WITH CHRIST IN YOUR SUFFERING
EVANGELIST REG DUNLAP
Suffering is not a pleasant sounding word to the human ear. The sickness, physical pain, disease, and death which the human body is called upon to endure is certainly most unpleasant and uncomfortable. And yet, it is thrilling to know that in times of testing the Bible is remarkable for the wealth of guidance it sets forth for those who are struggling with some form of illness.
The following words have been written with the sincere hope that you might be strengthened as God speaks to you in your suffering, and that you, through “comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4) in knowing that God cares for you.
THE MAGNITUDE OF SUFFERING
The Bible does not deny the reality of suffering or sickness, but shows that it does exist and is a part of life. Sickness is not an illusion of the mind or a figment of the imagination. It is an actual reality.
Most of humanity will go through the prison house of pain. There are some people who never seem to get out from under its reach, but constantly live under its shadow. Neither the long stretch of time nor the unlimited greatness of space will change this truth-suffering is race wide and sickness is universal in scope. Listen carefully to these words found in Job: “Man is born into trouble as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). Or consider these words: “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble” (Job 14:1).
And it is a fact to be realized that suffering has its place in the lives of all Christians. No child of God is immune from sickness. It comes to all of God’s children in some form or another. Few, if any, escape the touch of trouble or the hardship of pain. The Bible knows nothing of a painless Christianity. It was Christ who said to His disciples: “In the world ye shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). The Apostle Paul declared: “That we must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). The Apostle Peter wrote: “Think it is not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you” (I Peter 4:12,) From these Bible passages we see that even Christians cannot escape the sufferings of life.
THE MYSTERY OF SUFFERING
The question is often asked, Why does God permit the righteous to suffer? The reason for this can never be completely understood by man. Great men and wise men have wrestled with his problem for centuries, but have left it unsolved. They stand puzzled in search for an answer.
The undying mystery of why life is not just to all people the same way was the problem that David the Psalmist faced years ago. He wrote: “For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men” (Psalms 73:3,5).
There are times as a minister when I am struck deep with grief and stand puzzled in search for an answer in the sudden loss of a friend, especially, the death of a child or one who is struck down by sickness in the prime of life. But in times like these my faith must cling to God without having any immediate answer as to why God allowed this to happen. I must trust God, however difficult it may be, with a confidence that knows if the reason for such suffering is not given in time, it will most certainly be revealed in eternity. It is here in the eternal wisdom and purpose of God that the answer will be found. It was Christ who said: “What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hearafter” (John 17:7). As the poet wrote:
“All God’s testings have a purpose
Some day you will see the light;
All He ask is that you trust Him
Walk by faith not by sight.”
THE MINISTRY OF SUFFERING
Someone once said “The greatest earthly blessing that God can give to any of us is health, with the exception of suffering.” Why? Because suffering does have a service and pain does have a purpose. They are part of the process that God uses in making us what He wants us to be. It was said of Christ “He learned obedience by the things which he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8).
I beg of you, my friend, if you are presently under the burden of suffering realize that it is a precious gift which God has graciously bestowed upon you for a definite purpose. The Apostle Paul declared: “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29). Let us consider some of the ways suffering can be used by God.
As a Corrector
“My son, do not think lightly of the Lord’s discipline, and do not faint when He corrects you; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines.”
(Hebrews 12:5,6, Weymouth)
The suffering and sickness that you may be presently experiencing does not necessarily have to be a punishment from God because of sin in the life. There was Job on the ash pile, a mass of suffering, but living a righteous life before God. There was the blind man of whom the disciples asked: “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” Listen to the answer of Christ: “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9:2,3).
Nevertheless there is no denying of the fact that there are times when the cause of our suffering is because of some sin in the life. Such was the case of the Corinthians of whom Paul wrote: “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep” (I Corinthians 11:30). Here sin was the cause of their suffering.
Often suffering is the device that God uses to bring about an inner change within the heart of man. Many times it is the pain in life that directs us back into God’s will, pointing out our failures, setting right our feet, and making us right before God. The Psalmist David declared: “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word” (Psalms 119;67). Again David wrote: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes” (Psalms 119:71). Charles H. Sprurgeon, great English preacher of past years, was of the same spirit when he said: “Sweet are the uses of suffering, and this is one of them, it puts a bridle upon transgression and furnishes a spur for holiness.”
