Why Suffering?

                                                 Photo by Barry Doig

 

Many of us struggle to make sense of suffering, our own or others. But it takes such varied and complex forms that it has to be left to God. Often though we feel the need to try to find reasons but, as in the case of Job, there seems to be none.  His self-righteous friends thought that it MUST be that he had sinned against God, but  God put them right about that – in the end! 

Be assured that, in my musings today, I will not be trying to put your struggles to rest forever, for that is not possible.  Over the centuries many others have already tried to understand the reasons for suffering, with varying results.  These are just observations that came out of my Bible reading this morning. The story went like this……

 

Hezekiah became king at age 25 and he reigned in Judah for 29 years from about 715 BC.  Unlike his father, King Ahaz who had “encouraged the people to sin, and had been utterly unfaithful to the Lord” (2 Chronicles 28:19), Hezekiah had restored worship and faithfully followed the Lord. In spite of this 14 years into his reign Hezekiah became sick, and the prophet Isaiah came with a message from God that this sickness would cause him to die.

 

I could say that Hezekiah ‘didn’t take this lying down’, but he did, for he was laying on his sickbed.  The Bible says that he turned his face to the wall and started talking to God. “Remember, O LORD, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you.” Then he broke down and wept bitterly. (2 Kings 20:1-11).  In a nutshell, God heard his prayer instantly, because it says that before Isaiah had left the middle court, God gave him a message for Hezekiah - that he would live another 15 years. 

 

The account of this in 2 Kings stops there, but when Isaiah the prophet wrote about it, he included a prayer that Hezekiah wrote after his healing.  It’s worth a read Isaiah 38:9-20. In verse 17 Hezekiah seems to have reached his own conclusion about his suffering.  He says, ​“Indeed it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness; but you have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption….” I wonder if he had started to move away from God and in His kindness God stopped him in his tracks and turned his eyes back to his Maker?  Hezekiah seemed to think so.

 

For Christians who suffer I would dare to say that it is never wasted when we faithfully follow God. Some of the most beautiful poems and hymns have been written as a result of continued trust in the face of suffering.  Joni Eareckson Tada is one of my heroes of faith.  She became a quadriplegic as a result of a diving accident when she was only 18.  She just wanted to die, but she found a reason to live and to glorify God in her life.  Today in her 70s she continues to have an amazing ministry which blesses many.  Check this link out. https://www.epm.org/blog/2022/Sep/12/joni-eareckson-tada-resolve

 

Are you suffering in some way today?  Have you turned to God to make sense of it?  If you do that, I pray that he will help you to see his great love and purpose in the midst of it, and enable you to go on and allow him to use it for good.  Romans 8:28 assures believers of this…..”For we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.”  The ways that God can use suffering for good are too many to number!

 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, in my struggles and suffering help me to trust that you are using them for your greater purposes. Please be glorified in my life so that I may honour your name.  Amen