Wait....Suffering Is Good For Us?
Wait…Suffering Is Good For Us?
By: Dr. Danny Purvis
If there is one thing all the peoples of the earth can agree with…it’s that pain and suffering are no fun. None of us like it. And why should we? It’s painful. It hurts. It often plunges us into despair. Let’s be honest…pain and suffering are about the worst things that can happen to us. Believers and unbelievers alike feel the same way about these horrific things that can and do happen to all of us. And yet….
While both Christians and non-Christians feel the same way about these things, how we view them should be drastically different. That’s the point of having a Christian worldview…so that we do not see, value, and evaluate things the same way the world does. We are to see them through the lens of Scripture…to see them as they actually are as opposed to the way the world sees them. And though there may be some unbelievers who might could possibly see that there may be some kind of nebulous meaning behind pain and suffering. As Believers we are to see it in a completely different way. We are to see it as something that is actually good for us.
And to see it that way, is a miracle. It is not natural to view pain/suffering in that way. And yet that is exactly how God tells us to view it in light of His Word and our relationship with Him. CS Lewis once said that pain was God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world. But because pain/suffering are so hurtful, we fail to see how it could possibly be good. Oh, we have plenty of Believers that see it is inescapable and inevitable. But we often view it as something that must simply weather until things get better. However, the Bible tells us something more profound. Yes God tell us it is inevitable. It is inescapable. That He will be with us in the midst of it. That He will never leave nor forsake us. But He also tells us that it is…good.
Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. ALL THINGS work together for GOOD. Including pain and suffering. It is not something to simply be endured until brighter skies emerge…but there is actually a good aspect to it that can only be experienced if we actually go through it in the first place. Romans 5:1-3 tells us to rejoice when we suffer. Ok, well we see that in other places as well (James 1:2-4). But Paul goes on to say that the reason we should rejoice is because pain/suffering actually produces endurance, hope, and character. Look at the verbiage.
Pain/suffering does not reveal these traits…it produces them. In other words, we could not have these traits if not for the pain/suffering in the first place. Nowhere is this better seen than in the Book of Job. In the first chapter (specifically Job 1:8) God Himself states that there was not anyone like Job on the planet. He was the most holy person in the world. Yet, in the last chapter (Job 42:5), Job says this: “I had heard of you by the hearing of my ears, but now my eyes see you”. Here is the most holy person on the planet (described as such by God Himself) who is admitting that only at this point in his life is he truly seeing God for Who He truly is.
The two key words here are “but now”. What did Job mean by “but now”? Why now even though he was the holiest person on earth? It was because of the pain and suffering he had endured. He literally lost everything. His wealth. The respect of his peers. His stuff. His children. And it was only after experiencing all of that pain/suffering that he actually saw the totality of Who God is and the depth of His love. In other words, Job was saying that if it had not been for the unfathomable pain and suffering he had experienced he would not have been able to truly see God. It is hard to imagine that pain and suffering would be good. And yet…it is. We don’t have to feel it. It doesn’t mean the pain won’t hurt. But if we can hang on to the promise that there is good that will come from it whether we ever see that good this side of heaven…maybe we will be able to see Him in a way that we could never imagine.
-Dr. Danny Purvis
By: Dr. Danny Purvis
If there is one thing all the peoples of the earth can agree with…it’s that pain and suffering are no fun. None of us like it. And why should we? It’s painful. It hurts. It often plunges us into despair. Let’s be honest…pain and suffering are about the worst things that can happen to us. Believers and unbelievers alike feel the same way about these horrific things that can and do happen to all of us. And yet….
While both Christians and non-Christians feel the same way about these things, how we view them should be drastically different. That’s the point of having a Christian worldview…so that we do not see, value, and evaluate things the same way the world does. We are to see them through the lens of Scripture…to see them as they actually are as opposed to the way the world sees them. And though there may be some unbelievers who might could possibly see that there may be some kind of nebulous meaning behind pain and suffering. As Believers we are to see it in a completely different way. We are to see it as something that is actually good for us.
And to see it that way, is a miracle. It is not natural to view pain/suffering in that way. And yet that is exactly how God tells us to view it in light of His Word and our relationship with Him. CS Lewis once said that pain was God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world. But because pain/suffering are so hurtful, we fail to see how it could possibly be good. Oh, we have plenty of Believers that see it is inescapable and inevitable. But we often view it as something that must simply weather until things get better. However, the Bible tells us something more profound. Yes God tell us it is inevitable. It is inescapable. That He will be with us in the midst of it. That He will never leave nor forsake us. But He also tells us that it is…good.
Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. ALL THINGS work together for GOOD. Including pain and suffering. It is not something to simply be endured until brighter skies emerge…but there is actually a good aspect to it that can only be experienced if we actually go through it in the first place. Romans 5:1-3 tells us to rejoice when we suffer. Ok, well we see that in other places as well (James 1:2-4). But Paul goes on to say that the reason we should rejoice is because pain/suffering actually produces endurance, hope, and character. Look at the verbiage.
Pain/suffering does not reveal these traits…it produces them. In other words, we could not have these traits if not for the pain/suffering in the first place. Nowhere is this better seen than in the Book of Job. In the first chapter (specifically Job 1:8) God Himself states that there was not anyone like Job on the planet. He was the most holy person in the world. Yet, in the last chapter (Job 42:5), Job says this: “I had heard of you by the hearing of my ears, but now my eyes see you”. Here is the most holy person on the planet (described as such by God Himself) who is admitting that only at this point in his life is he truly seeing God for Who He truly is.
The two key words here are “but now”. What did Job mean by “but now”? Why now even though he was the holiest person on earth? It was because of the pain and suffering he had endured. He literally lost everything. His wealth. The respect of his peers. His stuff. His children. And it was only after experiencing all of that pain/suffering that he actually saw the totality of Who God is and the depth of His love. In other words, Job was saying that if it had not been for the unfathomable pain and suffering he had experienced he would not have been able to truly see God. It is hard to imagine that pain and suffering would be good. And yet…it is. We don’t have to feel it. It doesn’t mean the pain won’t hurt. But if we can hang on to the promise that there is good that will come from it whether we ever see that good this side of heaven…maybe we will be able to see Him in a way that we could never imagine.
-Dr. Danny Purvis
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