Thursday: Faith Amid Trials
As we have seen, Peter was writing to believers who were suffering for their faith. And as Christian history has shown, things only got worse, at least for a while. Surely many Christians in the ensuing years found solace and comfort in what Peter wrote. No doubt, many do today, too.
Image © Lars Justinen Goodsalt.com
Why the suffering? That, of course, is an age-old question. The book of Job, one of the first books of the Bible to be written, has suffering as a key theme. Indeed, if there was anyone (besides Jesus) who suffered not as “a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters” (1 Pet. 4:15, NKJV), it was Job. After all, even God said of Job: “‘Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?’” (Job 1:8, NKJV). And yet, look at what poor Job had endured, not because he was evil, but because he was good!
How do these texts help answer the question of the origin of suffering? 1 Pet. 5:8, Rev. 12:9, Rev. 2:10.
The short answer is that we suffer because we are in the midst of the great controversy between Christ and Satan. This is not a mere metaphor, a mere symbol for the good and evil in our natures. There is a real devil and a real Jesus fighting a real battle for human beings.
Read 1 Peter 4:19. How can what Peter wrote here help us in whatever we are struggling with now?
When we suffer, especially when that suffering does not come directly as a result of our own evildoing, we naturally ask the question that Job had asked, again and again: Why? And, as is so often the case, we don’t have an answer. As Peter says, all we can do, even amid our suffering, is to commit our souls to God, trusting in Him, our “faithful Creator,” and continue in “doing good” (1 Pet. 4:19, NKJV).
Why is knowing the character of God for yourself,
| knowing of His goodness and His love for you personally, such a crucial component for a Christian, especially one who is suffering? How can we all learn to come to know God and the reality of His love better? |
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To understand God we must search for Him, dialog with Him, ask Him and thank Him. To relate.
When we ask God "Why" of our sufferings, we are implying and accusing God to be responsible. We all should know better. We should know that God doesn't bring any suffering. We should know that every single suffering in the whole universe is because Satan. Even Job felt into that trap.
When Jesus said on the cross: "Father, why have you forsaken me?" He didn't said it because He didn't know. He said for our benefit: to make the point deeper clear that sin/death is the opposite of Life/God. That He (Jesus) took to be separated from God, on our behalf, so we can go back to God and not be separated never again and be eternally with Him
So, when suffering, instead is asking "why" lets ask ourselves: "what" and "how". Two example questions: "What can I learn from this suffering experience?". "How this experience can help me to trust more in God?" I know that good reasoning and common sense leave us when we are under suffering, but we can plan ahead the good questions and be ready when suffering strikes.
Blessings.
I'm not so sure. God made us, including the way our minds function. We have a need to know why. It isn't necessarily blaming God. It may just be, "I don't understand". As mentioned in the lesson, Job asked a lot of why. I think God knows we need to ask why. If we suppress it, it only harms us.
If we compare God to some egotistical earthly ruler, we can easily feel like we might offend Him (and maybe even bring his wrath down on us). But He encourages us to think of Him as a parent. Anyone reading this forget the most heavily used word of a two year old? (Hint - Why).
I agree, asking "why" is good start to know. My mom tells me that was my favorite word for many years 😊
The motive behind asking God "why" when suffering, is not that we want to know, because we do know why. It is very clear the reason we suffer is because Satan/sin. We all understand that. Every single human being faces suffering sooner or later. No even Jesus was off of the hook. (Keep in mind, Jesus never did anything wrong, He never sinned. He didn't deserve to suffer).
Satan is the one who wants us to ask God "why" of our sufferings, and he rejoices when we do exactly that, because we join him on accusing God of being evil.
(By the way, God's Word is very clear explaining the great controversy and the reason and who is responsible for our sufferings and we should understand that).
Two things to notice to help make my point.
1. Have you notice that when everything goes well in our lives, we don't ask God "WHY everything is going well"?
2. Did you notice while Job was suffering, Satan is not found around? Satan just came at the beginning to put Job in suffering, and then "went away" so Job will "face" God to ask Him "why", yet, notice how God "responded" ...meaning, God not even answered Job's "whys".
