Where is God in the Midst of Suffering?

Where is God? Sept 6, 2020 2020 has been quite a year. Our world has changed drastically in the matter of months, if not weeks or even days! * The world reels in suffering as COVID 19 explodes, taking the lives of millions and taxing health care systems to their limits. * The sick die without their loved ones at their side as countries grapple with controlling the pandemic's spread. * Fragile economies teeter on the edge of collapse as governments desperately try to do damage control. But the coronavirus is not our only problem. The world faces a possible "hunger pandemic" as the number of people most in need of food could almost double this year. At the end of 2019, 135 million people were living with "acute hunger". But with many countries around the world enforcing quarantine, that number is likely to rise to 265 million. David Beasley, ED of the World Food Program said, "Before the coronavirus even became an issue, I was saying that 2020 would be facing the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two." David Beasley, Executive Director, World Food Program * In our own country of Canada, millions have lost jobs and it's estimated that as many as 1 in 3 small businesses will close due to COVID. * An epidemic of fatal drug overdoses has exploded. Our province has seen huge increases this year as people turn to substances to relieve stress. Look at this chart that compares COVID deaths to overdose deaths in BC. Where is God in all this mess? If God is God, why doesn't he do something about all the suffering going on? Why doesn't he stop the pandemic? Why doesn't he destroy the evil and make this bad world right? Why doesn't he stop the hurting? So many questions. Maybe you've asked them too. My heart is breaking for the hungry children of the world, for the hospitalized dying without a family member holding their hand, for victims of violence, prejudice, persecution, and abuse. My heart is hurting for those who are feeling that the only solution is suicide, for those suffering from stress and mental illness. My heart is heavy for those who've been rejected, for those who are lonely, have lost jobs, who are under financial stress. My heart breaks for those suffering the deep hurt of a broken relationship, a troubled childhood, crippling fear, anxiety, depression or guilt. So how do you answer when someone asks you: "If God exists, why does he allow suffering? What do you tell yourself about God when the suffering is your own? Where is God??? One message like this can't address everything there is to consider about human suffering, but I hope it will help a bit in directing our thoughts. Let's start by looking at 3 distinguishing differences between what God is and what life brings. What God is and what life brings... 1. God is fair, but life sometimes isn't. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, says it like this in Ecclesiastes 9:11: I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. Eccl. 9:11 We didn't get to decide where we were born. We don't know if a natural disaster will devastate our country, our province, our city. If there's one thing the pandemic has taught us, it's that we humans are NOT in control. We are subject to time and chance, which isn't fair at all. What God is and what life brings... 2. God is good, but people often do bad things. As long as people do bad or evil things, other people will be hurt. If a robber shot you, you and your family would suffer. There's no doubt that Satan's evil influence continues to wreak havoc. What God is and what life brings... 3. God is perfect, but we make mistakes that sometimes cost us dearly. If we could only take back that one decision or action or those words that caused so much suffering. If only we could erase one tiny mistake. But we can't. Our actions have consequences. We live in a physical world with natural laws that God put in motion. We can be blessed with rain for our crops or cursed by the heavy rain of typhoons that flood, destroy, and kill. These physical bodies we live in will wear out with age, and like it or not, we are subject to sickness and death. Bad things will happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people. Jesus himself pointed this out about God when he said "He gives his best-the sun to warm and the rain to nourish-to everyone, regardless: the good and the bad, the nice and the nasty." Matt 4:45 The Message A world without suffering Let's take a moment to imagine something. What if God decided to eliminate all suffering in this world. Anytime a hurricane stirred up, he settled it down. Pandemic? It wouldn't even be a word. Sickness? God's got that. No accidents could happen, no criminal act could occur, no natural disaster could affect us. That kind of world would have no logic. The natural laws that govern cause and effect would have to be different in every circumstance. Would God stop carelessness and irresponsibility? Would he stop everyone from being hurt, from getting illnesses and diseases? What about death? Would God abolish death? He'd have to, if sorrow and suffering were to be eliminated. God would be the ultimate "helicopter parent," and during our entire lives we would be like babies, always under the interventionist eyes of our spiritual parent, God. No longer would we be free to choose, allowed to consider possible courses of action and to carry through on our choices. We might agree that a world without suffering seems like a fantasy. But the question of God's fairness doesn't go away when we see so much suffering in the world. Is God Fair? Paul addressed the question of God's fairness in Romans, chapter 9 in the context of an important question: Why were only a few being called to salvation in the early New Testament church? Was God unjust in denying salvation for everyone at that time? Why did the vast majority remain "without hope and without God in the world" as Paul described them in Ephesians 2:12? Paul explained God's view of things by citing the example of the Exodus. In rescuing Israel from slavery in Egypt, God devastated