Life on the Trail - Suffering

I played soccer in high school. Soccer in Fergus Falls, MN, was a new sport and did not necessarily receive a lot of support from the school system. But slowly but surely we made progress. My senior year, we actually had a new practice field, yet it was so poorly constructed and cared for, it was more like farmland that is mowed really short. One day while playing, I slid for a ball. It was a bad idea now that I have the chance to look back. I stripped off the skin on my entire shin because the ground was dry and hard. It didn’t bleed. It seeped. I won’t go into any more detail, except to say that it took a long time to heal. I went and visited my Young Life leader a few days after the accident. He took one look at my leg, went into their house, and came back with a bottle of peroxide. His plan was to pour peroxide all over my leg. I wasn’t so fond of the idea, because I thought it would include a great deal of pain. He agreed that pain would be part of this experience, so I wondered out loud why I would choose to experience pain. He smiled and poured the bottle on my leg. Yep, sure enough, there was pain. It actually bubbled on my leg. Fun.

My friend told me that the peroxide would help the wound to heal and make sure it didn’t get infected. It made sense, but I sure wasn’t a fan of the pain.

I see pain pretty frequently. I was going to say because of my job, which is true, but I bet you, too, see pain around you. I see it in the physical challenges that people face whether because of old age or cancer or injury. I see pain in the emotional turmoil of broken relationships and the hurts that have happened. I see the pain that is caused by fear and anxiety which often hinders people experiencing joy and peace in their lives. I see pain as I read about some of the tragedies and turmoil that are taking place around this globe (Haiti, Chile, Kenya, Nigeria, etc.).

Suffering just happens. It is unavoidable. It is not fair or equal. Some seem to suffer so much more than others. Suffering happens to kids and adults. There is often little explanation as to why certain things happen to certain people. God just doesn’t seem interested in telling us why suffering happens. That is more than a little frustrating at times.

The Bible says a few things about suffering:

Here’s what Job said to God about his suffering:

I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me. Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked? Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as humans see? Are you days like the days of mortals, or your years like human years, that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, although you know that I am not guilty, and there is no one to deliver out of your hand?
Job 10:1-7

Paul’s take is quite a bit different:

. . . we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:3-5

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2-4

Here is what Joseph (thrown in a pit, sold into slavery, spent years in the Egyptian prison, falsely accused) said to his brothers who sold him into slavery:

Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.
Genesis 50:20

It is tempting to blame God for the suffering and stay focused on being a victim. Yet, it seems that based on these Scriptures and the multitude of examples of suffering in the Bible, that is not what God desires. He gives us freedom to tell him how we feel, but I also believe He really longs to do a “good” work in us through these challenges. Please understand I am in no way minimizing the pain or struggle that comes with it, but I also am learning that God promises to help us grow and it is often in these experiences where growth happens.

If I believed God caused Jeff Bakker or Jack Balchik to get cancer, then I would really wonder about what kind of God we worship. But what I see God doing, although very difficult for the families directly involved, is good. It’s hard, but good. I’m sure if you asked them if every moment is good, they would say, No. Suffering is suffering and no one wishes that upon themselves or anyone.

I hope and pray that God will heal their cancer. I pray for that. But I also trust God to do (or not do) what is best, even though He may not do what I want.

Editor's note: Jeff passed away last night (Thursday, March 11th around 1:30am). God answered our prayers for healing - not necessarily the healing we wanted, but God has healed Jeff more fully than we know. Jeff is home - praise God.

Please keep praying for these families and others, too, who we know are facing very difficult roads.