The problem of pain and suffering is probably the hardest question for any Christian to answer. Although we cannot claim to provide a comprehensive answer to it, we do have the most rational and hopeful one. As the well known Christian writer John Lennox rightly puts it, “God has not remained distant from the problem of human suffering but actually has become part of it”. Suffering is central to Christianity and those who have faith are certainly not promised a free ride from afflictions this side of eternity. In fact it is somewhat to be expected.
This reality is very relevant in my own life as I write this. I was recently diagnosed with a problem affecting my thyroid gland; a part of the body which I had scarcely heard of before now. It turns out that the thyroid plays a vital role within the body.
A small gland (4-6cm) situated at the base of the neck, it secretes two hormones which are sent through the blood to all the cells of the body and they are responsible for it’s overall metabolism. After experiencing such symptoms as a full body rash, mood swings, muscle pain, chronic fatigue and brain fog, to name but a few, I was left hoping that the issues caused by this butterfly-shaped gland would appear for a short time, then suddenly fly away.
Despite taking medication to rebalance my hormone levels, to date my symptoms have only seen a slight improvement and the exact root cause of the problem is still unknown.
This uncertainty has not been made any easier by being placed on a long waiting list to see a dermatologist and even to have an urgent ultrasound because of the crippling impact of the coronavirus pandemic. I suspect that the cause may be an auto-immune disease of some description (as it runs in the family) but I am left just trying to manage the condition to the best of my ability.
God Is Sovereign Over Affliction
Some days are certainly better than others but my faith in God has never wavered. In fact, knowing that God is sovereign over my affliction has been the greatest source of comfort to me. To see his hand in our suffering is not always an easy task but knowing that he has a purpose for it all, brings a measure of assurance. The afflictions of the saints work for their good but as they are grievous to bear, we are exhorted to always pray (James5:13).
I would be lying to say that despite this knowledge, like Paul, I have prayed in the past for this thorn in the flesh to be plucked out once and for all. In my stronger moments however, I was given the grace to pray for God’s overall will to be fulfilled in my suffering. The great apostle referred to his particular thorn as a “messenger of Satan” sent to buffet him, but it’s important to note, that he fully understood why he had been given such an affliction. In his own words he says that it was “to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations” (2Cor.12:7).
Paul saw that the purpose of his pain was to keep him from becoming puffed up with pride. He viewed it as we all ought to, as ultimately for his own good and sent from the hand of an all knowing God.
We are not to know whether there is a case to be said that his thorn was a part of God’s promise to show him that he must suffer for his name, I would suggest not though, given the amount of trials and tribulations he faced from outside threats. As Saul of Tarsus, he led the relentless campaign to snuff out the early churches flame but upon receiving free grace from a merciful God, Paul certainly bore the penalty of his previous sins.
The Beginning Of Job’s Suffering
The same cannot be said of the case of Job which we find in the Old Testament. The book of his name is thought to be by many scholars, one of the oldest that we have and Job is described by the Lord in the first chapter of it as a “blameless and upright man”.
We know that Job’s afflictions were not as a result of his own personal sin; although we see his three closest friends charge him with this misled assumption later in the book. The truth is, as we have said, that the righteous are not excluded from suffering, contrary to the view of many health, wealth and prosperity teachers across the world, who I dare say avoid any mention of this sacred piece of scripture like the plague.
The two words you associate with the story of Job are suffering and patience. The book provides the clearest record for us, of the part that both God and Satan have in the suffering of those who are chosen in the furnace of affliction. We see that after Satan presents himself before the Lord, it is God who asks “have you considered my servant Job?”(Job1:8).
The great adversary puts Job’s faithfulness to God down to the fact that he has blessed the work of his hands and made him prosper in the land. Authority is then given to the enemy from the Lord and he is permitted to hit everything that Job has whilst being commanded to not lay a finger on the man himself. So in the tragic events that ensued, Job lost all his cattle along with other animals to the invading Sabeans, his flock of sheep to the fire, his camels to the Chaldeans along with many servants and more heartbreakingly all 10 of his Children, who were also swept away.
Clearly this devastation was evil, but like Paul, Job traced his affliction back to God in saying “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job1:21).
