July 2011
Is it OK to
doubt?
in this issue Many Christians
assume that doubt
is the opposite of faith. It isn’t.
3 Cool Skepticism Charles R. Swindoll pressure points
6 Believing in Doubt Steve Johnson lifetrac
9 Hope in the Face of Doubt Robyn Roste
moment of insight
14 The Doubter’s Prayer Charles R. Swindoll STRONG FAMILY
15 The “Why” Questions Kids Ask: Modelling Trust When There Aren’t Easy Answers Jenny Schweyer laughing matters
18 Chasing Hot Dogs? Phil Callaway Help Me Understand
21 Suffering Insight for Living Canada
Copyright © 2011 Insight for Living Canada. All rights reserved. No portion of this monthly publication may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the publisher. Insights is published by IFLC, the Bible teaching ministry of Charles R. Swindoll. IFLC is an autonomous ministry and certified member of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture passages are taken from the NASB. Printed in Canada. Unless otherwise noted, photography by IFLC staff.
Cool by Charles R. Swindoll
3
N
ine-year-old Danny came bursting out of Sunday school like a wild stallion. His eyes were darting in every direction as he tried to locate either his mom or dad. Finally, after a quick search, he grabbed his daddy by the leg and yelled, “Man, that story of Moses and all those people crossing the Red Sea was great!” His father looked down, smiled, and asked the boy to tell him all about it. “Well the Israelites got out of Egypt, but Pharaoh and his army chased after them. So the Jews ran as fast as they could until they got to the Red Sea. The Egyptian Army was gettin’ closer and closer. So Moses got on his walkie-talkie and told the Israeli Air Force to bomb the Egyptians. While that was happening, the Israeli navy built a pontoon bridge so the people could cross over. They made it!” By now Danny’s dad was shocked. “Is that the way they taught you the story?” “Well, no, not exactly,” the boy admitted,
4
Cool Skepticism continued from p. 3
“but if I told it to you the way they told it to us, you’d never believe it, Dad.” With childlike innocence, the little guy put his finger on the pulse of our sophisticated adult world where cool skepticism reigns supreme. It’s becoming increasingly more popular to operate in the black and white world of facts . . . and, of course, to leave no space for the miraculous. I mean, no intelligent mind that gets its cues from scientific data or mathematical axioms or natural laws can tolerate those things being altered. Certainly not by some so-called “divine” intervention. Give me a break! It’s really not a new mentality. Peter mentioned it in one of his letters: I want to remind you that in the last days there will come scoffers who will . . . laugh at the truth. This will be their line of argument: “So Jesus promised to come back, did he? Then where is he? He’ll never come! Why, as far back as anyone can remember everything has remained exactly
Comment on this article
as it was since the first day of creation” (2 Peter 3:3–4 The Living Bible). Skeptics think like that. If they could choose their favourite hymn, it would certainly include the words, “As it was in the beginning, it is now and ever shall be . . .” Take gravity. Heavy objects fall toward earth. Always. So a builder can construct a house and never worry about his materials floating away. Count on it. Take chemistry. Mixing certain elements in precise proportions yields the same result. Always. So a doctor can prescribe a medication with predictable confidence. Take astronomy. The sun, the moon, those stars work in perfect harmony. Always. Even the mysterious eclipse comes as no surprise. We’ve got it wired right down to the second. Take anatomy. Whether it’s the pupil of the eye expanding and contracting in response to light or our skin regulating our body temperature or our builtin defense mechanism resisting panic or fighting disease, we operate strictly on the basis of facts. Hard, immutable, stubborn facts. Plain as black print on white pages. Reliable as the sunset. Real as a toothache. Clear as a window pane. Absolute, unbending, undeniable, unchangeable. People who conduct their lives according to such thinking are called smart. They haven’t a fraction of tolerance for the supernatural. They became skeptical in their tight world of absolutes. To them, it is sloppy to think in terms of the unexplainable, the “miraculous.” If insurance companies choose to leave room for “acts of God,” that’s their business. Not “smart” people. Those are fightin’ words in scientific laboratories and operating rooms and intellectual rap sessions and newspaper editing rooms. Then what about miracles? Well, just limit them to a child’s world of fiction and
fables. And, if necessary, to stained glass sanctuaries where emotion runs high and imagination is needed to make all those stories interesting. After all, what’s a little religion without a pocketful of miracles? And if we started trying to account for all those things in the Bible, think of the time it would take to explain stuff like how the sun stood still or why all those fish suddenly filled the disciples’ nets, or what brought Lazarus back from beyond, or why the dead body of Jesus has never been found, or how the death of Christ keeps on cleaning up lives, or how come the Bible is still around.
