How does God's Grace Enter Our Suffering? Part 2 (Suffering 08)

(Charles Simeon) "Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward!" Job 5:7 "Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble!" Job 14:1 "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows." John 16:33 It is true that our afflictions are great and manifold. Yet we have no reason for complaint, when we know that our afflictions are all ordered in number, measure, and duration--for our best and greatest good, according to the counsels of God's infinite wisdom and love! We have no reason for complaint, when we are assured that our afflictions are the very things which we would choose for ourselves, if we saw the outcome of them as clearly as God sees it! If we view our afflictions in this way, we shall receive even the most painful of God's dispensations as blessings in disguise! "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey Your Word!" Psalm 119:67 "It was good for me to be afflicted, so that I might learn Your decrees." Psalm 119:71 "I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness You have afflicted me." Psalm 119:75 "We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

I Am with You for a Purpose

Stanza 3

When through the deep waters I call you to go,

the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;

for I will be with you, your troubles to bless,

and sanctify to you your deepest distress.

Words from Isaiah 43 (especially 43:2) flow through this stanza.

Isaiah 43:1–7 ESV

1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. 6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Isaiah alludes back to what event?

The crossing of the Red Sea

How did they come to the Red Sea?

Ex 14:1-14.

They had left and were heading into the desert.

God told them to TURN BACK and camp in front of Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the Sea. God TOLD them to camp where they would be cornered.

BECAUSE, he wanted to show Israel how He would fight for them.

His point....I WILL BE WITH YOU.

I WILL FIGHT FOR YOU.

I have a purpose in this circumstance.

Isaiah 43, and this stanza of How Firm, are God’s words speaking into YOUR suffering, MY suffering, OUR suffering that it is not meaningless or purposeless. A point we have well seen and established in this series and in Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy.

Powlison points out FOUR vast truths of how God personalizes the message of what he is doing.

God himself calls you into the deep waters.

God sets a limit on your sorrows.

God is with you, actively bringing good from your troubles.

In the context of distressing events, God changes you.

Here is the point, a point we have made over and over again....your suffering does not happen by accident and it is NOT meaningless.

Suffering, for the believer always plays the party of a comedy, in the traditional sense of the word....a story which has a happy ending. For the believer, our suffering WILL HAVE a happy ending.

God has a purpose for us in our suffering, and it is meant for our good. We will come out singing the confident song of praise that sounds like this....

Ps 23:4-6.

Psalm 23:4–6 ESV

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

As we go through suffering, if we permit the Spirit to lead and work, it will lead here.

BUT HEAR ME....this is not a clean or neat process.

Learning to trust in God’s good purposes through suffering is not a cool, calm, and collected process. Nothing in the lament Psalms or Lamentations give us that impressions. A reading of Psalm 28 will tell you, David was ANYTHING but cool, calm, and collected. I

Learning to trust God and his good purposes in our suffering often involves panic, grief, sorry, pain, and fear.

Suffering is MEANT to disrupt the normal. It is meant to shake us up. It is noisy and needy.

Psalm 10 expresses trust in God, but it also expresses great fear at those who come against us.

Jesus’ own words on the cross, quotes from Ps 22 and Ps 35, express deep anguish. His final words of committing himself into His Father’s hands are certainly words of great trust, but they are not coming from a cool, calm, and collected place. The night before, he was so deeply anguished that he sweat drops of blood.

BUT we when come, when we trust, when we wrestle with the ugliness of suffering AND STILL FIND TRUST, the suffering sets about doing exactly what it was meant to do.

IT transforms us and unites us even more deeply to the God who made us and loves us.

The fourth stanza of How Firm goes like this....

When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie,

my grace, all-sufficient, shall be your supply;

the flame shall not hurt you; I only design

your dross to consume and your gold to refine.

Three reasons, or purposes for WHY God permits suffering....

He is revealing his abiding generosity toward you.

He is removing all that is ungenerous in you.