God Is In Control
It is worthwhile to pause here and consider that before this particular suffering and the suffering that was to come for Job, Satan said to God “stretch out your hand” before proposing what evil he should be allowed to inflict on the Godly man from the land of Uz. This is important because it highlights that the enemy is aware that he must first have permission from the most high to carry out attacks on his saints and not only that, but the level of damage he can dish-out is always set by the Lord.
Satan does not have free reign and thus he’s not sovereign over our suffering but he is the author of evil. What we receive has his penmanship all over it but it is God who allows it to be published. Some believers rightfully trace every blessing back to God but as soon as a fiery trial comes upon them, they see only the Devil at play. This is a low view of the sovereignty of God and an unscriptural one.
Joseph is another example of someone who saw that in hindsight, his heavenly Father was at work during his afflictions even when they were meted out by his own flesh and blood “you meant evil against me but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20).
Providing Comfort
We pick up the story again with Job, who after holding fast to his integrity is afflicted for a second time, this time bodily. He is struck with loathsome sores from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet and left to scrape himself with a broken piece of pottery.
Though the condition of my skin is not to be compared with that of Job’s, I empathise with the need to scratch and scratch again to get some momentary relief. I continue to struggle with sore skin especially on my face but unlike the desperate Job, I have not resorted to such extreme measures. Perhaps the significance of the broken shard of pottery here, is to highlight for us the sharp and sudden pains that we can expect to receive in these bodies of clay, all because of the brokenness that sin has caused.
Moving on, we read of the aforementioned three men paying their poor friend a visit, with the sole intention of providing some comfort to him. Upon their arrival, we are told that from a distance, they couldn’t even recognise him due to his severe disfigurement. As a result, they raised their voices to heaven, tore their clothes and wept as they sat in the dust with him for seven days, without saying a single word.
This is the most poignant of scenes and I believe that it was the most appropriate response for them to have at that particular moment. They saw that his suffering was great and knew that no human words could really provide him with any solace.
Family and friends of course mean well, but sometimes the best way to comfort someone is with silent gestures and as little words as possible. Reminding the person of the promises found in the word of God and letting them know that you are praying for them is always of more value.
Throughout the rest of this book however, we see that a multiplicity of words are spoken by the three visitors, prompting Job to call them “miserable comforters”. (Job16:2) Job in his agony, also has much to say about his condition, provoking God to answer out of the whirlwind; “who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” (Job38:2).
In Christ We Are Never Alone
We can recognise that there is a marked difference between the two types of suffering Job faced from his responses to them. Make no mistake, neither type is easy to go through and to live with but it is the personal affliction that causes Job the most torment.
I don’t want to underestimate the sorrow of losing loved ones because it is a type of pain that doesn’t go away and an absence that causes much heartache. That said, the serious bodily affliction which Job received would have been something that was all consuming, physically debilitating, constantly present and endured in an age where there was next to no medicine with which to alleviate some of his pain. Added to that it must have felt especially lonely when all of the remaining people close to him, could only offer condemnation along with bouts of belly wisdom. It is only until God himself deals with Job, that we see a resolution to the story and an end to his troubles.
I know at the height of my own light affliction, I too felt a certain amount of loneliness. One night in my meditations, I poured out this thought to the Lord “why do you feel so far away from me, why are you hiding your face now?”. Almost instantly, by the spirit, I was reminded that our very saviour in his suffering on the cross felt the same kind of distress when he cried out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt.27:46). I cannot tell you how much I needed to hear that.
The Holy Spirit is called the “comforter” (John14:16) for a reason and he really does have no equal. Sometimes humans are apt to make much of the crosses they bear either by exaggerating them or by wallowing in self-pity and so to be reminded of the utter desertion that Jesus felt at Calvary all for my sake, was certainly a good word in due season.
All of the Lords disciples fled as he was made sin for us on the tree, yet out of the anguish of his soul he saw and was satisfied; knowing that he had finished God’s salvation plan. We shouldn’t underestimate that sinful man is prone to not want to be associated with the apparently weak.
The bigger picture was hidden from Christ’s followers back then but God has chosen to reveal his perfect strength and power through weakness. Looking to Jesus and remembering that no matter what we are going through, in our struggles against sin, we have not yet resisted to the point of shedding our blood is a sobering thought.