As a Comforter
“Who comforts me in every sorrow I have so that I can comfort people who are in sorrow” (II Corinthians 1:4, Williams).
John Henry Jowett, famous minister of the past, once remarked: “God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters.” Only the Christian who has personally know the depths of inward pain and outward suffering is able to share and enter into the problem of others. Our sufferings become the touchstone by which we are able to sympathize with those in pain. It is only through suffering that we are qualified to take our stand beside pain filled beds and agonizing hearts. Permit me the use of an illustration that I came across years ago of a lady who used her suffering and sorrow to help others.
There was a family in the midwest that was returning home from a vacation trip. They were anxiously anticipating seeing their little daughter again. As they drove up the driveway the little girl was standing on a balcony, wavering a childish welcome. In her excitement she leaned over too far and fell to her death. It was a tragic homecoming. For a time the light went out in that little home. Finally the wife said, “I decided to find a keener sorrow than my own and minister to it.” She glorified her grief by becoming the friend and helper of all little girls. Her tragedy became the source and secret of ministering to others. She did not let her aching heart become bitter, sour and useless, but she turned her suffering into a service of sympathy for others.
As an Instructor
“Through he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered (Hebrews 5:8).
None can fully appreciate what an instructor suffering is except those mature Christians who have gone through some pain. Suffering helps us to understand and undertake the will of God in every area of life. As Ralph Erskine, that grand old preacher of England, as he was laid aside with wasting illness, pointed out when he said: “I have known more of God since I came to this bed than through all my life.” How gloriously true!
The Apostle Paul is a good example of what I am speaking about. He was tutored and taught in the prison house of pain. When he was stripped to the waist with his hands tied above his head and whipped until his back was raw with blood, he learned something of the passion of Christ. When he was three times shipwrecked by a great storm, he learned something of the power of Christ. When he prayed three times to be delivered from his thorn in the flesh, he learned something of the patience of Christ. As someone has put it:
“I walked a mile with sorrow,
And never a word said she;
But, oh, the things I learned
from her,
When sorrow walked with me!”
As a Glorifier
“This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby” (John 11:4).
Do you recall St. Paul’s words in II Corinthians 12:9 where he states: “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me?” Not only Paul, but Fanny Crosby, the blind song writer, who never once saw the beauty of nature nor the face of friends, was willing to use her suffering to glorify her precious Lord.
After being born with normal vision, when she was six weeks old she caught a cold. The family doctor was away so they had to use another doctor. Through the blunder of this country physician she became totally blind. But Fanny Crosby did not permit revenge or hatred to corrode her soul. Her affliction failed to dampen her cheerful outlook on life. At the age of eight she wrote:
“O what a happy soul am I,
Although I cannot see,
I am resolved that in the world,
Contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy,
That other people don’t.
To weep and sigh because I’m blind,
I cannot and I won’t.”
As time went on she immediately started to use her blindness for the glory of God. The result-even though her own eyes were sightless- she wrote more than eight thousand hymns and poems which have been sung and read throughout the world. You see, the purpose of her physical blindness was to bring spiritual brightness to others.
As a Revealer
“I know, even though at present you are temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials and temptations. This is no accident- it happens to prove your faith” (I Peter 1:67, Phillips).
Let us also admit that there comes a time in the life of each Christian when suffering and sickness is used by God to bring out either the best or worst in us. Some believers will graciously rejoice in it, others will grudgingly reject it. At this point I am reminded of the words of Paul S. Rees who wrote: “Suffering comes to all God’s children. To some it sours them. To others it sweetens them. I shall use it to sweeten my spirit.” Let us do the same!
Yes, Christian friend, pain does have ministry. Suffering does have its service. More than that, we are incomplete without it. As long as suffering continues to correct our failures, helps us to comfort others, enables us to have a firmer faith, and calls for a greater dedication, it will be indispensable to each of us.
