What is the Point of Suffering? Extracting the precious from the worthless

I like Job. This man was righteous and good. Job was a superstar in the God-loving world, and he was one of God's favorites. 

Then, adversity came, as it does to us all, and he didn't feel like a favorite at all. Job got a whopping big dose of trouble, and it was far more trouble than most of us will ever see.

In the span of a few hours, Job lost his wealth and his family in one fell swoop. 

I can't imagine surviving that kind of adversity. I'm not sure I'd want to survive it.

Job had much loss to grieve, but, at the very beginning of his journey, he submitted his will to God's and worshipped Him. (We looked at this yesterday. The link is below, in case you missed it.)

Before he had a chance to recover from his personal losses, another disaster struck in the form of tormenting illness and chronic pain. To make matters worse, his wife was no help at all. "Curse God and die" is not the godly recommendation of a loving wife. 

Do you get the picture? 

Job lost almost everything he cared about. He was left with a disease-ridden body and a bitter wife.

This much stress has a marked physiologic effect and frequently causes depression. Was Job depressed? Probably. In his despair, however, he asked a very good question. It's one we would do well to consider.

What is the point of suffering?

That's not how he said it, of course, but I believe it was the question behind his question. "Why is life given to him who suffers?" (Job 3:20 nasb)  Jeremiah asked the same question, as have many over the years.

God's response to Jeremiah was an interesting one:

Extract the precious from the worthless... (Jer. 15:19)

Not every situation seems favorable, but there is something precious in every situation. Jeremiah said people looked at the adversity he faced and waited for his fall. They expected to overcome him when that fall finally came. That won't happen, Jeremiah predicted.

But the Lord is with me like a dread champion... (Jer.20:11)

Jeremiah was in the midst of a terrible situation, but he was not alone in his trial. God was with him and God was his champion. In a way, those who sought to overcome Jeremiah would have to go through God (his champion) to do it.

Jesus spoke about this very subject. "In this world, you will have tribulation, but take courage, for I have overcome the world," (John 16:33 nasb)

James, the half-brother of Jesus, wrote about the trials of life. 

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 

James 1:2-4 nasb

At last, we come to the "precious from the worthless". Much of our sin and our ungodliness are burned away in the fires of our trials. 

Suffering is never wasted, because it works in us to make us stronger and more mature. 

Suffering removes the chaff and leaves the good behind. In the midst of it all, God Himself walks through our suffering with us. 

I know this from experience. In my own trials, I have experienced both the presence and the cleansing of God. My suffering was not wasted. Unbelievably, I can look back now and say, "It was worth it." I don't want another refining fire, but what I gained through it was worth the heat, the sorrow, and the pain.

Suffering leaves us closer to our Lord and more like Him. 

No one loves having a trial, but being more like Jesus and knowing Him better is an outcome that makes our suffering worthwhile.

Have you faced a terrible time of testing? Are you there now? Take courage. You are not alone. God goes through it with you and, on the other side, you will emerge closer to Him and more like Him.

One fact make Jeremiah's journey easier, and it will ours, as well, so let's post this truth on the walls of our heart:

Our God is with us like a dread champion.

He is with us and He will see us through.

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My Amazon Author page is now live. Be sure to check it out and follow me.

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In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links: The Changing of Our Culture: Physician Assisted Suicide, The Opportunity in Trials,  The Monarch Migration Badge,  The Sermon Without Words,  A Matter of Perspective, Living in Goshen: God's Best, and Embracing Our Personal Gethsemane.

#suffering #darknightofthesoul #surrender #Christian #Job #ChronologicalBible

Embracing Our Personal Gethsemane

It was one of those sunny spring days with a cloudless blue sky and crisp, clean air. The azaleas were covered in a glorious riot of blooms. Dear friends were on their way to my house for dinner. God was on His throne, and all was well. 

I heard a car pull up and my heart brightened. Perfect timing. My preparations were complete and my friends had arrived. I hurried out the door to greet them. 

