Thursday, September 27, 2007
On Suffering
Mark Daniels looks at suffering and concludes"
Mark calls his post "Why Do the Innocent Suffer?" and in it he makes the excellent point
But that said, there are no true "innocents." In the general sense, suffering is a result on the fallen state of the world, and our individual fallen state. Generalisms like that are little or no comfort in times of suffering, but they are important in determining our response to suffering. There is a difference you know. Our emotions, our need for comfort is natural, but what we do with that feeling can be for our betterment and the betterment of the world, or we can choose to wallow in it.
What comfort was their for Christ, who petitioned His Father at emotional depths that I think few of us have ever experienced, to have his suffering removed. And yet, God did not remove His suffering, and Christ bore His suffering because it had redemptive purpose. That suffering too, was generally about the fallen state of the world.
Oh, we should indeed ask God to remove our suffering from us, but we should know that like Christ that request may or may not be granted. So now what. Do we hide from our suffering? Do we lash out at those that we perceive as having put us in the situation (remember Peter at the garden?)
I think not. Like Christ we must get busy about the redemptive work to which God has called us. Our redemptive work is not the hinge of history as was Christ's; our redemptive work may be as simple as helping a neighbor carry in the groceries -- it may be as difficult as muttering "Not my will, but Thine."
Suffering indeed cannot be understood, but that does not mean we do not have a choice in how to respond to it. We should seek diligently, as in all things to be Christlike in that response.
Suffering may never make sense. But God’s love is always there for us.AMEN to that.
Mark calls his post "Why Do the Innocent Suffer?" and in it he makes the excellent point
...ignore those who try to say that every bad thing that happens to you is your fault. It isn’t!In specificity, I agree with Mark completely here. God does not mess with our lives in some sort of quid pro quo failure/discipline cycle. Suffering does often appear to us as random and pointless, and we will never be able to make sense of it.
But that said, there are no true "innocents." In the general sense, suffering is a result on the fallen state of the world, and our individual fallen state. Generalisms like that are little or no comfort in times of suffering, but they are important in determining our response to suffering. There is a difference you know. Our emotions, our need for comfort is natural, but what we do with that feeling can be for our betterment and the betterment of the world, or we can choose to wallow in it.
What comfort was their for Christ, who petitioned His Father at emotional depths that I think few of us have ever experienced, to have his suffering removed. And yet, God did not remove His suffering, and Christ bore His suffering because it had redemptive purpose. That suffering too, was generally about the fallen state of the world.
Oh, we should indeed ask God to remove our suffering from us, but we should know that like Christ that request may or may not be granted. So now what. Do we hide from our suffering? Do we lash out at those that we perceive as having put us in the situation (remember Peter at the garden?)
I think not. Like Christ we must get busy about the redemptive work to which God has called us. Our redemptive work is not the hinge of history as was Christ's; our redemptive work may be as simple as helping a neighbor carry in the groceries -- it may be as difficult as muttering "Not my will, but Thine."
Suffering indeed cannot be understood, but that does not mean we do not have a choice in how to respond to it. We should seek diligently, as in all things to be Christlike in that response.
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