Suffering
An unsaved young man saw how a family responded to their loved one suffering terminal cancer with such confidence, joy, and peace, his heart began to pay attention to the Source of that steadfastness. He began to read his Bible with greater earnestness and listen to the sermons he heard in church with greater interest. Eventually, the Lord saved him.
I tell that story because it only further legitimizes the need for Christians to learn how to suffer well—how to suffer righteously. It is necessary to be equipped with a theology of suffering while not yet in the midst of a particular trial. The fact of the matter is, the heat of an intensely trying time often clouds our vision and our judgment, so that we fail to act the way we know we should. We respond to suffering sinfully because we have not prepared to suffer righteously beforehand, when our vision is clear.
A Second Lesson
To help prepare us to fight the unbiblical thoughts, attitudes, and actions that we are tempted to have in times of suffering, we’ve turned to the example of Jeremiah as outlined in the Book of Lamentations, hoping to glean five lessons on how to righteously respond to suffering. We saw the first of those last week: One way to suffer righteously is to identify with and suffer along with those who are suffering. We are to weep with those who weep (Rom 12:15). A second lesson to learn in the pursuit of suffering well is that we are to acknowledge sin to be at the root of suffering.
Just as it is significant that Jeremiah identifies with the suffering of his people even though he had little to no part in bringing it about, it is also significant that in his deep mourning Jeremiah acknowledges Israel’s sin. Unlike Job, Jeremiah’s lamentations in response to suffering contain no protest of innocence. He confesses that this judgment is due to “the multitude of her transgressions” (Lam 1:5) and that she “sinned greatly” (Lam 1:8–9) and “rebelled against His command” (Lam 1:18). He goes on to say that Israel’s iniquity had exceeded even that of Sodom (Lam 4:6), and that even the prophets and the priests worked unrighteousness (Lam 4:13). He makes no excuses for the people, but accepts their responsibility for the suffering they are experiencing.
A Caveat
Now, it’s important that we make the point that not everyone who suffers suffers as a direct result of particular, personal sin. That’s an error that Job’s counselors made, and they were severely rebuked for it when God showed up at the end of the book. It’s also an errant accusation Paul’s opponents made against him in 2 Corinthians, and throughout that letter he presents his suffering as evidence for the authenticity of his apostleship, not as evidence for its falsehood.
Better Than We Deserve
However, we do need to acknowledge that on a general level, all suffering is a result of the condition of sin that we find ourselves in as sons and daughters of Adam. Had we not sinned in Adam, and had the human race never fallen into sin, we would never have known suffering (Gen 3:7–24; Rom 5:12; Rom 8:19–25).
And because of our sin, we all deserve to suffer infinitely and eternally—to a horrifying degree and all the time. When we suffer, the comfort that we do receive from the “Father of mercies” (2Cor 1:3) is just that: mercy. That the comfort is mercy implies that we do not deserve it, for mercy is the withholding of deserved punishment. One impediment to responding to suffering righteously is thinking that we are entitled to something other than suffering.
In reality, we deserve even worse than we experience. After all, “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment” (2 Pet 2:4). That we are all not suffering eternally in hell at this very moment is a sheer gift of God. The only difference between our sin and the sin of the angels who were damned without mercy is that our sin was graciously paid for by the perfect sacrifice of Christ (cf. Heb 2:16).
And so when we undergo suffering—even intense suffering—we should not act surprised as if we deserved something better (cf. 1 Pet 4:12). Our attitude should reflect the wisdom of what Jeremiah says in Lamentations 3:39–40: “Why should any living mortal, or any man, offer complaint in view of his sins? Let us examine and probe our ways, and let us return to Yahweh.” In our times of suffering when we are tempted to complain, we should be reminded that we are but dust and are entitled to nothing good at all. Remembering that in ourselves we are hopelessly sinful, and that even in intense suffering we are getting better than we deserve, will equip us to suffer with a biblical worldview, and thus will strengthen our joy and endurance in our trials.
