Suffering

I have always found suffering to be a mystery. I don't believe for one moment that the Lord is the author of suffering, but I have such a hard time understanding why there seems to be so much suffering in our personal lives and in the earth.

The only things I am sure about are these:

a) The Lord is able to take any degree of suffering and turn it to good.
b) Suffering is not God's form of punishment for sin or wrongdoing. The consequences of our sin can cause suffering, but this is not God's method of punishment.
c) The Lord will never leave us - no matter what degree of pain or trouble you are in, the Lord has not left you alone - He is there beside you.

Here are the things that Job suffered in a very short period of time:

His children sinned against God – Job 1:4-5

His oxen, donkeys and camels were stolen – Job1:14-15, 17

His servants and animals were killed – Job 1:16-17

His sons and daughters were killed – Job 1:18-19

He was covered with boils – Job 2:7

His wife grumbled at him – Job 2:9

His three friends falsely accused him of doing wrong – Job 4-37

He had a crisis of faith – Job 6, 9, 10

Yet Job fell to the ground and worshiped

Job 1: 20-22 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.

And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked shall I return there.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.

No matter what you are walking through right now – don’t let your mouth or heart charge God foolishly – turn your sorrow into worship and open your eyes to the goodness of the Lord.

Know this: there is absolutely nothing in heaven or earth that can take you from the arms of God - His love, His care, His solution for your situation his very moment.

∫Romans 8:35-39

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,

39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Look at this great list of things that cannot separate (divorce) us from the love and care of our Father. I have given you the list from the New King James version, but have included the translation from many other versions just for further clarity – so, read this list and be comforted that nothing here is able to take us from God’s love and care:

Tribulation (trouble)

Distress (hard times, problems, calamity, pain)

Persecution (hatred, suffering wrong from others)

Famine (hunger)

Nakedness (destitute, homelessness)

Peril (in danger, bullying threats)

Sword (threatened with death, backstabbing)

Death (actual death, the worst sins listed in Scripture)

Life (nothing living)

Angels (messenger of Heaven)

Principalities (demons, rulers, monarchs of earth)

Powers (of any sort)

Things present (our fears for today)

Things to come (our worries about tomorrow)

Height (no power above, thinkable)

Depth (no power in the earth below, unthinkable)

Any other created thing (nothing in all creation)

How many of these things are causing you to suffer? Run into the arms of the Lord - He has everything under control!

Those who leave everything in God’s hand

Will eventually see God’s hand in everything

See HERE for more thoughts on suffering

Brokenness - Part 3

This is the 3^rd part of a teaching on brokenness. Part 1 is HERE  And part 2 is HERE

This is what I see as the 4^th opportunity for us to walk into brokenness:

4. Circumstances (Job)   

Job suffered catastrophic loss – he was launched into a season of unprecedented suffering. So many of us would crumble under such a weight (he lost all of his children, health, property, servants and his livelihood), and yet he bowed and worshiped before the Lord and said (Job 1:21),

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

And naked shall I return there.

The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;

Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

As you read through the book of Job, you can clearly see how the suffering Job went through strengthened his faith and took him from being a Godly man to and even more devout and gracious man.

It is so true that character is not made in a crisis – only exhibited. The strength of character exhibited by Job did not just appear at the moment of suffering – it was formed in him during the every-day decisions to serve God with all his heart, throughout his life.

There is something about suffering that sculpts our character if we allow it. I think life hands every one of us some degree of suffering from time to time. In fact, there are many things in life that are not fair. But...the decisions we make when we are facing trials are some of the most important decisions of our lives. When we choose to honor the Lord as Job did, we will see the glory of the Lord. Every trial brings with it a seed for equivalent or even greater blessing. We just have to find that seed and plant it in our patient, yielded hearts.

The gem cannot be polished without friction,

nor a man without trials.

Chinese Proverb

The Lord’s Response To Our Brokenness

1. Ps. 34:18 The Lord is near to the broken-hearted

2. Ps. 34:18 The Lord saves the contrite (The Hebrew word for contrite is dakka’ it also means to be broken and crushed small – like dust)

3. Ps. 147:3 The Lord heals/binds up the broken-hearted.   Is. 61:1; Luke 4:18

4. Is. 57:15 The Lord revives (restores life and health) the contrite

5. Is. 66:1-2 The Lord looks upon and makes Himself present among the contrite

So we see – the Lord is looking for broken hearts – not destroyed hearts, but hearts and lives that are surrendered to His hand. There is a wise saying that goes like this:

The finer the vessel, the smaller is the imperfection that will be able to ruin it.

If we have a cracked or chipped cup – it is still able to be used for everyday things, but if a special guest is coming that same cup should not be placed on the table – In fact, any cup with the tiniest flaw is rendered unusable.

The same is true of us – we are to be servants and ministers of the King of Kings. He is not willing for even the slightest flaw in our character. He is searching for ways to bring every inch of our soul to brokenness so that His glory can flow freely in us and through us.

Part 4: HERE