Suffering is Not Strange, Part 3

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Bible explicitly teaches that suffering is to be expected in the Christian life. Today's text, 1 Peter 4-12, says, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

So why are we so often blindsided when hardship and hurt come our way? Pastor Rich answers this question in today's message titled, Suffering is Not Strange. Listen as Rich contrasts our natural response to suffering to a response that is hinged on God's self-disclosure. This is the third part of a sermon first preached on January 15, 2023.

People want to be, look, and feel younger, and yet they age relentlessly. He talks about people want to be in relationships and happy, and those relationships are breaking up, and on and on he goes, right? He quotes Ecclesiastes 4-3. He's quoting God's self-disclosure as he's arguing for it's better not even to exist, right? Better not yet born or see evil. That person is better off, says the writer of Ecclesiastes, if there is nothing beyond the sun, right?

And he also quotes a Greek author Sophocles, quote, never to have been born is best, but if we must see the light, the next best is quickly returning whence we came. So why don't you just end it all, right? Benatar writes that having children, listen to this, okay, he's being consistent. Having children is, quote, intrinsically cruel and irresponsible. Why are you bringing people into this miserable existence? It's a cruel thing to do. He says people who decide not to reproduce are expressing compassion. That's a twisted way of thinking. That's a twisted way of thinking, isn't it? And yet he's consistent if there is no God, if there is no Redeemer, no Creator and Redeemer.

It's a natural, logical way of thinking for one who is ignorant of God's self-disclosure. Now, as we studied in the Romans ABF this morning, Chapter 7, excellent, excellent study from Romans Chapter 7. I commend Adam to you teaching that.

He's doing a profoundly good job. It's a challenging text. I taught Romans years ago because I wanted to teach Chapter 6.

I did not want to teach Chapter 7. But we all battle the flesh, don't we? Say, mm-hmm. Your flesh wants to scream at you, particularly when things get unfair, particularly when you experience suffering. Your flesh wants to scream at you.

It's asking you two questions. Number one, why is this happening to me? Why is this happening to me? Because we immediately go to the unfair distribution and degree of the suffering. And we know some of that, don't we, even in our congregation, those who have suffered a very long time, and we can't figure out why.

Why is this happening to me? Why does God, who is good and powerful, allow suffering? Now, think about that question.

I'm going to ask you to do that. Why does God allow suffering? Think about that question.

Tear it apart. What are we really asking there? Does God just randomly allow suffering?

What did I say earlier? Suffering, the brokenness of creation, is a what? It's a law.

God is the law giver. Suffering is a part of the human condition. And the flesh will want you to focus on what someone is doing to you.

That's what the flesh wants you to do. When God says through the prophet, through the apostle, creation was subjected to futility in hope, a confident expectation, this is not the way things will always be. In fact, things are not as they ought to be.

So, I have a question. If creation is broken, i.e. the law of entropy, right, and I am part of that creation, why would I expect that suffering should not be a part of my experience? In other words, why would I be surprised by it? Why would I be surprised that I was 29, my dad passed away, he was only 65 years old?

I wasn't surprised by that. It was sad. No doubt it was a sadness, and I've missed him as a pastor. I've missed him.

I've missed him. But I wasn't surprised by it as if it's something strange. But the flesh wants us to ask, why is this happening to me? And then the second question is a little more pointed. The flesh will demand an answer to this question.

It's actually a statement. I don't deserve this. Put it in a question form, what did I do to deserve this? I'm gonna be real frank with you this morning, okay? Probably many of you here have asked that question, and I'm gonna be frank with you. It's not the spirit of God leading you to ask that question. You know, inherent in that question is, what did I do to deserve, or the statement, if you make the statement, I don't deserve this, inherent is that others do, but I don't.

You see where the arrogance is creeping in here? You believe that there are people that exist that deserve to suffer, right? I know you're not going to answer that, but I know you're not going to answer that.

I know you're not going to answer that, but I know you do. Because you believe in justice. Where does justice come from? So you believe in suffering, you believe in justice, but the problem is, when it happens to us, for some reason, we're led to think that there is a one-to-one correspondence between evil and suffering, and so you make the demand, I don't deserve this, or what did I do to deserve this? It's not the spirit of God leading you to ask that question. And when you believe there is that one-to-one correspondence between evil and suffering, it leads to unhealthy comparisons, which is a natural human impulse.

It's the flesh. Comparisons. Well, this other person isn't suffering as much as I am. I'm suffering way more than they are.

I don't deserve this. Think with me for just a moment. Numerous, numerous, and I've known in my lifetime, I have known numerous, just really delightful people who love God, and doing all kinds of good, and they suffer, and some of them have died young. And I'll be very frank with you, there's been a couple of times I'm like, Lord, what are you doing? Do you realize how much this person, how many lives they were impacting, how much good they were doing? Why?

I asked it on October of 2020. Nobody reached out more than Louis, except maybe Susan. Think of the apostles in history. Think of all the church martyrs throughout church history. Did they deserve their death as Brian was teaching up here on the life of the apostles and some of the traditions of how some of them died, one of them was skinned alive because he was a follower of Jesus and he preached the gospel. Did he deserve that?

That's not the right question. It has nothing to do with what a person deserves. Nothing. Your adversary, the adversary of your soul, is bent on getting you preoccupied with what you deserve. Do you remember the temptation of Jesus? How did he begin? If you are the son of God, if you're the son of God, you don't deserve to be hungry.

Turn these breads into stone, these stones into bread. See how that works? He wanted Jesus to focus on what? Me, himself. And your adversary is bent on tempting you to do the same. Thinking of what God has made known, who God is and what is true about him and what is true about me. I want you to ask yourself a question.

I'm asking myself this question. Are you ready for the question? Here it is.

What do I deserve? We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace weekdays at 10 a.m.