“It’s becoming increasingly more popular to operate in the black and white world of facts . . . and, of course, to leave no space for the “Smart” skeptics don’t have to worry about explaining little things like that. It’s easier simply to embrace a wholesale denial of the miraculous . . . which is fine and dandy, so long as those skeptics are alive and well and able to shrug their way through all those stories. It seems so plausible, so sensible . . . until they themselves get sick, face death, and need miraculous help crossing their final river. By the way, what does happen on the other side of that river? Hey, if I told you what the Bible really says, you wouldn’t believe it! Photograph of Chuck Swindoll © 2010 by David Edmonson
5
Pressure Points
Believing in Doubt by Steve Johnson
A number of years ago I found myself in the middle of a rapidly flowing river trying to make my way to the opposite shore and dry land. Although the river was only thigh-deep, the speeding current threatened to upend me if I couldn’t get good footing. Fortunately I was able to find rocks just below the surface to step on and traverse across without being swept away. Like me in the river that day, many believers stand thigh-deep in a rapidly moving current of uncertainty with slippery rocks of doubt underfoot threatening their walk of faith. In order to successfully continue growing in their Christian walk they need stepping stones. These stepping stones are in fact the questions and doubts themselves. And rather than hindering progress, questions, uncertainties, and doubt can actually be part of the process of growing in faith and moving forward. So how do we use doubts as stepping stones to stronger faith? One of the first stepping stones is to properly understand the nature of faith and doubt. Many Christians assume that doubt is the opposite of faith. It isn’t. Unbelief is the opposite of faith. And somewhere in between faith and unbelief lies the realm of doubt. 6
Doubt is the state where the mind, like a bridge, is suspended between opposite cliffs of faith and unbelief. When we believe something we are of one mind in accepting it as true. When we disbelieve, we are of one mind about rejecting something. To doubt is to hang somewhere between the two, being of two minds—double-minded. We are open towards both believing and not believing. What this means then is that when a believer doubts, she is not betraying her faith. Rather, there is a divided heart and mind. A person who doubts is still openminded albeit uncertain. A person locked in closed-minded unbelief doesn’t doubt. Doubt is really only a halfway stage to unbelief or to faith. Just as a good pilot can fly and not crash in disorienting foggy weather by following his instruments, a believer who understands doubt can weather its disorienting confusion. Realizing that doubt isn’t unbelief alleviates the stress and sense of guilt that comes from thinking that doubting is sin. It also minimizes the confusion about faith that relegates it to the realm of uncertainty rather than re-
7
Comment on this article
membering that faith is something based on knowledge. Another stepping stone we can use to grow from doubt is to accept it as a normal experience in the Christian life. If we believe that we can know or need to know everything with absolute certainty, then we will struggle. I don’t believe we can know everything with absolute certainty and so since we can’t, we need to have a realistic attitude toward faith and doubt. In this life we will only know in part (1 Corinthians 13:9), which leaves room for uncertainty.
"Many Christians assume that doubt is the opposite of faith. It isn’t." But that is what faith is… willing to live trusting in the existence and promises of God knowing one day that existence and those promises will be totally vindicated. Once we accept doubt as normal we will not feel ashamed to talk about it with older, wiser Christians. They can help us move past the doubt and on to faith and greater certainty. A third stepping stone for us is not to become preoccupied with doubts. As
a motorcycle rider one of the things I learned was to keep my head and eyes up as I drive, looking down the road—not looking at the ditch at the side of the road. The reason? Because on a bike you tend to drive where you’re looking. Focus on a ditch in a curve and you’ll end up there. Similarly, if we are focused on and preoccupied with doubts it won’t be long before we crash emotionally and spiritually. If we focus on our doubts and they dominate our horizon, we will move toward and inevitably crash in unbelief. A final stepping stone for us is to use our questions and uncertainties to deepen our knowledge and understanding. When we have doubts about something we should take the time to read more about it. We need to give ourselves time to think and reflect deeply on it. We should seek out and listen to or read material by wise Christians on the subject. Through all these stepping stones our knowledge will broaden, doubt can give way to more certainty, and we can grow in faith, understanding, and wisdom. Steve Johnson is the interim executive director at IFLC
This Month’s Gift
The benefit of the doubt paperback, 84 pages Chuck Swindoll addresses some of the most pressing questions about spiritual doubt. With characteristic grace, he encourages you to grow through your uncertainty. You’ll discover what every believer should know about doubt . . . and why.
