sovereign and through the bad and good times, He is still in control and is working out His purpose. That's such a comfort!
This post hits home with me. This year has been a very difficult one for my husband and me. In January we found out we were expecting a baby. We were extremely excited. In May, our excitement turned to fear as we heard some very difficult news about the likely outcome of this pregnancy. In spite of the poor prognosis, we fought hard. I spent 8 weeks in the hospital on bed rest and monitoring so that we could give our baby every chance. Most of all we prayed. We knew God to be a healer, and we knew He could heal our baby. We prayed like we've never prayed before. People all over the world were praying too. We believed God was going to take care of our baby and heal her and let her stay in this world with us.
Our prayer was not answered.
On August 28 we gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who only lived for an hour and a half. We know she is healed in heaven, but we wanted her to be healed here. We wanted to watch her grow up and to share in her life. We will probably never understand the "why" behind all of this. But we do believe God is in control, He is good, and He has a plan for our lives though we cannot see it. Thank you for reminding me of that.
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