I'M AFRAID OF SUFFERING

OVERCOMING THE FEAR OF SUFFERING AS A BELIEVER

Some people believe the Bible does not address suffering.

SUFFERING WILL BE ENCOUNTERED BY EVERY PERSON.

Lexham Theological Wordbook Suffering

Suffering is anything that a person or group experiences, over a prolonged period, that causes pain or discomfort. Suffering as a biblical concept can include physical pain or sickness, emotional grief, or a sense of hopelessness.

NO ONE WILL ESCAPE SUFFERING BEFORE CHRIST BRINGS THE NEW CREATION.

Romans 8:18–21 NASB95

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Suffering: anything that a person or group experiences, over a prolonged period, that causes pain or discomfort. Suffering as a biblical concept can include physical pain or sickness, emotional grief, or a sense of hopelessness.

Some people believe God should eliminate all suffering and pain, at least for His children. We look to His own Son’s cry, Father, let this cup pass.

WHILE PERSONAL SIN MAY BE THE ROOT OF SOME SUFFERING, THAT IS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE.

1 Peter 2:20–22 NASB95

For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;

1 Peter 2:

GOD ALWAYS OFFERS REDEMPTION.

GOD ALWAYS REWARDS THOSE WHO RELY ON HIM WITH FAVOR.

APPLICATION: 1. DON’T BEAT YOURSELF UP OVER SUFFERING (DON’T ADD TO YOUR ANGUISH).

DON’T LET YOUR PAST TRIP YOU UP WHEN JESUS IS HERE TO PICK YOU UP!

2. RECEIVE JESUS’ FORGIVENESS WHERE NEEDED.

3. RELY ON JESUS’ PRESENCE AND EXAMPLE TO CARRY YOU AND TO CARRY ON.

DON’T JUDGE OTHERS WHO SUFFER.

John 9:1–3 NASB95

As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

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John 9:1–12 NASB95

As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing. Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, “Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?” Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the one.” So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.” They said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”

Man born blind. He was not blinded by God. This is the condition of the fallen world. There are those who view that Life in the Garden would be conditional on the Tree of Life. That faith and walking with God would depend on His regular provision sustaining our corporeal bodies. When Adam fell, the world lost the renewing power and came under the curse. That is why you will find a reference to the New Heaven and New Earth, Jesus will speak of the regeneration. Just as

Sometimes our assumptions about God and suffering start with a view of God that is too rigidly aligned with our preferences.

SOMETIMES WE QUESTION GOD’S LOVE FOR US BECAUSE OF SUFFERING. SOMETIMES WE QUESTION WHETHER GOD SIMPLY WANTS TO CONTINUE IN PAIN FOR NO REASON. WE CRY OUT, “LORD, WHY DO THE RIGHTEOUS SUFFER?”

First, Plantinga pointed out that God, though omnipotent, could not be expected to do literally anything. God could not, for example, create square circles, act contrary to his nature, or, more relevantly, create beings with free will that would never choose evil.[citation needed] Taking this latter point further, Plantinga argued that the moral value of human free will is a credible offsetting justification that God could have as a morally justified reason for permitting the existence of evil.[5][page needed] PLANTINGA, sought only to show that WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT WAS A logical problem of evil WITH THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE LORD’S GOODNESS was unsound.

THE BIBLE PRESENTS THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING AS A RESULT OF WALKING AWAY FROM GOD’S GOODNESS. THE CONSEQUENCES WE ALL STRUGGLE WITH COME AS A RESULT.

LET ME ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THAT THE MORAL CHOICE THAT STARTED IN THE GARDEN CORRUPTED THE ENTIRE WORLD AS STATED IN ABOVE.

IN ORDER FOR THERE TO BE A MEANINGFUL LOVE, GOD WOULD HAVE TO CREATE A WORLD WHERE FREE CREATURES COULD CHOOSE TO LOVE.

ALVIN PLANTINGA EXPLAINS: IN ORDER FOR LOVE TO BE REAL AND MEANINGFUL A world containing creatures who are significantly free (and freely perform more good than evil actions) WILL BE more valuable, all else being equal, than a world containing no free creatures at all. Now God can create free creatures, but IF THEY ARE TO BE FREE, He can't cause or determine them to do only what is right. For if He does so, then they aren't significantly free after all; they do not do what is right freely. To create creatures capable of moral good, therefore, He must create creatures capable of moral evil; and He can't give these creatures the freedom to perform evil and at the same time prevent them from doing so. As it turned out, sadly enough, some of the free creatures God created went wrong in the exercise of their freedom; this is the source of moral evil. NOW WHEN WE CONSIDER HOW SUFFERING OFTEN IS TIED DIRECTLY TO POOR MORAL CHOICES (THINK ABOUT POVERTY, IF A PERSON CHOOSES TO FINISH SCHOOL, GET A JOB, GET MARRIED, THEN HAVE KIDS, 90 PLUS PERCENT OF THE TIME THEY HIT MIDDLE CLASS BY THE 30S). Think about crack babies and all the problems they face that are physical and emotional. Think about the destructive forces on DNA because we chose to walk away from the Lord and the Tree of life. Entropy has entered the world of people who sinfully choose.