THE MASTERY OVER SUFFERING
Here, let me say quite frankly, it was never God’s purpose for His children to be defeated by suffering and sickness. For any suffering Christian to constantly be indulging in self-pity is unhealthy, unnecessary, and unbecoming a genuine believer. We must learn to master our suffering or it will end up mastering us.
There is no doubt that there are times when God in His sovereign grace provides above and beyond the help of doctors a rich supply of physical strength and healing for His children. This is “divine healing” by God alone. Here the healing God steps into our sickness in a personal and powerful way to deliver us miraculously from the disease. Recall some of the wonderful promises from the Bible of God’s desire on certain occasions to heal us.
“I am the Lord that healeth thee”
(Exodus 15:26).
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits…
Who healeth all diseaseases” (Psalms 103:2,3).
“He healeth the broken heart, and bindeth up their wounds” (Psalms 147:3).
“Christ Himself took our infirmities and bare our sickness” (Matthew 8:17).
“Is any sick among you? let him call on the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up” (James 5:14,15).
There is no denying of the fact that God in His sovereign plan provides to some of His children physical healing as a free spiritual blessing. This comes to some, but surely not all. But I believe that Christians who are sick have the wonderful privilege to approach God through Christ and find out His perfect will for their lives regarding healing. Here are the conditions which God has laid down in the Bible for healing to take place if it be His will.
Total surrender to His will
Each Christian must be wholly dedicated to God’s will in this matter of suffering without even knowing what His will regarding healing for them happens to be. If it is not God’s will to heal a Christian, they will know it for He will reveal it to them. Then like Paul, God will give them sustaining grace to accept the suffering or the sickness. As God declared to Paul: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (II Corinthians 12:9).
Suffering Christian, wherever you are, in a hospital or at home, will you be willing right now to pray this prayer of surrender:
Dear Lord,
I commit my life to Thee. If I am to be sick for the rest of my life, I bow to Thy will. It is for Thee to decide. I want Thy will more than I want to be made well. If you desire me to be well, I thank Thee for it.
Amen
Complete faith in God to heal
Recall the words of the Apostle James: “And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up” (James 5:15). It is the duty of all sick Christians to believe with all their hearts that God is able to heal them if He desires to do so. They must have complete faith in God’s ability to perform a miracle. They must take the initiative by asking the elders to their side for prayer. Much like the woman of Canaan whose conquering faith triumphed over many difficult obstacles-race prejudice, religious differences, and the outright unconcern on the party of many. Of such faith Christ said: “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour” (Matthew 15:28).
A Fresh Infilling of the Holy Spirit
I believe it is absolutely essential that before healing comes to those of us who are sick, God requires His children to experience a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps that is why the Apostle James wrote: “Let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14.) The word “oil” as used in this verse has a spiritual meaning and is symbolical of the Holy Spirit.
One may be filled with the Holy Spirit not by asking for His fullness, but by appropriating the fullness that God has already made available for the taking. Once you desire it, trust God for it and you will receive it. The same way you received Christ as your Savior by faith, receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit in the same way.
But on the other hand, there are times when it is not God’s will to provide miraculous healing to those who are sick. Paul the Apostle was not healed of his thorn in the flesh. Not only that, but some of Paul’s personal friends- Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:27), Timothy (I Timothy 5:23), Trophimus (II Timothy 4:18)- were not supernaturally healed by God. So if you happen to be one of whom divine healing is not granted by God, remember, there is joy and strength in the discovery that Christ has provided for you those resources which will help calm your fears and control your anxieties even in the midst of physical illness. Consider what Christ has provided for you-
His Presence within us
To every broken hearted person racked by an incurable disease, I say, God is right there with you in your sickness. He does not stand outside it, but shares your deepest grief, feels your sharpest pain, and knows your every heartache. Your suffering is His suffering. Your sickness is His sickness. Your pain is His pain.
Oh, my friend, no one knows what it means to suffer like God in Christ. Listen to the words of the Apostle Peter: “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps… Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to Him that judgeth righteously; Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree” (I Peter 2;21,23,24). Such was the suffering of Christ for us.