click here to order 8
On lifetrac.ca and facebook.com/lifetrac this month: When is Doubt Sin? By Robyn Roste
Like Elijah, it is easy for
us to feel abandoned and alone. God often speaks through the gentle and obvious rather than the unique and spectacular events we expect. Although we may want to do mighty miracles for God our focus should instead be on deepening our relationship with Him.
Free mp3 Our doubts usually surface in times of stress. In these times, we’re likely to act out in faithless or irresponsible ways. Sometimes these human lapses are necessary to our faith walk. The good news is God gives us room to question, wrestle, and struggle as we grow towards maturity. Learn how from Chuck Swindoll in his full-length message Getting Through the Tough Stuff of Doubt. Download the free mp3 today at lifetrac.ca.
The Anxieties of Life
You can't escape anxiety or the trails of life, but you can choose how you react to it. When you give your worries to God, you stop letting life intimidate you.
Subscribe or listen free online at lifetrac.ca
Hope in the Face of Doubt continued from p. 9
Have you ever had a mountaintop experience?
T
his term can be taken literally, figuratively, or even spiritually. If you have experienced the spiritual mountaintop you are probably also familiar with the spiritual valley. These low places can be emotionally taxing and sometimes takes the form of discouragement, or even depression. Mountaintop highs and valley lows could explain why when we struggle with doubt we also wrestle with faith. Although struggles refine us and force us to figure out what we really believe, if we give in to the negative emotions we begin a downward spiral. Elijah, the Old Testament prophet, fought this same battle between hope and doubt. God told Elijah in 1 Kings 18 to tell King Ahab the drought plagu-
Comment on this article
ing the land was to end. Elijah obeyed, gathering nearly 1,000 prophets of Baal and Asherah on the top of Mount Carmel, challenging them to ask their gods to send down fire from heaven. Elijah said whichever god sent fire, would be the true God. After an entire day of chanting and praying and penance, there was no fire for the pagan prophets. Then Elijah called on the Lord to prove Himself and immediately fire flashed down from heaven. At this, everyone fell down and proclaimed, “The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.” (1 Kings 18:39). For Elijah it was a massive victory—a literal mountaintop experience with God. And then, it began to rain. In response to Elijah’s victory, Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, threatened to kill Elijah. After her threat, Elijah ran for his life. He ran for a whole day and when he was in the wilderness, he sat under a tree and asked God to let him die. One day earlier Elijah had boldly called on God to prove Himself in front of 1,000 people who opposed God. Then after receiving a single threat, he picked up and ran away? What changed? Where was his faith?
"Mountaintop highs and valley lows could explain why when we struggle with doubt we also wrestle with faith." Elijah was exhausted and drained and, therefore, susceptible to doubt and discouragement. He gave in to self-pity and lost his perspective. In Chuck Swindoll’s book Elijah: A Man of Heroism and Humility he writes, "Elijah had to get his eyes back on the Lord. That was absolutely essential. He had been
used mightily, but it was the Lord who made him mighty. He stood strong against the enemy, but it was the Lord who had given him the strength,” (121). In the face of doubt, we must fight against discouragement. When things look like they can't get any worse, we must reach out to others to gain perspective and hope. By running away, Elijah separated himself from people who could have helped him remain strong—offering encouragement, strength, and, most importantly, objectivity. If he had reached out to others, Elijah might have realized the God who answered by fire would continue to be with him. But instead, Elijah said, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers," (1 Kings 19:4). Self-pity is toxic—it exaggerates and cultivates a victim mentality. Many of us can relate to Elijah’s situation. Faced with an increasingly secular society it’s easy to feel as though we’re all alone in our faith. How much easier it is to give in to self-pity than trust the Lord’s provision! In the midst of Elijah’s self-pity party, God confronted him. "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (1 Kings 19:9). Elijah responded to God’s question by complaining about how he was the last prophet and about to be killed. Instead of rebuking Elijah for his selfinvolvement and lack of faith, God revealed Himself, and told Elijah he was not alone, no matter how things seemed. There were 7,000 people still faithful to God in Israel. The same is true today. Regardless of how bad things look or feel you are not alone. Elijah reminds us to look up, to choose to believe in God’s faithfulness, even when everything seems to be the opposite. When we know we’re in the will of God, we’re secure... even when our experiences are not always a mountaintop.