But it wasn't my friends. It was someone else, even more dear than the awaited friends. With terrible news that would change my life and that of my son forever. It would, ultimately, end my marriage. I listened, dumfounded, and knew that nothing would ever be the same again.

God was still on the throne, and all was still well, but for a brief time, I felt completely alone. 

Abandoned. Crushed. Devastated.

I was shocked, but I tried to put on my happy-girl face and pretend that I was still fine. Still alive and filled with joy. A few minutes later, my friends arrived. We ate our meal and laughed and talked. I smiled and faked it the best I could. 

After dinner, we went to my little country clinic. In the prayer room, my sweet friend said, "Tell me what's wrong." And I did.

Together, the three of us laid on the floor, face down, and wept. We begged God to intervene. Finally, hours later, I began to thank Him for what He would do through the painful situation he had allowed. Somewhere in the dark night of my soul, I found my place of Gethsemane. 

It was my "Thy will be done" moment, and the rest of my journey through the pain depended on that one pivotal time.

We had prayed until I could "do it". 

There were horrible times ahead. More pain than I could imagine. I asked God and everyone else around me "Why?" and "How will I make it?" and "When will God move?" In the midst of my grief, however, God surrounded me with His love and peace. The body of Christ surrounded me with support and loved me when I was pitiful and unlovely. Our Lord carried me through. 

I didn't know it at the time, but it was the same pivotal moment that Job experienced. Right at the beginning of his trial, when he received the news that his oxen, donkeys, sheep, camels, three sets of servants, and all ten of his children were gone, Job worshipped. He shaved his head and tore his robes and fell, face down, on the floor. He worshipped God there, and found his Gethsemane. (Job 1)

"The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord."

                      Job 1:21 nasb

That one "Thy will be done" moment made Job's survival through the rest of his trial, faith still intact, possible. 

It's the kind of Gethsemane we all must face eventually. The moment when life comes crashing down and we see no way to survive the trial God has allowed is the one moment of critical opportunity. It is the moment when we allow God to strip every pretense away and leave us bare before Him. 

It's the moment when we allow Him to touch the core of our hearts and purify us as with hyssop and fire. 

Our personal Gethsemane is the place where we abandon our will to His and arise a new creature. We are transformed by surrender and equipped to do battle, shaky and tearful though we may be.

Job had more than forty more chapters worth of story and suffering to go, but the battle was won at the very start, on his face, on the ground, in his surrender.

Our personal battle through the dark night of our soul can be won. It can be won, but not by arguments or begging or demands. It is won only by surrender to the One who is still on the throne of heaven. It is won when we allow God to strip away everything else to which we've clung, cleanse every sin, and cling to Him. 

It is won by the prayer of Gethsemane. Thy will be done.

We never want surrender. It seems like foolishness to embrace God's way of pain, but it's not. The foolishness is in clinging to the tatters of our own will. 

Peace can be found in the pain, in the cleansing, in the surrender. Peace can be found when we embrace Gethsemane and accept His difficult and terrifying will. 

Years later, I can look back and see that the prayers of my Gethsemane were answered in tremendous ways. God used my pain to transform me. He brought me through. 

Gethsemane is a precious place to our Lord, and time spent there is never wasted. Not mine. Not yours.

If you haven't faced your own dark night of the soul yet, you will. We all will. When that time comes, embrace your personal Gethsemane. Begin your journey as Job began, with worship and surrender.

"Not my will, but Thine be done."  It's the way of Gethsemane. It's the way of Christ. It's the way that changes everything.
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My Amazon Author page is now live. Be sure to check it out and follow me.

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In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links: The Changing of Our Culture: Physician Assisted Suicide, The Opportunity in Trials,  The Monarch Migration Badge,  The Sermon Without Words,  A Matter of Perspective, and Living in Goshen: God's Best.

#Gethsemane #darknightofthesoul #surrender #Christian #Job #ChronologicalBible