This weekend I have been visiting a friend who is in a great deal of pain. In the last two years she has had back surgery to fuse vertebrae, rotator cuff shoulder surgery, and then two surgeries to clean infection out of her foot. She is currently in a local rehab center and I won’t describe all her present struggles, but will say that I wonder again – to God – why he allows suffering in this world. Sometimes I need to read my own words again, and perhaps you struggle to watch people suffering, so here’s what I wrote back in January on this topic.
I have two dear friends who are struggling with debilitating pain in their physical bodies. After months and months of agony, one has had a shot that relieved the pain and the other is scheduled for surgery next week. In the meantime, they have suffered. I have prayed for a relief of the pain and an end to the suffering, but one of them told me she believed God had a purpose in the pain and suffering and did not want me to pray it away.
My daily Bible readings are currently in the book of Job and, so far in the story, the Adversary has convinced God to allow him to test Job, who subsequently loses all his property, children, and his health. Job continues to be “blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil,” even as his wife urges him to curse God and die. (Job 1:8 NIV) He replies to her, “’You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?’ In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.” (Job 2:10 NIV)
My NIV Study Bible adds the following note: “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? A key theme of the book: Trouble and suffering are not merely punishment for sin; for God’s people they may serve as a trial (as here) or as a discipline that culminates in spiritual gain….Job’s reply to his wife silences “the accuser,” who is not heard from again. And true to his word here, Job refuses to turn his back on God throughout the long struggle that follows. He faces God with questions, complaints, accusations and appeals, but he continues to face him – and never curses him, as Satan said he would.” *
Job didn’t understand it, but we are told that his suffering was a result of the Adversary’s accusations of the man God commended. (Job 1:9) I can’t explain why these two friends have suffered so greatly – or why others in this world also suffer in what seems to be a needless way. Sometimes I (we) can do something to alleviate suffering but, as you know, sometimes we cannot. Sometimes there don’t seem to be any answers and we, like Job’s friends, must just sit silently in the silence with those who suffer. Perhaps all we can do is to face God with our questions, complaints, accusations, and appeals, never cursing God and never sinning. No matter how inadequate this seems, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is still present with us.
Recently these scripture verses landed in my inbox:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” (James 1:2-3 NIV)
I do not know why God has allowed the physical suffering my friends and many others have faced. I do not know what purpose or plan God has for them. But I do believe that God has good and hopeful plans for their future – to prosper them. And sometimes those good plans have to be worked out through (sometimes long) periods of suffering. Paul says the testing of our faith through trials produces perseverance. If it were me, I’d much prefer to develop perseverance in other less painful ways. Yet, Paul invites us to consider these hardships, trials, and even sufferings as joy. So, today, we pray for those who suffer. We pray that Emmanuel would be very present to them in their suffering, that, they would have godly and kind friends to be with them and encourage them, and that they would never dishonor, curse, or sin against God. Amen and Amen.
*NIV Study Bible (Zondervan (c) 2011 p. 796)