Words of Jesus Christ in "Red"  Every day you see suffering all around the world. Some of the suffering is caused by nature, i.e. by flood, famine, drought, or landslide. People suffer in extremely hot and cold climates. The crime rate is on the rise, and people suffer because other people hurt them by theft, murder, rape, or maligning. People suffer under the excesses (it seems) of the Law. Not to long ago a young man was shot numerous times by the police, yet did nothing to lead to this terrible chain of events. It's impossible not to see the suffering that goes on around us and ask the question, "Why does a Loving God allow such suffering?". Some have looked at the suffering and assumed that there is no God, for no truly loving God would allow His creation to be so tarnished. Yet is this true?
I know we've been through this before, but let's look at it one more time. In the beginning God created the universe and this earth completely without sin - without weeds - without trials. Man was in an idyllic situation, and all he had to do was obey one commandment ("touch not that tree") to maintain the status quo. You all know the history of the Fall of Man (Genesis 3), so I'll not go through that again. I do want to emphasize this, though: "man created the sewer that we are living in now. In fact man through the lies of humanism continues to add to this sewer on a daily basis". Look at the stupidity that humanism brings on mankind. In a story dated March 14, 2000 the Associated Press tells us that the PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has unveiled a new commercial called "Got Beer?". Targeted at college students, the commercial promotes beer drinking over drinking milk because "PETA is concerned about the cruel treatment of milk cows and their calves on factory farms". PETA spokesman Bruce Friedrich went on to say that "If you drink milk, you are supporting a product that is horrible for human health, catastrophic for the environment and a living nightmare for the animals concerned". PETA is even giving away beer bottle shaped can openers that say "Drink responsibly. Don't drink milk. Save a cow's life". Humanism once again comes up with an idiotic plan to save the animals while killing off the human species. Never mind that milk has 30 percent of the calcium, 16 percent of the protein, and 25 percent of the vitamin D humans need per day. PETA assumes that cattle deserve "more consideration than humans". It is better to tell our college kids to "drink beer" than "drink milk". Let them die by auto accident and liver failure - "save them cows!" The truth is, much of the pain brought on humanity has been brought on us by ourselves. Man introduced sin into the world, not God, and man introduced sin into nature. Man is still introducing sin into the world through organizations like PETA or PRIDE, saving animals and harming mankind. The problem of pain is often one that we brought on ourselves by one way or the other. "We created the atomic bomb, not God". We over farm the land and deplete it's resources, not God. We build without regard for natural erosion, then ask "Why me, God?" when our houses are caught in a mudslide. We rebuild in known flood plains, knowing better but not caring. After all, my will is supreme, is it not? God will take care of us - never mind that the Bible tells us "not to tempt the Lord our God" (Matthew 4.7; Luke 4.12). After years of "murdering our children via abortion" we are starting to see the effects of our folly. Businesses are suffering for lack of workers. Since abortion was legalized in 1973, "more than 40 million legal abortions have been performed" (comparable to the population of Canada), 8.1 million of them in the 1970s. In 1996, the latest year for which statistics are available, 1.37 million legal abortions were performed. Pro abortion leaders are "happy" with the figure because they say this has reduced the crime rate in our country. These aborted children were obviously "no good" in the first place, and were destined to be criminals. It is a fact that, of the 40 million murdered, many might have been criminals. But on the other hand, many might have been great doctors, theologians, politicians, healers of our country. We do know that many of them would have been laborers in the American workforce, now lost forever because of our arrogance.
When we sinned, our sin had ramifications that effected the innocent. The animals, who were innocent of sin, now were sacrificed for our meat and clothing. The earth grew thorns and thistles because we chose to walk away from God. "We introduced pain into humanity and the environment by our own arrogance, and continue to do so even today".
To blame God for what we have wrought is folly, and unfair. C.S. Lewis wrote:
Though we created pain in the beginning when we created sin, and though we create and add to our pain today by actively sinning, God often speaks to us through that pain. Jesus walked among the Israelites for three years preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, but many rejected His message. The Pharisees and Scribes, for instance, rather than hear His message constantly walked behind Him and threw all manner of objection and derision His way. Jesus warned Israel:
That if they kept rejecting the Messiah then God would take the Kingdom of God from this nation and give it to another. Israel kept rejecting, and before they nailed Christ to the Cross said "His blood be on us, and on our children" (Matthew 27.25). In 70 AD Israel was sacked by Rome, her records and Temple destroyed, and her people scattered to the four winds. God shouted to Israel in this tornado of pain "That was My Son - you must heed Him". God often calls men to His side and to the Cross of Christ by our pain. We often find Him when, in the midst of pain and helplessness we look up, look outward from ourselves to Jesus and find Him to be the Author and Finisher of our Faith.
