Why God's People Suffer – Part 1 of 2

Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise, the worries of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace.

This is Lucerre Bradley, Jr., welcoming you to another broadcast of the Baptist Bible Hour. In time of difficulty, in time of sickness or great trouble, have you ever responded by saying, why me, why this, why now? A lot of questions can come to a person's mind, depending on the scope and difficulty of the trial they face. And so, sometimes the question basically is this, why do God's people suffer? That's the title of our message today. I hope that it will answer some of your questions and be a blessing to you, and that if it is, you will write and let us know.

Our address is the Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. I was talking to a person who described an extended period of illness, talking about how greatly they had suffered, how intense the physical pain was, how perplexed they were by it, and later received a letter saying, I have two questions. First is, I've had people ask me, what on earth have you done that would bring all this suffering into your life?

She said, I don't know that I've done anything that would have brought it on. My response to that was that whoever raised such a question sounded like Job's miserable comforters. There are people who have the concept that the only reason anybody would have any extended or intense suffering would be as a direct result of some sinful behavior. Now the fact is that all of us are unworthy, undeserving sinners. So the concept that anybody should be surprised as to why bad things happen to, quote, good people should not really be part of the thinking of those who are Bible believers, because we know that none of us are good in ourselves. And if we received what we deserved, we would not have a single one of the mercies of God. But at the same time, for somebody to suggest that the only reason you can be sick or you can be suffering such intense pain is a direct response to some terrible act of sin in your life is not what the Bible teaches. Job was described as an upright man, a man who despised evil, but look at what terrible troubles came upon him. The second question this person asked in writing, what possible good could come out of all of this suffering that I've endured?

It was evident that it was impossible for this individual, according to current thinking, to conceive that any good could have come from such an experience. So I want to talk to you about why God's people suffer. We turn to the book of Romans, chapter 5, reading in the third verse. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given us.

Indeed, that language would seem rather strange to a lot of people. How could we glory in tribulation? How could we perceive that something good is going to come from trials? But he says we know that tribulation worketh patience, or endurance, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. And we cannot possibly cover all that would be connected with this theme, but I want us to look at several principles clearly set forth in Scripture as to why God's people suffer or, in fact, the good that can come from suffering.

First of all, to show us our weakness and to bring us to truly trust in the Lord. Now, somebody might say, well, I know I'm weak. I don't have to be shown that.

I don't have to suffer to know that. But the fact is that we may say the right things. We say we, yes, basically know that we're weak. But you know, one of the things that reveals that we don't have the perception we ought about our own weakness is that our prayer life is not what it ought to be. If we really saw ourselves as being totally dependent upon the Lord, we'd spend more time talking to Him.

We'd spend more time going to Him with our burdens and our trials, revealing that we know we are weak and we must get our strength from Him. Zechariah chapter 13 verse 8, And it shall come to pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name.

Notice now how God is going to work with this remnant. The third part I'm going to bring through the fire. I'm going to refine them as silver is refined.

I'm going to try them. And the result? They shall call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, it is my people, and they shall say, the Lord is my God. If then bringing these people through the fire, purging out the dross, brings them to the point that they will call upon God, and when they call, He will hear them, and He will say concerning them, it is my people, and they shall say, the Lord is my God.

Then there's something beneficial to be derived from the refining process, the sufferings that they will endure. Let's go to a New Testament passage, turning to the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 1, reading verse 8. For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. And the apostle does not give the details of this situation. It seems to be implied that these in Corinth would probably know what it was that he encountered, but it is obviously something of major proportions.

I would not have you to be ignorant. This trouble that came upon us, we were pressed out of measure. It was beyond our strength to endure. We were at the point that we despaired even of life. It could have been in the face of some of the persecution that came to him on the part of those that were seeking his life, and he thought that he had reached the end, he was ready to die, it could have been some kind of physical problem.

We can't say specifically, but we know that it was a great trial. It was pressing him down. It was at the point that he says, I can't make it. I don't have the strength, I cannot endure. Verse 9, but we had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raised the dead. He despaired even of life in this great challenge that he faced, this terrible trouble that came upon him. We had the sentence of death in ourselves.

I thought that the end had come. But what was the purpose of all of this? He obviously survived. The Lord sustained him.

He spared his life. The purpose was that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raised the dead. Now we might conclude that if anybody knew that they should trust in God and not in themselves, the apostle Paul knew that. He was a man that had a unique experience, a very close walk with God, was used in a mighty way in preaching the gospel and establishing churches and writing the greater portion of the New Testament. But God saw it was necessary, even in this man's life, to teach him through his sufferings not to trust in himself, but to trust in the living God. Now if Paul needed that kind of a lesson, would any of us here today dare say, I really don't think I need that. I think my walk is so close with the Lord.

My knowledge is so broad. My attitude is so right. My faith is so strong. I don't need that.