I understand that we may want see behind the curtains the specifics of a specific suffering. The motive in this case is different, kind of curiosity and also as a learning experience. But those cases are very rare, I will say, about 1 or 2%. Sometimes we look back and see some of the specifics. Many things will be cleared up once we are in heaven. Meanwhile, lets think on what God tells us: "my grace is sufficient to you"
In closing, let me tell you a true story which happen not long ago -maybe this can help to understand. There is this lady in our church who told us in a very pious way that she was very, very angry toward God, demanding to know why her cat died. She told us she has the right to be angry with God and to show God her fist demanding an answer to her "why" her car died bringing so deep suffering to her, and why God doesn't do something about sufferings... why God allows so much suffering when He has the power to stop it right away.
See? She implies that God rejoices in suffering and therefore, God is evil. That's exactly what Satan want us to believe and to say it, directly or indirectly.
I know this case with the lady is an extreme, but in different level, degree and intensity, it is the motive or spirit behind when we ask God "why" when we suffer.
Wilton, if I misunderstand what I think you said it is" I'm not so sure. God made us, including the way our minds function". What is it that you are not sure of? An explanation would be helpful perhaps. I think I know but want to make sure.
Through conflict the spiritual life is strengthened. Trials well borne will develop steadfastness of character and precious spiritual graces. The perfect fruit of meekness,faith, and love often matures best amid storm clouds and darkness. We will know God best in these times if we surround ourselves with a holy atmosphere.
When we pass through tribulations and turbulent waves in our lives as Christians,our faith in God is often tried and tempted by one liar called Satan! But when we remain steadfast and faithful to God, His unconditional love delivers us from such tribulations. Through this, our spiritual connection with Him even moves higher the ladder, we come to know Him and the reality of His love better.
As Christians therefore, we should always be ready to suffer but should not waver into the devil's temptations since the war is already won by Christ! Devil's wrath has increased but he is here only for a short while since he knows that his time is short Revelation 12:12 and only living on borrowed time.
What you say is true enough. But that means that you and other readers probably have stories to share to demonstrate this. Can any of you please share stories? Stories are more inspiring than repeating what the lesson says. 🙂
We have a morning sabbath school lesson study group. In our group someone had been sick more than eight months. It was trying times. The doctors tried everything and nothing worked. One night she cried and committed to God. God heal me if you will or let me sleep In Christ. That surrender began the healing process.
Let go; Let God.
There is a young man who has accepted Christ. But before his conversion, him and his family were muslims. When he accepted Christ, the family has now disowned him and he lives on the streets. What inspires me about this gentleman is that he finds solace in what he is going through- This is faith amids trials at it's best. Please pray for these gentleman so that he must continue having this confidence in the Lord. His name is Mikall
This lesson is too deep! There are many instances where people who did nothing wrong suffered and others even died eg Stephen. Job had what I regard as'successful suffering' because his later life was sweeter. The lesson is telling us ahead to have our 'heads up' and to start living uprightly since we have studied about Job and how he was able to endure to the end. who knows the next person to be sampled. God be with us so our pruning period will not deny us heaven in Jesus name! Amen
Did Jesus do anything wrong? Did Jesus suffer? What brought suffering to Jesus?
Suffering for/with Christ brings you closer in relationship and love, also helps to know Him better. In addition, it helps you to connect deeper with Him.
At the risk of repeating myself, I prefer to use Biblical texts that are familiar to most. When we ask the question why, we obviously in most cases do not have the answer. Why we suffer pain, injustice, death, etc. One of two texts that come to mind, are Isaiah 55:8,9 & Jeremiah 29:11. Ephesians 6:12 also tells us like it is. It is only natural to ask why with the expectation that a plausible answer will be forth coming, especially with serous problems. Some will attack our faith as Jobs friends did, but the bottom line is, Hebrews 11:1 supports this opinion. Our prayers for faith and trust are nearly always needed and included in our lives when we question God.