The fact that free creatures sometimes go wrong, however, counts neither against God's omnipotence nor against His goodness; for He could have forestalled the occurrence of moral evil only by removing the possibility of moral good.

Plantinga's argument is that even though God is omnipotent, it is possible that it was not in his power to create a world containing moral good but no moral evil; therefore, there is no logical inconsistency involved when God, although wholly good, creates a world of free creatures who choose to do evil.[15] The argument relies on the following propositions:

There are possible worlds that even an omnipotent being can not actualize.A world with morally free creatures producing only moral good is such a world.

The occurence of sin into the world bound us all into a pattern of corruption that will produce physical pain and suffering.

I FIND PLANTINGA’S PRESENTATION TO BE CONCISE, BIBLICAL, AND RELATED TO REALITY.

Matthew 19:28 NASB95

And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

IN CHURCH WE NEED TO BEAR EACH OTHER’S BURDEN.

Galatians 6:2 NASB95

Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.

LISTEN.

HELP THE BEST WE CAN.

ENJOY LIFE TOGETHER.

My Bible Word Study

WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A LONG TERM STRAIN, LOOK TO THE LORD’S BLESSED RETURN AND RETURN BLESSINGS.

ALLOW OTHERS TO HELP.

ASSIST OTHERS BY BEING A MINISTER.

Acts 20:35 NASB95

“In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Roy Camponella

Roy Campanella was one of the first African Americans to play in the US Baseball major leagues. In a distinguished career he won the Brooklyn Dodgers Most Valued Player award many times, and in 1955 was in the team that won the World Series.

But in January 1958 his career was cut short after a car crash left him a quadriplegic. After he was injured he spent a lot of time in the Institute of Physical medicine and Rehabilitation in New York City. One day he stopped to read a gold plaque upon one of the walls, and for someone who had been blessed with such athletic gifts it resonated deeply within him:

“I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.

I was made weak, that I might learn to humbly obey…

I asked for health that I might do great things.

I was given infirmity that might do better things…

I asked for riches that I might be happy,

I was given poverty that I might be wise…

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of others.

I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God…

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.

I was given life that I might enjoy all things…

I got nothing I asked for, but everything I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among men, most richly blessed!

Source: Scott Higgins, using information from Baseball Library.com and Chicken Soup for the Soul.

LEMMA

παλιγγενεσία palingenesia “ genesia “ Do you see Genesis there? Back to the Garden.

regeneration; renewal

LTW rebirth, regeneration, renewal.

WSNTDICT

Louw-Nida new age, Messianic age

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Created 6/18/2019 2:41:34 PM

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 2:41 PM June 18, 2019.

Our view of God’s intervention at times if that of a gumball dispenser.

Hans suggests that disappointments like these are the stuff of life, and that if we read the Scriptures we discover that alongside the stories of miracles and amazing feats by God we hear story after story of disappointment with God, of times God appears silent and inactive. He suggests that sometimes we remember only the miracle stories and so we develop too big a view of God – not that we can have too big a view of God’s greatness and power or too big  a view of God’s love and grace, but that we can have too big a view of God’s will. God’s action in our world is not always to perform the miraculous, but more often than not to walk through our suffering with us. Hans suggests that “A view of God that is too big is harmful both to believer and unbeliever. When our understanding of God is exaggerated, we declare that God will do things he does not intend to do, at least not regularly and in all situations.”

Source: Adapted from Daniel Hans, God on the Witness Stand (Baker, 1987)

Roy Campanella was one of the first African Americans to play in the US Baseball major leagues. In a distinguished career he won the Brooklyn Dodgers Most Valued Player award many times, and in 1955 was in the team that won the World Series.

But in January 1958 his career was cut short after a car crash left him a quadriplegic. After he was injured he spent a lot of time in the Institute of Physical medicine and Rehabilitation in New York City. One day he stopped to read a gold plaque upon one of the walls, and for someone who had been blessed with such athletic gifts it resonated deeply within him:

“I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.

I was made weak, that I might learn to humbly obey…

I asked for health that I might do great things.

I was given infirmity that might do better things…

I asked for riches that I might be happy,

I was given poverty that I might be wise…

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of others.

I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God…

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.

I was given life that I might enjoy all things…

I got nothing I asked for, but everything I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among men, most richly blessed!

Source: Scott Higgins, using information from Baseball Library.com and Chicken Soup for the Soul.

SUFFERING (see also TRIALS)

Someone asked C.S. Lewis, "Why do the righteous suffer?" "Why not?" he replied. "They're the only ones who can take it."

Unknown.

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.

Helen Keller quoted in: Barbara Rowes, The book of Quotes, Dutton.

Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experiences that at the time seemed especially desolating and painful with particular satisfaction. Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my 75 years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my experience, has been through affliction and not through happiness.

Malcolm Muggeridge, in Homemade, July, 1990.