Why am I Suffering?
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Handout
Intro
Intro
Does God Punish Us For Our Sins?
7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death.
, Saint Peter spoke words of judgment upon Ananias and Sapphira for lying to God (Ananias) and testing the Spirit (Sapphira), after which each of them fell dead.[25] forbids testing the Lord.
1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD put him to death.
16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.
In , Saint Peter spoke words of judgment upon Ananias and Sapphira for lying to God (Ananias) and testing the Spirit (Sapphira), after which each of them fell dead.[25] forbids testing the Lord.
13 So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. 14 He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.
1chron
Ahab:
13 So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. 14 He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse. 1 chron 10.13-14
19 And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; 20 and the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. 21 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ 22 And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ 23 Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the Lord has declared disaster for you.”
In that scene God is depicted in a sovereign, majestic pose upon His throne. He orders and commands that a deceiving spirit go and entice Ahab. The treacherous, deluding spirit obeys the words of the Lord. It can do no other. (The reader should especially compare ; ; ; ; and ).
23 And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,
14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.
10 The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand.
9 Then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre.
11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,
What do these examples all have in common?
sovereignty of God
Begin with
13 “If you prepare your heart,
you will stretch out your hands toward him.
14 If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
and let not injustice dwell in your tents.
15 Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish;
you will be secure and will not fear.
16 You will forget your misery;
you will remember it as waters that have passed away.
REMINDER: The only reason that Satan is able to afflict Job is because God permits him to do so (, ). Even the devil is subject to the sovereign hand of God (, ; ; ; ).
12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
6 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
Was Zophar’s advice here sound?
Here the indignant Zophar reminds Job for the need to repent in order to receive restoration
When You Want to Yell at God: The Book of Job Chapter 8: The Reader’s Journey of Transformation
Job’s story also shows us that sometimes the godliest people are called to live through terrible suffering, and it is quite evil to tell such people that their suffering is because of their sin, as Bildad did to Job (8:4).
Some Christians, even if they don’t believe that all suffering results from sin, have an unhealthy habit of sidelining people when they go through messy and protracted experiences, rather than recognizing that God may be deeply at work in the mess, uncovering amazing gifts in the process. We need to recover a Christianity of the cross, recognizing that just as our Lord suffered, so, too, may we. And if we wait with such suffering, we might be surprised what the Lord has wrought through it.
Third, we should recognize that God uses suffering to form his people at the deepest level. In this respect, we can use the book of Job to identify many characteristics of suffering.
Move to
8 “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,
and backward, but I do not perceive him;
9 on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.
10 But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
11 My foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and have not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.
How does Job equate his suffering to sin?
He does not make such a connection
What can we learn about Job’s faith in verse 10?
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
James 1:
Finish with
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
Notice how the disciples had similar beliefs as the friends of Job in that suffering is directly related to sin
So how do these verses tie back to the question asked at the beginning?
Peter’s speech at Pentecost:
23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
Why Do I Suffer: Suffering and the Sovereignty of God The Humbled Believer
one of the reasons that God brings adversity on Christians is so they do not cling to the world. How often we rebel against the Lord, refusing to trust and rely upon Him! We simply try to be self-reliant and look to the wisdom of the world. We put our ‘trust in princes … in whom there is no salvation’ (Ps. 146:3).
3 Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
Why Do I Suffer: Suffering and the Sovereignty of God The Humbled Believer
God may be bringing you to a closer walk with Him. He may be causing you to realize that your only hope and deliverance rests in Him—‘Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest’ (Matt. 11:28).
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
He uses pain and suffering to draw us to Himself so that we will cling to Him. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble” ().
He uses pain and suffering to draw us to Himself so that we will cling to Him. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble” ().
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
He proves to us that our faith is real through the suffering and pain that are inevitable in this life. How we respond to suffering, especially when we are innocent of wrongdoing, is determined by the genuineness of our faith ().
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
God uses suffering to take our eyes off this world and turn them to the next. The Bible continually exhorts us to not get caught up in the things of this world but to look forward to the world to come ().
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
TRUST GOD TO USE SUFFERING FOR HIS GLORY
DON’T SEEK THE CAUSE, BUT FOCUS ON THE TRANSFORMATIONAL PURPOSE GOD WANTS TO WORK THROUGH SUFFERING
