Suffering: What the world says and what the Word says.

The Probability of Suffering

Hello everyone. It is my joy and pleasure to be able to speak to you today during chapel. I enjoy getting to come up here and speak to you about my favorite thing in the whole world which is my faith in Jesus.

Many of you know already that I recently suffered a loss. My father very quickly passed away from cancer. I shared some things about the experience but today I want to be a little more honest about how I felt. I also want you to know that God is teaching me about his love for me in this situation.

When I found out that my dad was suddenly getting worse and that he was not getting better, I immediately booked a ticket to America. Now if I were in America, I knew that I could be right by his side. My brother flew from the state of Indiana 2 hours and was able to talk to him. My mother never left his side and was able to talk to him. Unfortunately, I was here in Korea with the soonest flight leaving out the next day.

That evening as I knew my dad was getting worse and I was not able to go to him was one of the hardest days of my life. There was only one thing I could do: pray. So that is what I did. I will tell you what I prayed in a moment.

Students, you will face suffering in your life. In fact, I know that some of you right now are hurting because you have a sick parent or you may have already lost a parent. Some of you have a grandparent that is sick and you know they aren’t going to recover.

Maybe your family is having a hard time with money right now and is suffering because they are wondering how they are going to pay the bills.

Regardless of the situation, one thing is certain…everyone is going to go through suffering.

Maybe

One of the best examples the Bible has to show what suffering is like is the story of Job.

Job was unlike any man on earth at the time. He was blessed with good fortune, good family, and good health. Job was so blessed that Satan himself took notice of him. So he goes before God and God mentions how great his servant is and that he does all that is right before God.

This is when it gets interesting. Satan places a wager against Job. He says that when Job starts to suffer, he will curse God. So God tells Satan, go ahead and do what you want, but keep yourself from making him sick.

Here’s what the Bible says happens to Job.

Job 1:13–22 ESV

Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Job 1:13–19 ESV

Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

How would you respond? The world laughs at a person like Job and says, “Ha, you call your God a good God and he allows all that to happen.” Truly, Job could have put the blame on God and say that God should have protected him. There was nothing that Job did that angered God, but God simply allowed these things to happen to Job. The world will tell us that we should be angry at God. But is that what Job says?

Job 1:21–22 ESV

And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

How could he says this? I think there was something inside Job that knew that God is greater than all of this on earth.

Students look around. Everything you see here one day will be gone. Every person in this room will one day be gone. The walls, the carpets, the stage. It will one day disappear as if it was not even here at all. Students we are just a blip on the timeline. But God, he is forever. Job invested his energy into the eternal.

Of course it is easy to have this perspective when you yourself are fine and healthy. Satan knew this and so he comes before God once more to place a wager. He asks God to be able to make Job very sick with painful sores all over his body.

Job 1:7–8 ESV

The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”

Job 7:

Job 2:7–8 ESV

So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.

At this point, most of us would become so depressed and hurt that there would be little we could say good about God. Think about it:

-You lose your only sources of income

-You lose your family

-You lose your health

There is not much else to lose at this point. Job is in a very bad spot. And to top it all off, his sores scratch and hurt so much he is literally using glass to scratch them.

I am going to ask you a question: is this someone who looks like they are blessed by God?

Many people tell you that if you believe in God and have faith in him, then your life is going to be better.

Look at Jesus’ disciples, they all believed in the message of eternal life, yet all of them ended up killed.

Just because your life is filled with suffering does not mean that God does not love you. In fact, God could be strengtheing you into an even more faithful person.

James, Jesus’ half-brother, knew that when he said:

James 1:2 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

James 1:2–3 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And so we are left with the response that a Christian should have in suffering.

The story of a murderous cop

I want to watch two short clips of a recent news report.

Briefly, the story is about a Dallas police officer who goes into an apartment that she thought was hers. When she came in she noticed there was someone in what she thought was her own place. When the person didn’t immediately respond to her, she got scared, took out a gun and shot and killed the man. It was not until later that she realized that she had broken into her neighbor’s house and shot him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_LEJj8X_RQ

Here are the top liked comments on this youtube clip,

“I'm going to guess Botham Jean was more scared that someone was breaking into his house and shooting him.”

“My toddler daughter cry like that when she use her fake tears”

“Someone give this girl an Oscar, all that acting”

“She should’ve hired an acting coach instead of a lawyer.”

“I was scared that whoever was in my apartment was gonna kill me.” Girl, you were in HIS apartment and you killed HIM. Off to prison you go!”

When you hear these comments it is clear. Everybody hates her. Everybody says she deserves punishment. She killed an innocent man in his own home.

So it makes sense that most angry person should be this innocent man’s brother, right? Students I want you to see what Christ in your life will do for you. The brother here does not look at things the rest of the world sees. He sees things through the eyes of Christ and he is glimpsing into eternity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS1MvICvkrI

You see that hug right there. Not is not a normal human response. In our sinfulness, we do not want the best for this person who is a murderer, but as a Christian we realize that God may be using this painful time to teach the world about his love.

When I knew that I was stuck here and could not immediately see my dad dying in the hospital, I had only one place to go. I needed to go and talk with God. So I went out and I prayed as I walked around. I prayed that God would heal my father. I thought about the great miracles that have been done in the Bible and I thought about my faith. I believed that if God wanted to, he could heal him.

But then as I was walking, I started thinking about the eternal. That our time is pretty temporary on this earth. That is much better at the end of one’s life to go and be with God rather than suffer. So I changed how I prayed…and it was hard for me to pray this, but I prayed that if God was going to take my dad that he would take him quickly with no extra suffering.

When I arrived at the hospital the next day, my dad was not conscious anymore all he could do was hear me. So, I told him how much I loved him and told him sorry for being late coming back. I told him how much my wife and my kids loved him. James wrote a note to my dad, “Grandpa, I hope you feel better soon.”

As soon as, I said my goodbyes they started unplugging him from the oxygen and immediately his heart stopped. And just like that he was there and then he was gone. The nurses said that they haven’t seen someone go that quickly.

I remembered what I prayed, and I thanked God for hearing me and allowing my dad not to suffer for long.

Students, there are two perspectives in this world. There is the perspective that does not include God in it. If you look at life that way, I want to caution you. How many chances is God going to give you to come to him? No one in this room is guaranteed tomorrow.

This is why I have put my faith in what the Word teaches. It says that if you believe in Christ Jesus, you will have eternal life. My father believed in that and one day, when God has said that this is my end on earth, I will go and see my dad again.

To have faith means to simply believe it to be true. I hope that today you can believe it be true like I do.

Let’s pray.