Paul needed that. And I feel confident that we'd all have to say, we need it too. Now it's not a matter that anybody wants to sign up to suffer. No, who wants to be sick? Who wants to have pain? Who wants to suffer heartache?

Who wants to have loss? We're not suggesting that those things are good in and of themselves. But the point that we see in Scripture is that God uses those things for a good purpose. He is teaching the apostle here that he must trust not in himself but in God. And notice that he refers to God as being the one that raises the dead.

That shows how acute this situation was. He despaired of life. It was going to take the very God that raises the dead to deliver him in his trouble. That tells us that no matter how great our trouble may be, no matter how desperate we feel about it, we're trusting in the God that raises the dead.

And if God can raise the dead, there is no other situation that He cannot handle. He has all power to deliver us no matter what we may encounter. Who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver, and in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us. He has delivered us in the past. We trust He's going to continue to deliver us in the future.

So our confidence is in Him. Suffering is used to show us our weakness and to bring us to trust in the Lord. Let's look at one more reference in this connection. II Corinthians chapter 12.

I know you're very familiar with this, but it makes this point so beautifully. Verse 7 speaks of the fact that the Lord had given this man a thorn in the flesh. It says, And lest I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me. I think this reveals that if we are hurting, there's nothing wrong with asking the Lord if it be His pleasure to relieve us of the pain. Paul wasn't rebuked by the Lord in saying that this prayer was totally out of place. We have prayer here in every service for those that are sick.

It's correct. It's an appropriate thing that we pray for those that are sick. But in the final analysis, we have to be submissive to God's will and His work in our life. So, Paul prayed three times that he might be delivered from this thorn in the flesh.

Here's the answer. Verse 9, He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. God's answer was, I'm not going to remove the thorn, I've given it to you for a purpose that you might know your weakness, that you might not be exalted in pride, but I will give you the grace to endure it. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then am I strong. Obviously, that thinking is contradictory to what's prevalent in our culture, even among many professed Christians.

The idea that many hold is that God never wants you to be sick, and if you just have enough faith, you can be healed at any time, under any circumstances. This indicates that there are times that God uses suffering in our life to show us our weakness and to bring us to dependence upon Him. Number two, What good can come from the sufferings in the lives of God's people to wean us from the world? We may have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, saying that we love Him. We recognize that we love Him only because He first loved us, and we want to give Him all the glory for what He's done for us, and rejoice in the truth of His saving grace. But although we have said, I'm taking up my cross to follow Him, in the weakness of our flesh we can easily become attached to the things of this world. We can become attached to material things.

We can become attached to people, so that we rely on friends and family members more than we rely on the Lord. In Psalm 142, David said of the fourth verse, I looked on my right hand and beheld, but there was no man that would know me. Refuge failed me. No man cared for my soul. Here's a man that's alone. He's fleeing for his life.

Saul would like to kill him. I cried unto thee, O Lord, I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. What was the result of this time of suffering? This wasn't physical suffering, this was emotional suffering. This was anguish of mind. This was depression of spirit.

I feel alone. But the result was, he learned, the Lord is my refuge. The Lord is my portion in the land of the living. I can't rely upon men. The arm of flesh will surely fail. I can't depend upon friendships. I can't depend upon anything but the Lord Himself.

That's a great lesson to learn. Psalm 73, verse 25, Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon the earth that I desire beside thee. Suffering brings us to the place that we realize that the Lord is the one that is of greatest importance to us. He is our Lord, our Master, our Savior. He is the friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

He's one that you can absolutely depend on. And so, our disappointments, our heartaches, our sufferings tend to wean us from the world, teaching us that although we are to love others and seek ourselves to be friends and helpers to those about us, that if we reach the point that we feel to be alone and feel to be forsaken, that we are really not alone because the Lord is our refuge. Sometimes great losses can be the suffering that brings us closer to the Lord and away from the world, the loss of a job, the loss of investments upon which you had depended for the future. We've known of people in recent years that were expecting to have a good retirement fund available and by the time they reached that age it was dissipated and what a loss. But for whatever reason, if we have lost the material things of this life, it may be a reminder to us of what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter six verse twenty-four when he said, No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon, that is, you cannot serve God and riches. And when suffering comes, it can be a wake-up call to say, maybe that's what I've done.

Well, we always have a way to excuse and defend what we really want to do. And we may be saying, I've got to work these extra hours and I've got to put all this focus on my job and I've got to be thinking about saving for the future. I've got to make hay while the sun shines.

I may not always be able to do this, so I've got to do it now. But suffering comes and it makes us realize how the material things that we possess do not really bring ultimate satisfaction anyway. It drives us back to the Lord.