the Egyptian nation in the process. But wasn't that unfair? Paul asked, "What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy...'" Romans 9:14-15 The Israelites would certainly have said that God was being fair. At last they were being freed from slavery! But if we were Egyptians, our attitude would have been quite different. Our crops were destroyed along with our animals. We'd been subject to hail, insects, boils and an invasion of frogs of all things! Our army was drowned in the sea. Our firstborn sons had been killed. Our country was totally wrecked. Was that fair? Surely we would have concluded that God was grossly unfair to us. Sure he rescued a nation, but he destroyed ours in the process. Paul had only one answer to such apparent contradictions of life. We must trust God to work out his purpose, as he sees fit. And to be sure, God does have a plan of salvation for all humanity. When Paul is asked about God's fairness here in Romans 9, he doesn't answer the question directly. His response to his readers was to inquire-why are you even asking? Notice the stinging rebuke: "Who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" Romans 9:20 But don't we have the right to ask God, "Why did you make me so that I would get cancer? Why did you give me a child only to take her away?" Paul refused to directly answer the "Why?" question, and likewise we may never in this life know why things happen to us. Paul defended God's wisdom and justice. He wrote, "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out." Romans 11:33 Paul insisted that no matter what our suffering, we must accept that God is wise, merciful and just. God allows human suffering because he's God. His thoughts and purposes are so far above ours that our inferior human logic doesn't apply to his actions. There isn't always a clear answer to WHY we are suffering. It's really the wrong question to ask. A specific why looks back to something that we usually can't change. We need to look forward by asking, what is the purpose, unfair as it may sometimes seem? What is God doing in me? What future does God have for me beyond this life of suffering? NT teaching on the suffering of God's people Scottish pastor and theologian George McDonald summed up the NT teaching on suffering by noting the following: "God has not promised us a life free of suffering. Instead God has promised that he will make our sufferings to be like those of Christ.... In the end, our sufferings will be redeemed and will lead to eternal life. Because that is so, when we, or a beloved family member or friend, suffer, we can be reassured by the words of Scripture, including these from the apostle Paul: I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ-yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Phil. 3:8-11) Though none of us enjoys trials and difficulties, as believers our suffering is a place where we come to know Christ in his sufferings. Though it may cost us our life, we can be confident in the reality that because of Christ, our suffering is not the last word. For us, the last word is the resurrection that Jesus has promised. So it's NOT God's will that we should never suffer, as some claim. Nor is it true that suffering is the result when our faith isn't strong enough. Paul and Barnabas told a group of believers that it will be through "many tribulations" that we enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). By God's grace, in suffering we can experience intimate fellowship with our Lord-sharing in both his suffering and in his new (resurrection) life. How does God answer the problem of suffering? Jesus is the answer. He is the ultimate end of all suffering and evil. Born into this fallen world, he suffered here with us, was crucified for us, was raised to new life, ascended, and in the end, will return to make all things new. In the meantime, we offer him our sufferings, trusting that the one who intimately knows us and our sufferings will lead us through every difficult time, every trial, including the times when we find ourselves in "the valley of the shadow of death." We lean hard on Jesus, on Paul's words in Romans 8:18 that somehow "... our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Romans 8:18 You may never know the answer as to WHY God allows your suffering to happen in this life, but you can certainly answer the question, WHERE is God. He promises to be near, and somehow your pain will be for His glory. We all have burdens to bear. Some are more visible than others. Whatever the burden, suffering helps us remember our humanity and God's sovereignty. It helps us lean hard on Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith as we eagerly await the better days he will usher in, a time where there will be no more evil, when "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" Revelation 21:4 Jesus is bigger than your pain, than all the suffering in this world. Where is God? He's right here, and his grace is enough to sustain you. A better world is just around the corner. You can bet your life on it. Come, Lord Jesus, Come! Closing prayer Jesus, help us remember that it was for the JOY that you saw ahead that you willingly endured the suffering of the crucifixion. You trusted that what you were going through was worth the pain, because in conquering sin and death you ushered in LIFE. When we experience suffering and pain in this life, Jesus, please help us fight the good fight of faith. Pour your faith in us, so that we will trust our heavenly Father with every aspect of our lives, the good times and the bad; the joy and the pain of suffering. Loving Father, when we don't understand WHY, help us trust your promise to redeem everything for good, for your glory. For those of us whose hearts are breaking today, who are in the midst of great suffering and pain, help us not to be overwhelmed, but to discover in a new way how your grace is enough to sustain us until that new and better world arrives. Jesus, you've got this. Jesus, you've got me. Please come back soon. We're waiting. We live, endure, and pray in your holy name, Amen.