He is making you abidingly generous.

Isaiah 43:2 is once again alluded to here.

Isaiah 43:2 ESV

2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

But so is 1 Peter 1:6-9. (Another arsenal verse)

1 Peter 1:6–9 ESV

6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Powlison notes...

In God’s hands, experiences of suffering purify you. His love works to take away what is wrong with you: your dross. The outcome is a growing love and joy toward God in Christ, as well as a more sincere love for others: your gold. Peter says that this is the fruit of faith, because you have never actually seen Jesus. But he becomes more and more real in the context of fiery trials. David Powlison

The reality is that as followers of Christ, we are still plagued with sin. As followers though, our propensity towards sin afflicts us, causes us to suffer. We are ALL still filled with dross that beset us. We are NO LONGER identified by our sin and shortcomings, but we ARE afflicted by it.

Thus, even the temptations to sin and the weakness of the flesh, which is a form of suffering in its own way, is used by God to accomplish his good purpose of removing our dross and changing us into his image.

Sin is our worst cancer, our most treacherous enemy. And we are afflicted with it.

Course, having said that, we are still responsible for our sin. This is not a justification for when we fail to resist and instead yield to it, but nevertheless, it is true that our enticement to sin is an affliction from which we have not yet been delivered.

BUT our indwelling sin does not define us. It opposes us. And God is at work in and through all form of suffering to shape us into his image.

In addition to removing our dross, God is intent on refining our gold.

When we go through suffering, gold is produced.

The gold of courage to stand firm in the face of opposition and suffering.

The gold of teaching us wise and compassionate love. We learn the love of God and we pass that love on to others who endure suffering.

2 Cor 1:4.

2 Corinthians 1:4 ESV

4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Powlison notes...

God’s personal tenderness, unchangeable truth, and high purposes are united so that he simultaneously accomplishes seemingly contradictory things. He profoundly comforts us as sufferers, strengthening us for endurance. He mercifully challenges us as sinners, humbling us with our ongoing need for the blood of the Lamb. He powerfully changes us as his sons and daughters, making us fearless and wise to help other sufferers, other sinners, other sons and daughters. There is inevitably an aloneness in suffering because no one can fully enter another’s experience. Each person knows “the affliction of his own heart” (1 Kings 8:38; cf. Prov. 14:10). God ensures that human aid will never substitute for the Lord, who alone comes fully near. But we can bear each other’s burdens with love, and we can counsel each other with truth. The give-and-take of wise love is one of life’s most significant joys. David Powlison

God accomplishes good in suffering.

If we get nothing else out of our study of suffering for the past year, hear that truth....

Further, God purposes to prove his love.

I Will Prove My Love

Stanza 5

E’en down to old age all my people shall prove

my sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;

and when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,

like lambs they shall still in my bosom be borne.

This is the refrain we did not sing, that they did not sing in the video that I played today.

But it is the one stanza that looks down the line, into the future of old age, and assures us that God’s faithfulness will never fail.

Psalm 71.

Psalm 71:9 ESV

9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent.

Psalm 71:18 ESV

18 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.

In the context of this Psalm, twice the issues old age arises.

The Psalmist is speaking of his trust in God as His refuge and pleading with God not to forsake him in his old age.

Note how he ends the Psalm...

Psalm 71:19-24.

Psalm 71:19–24 ESV

19 Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? 20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. 21 You will increase my greatness and comfort me again. 22 I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. 23 My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed. 24 And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long, for they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt.

There is an absolute assurance that God will not forsake him.

There is an expression of worship and praise in God for this truth and reality.

Point is this....Will God ever cease to be faithful?

Will God ever fail to be faithful?

Is there every a point in our aging process where God’s faithfulness cannot reach?

NO.

Powlison commented...