The unbeliever suffers because of the "Adamic curse", or because of active pursuit of sin, but why do Christians suffer? Certainly we are in fellowship with God, we are His children by faith, and yet we still suffer. "Why?" God allows suffering among His children for two basic reasons:
God allows suffering among His children because we have been disobedient, and suffering is the whip He uses to bring us back in line:
The Greek word translated above for "chastening" is "Paideia". Paideia means "Disciplinary punishment given to children to instruct them". And the Greek word translated for "bastards" is "Nothos" which means "illegitimate, of uncertain lineage, not Christian or Children of God". "Often we who are Christians forget who we are". We forget that we are no longer "free agents" but are children of God, and that God is our Father. Being in a family relationship means that we are accountable to the head of the Family, "our Lord and Savior", and that we are required to do as "He" requires. Though a Christian is saved, we are not entirely sinless, and we still have the free will to do as God requests or to disobey. When we disobey, God chastens or "scourges us with the whip".
The chastening hand of God is never designed to torture the believer, but to make us come to the point where we admit it is "OUR" error, that "WE" sinned, and that we "ASK" forgiveness. When King David decided to steal Uriah's wife Bathsheba and murder Uriah, God chastened David by taking away the child of their ill gotten love. The child did not suffer, but went to be with the Lord. But David suffered, oh how he suffered, and repented with bitter tears his awful actions and sins. When we are under the chastening hand of God we come out from under it by being honest with Him, by honestly confessing our sins (1 John 1.9). To often Christians go, "I'm sorry for this sin, Lord BUT ..." then go about rationalizing the sin. "But I was tempted", "But I was hungry", but, but, but. When I was in the military I was taught a lesson that all believers should know. When I made a mistake I went to my commander and didn't rationalize it. I said, "I messed up and have no excuse". The commander would then help me find ways to correct the situation. But if I said, "I messed up, but ..." and tried to shift blame then I was in for it! Do you not know that, as a Christian, God the Holy Spirit resides in you? Do you not know that He knows you sinned, and when you add the "but" you're trying to "deceive" Someone who watched you do it in the first place? God demands an honest accounting - only then will He remove the discipline and restore you to full fellowship.
The Greek word translated above for "glory" is "Kauchaomai". Kauchaomai means "to be happy about, so much so that you boast about it". And the Greek word translated for "tribulations" is "thlipsis" which means "Testing under pressure, persecution, trial of fire, suffering". God often uses trials and suffering among His Children to drive us to "spiritual growth". It has been my experience that most Christians, after the initial rush of being saved, fall into laziness and apathy. Sure, they may go to Church faithfully, but their prayer life is often weak, their Bible study non-existent. That is, until the trials hit. Then, by golly, those who are Christian are repeatedly calling out to God "please, Lord, take this away", and often diligently digging into the Scriptures for comfort and understanding. Know this, believer, God "schedules both mountain tops and valleys in your life". While you are on the mountain top the living is easy, idyllic, peaceful. During the mountain top experience the wise Christian works on the disciplines of faith: he prays, fasts, studies God's Word, preparing for the valley. Because, dear friend, "the valley will come"! When the valley comes if you have persevered in the disciplines of faith your focus on Christ will be sharper, you will be stronger, you will be more useful to Christ. If you have not persevered, the valley will drive you to seek out the disciplines - to minimize self and magnify God. A good example of "mountains and valleys" is the experience that Israel went through. God led Israel out of Egypt with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Israel left Egypt, a superpower in those days, with her head held high and riches in her pocket. You would think that they would be confident with the pillar of God leading them, but when they came to the Red Sea they saw the Egyptians behind them, the great Sea before them, and started railing against Moses:
Don't be surprised by this attitude: "most of us whine when the trial first hits us", and Israel was no exception. You know, "God did the greatest thing for us at salvation, the greatest thing He could have ever done. We, who are totally unworthy, had the Son of God slaughtered for us so we could be saved". If God did the greatest thing for us at salvation, won't He do the lesser now? If He led us out of Egypt, won't He preserve us in the desert? Israel should have known that God didn't go through so much trouble to save them, only to have them gutted by the Egyptians. only to abandon you in this life". Of course, you know that God used Moses to part the sea, and Israel escaped whereas the Egyptian armies were destroyed. Israel marched away, and should have known that God was going to provide. But again they murmured, cursed, complained against God because they didn't have enough food to eat.
