How to Deal with Suffering
Question on Internet: How do you really cope with suffering? Do
you blame God for it? Do you hate God? Are you angry with Him?
How do you cope with this hate or anger, or in some way do you
accept your suffering?
THE RESPONSES COME FROM 3 CHRISTIAN WEBSITES
A summary of some of the comments that some of the contributors
over Internet have made:
1) I've done it all, and being angry at God is an acceptable
emotion because it shows honesty, and this is what God expects
from us. Actually a technically blasphemous ploy used sometimes
in counseling is to forgive God, just to stop the tendency to
keep blaming God all the time.
2) But we should always trust God, even in the midst of all the
suffering we have to endure.
3) Our lives tend to move in cycles. As a great hymn once stated
"After the sun, the rain: After the rain, the sun: This is the
way of life". Just treasure the benefits you have at the moment,
and remember that God is suffering along with us, and that we
should try to learn something from this suffering-.
4) In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (N.I.V..) it states "Be joyful
always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for
this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ" I don't believe that
God actually causes the suffering, but whenever you thank God
for everything, even for the suffering, it seems to ease the
pain a great deal. In other words, it seems to be a spiritual
mechanism for releasing future blessings.
5) Another thought on the subject of suffering is that if all
churches try to invest some time into developing in--depth
communication growth activities whereby these activities could
serve as strong support vehicles for people who are experiencing
special life-changing situations, or even in trying to solve
ordinary every-day problems, it would be helpful. These groups
could be called Support or Growth Groups.
6) In a sense, Jesus was made Perfect through His suffering, and
we too can be made perfect though our suffering in that through
our suffering we can understand people, and therefore help them,
much more effectively because we have gone through many of the
same problems. (Hebrews 2:10)
The following are some testimonies on the subject of suffering.
1) John says: I guess you can say that I am some type of an
expert when it comes to suffering. Pastoring my first church
less than one year I was afflicted with terminal cancer. For six
months I battled physical and emotional pain. Then again three
years later I once again was afflicted with cancer. This one
required that I retire from the ministry. Three years after
retirement I came down with kidney then prostrate cancer. Not
only do I suffer from cancer, but also from PTSD from Vietnam
and Law enforcement. Then I have one wayward daughter that has
caused us great sorrow. Living in retirement away from the
action is a difficult position for me to be in. I no longer feel
needed or appreciated. This by far is the most difficult
position for me. I am presently writing my book on suffering,
but over all it has increased my faith and made me a better
person. God's word has proved itself to be true in my life. It
states "We also glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation
produces perseverence; and perseverence, character, and
character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love
of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who
was given to us" (Rom 5:5). It is the hope of Christ that makes
it possible for us to persevere in times of tribulation and
distress. We have an anchor for our soul that rests in the One
who has gone before us and conquered. God deserves to be
trusted. And when you have this trust and hope you can weather
any storm in life.
2) Robert says: While I've not had cancer, I find a few
paralells similar to my own. After graduating from bible college
I took up my first pastoral position. Much of my ministry was in
marriage counseling. Five months after taking up the position, I
was booted out of my home. My marriage was over. This did not do
much for my credibility. Following this, I had most of the
Christian world turn on me. I hardly ever to get to see my 2
daughters. My name was smeered in every corner of the world, and
after the breakup, I fell into a relationship and now have a
baby with this lady. I now have nothing to do with that child. I
had no money, car, assets, or home, and had ended up being an
inconvenience to a Household out of a need to stay
somewhere...Anywhere. Six months after the breakup, with no one
reaching out to my hand that was outstretched, I attempted
suicide and was hospitalized. I then have had to live with the
condemnation, (not care) of someone who was not emotionally
"with it". Funny how God will really allow you to go through the
ringer. But people tend to go to one extreme of two choices. 1)
They give up on God altogether, and damn his name, and give
their life to Satan, or 2) They come closer to God and end up
having a relationship which is undescribable. I guess we both
have the choice which way we are to go.
3) Will says : If you assume that because you have failed God
once-or even more than once- in the past, He will never use you
in the future, you are limiting God. God has the ability to
forgive. He has the ability to turn your failures into triumphs.
He is able to figure out a place that's just right for your
particular talent or gift. And furthermore, He desires to put
you to use in His Kingdom. You may say, "Well, I didn't refuse a
call from God, but I sinned in a major way. God will never be
able to use me." Again you are limiting the ability of God. God
can heal your life, restore you, put you back together, and put
you back on track with Him, and use you. Trust Him to do that.
Just look at the number of people who have been to prison,
failed miserably, fallen from grace, suffered great disrepute or
a loss of reputation, and God has lifted them up and restored
them. Very often, the latter days of their lives are more
fruitful for Him than their former days before the failure. God
knows our human frailities. He knows how to overcome them and
how to work through them, around them, and in them. God knows
how to fix our mistakes. The Christian Church is the only army
in the world that shoots its own wounded. I have served in the
Navy, the Army, 18 months in Vietnam. I was a big city cop and
detective, a deputy sheriff. I drove log trucks, and been a
minister and traveling evangelist. I have been all over the
world, and have met a lot of people. But sadly to say, that I
never knew greater discomfort, and let downs, and downright
hostility then when I went into the ministry. But I know that we
are not fighting against flesh and blood.. Rather against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places. I have learned a long time ago, that the only person
that you really have to satisfy is God Himself. And if you are
right with Him, nothing else matters. But our God is the God of
the first change, and the second, and fifth. He will never turn
His back on us. And remember the words of Paul, "Being confident
of the very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil 1:6). God
bless you my brother in Christ.
Corbin says: Most suffering is really a consequence of the gift
that God gave us, which is free will. Other suffering might be
caused by creation limitations and unseen spiritual conflict.
But free will, I believe, is the major culprit. However we
absolutely need free will, because without it, we could never
choose to love God or each other, which God definitely wants us
to do. But with free will, you also have the possibility of
making wrong choices, which is really the cause of much of our
major sufferings today. An analogy of how unseen Spiritual
Warfare could affect our way of life can be seen by how unseen
Spywords in a computer can effect the navigational efforts of a
mouse attached to a computer.