Every single reader who lives a long life will experience a landslide of losses and disabilities. Live long enough and you may outlive everyone you love: parents, friends, spouse—even children and, perhaps, grandchildren. You will outlive your usefulness in the workplace and other productive arenas. You may outlive your money. You may outlive your relevance and no longer be part of what’s happening. You may outlive your health as every bodily system breaks down. You may outlive your ability to walk, your toilet training, your ability to feed yourself; your memory and—toward the end—your ability to put thoughts together, to relate to others the way you wish you could, and even to remember who you are. Should you live long enough, you may lose every earthly good. And then you certainly will lose your life. The last enemy still routinely kills us. David Powslison

I particularly resonated with this and could not help but think of my parents as I read this.

But did God cease to be faithful to my parents?

Did God cease to be faithful to you in your own physical aging?

NO.

Psalm 23 speaks of this truth as well.

Psalm 23:4–6 ESV

Though we walk through the valley of shadow of death...

We will sing of His mercies that follow us all the days of our life.

GOD WILL prove his love for us, no matter how great or small our suffering.

He will prove it to the end.

I Will Never Fail

Stanza 6

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,

I will not, I will not desert to his foes;

that soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

Who will prevail?

God

Who will FOREVER be faithful?

God

Notice how insistent the writer of this hymn was...

I will not

I will not desert to his foes

Ill Never

No never

No never forsake

Notice the word “repose”

Anyone know what this word means?

It does NOT mean a restful state of peace and tranquility.

The old, original meaning is to rely entirely, to depend, to actively place the weight of your life on Jesus.

It is AN ACTIVE state of faith and trust that leans EVERYTHING on God.

And we can do this BECAUSE HE WILL NEVER, NO NEVER, NO NEVER forsake us.

Proverbs 3:5-6.

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

What will God do when we trust Him?

2 Timothy 2:1-13.

2 Timothy 2:1–13 ESV

1 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. 8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

Paul could endure suffering because he was confident that God would be faithful to the very end to supply the salvation for which he suffered everything to achieve.

Yes, God is and will be faithful to the very end.

Conclusion

Big Idea: God’s grace gives us HIMSELF as he enters our suffering with us.

How Firm a Foundation

Listen Well

I Am with You

I Am with You for a Purpose

I Will Prove My Love

I Will Never Fail

As we consider our suffering, both small and great, let us LOOK UP and behold the goodness and faithfulness of God.

Church, look around. If you see a brother or sister struggling and not looking up, help them.

Let us embrace a theology of suffering that fortifies our hearts when it comes.

Let us embrace the process of lament to lead us through it to find trust.

When we encounter suffering and ask, “Why me?” Let us embrace an attitude that says, “Why not?”

Powlison

Why you? The question generates a heartfelt response. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget any of the good things he does, who pardons all your iniquities and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with loving-kindness and compassions, who satisfies you with good things as your adornment, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. Thank you, my Father.” You are able to give true voice to a thank you amid all that is truly wrong, because all sins and all sufferings have now come under his loving-kindness.

Finally, you are prepared to pose—and to mean—an almost unimaginable question: “Why not me? Why not this? Why not now?” If in some way, your faith might serve as a three-watt night light in a very dark world, why not me? If your suffering shows forth the Savior of the world, why not me? If you have the privilege of filling up the sufferings of Christ? If he sanctifies to you your deepest distress? If you fear no evil? If he bears you in his arms? If your weakness demonstrates the power of God to save us from all that is wrong? If your honest struggle shows other strugglers how to land on their feet? If your life becomes a source of hope for others? Why not me? David Powlison

And as you embrace suffering in faith and trust, may God use it to help you grow together to become more like Jesus for the glory of God.

Application

Form groups of 4-6.

Share some of the struggles and suffering you are enduring right now.

Take time and pray together WITH and FOR one another.

Do not feel rushed or hurried, perhaps even read some of your arsenal verses together before, during, after your prayer.

Point is, LOOK UP. Help each other LOOK UP.

Trust

Pray

Grow.

Related Media

Related Sermons