“Why me? Why now? What is God doing?” Have you said those words or similar ones when you are in the midst of suffering? I would venture to say that yes you have. People have been saying those kinds of words for centuries. Suffering is a mystery to most of us. The best book about suffering is the biblical book of Job. Suffering comes in various forms. Suffering for you may not be cancer or a sore throat. It may be the loss of someone close. It may be a personal failure or disappointment in your job or school work. It may be a rumor that is circulating in your office or in the church, damaging your reputation and bringing you grief and anxiety. It can be anything that ranges from something as small and irritating as the bite of a mosquito or the nagging of a gnat to the charge of an elephant or having to face a lion in the lion’s den as with Daniel (Daniel 8).
Why is there suffering? The reasons are many but here are four: 1. We suffer because we live in a fallen world where sin reigns in the hearts of men; 2. We suffer because of our own foolishness. We reap what we sow (Gal. 6:7-9); 3. We sometimes suffer because it is God’s discipline. “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines”, i.e., suffering for righteousness sake (2 Tim. 3:12); 4. We may suffer persecution because of our faith. All of these do not apply at the same time. All suffering is not, for instance, a product of our own foolishness, self induced misery, or sin. It is true, however, that rarely does suffering not reveal areas of need, weaknesses,
and wrong attitudes that need to be removed like dross in the gold refining process (1 Peter 1:6-7).
When it comes to suffering we have to remember what the Psalmist said, “Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5). Romans 8:18 says, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” That is the great promise
we live with.
If you are suffering, than make certain it is pottery wheel suffering and not hamster wheel suffering. There is a huge difference between hamster wheel suffering and pottery wheel suffering, and the difference is critical. Hamster wheel suffering is not God’s will for you. It is expressed by those who have a substance abuse problem or addiction and they refuse to admit they have a problem. Hamster wheel suffering goes nowhere. Round and round the cycle goes and where it stops nobody knows. It has nothing to do with taking up the cross of Jesus. It has everything to do with not getting the help you need to get off that wheel. Once you get off the wheel, God indeed may use that experience to help you help others; but you need first to stop the wheel and climb off.
The second kind of suffering is pottery wheel suffering, and this is redemptive. It brings us somewhere. No matter how intense or terrible our pain may be, we invite God’s hand into our lives to mold us and create us, by perhaps breaking us first, and rebuilding us in ways that often hurt. God’s last word is never a word of pain. There may be pain in the redemptive process just as there is pain in taking a splinter out of a child’s finger or setting a broken bone. Job’s suffering was redemptive. Job experienced several turning points in his life. A turning point may be described as a change of direction leading to a change of destiny. Each turning point in Job’s life served as a trigger for the next turning point. Read the book of Job this month to consider how it impacts your life. You may well be at a turning point in your life. You can choose either bitterness or choose to praise God. Job had that choice and he chose to trust God. Why don’t you trust that God is good and will work all things out for good?
Jesse Liles
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