Say, Lord, I cannot rely on those things and I have been distracted and I've allowed them to occupy a place in my life which they should not have occupied and I'm going to come back to thee. You think of that in the experience of Habakkuk, as he described a scene of great loss and devastation in Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 17, although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall the fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail and the field shall yield to no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the foal and there shall be no herd in the stall. My, here's a man that says there is no harvest.

This would be particularly meaningful to farmers, but the principle of it is applicable to any of us. You look in your bank account and it's empty. You check your savings and they're gone.

You find out your job has been eliminated. You say, I don't know how I'm going to make it. What does he say? Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength and He will make my feet like hind's feet. He will make me to walk upon mine high places to the chief singer on my strength instruments.

In spite of the fact that I've suffered such terrible losses, I'm not giving up in despair. I'm going to rejoice. Habakkuk, how can you rejoice? Oh, you remember how he was at first perplexed because of the evil of the day and he was concerned because it appeared to him that God was not doing anything. And God comes on the scene and says, I'm doing something, you just don't know what it is. I'm raising up the Chaldeans and they're going to come in and invade the land and they're going to bring great devastation. Habakkuk says, that isn't what I had in mind. I don't understand God why you should have this kind of a program in place. Isn't that just like us? We sometimes think that God's not doing anything and then God shows us what He's doing and says, well that wasn't what I wanted. Lord, that wasn't my plan. But I want to tell you, God is the one who rules and reigns.

It's not dependent upon our schemes, our plans, our strategy. Habakkuk had to take a little time off and go to the watchtower and meditate. And when he came back he said, the just shall live by his faith.

In other words, when I don't understand, I've still got to trust. And he said, that's in verse 4 of chapter 2 and verse 20 says, the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. Habakkuk is saying, it's time for me to close my mouth and to bow humbly before a sovereign God.

And by the time you get to the end of this writing, he makes this beautiful statement. Though the fig tree shall not blossom, though there's no fruit on the vines, no flocks in the field, no herd in the stall, everything, I'm wiped out, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will depend upon Him. I will find my delight in what I have in God. Not just what God has given me, but who God is.

I will delight in Him because He is my God. Sufferings wean us from the world so that we are ready to think about moving on. In the book of Philippians chapter 1, Paul was a prisoner at this time. He says in the 23rd verse, for I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. To go on and be with the Lord is far better. Now there may have been a time that you heard somebody preach about Christ coming back and you say, well, that's good to think about, but I am not particularly interested in that happening today.

I've got some things I want to do yet, some trips I want to make, some things I want to accomplish. But let me tell you, when the trials and sufferings of life come, you say, to depart and be with the Lord would be far better. There's nothing to hold me here, to be delighted to go on and be with Him. Now, Paul was not pessimistic. He was not being negative about it and saying there's no purpose for life.

He said, for your benefit, it's better that I stay here. But for me, it would be far better to go on and be with the Lord. In other words, he was being weaned away from worldly things, thinking about that heavenly home on the other side. Number three, sufferings may be for the purpose of testing our faith, which is more precious than gold. Turn to the book of 1 Peter. Certainly God knows all about our faith.

He knows about the strength of it. But we do not. The Lord sometimes puts us through a test that we might see the faith that we have. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 6, where in ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, that tells us that sufferings don't last forever. It's for a season.

It's for a period of time. If need be, that tells us they're necessary. There's a reason for it. God is a God of purpose. When he brings sufferings into our life, or allows certain things to touch our life without intervening, there is a reason for it.

So it's now for a season. If need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. You have a lot of different testings, manifold, varied kinds, different shapes and colors of troubles and trials that come your way. For what purpose? The trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Is that not a good purpose?

Is that not something worthwhile? The trying of your faith is described here as being something of value, much more precious than gold that perishes, and it's that it might be found unto the praise and honor and glory of our Lord at his appearing. So we may sometimes question really where we are, where we stand.

What is our experience? The Lord uses our sufferings by the testing of our faith, and we get through that trial, we come out on the other side and we look back and say, I know that wasn't through my own abilities, it wasn't by my sheer determination, it was by the grace of God, it was because of the faith that he has given me, and we praise him for it. And it's reassuring and comforting to us when we're able to see it. The book of 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 and the third verse, he says that no man should be moved by these afflictions, for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. That no man should be moved by these afflictions knowing that we are appointed thereunto. It indicates that God and his sovereignty is involved in the sufferings that touch our lives. We are appointed thereunto. Now I concede that there are certainly some sufferings we can bring upon ourselves. If we are rebellious, if we're disobedient, if we pursue a sinful course, there are certain sufferings attached to ungodly conduct. But we're talking now about those sufferings that God allows to touch us because by divine appointment, he is testing our faith, he is teaching us and strengthening us to be strong in him. I'm glad you've been with us for today's broadcast, and if this message has been a help to you, I'd like to know about it. Write us at the Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217, and so we greet you next time. This is LaSara Bradley, Jr. bidding you goodbye, and may God bless you.