So, if God does not keep us from suffering, we have the unshakeable confidence that by His abiding presence He will keep us in suffering and bring us through suffering. The promise of God to be faithfully with us is described in the words of Paul S. Rees, who so gloriously put it: “We go with Him into the furnace and He goes with us through the flame.” Praise the Lord!
His Power for us
It goes without saying that God gives believers the power to face up to sickness with willing shoulders and a waiting heart. Christ enables us to meet pain head on by accepting it as part of His will for our lives. Listen to the tremendous testimonies of those in the Bible and out of the Bible who were called upon to suffer, but who learned to master it by the power of God.
Job, on the ash-pile, home bereaved and hope blasted, cried: “When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). Paul, locked up in a cold Roman dungeon declared: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:19)/ He goes on to say: “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (II Corinthians 4:17). Peter, in the grim face of trouble, wrote: “Rejoice, insomuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s suffering; that, when his glory shall be revealed ye may be glad with exceeding joy” (I Peter 4:13).
Or consider George Matheson, great hymn writer of the church, who conquered his sufferings through the power of Christ. One day after an examination his doctor put his hands on his shoulder and looking straight into his eyes said, “George, if there is any face you want to see again go look quickly. Brace up and be a man for your sight is nearly gone. You will never be able to gain it back.” At this point in his life Matheson was engaged to be married, so there was a face he wanted to see.
He sat down and wrote her a letter explaining the situation. She broke the engagement, leaving Matheson with something more than broken health- a broken heart. Then what? Matheson, being a Christian, might have taken up arms against God by complaining and protesting. But he didn’t. Instead he turned his suffering into song, his pain into praise. He wrote these lovely words.
“O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe.
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May be richer, filler be.”
Oh what rejoicing in suffering! I ask have you ever seen such overcomers? They overcame their pain, suffering, grief by the presence and power of God. They did not indulge in self-pity or become victims to their circumstances but conquered their circumstances and mastered their afflictions through the Living Christ. They knew that one day in God’s appointed time they would be set free from their pain which so long had enslaved them.
I beg of you, in this hour of suffering, lean upon His everlasting strength, draw upon His eternal love, and rest in His wisdom that He knows what is best for you.
His Promises to us
Make no mistake about it, when your world is shaken to pieces and starts to fall apart because of the unexpected entrance of suffering or sickness, you must not despair for you can find peace in the promises of God as found in the Bible. There is peace for broken hearts caused by pain. Christ said: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you a rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:28,29). Or consider the words of Isaiah: “But they that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run; and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
Think of Job again. This Gentile believer was disfigured by disease, broken in body, shattered in health, stripped of everything except one thing- His faith in God’s promise to stand by Him. He was so weak by disease that he could only be still in God’s arms like a little child and trust Him. He remained faithful to the end. We read of him: “In all this did not Job sin with his lips” (Job 2:10). And because Job put his trust in God, listen to the outcome. We read: “The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before… for he had fourteen thousand sheep and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters” (Job 42:10,12). Thus his children were doubled in number; ten with the Lord and ten on earth. And we read: “After this lived Job a hundred and forty years” (Job 42:16). Even his life was doubled. Instead of seventy years he lived double that period after his trial.
To each suffering Christians, I say, you like Job can master your present situation by turning your sickness into strength, your burdens into blessings, your pain into praises, and your persecution into power. Like Paul, whom Dr, Harold J. Ockenga called, “the man who smiled through pain” you can say: “For I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11).
“REMEMBER THIS TOO WILL PASS AWAY”
By Helen Steiner Rice
“If I can endure for this minute
Whatever is happening to me,
No matter how heavy my heart is-
Or how “dark” the moment may be-
If I can remain calm and quiet
With all my world crashing
about me,
Secure in the knowledge God
Loves me
When everyone else seems to
Doubt me-
If I can keep on believing
What I know in my heart
to be true.
That “darkness will fade with the
morning”
And that this will pass away, too-
Then nothing in life can defeat me
For as long as this knowledge
remains
I can suffer whatever is happening
For I know God will break “all
the chains”
That are binding me tight
in “The Darkness”
And trying to fill me with fear-
For there is No Night Without
Dawning
And I know that “My morning”
is near.”