Robyn Roste is the LifeTrac coordinator at IFLC.
On Sale in July! 25% off Featured Resources
$10.50 reg $14.00
$13.50 reg $18.00
Songs from Wildwood, Volume 1
10 Keys to Witnessing to Cults
10 songs on CD
pamphlet by Ron Rhodes
These 10 unforgettable Paws & Tales tunes blend solid biblical teaching with fun melodies, diverse musical styles, and memorable lyrics. They will have your family singing about our great and loving God!
$4.50 reg $6.00
Expert author Ron Rhodes helps to dispel believers' feelings of insecurity when confronted with cults. Ten easy keys will prepare you to witness to the cults at your door, your work, or your neighbourhood.
Growing Deep in the Christian Life
Issues and Answers in Jesus' Day
paperback, 430 pages
18 CD messages + study guide
Filled with humorous stories and down-toearth applications, this book reveals how theology is what helps you grow deeper in the Christian life. Learn how to apply the principles of God's Word to the situations you face virtually every day.
$42.00 reg $56.00
Each lesson in Chuck Swindoll's study stems from a penetrating question Jesus asked. Through these questions, Chuck explores the hard issues you face today and applies the practical answers Jesus offered.
This Month’s Gift The Benefit of the Doubt: Encouragement for Questioning Christians
Answers to the World's Tough Questions passport sized booklet by Insight for Living
paperback, 84 pages fir st co py
FREE! additional copies:
$7.50 reg $10.00
12
Chuck Swindoll addresses some of the most pressing questions about spiritual doubt. With characteristic grace, he encourages you to grow through your uncertainty. You’ll discover what every believer should know about doubt . . . and why.
$7.50 reg $10.00
Is Jesus the only way to heaven? Why does a loving and powerful God allow evil? This unique resource will help you reach both unbelievers and doubting Christians who may be wrestling with serious questions about life and God.
On Sale in July! 25% off Featured Resources
! W NE
$6.00 reg $8.00
$13.50 reg $18.00
It is Best to Rest
Phil Callaway Live: Learning to Laugh Again
single CD message
NEW! DVD + study guide
For millennia, God has called men and women to cease striving, trust Him, and surrender to His will and His way. Discover the magnificent tranquility available to you.
Ideal for personal or group viewing, this is Phil at his best. He tells stories of overcoming fear, reversing disappointment, and facing hard times with courage and faith.
Symphony of Survival in the Key of “C”
God's Masterwork, Volume Two: The Story of God's People —A Survey of Joshua– Esther
NEW! booklet, 48 pages
NEW $3.75 reg $5.00
!
This booklet from Chuck Swindoll will teach you profound truths about commitment and show you where true hope for every marriage begins— in a right relationship with Jesus Christ.
11 CD messages
$29.40 reg $42.00
This series is a panoramic look at Israel’s history and introduces us to His story, the Saviour whose coming is pictured from the beginning of Israel’s glory days.
Click product picture to order online.
13
Moment of Insight
Lord, our faith has found a resting place in Your son, Jesus. Still, like Thomas, we struggle with fears—we entertain doubts.
We haven’t put life all together yet. Not until we’re with You will that happen.