The Blessings Of Affliction
Being placed in the furnace of affliction can be God’s way to (as my favourite puritan Thomas Watson put it) “carry away nothing but the dross of sin”. If we are to be tried in the flames, then it is reassuring to know that we are in the crucible with Christ and just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego we are not alone.
God has promised to work all things for good to those who love him and feeling the heat of the furnace can serve as a means to remove some of the impurities in our lives. Just as Gold when passed through the fire becomes more pure, those who cling to Christ through their trials shall come forth with more strength, more value and more usefulness for the kingdom of God.
Perhaps the Lord chooses affliction as a way of doing a preparatory work in his saints, readying the person for a time whereby he will show his glory through them. Jesus knew that Lazarus (the one he loved) was sick but chose to prolong his visit and allow him to die anyway, causing grief to his two sisters. He was then so moved by Martha and Mary’s sorrow that he wept with them, whilst all the while knowing that in the end, he would reveal his glory by raising their brother from the dead.
Afflictions can be the catalyst to revive our prayer life with God. Job though sometimes misled, poured out his soul to the lord and learnt what it was to really wrestle with him. This is one area in which I hope to improve, there have been times where my prayers have been too formal, too safe, lacking the spirit – God willing I will be moved to become more fervent in prayer and better able to approach the throne of grace with boldness.
Afflictions though hard to bear, shall prove to be a sweet blessing in the end. Granted, fruit from the tree of suffering seems to take a long time to appear but the day shall surely come where they are fully ripened and ready to be enjoyed “we know that suffering produces perseverance and perseverance, character; and character, hope”(Rom.5).
The Dangers Of Knowing Only Comfort
If given the choice between having us at ease or sorely afflicted, Satan would choose the former. He is a crafty serpent and knows that the likelihood of someone growing slack concerning the things of God is more probable when all is rosy. It doesn’t take long to see the enemy taking full advantage of this truth in the scriptures.
When David was at the height of his prosperity as the King of Israel, the time of the year came when Kings were expected to go out to battle. On one fateful occasion however, he decided to stay at home and instead send his head of military Joab into the field. This is the time when temptation came creeping in, when David had neglected his royal duty in favour of putting his feet up.
Idly walking upon the roof of his house with time on his hands, he laid eyes on the beautiful but married Bathsheba and committed adultery. Consequently he also became complicit in the murder of her husband Uriah and clearly his eyes were not on his God despite all of the goodness he had shown him.
Another example comes from his son Solomon. When it was his turn to reign, he married many foreign women when it was not lawful for him to do so. It is said that he exceeded all the kings of the earth for wealth but in his old age, the women he married, turned his heart after other Gods and he was not wholly true to the Lord.
Then there’s Peter, who upon hearing Christ explain that he must first suffer and be raised from the dead, began to rebuke him by saying “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you?” (Matt.16:22). Clearly he didn’t realise who was pulling his strings and you can only imagine his surprise when the Lord replied “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Matt.16:23).
Further proof that Satan even has the audacity to try and tempt Christ to depart from God’s will for him to suffer and all from the mouth of Peter. It is after this very exchange that Jesus commands us all, his followers, to obediently carry our crosses whereas the enemy would have us exchange them in a heartbeat, for footstools of comfort.
Stay Positive
It was only until I was afflicted, that I could truly empathise with the character of Job and understand the pure emotion behind some of his words. I thank God for this blessing and for making an example of this righteous man which continues to have a lasting impact some thousands of years later. In Job, he has preserved for us, a priceless image of patience, which was formed and developed in the dark room of suffering.
Job did eventually go on to receive twice as many possessions as he had previously and was further blessed with seven sons and three daughters, equalling the number that he had lost. For those of you who are currently suffering under an affliction or some kind of trial, I know that it can be hard to see beyond the negatives but you can rest assured that God has his eyes set firmly on the positives.
If he has so ordered things, that mankind’s highest attainment of meaning is to be found through the cross of his son, then certainly there is purpose in your suffering. I would reassure you and myself for that matter, to remember that his grace is sufficient for our needs, his hand is always at work and it won’t be long until we all see that glorious ray of light come shining through.
Be encouraged, our Lord endured the cross for the joy that was set before him, a joy of which you are part. He has won the victory over sin and death and he shall share the spoils with those who are strong. Take heed to the beautiful words from the poem ‘Light Shining Out Of Darkness’ by William Cowper: “his purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour; the bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower”.
