Over the past few weeks I’ve described my season of cancer. I had never gone through as much physical, psychological, emotional, mental, and spiritual pain. I call it the worst season of my life but it was also the best season of my life. It produced a new heart, new mind, and new attitude.
I know of people who think God would never do such a thing. Why would a God of love allow His children to suffer? Couldn’t the God who is omnipotent heal instantly? Isn’t it counter to God’s character to allow pain and difficulty?
There are those who believe a prayer of healing or deliverance can always take away suffering. But when someone is not healed, then either the person praying or the recipient is said not to have enough faith. This brings unnecessary and unbiblical condemnation.
These are difficult thoughts to navigate. But through this season of cancer, I developed what I call my theology of suffering. It was a biblical understanding of pain, suffering, and difficulty. As I read the Bible, I found 20 different reasons why God allows difficult times. My full article can be found here (Article – Why God Allows Difficult Times). But in broad strokes, let me give you three thoughts.
First, the classic Biblical example of someone going through suffering is the righteous man Job. In one swoop Job lost his wealth, family, and health. His four friends wanted Job to confess his sin because in their minds, “How could such calamity come upon a person unless there was sin in his life?” But Job had not sinned. God had something bigger in mind. At the end of the book of Job, the main character had learned something new about God: His sovereignty. God allowed a difficult time so Job could learn a new dimension of God’s character. And God being an all-wise God knew the best way to do this was to allow difficulties in Job’s life. There is always a purpose behind the pain.
Second, we’ve grown up trying to avoid pain and suffering. It becomes heightened when we become a Christian, thinking that since we are now protected by the Lord, since Satan can no longer touch us, we are immune from the evils of the world. Additionally, since Jesus died on the cross for us, taking away the pain, punishment, and penalty of sin, there should no longer be any suffering in our lives. But that’s where the thinking goes askew. Jesus did die on the cross to remove the suffering, but the removal of suffering happens when we get to heaven, not while we are on earth. Some people want heaven and they want it now. But we won’t get heaven until our lives on this earth has passed. Until then, we still live in a fallen world that is full of sickness, disease, and pain. We still live among fallen people who will make mistakes, some of them leading to tragedy. Until we get to heaven, we will encounter suffering.
Third, Paul the apostle encountered much pain. I’m mindful of what he wrote in 2Cor. 11:24-27, “Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” But what does he say soon after? “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2Cor. 12:10). Going through difficult times strengthened Paul’s reliance on the Lord. They drew him closer to God. They focused Paul. They shaped Paul’s character.
God is more concerned about our character than our happiness, and will use both positive and negative experiences to bring this about. God’s goal isn’t to make Christians happy; God’s goal is to make us more like Christ. And if we fail to see what God is doing when we go through difficult times, we will be prone to complain and ask God to take it away. But without the right character, without the right BEING, we will go about DOING the wrong way.
Sometimes we don’t have good leaders who last because they fail to see what the Lord is doing through difficult times.
Questions to Think About:
In your understanding of God, is He more about your happiness or about your character?
Are you prone to pray difficult times away rather than seeing what the Lord wants you to learn?
© Gary Lau 2013
All rights reserved. This article may not be distributed, forwarded or duplicated without prior permission from the author.
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