Thank you for accepting us in our struggles, and thank You for not ignoring our questions. Swindoll, Charles R. Getting Through the Tough Stuff. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004 (75). boardwalk
© Shutterstock: Dhoxax
Strong Family
by Jenny Schweyer
When images of American citizens filling the streets and cheering the death of Osama bin Laden began filling the airways this past spring, my children were perplexed. "Why are people having a party because someone died?" asked my 12-year-old son. "Isn't it a sin to kill someone?" added my nine-year-old son. Those were tough questions to answer. The 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon took place one month before the birth of my youngest son in 2001. At the time my daughter was four and my other son just two-and-a-half. Because of these events, my children have never known a life without the constant—albeit it remote—threat of terrorism. For all of our noble intentions and efforts, my husband and I have been unable to pass on to our children the same kind of world of serenity and freedom—or at least the perceived freedom—from acts of terror, like the innocent world we grew up in. 15
Comment on this article
we are also vulnerable but that we put our faith in a sovereign heavenly Father to care for us, actually drives home those biblical lessons of trust. My husband and I are fortunate that all three of our children made their own decisions to accept Christ at very young ages. Now, when events like 9-11 raise questions in the minds of “Right now, I can only see my children that I can't explain, circumstances as if looking into a I realize that I need to trust my mirror, rather than looking through heavenly Father to parent my children, filling in those gaps a transparent window.” of understanding that I am not capable of bridging myself. In fact, it's Some questions that our children ask usually during those little crises of underare easy to answer. "How can I go to heavstanding that our kids truly begin to apen when I die?" is one of those straightforpreciate what trust is really all about and ward ones that have a black and white anwhat it means to "...live by faith and not by swer. It's the ones like my boys asked that sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV). give me cause for panic. What if they get We don't need to know all the answers confused? What if they can't reconcile a in order to lead lives of security. As ProvGod of love with One who is also holy and erbs 3:5-6 says: "Trust in the LORD with just and cannot ignore sin? all your heart and lean not on your own Over the years, though, I've come to understanding; in all your ways subrealize it's important to be honest with mit to him, and he will make your paths our children when they ask those hard straight." Instead, we need to surrender questions that don't have straightforward ourselves to the One who knows us and answers. When my son asked why it was has every aspect of our lives mapped out OK that those soldiers killed Osama bin for His own good (Jeremiah 29:11). Laden, I had to admit I didn’t know. Right Neither do our kids need to know all now, I can only see circumstances as if the answers to develop a relationship in looking into a mirror, rather than lookChrist. In fact, it's during those times ing through a transparent window; I only of trials, those events too terrifying and know part of the answer, the part that's a perplexing to comprehend, the ones that cloudy reflection of myself in all my hucause them to ask the tough questions, man limitations (I Corinthians 13:12). that deepen and refine their faith so that Often our kids view us as superhuman. it becomes strong enough to last for a lifeNot being able to answer every question time (I Peter 1:7). Long after Mom and Dad shows them we are only human, just like have exited the picture. them. Even though it seems like it should do the opposite, letting them know that Jenny Scheweyer is a pastor’s wife in Maple Ridge, BC, The Christian life is full of tough questions arising from circumstances. Questions like “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?” And if we parents struggle to answer them, how much more deeply must our children wrestle with those troublesome questions?
and mother to three very inquisitive children.
16
PHIL CALLAWAY
LIVE
Learning to
LAUGH AGAIN
SALE!
$13.50
reg $18.00
New York Times best-selling author Martha Bolton says, “Phil has dealt with his share of skunks in life. But in his gifted, witty way he reminds us of where we need to place our focus.�
Ideal for personal or group viewing, this is Phil at his off-the-wall best. Bringing his award-winning humour to life, he tells stories of overcoming fear, reversing disappointment, and facing hard times with courage and faith. Join an audience of 2,000 for four secrets of a "skunkbuster." You'll be encouraged to find courage and strength to face the difficulties on your own journey. Includes a study guide to help you go a little deeper.
click here to order
17
Laughing Matters
L
Last July 40,000 spectators and an additional two million television viewers watched as three time defending champion Joey Chestnut successfully defended his world title. I know what you’re thinking, “I don’t even like boxing.” But Joey isn’t a boxer. Joey loves to eat. At the world famous Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest held each summer on Coney Island, New York, he managed to inhale 54 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes flat, using both hands.
18
Before Joey rose to international acclaim, Takeru Kobayashi’s passion for eating helped him hold the world record for six years running. Weighing only 131 pounds, he’s a lean, mean, eating machine. The reward for eating enough hot dogs to feed a small army? Ten thousand dollars. A trophy. A mustard-yellow belt, and far more importantly—a year’s supply of hot dogs. The guys are not alone in this. Sonya Thomas ate 41 hot dogs before the buzzer sounded. Nicknamed “The Black Widow,” Sonya was ranked “the number one
by Phil Callaway
eater in America” for a time and weighs less than 100 pounds. “I am always trying to stretch my stomach,” she explained in an interview. And what is the secret to her rigorous training? According to Sonya, she runs on the treadmill for close to two hours a day and manages a Burger King, where she gets a good workout being on her feet, overseeing the fast food operation. After work, she goes to all-you-can eat buffets whenever she can. Sonya also holds 27 other world eating titles. She has wolfed down eight pounds, two ounces of fries in 10 minutes, gulped 11 pounds of cheesecake in nine
minutes, gobbled 65 hard-boiled eggs in six minutes 40 seconds, and chugged eight pounds of baked beans in two minutes 47 seconds. But the record of which she is most proud? Oyster consumption. She tossed back 432 of them in only 10 minutes. And was she full? “I could have eaten more,” she said. Take Sonya to lunch, but first re-mortgage your home. What drives Sonya to train so hard? “Someday I’d like to be treated with the same respect and admiration as sports stars Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan.” While reading her story, I couldn’t help but think of 1 Corinthians 9:25, which says 19
Comment on this article
“Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.”