So God rained down bread from Heaven, Manna, and the children ate of it. When you have been without, has God provided your need? Did He give you a pay raise, or overtime on the job, or a gift from someone you know? God gave Israel manna, and told them exactly how much to gather, and when it could be eaten. Guess what? These hardheads gathered too much or too little, tried to hoard it and it turned into worms, and basically made a mess of the whole situation. I have known Christians who have went through financial difficulty and the Church at the direction of God gave them hundreds of dollars. These believers then go out and spend the money frivolously, not for necessity but for pleasure, then cry for more money. When God gives you manna, Christian, use it as He directs, or bring more suffering on yourself. God provided manna for Israel for forty years, and as long as they obeyed Him in its use it nourished and sustained them for their trip.
"Did Israel learn?" You see, after each trial is overcome by God "the believer is expected to learn from it." Israel had too much water (Red Sea), God parted it, they were saved. They should have learned then, but they still complained about food. God gave manna, instructed them on its use, and still they didn't learn. Now they came to a situation where there was too little water. Of course, God supplied the water:
But God renamed the place this happened "MERIBAH", which means "bitter complaining". You see, God was becoming vexed with this people, and renaming the place was a warning to them. Believer, "God allows trials in your life to help you learn to trust in Him and Him alone." As He brings you through each valley you are expected to learn from that trial, to learn to trust Him more. It is not wise to continue doubting God after He clearly delivers, for eventually He will punish you. You see, we are happy when we think of God as "Love", but often forget that He is "justice" as well. Israel forgot this - and left Meribah just as ignorant as when they came. God led them victorious through battle, and gave them the Ten Commandments written in stone. So far all of the great tests that God gave Israel had to do with WATER. This was a constant theme, God was using it like a parent will teach a child "Here is the letter 'a'. 'A' is for 'apple'. See the 'a'?". Over and over again He took them through trials involving water. He took them to Marah which had bitter water, then had Moses drop a limb in the water and sweeten it (Exodus 15.22-27). God was patient with the people, until they got to Kadesh. Here they were without water again, and rather than trust God they started bitterly complaining again (Numbers 20.1-13). Moses was told to "speak to the Rock" and water would come out, but instead he struck the Rock and lost his right to enter the Promised Land. Believers, when you don't learn the lessons that God tries to show you through trials, when you don't grow as you should, you eventually become A CURSE TO SOMEONE ELSE. This generation of Israel never learned, and they followed Moses in his curse. They wandered in stupid circles in the desert for forty years until this disobedient generation died out.
God had a purpose for Israel, or else He would not have saved them. "God has a purpose for you, else He would not have saved you." Christians only die when their work on earth for God is done, or when they have become so utterly useless from whining and laziness that God can find no purpose for them on earth. If you are in a trial, please remember this:
When you are in love with God, when you are actively in fellowship and a trial comes your way, you should expect that God will fight for you. You are His representative, He is your Ruler, and the problem must be cast on Him. When believers fail to claim the promises of God for themselves they do two things:
The Children of Israel had another thing in common with the Christian today. Each time the trial hit, they "looked back" to Egypt, bragged on the way things used to be, yearned for the old way of life. The Christian who looks back on his old pre-salvation life is the Christian destined to fail in the trial. We are told:
Forget those old things, and keep "pressing forward". There are some 7000 promises of God in Scripture for the believer, in writing, waiting to be claimed. These promises are all given by a holy and loving God that only has your best interest at heart. Here's a suggestion that I used that was very beneficial: start a journal. When you go through the valleys, log the time and date of the trials and write your prayers to God down. Search the Scriptures, and find a promise that God has given to you concerning this trial. Write that down. Give your worries to God (1 Peter 5.7). Later, when the trial is over, write down how God delivered you. The next time a trial hits, do the same thing. And periodically review your journal, and give God the praise for His deliverance.
You cannot grow in God unless you learn to relax in His promises, relax through the trials. Stand still, and see His deliverance. 
 Send E-mail to Russ: webslave for Christ ( russ@jesuswept.com ) with questions or comments about this web site and it's content. Last modified: Thursday, December 05, 2002 |