dog buns into stadiums where he loads them up with free relish, ketchup, and mustard. He shaves in Wal-Mart bathrooms and showers at truck stops. Dave has earned four master’s degrees but retired after more that 30 years of teaching junior high P.E. He just loves sports. Not surprisingly, Dave has an ex-wife and two estranged daughters. And if his new girlfriend tires of his passionate pursuit Dave says they won’t be together anymore. Someone has defined failure as succeeding at something that doesn’t really matter. Are you passionate about things that last? I hope so. And what am I passionate about? Living for Jesus. I’ve already planned my epitaph: “He found God’s grace too amazing to keep to himself.” I’d like to spend whatever days I have left telling others of God’s amazing love, reminding them of our reasons to rejoice, helping them bring joy to life. And I’d like to eat a few hot dogs at baseball games this summer. I think I’ll eat them one at a time.
“Someone has defined failure as succeeding at something that doesn’t really matter.” Some live to eat, and some live to play. Recently a 54-year-old man was pulled over on a freeway in Toronto. Why? For playing the violin while driving. He told the cops he was on his way to a performance and needed to warm up. He’s lucky he didn’t play the tuba. Dave Moffitt is passionate about sports. So passionate that for six years he has been living, eating, and sleeping in his car, driving across America watching sporting events. He has seen every NFL, NHL, MLB, and NBA team play in its home stadium or arena. He has watched hundreds of horse races, car races, golf tournaments— even Little League games. Dave’s passion doesn’t cost him as much as you’d think. He eats veggies from a can and sneaks hot
Phil Callaway is a best-selling author and speaker. Visit him online at www.laughagain.org
on the air in august: Volume Three: Poets, Prophets, and Promises A Survey of Job – Daniel
20
Through the emotion-rich strains of the Psalms, to the unbending integrity of Daniel, the connectedness of God’s Word to real life is undeniable. May God meet you, instruct you, challenge you, and change you as you study His masterwork.
Upcoming messages Include:
Job: Magnificent Man of Misery Proverbs: Reliable Counsel for Right Living Ecclesiastes: Searching for the Meaning of Life Isaiah: Prince among the Prophets Jeremiah: Weeping, Warning, and Waiting
suffering
21
“Why me?
SUFFERING Two months ago I would’ve described my life as “peachy” or some other term meaning very good. Now? Well, now I’m deeply bruised and my life is mashed and no longer makes any sense. What did I do wrong? I’m a good person, but now all these bad things are happening to me! Over and over, can’t I catch a break? Where is God in my troubles? Where is my Protector in my suffering? I’m seriously wondering if God loves me any more—and I’m too scared to hope that I’m wrong. Whenever I try to pray I’m overwhelmed with all the terrible things in my life and all I feel is a palpable emptiness where I used to feel light and joyful. Maybe God only chooses some people to love and now I’m left out in the cold. Why else would my life turn flipside? Why is this happening to me? It’s not fair and I don’t deserve it!
22
Comment on this article
Our Problem — In the process of living and dying in a sin-cursed world we experience distress, agony, and misery due to pain, disease, loss, and damage. We call it suffering. Everyone experiences it sooner or later. It is part of the human condition. Some of it we bring on ourselves. Some of us suffer through no fault of our own. Besides suffering being difficult physically, emotionally, and spiritually the fact that it often appears to have no rhyme or reason, and appears meaningless adds a measure of psychological suffering. Suffering is easier to endure if we can attach some meaning or purpose to it.
God’s Answers — God never explains
why suffering exists. But He does give reasons for allowing it: He allows suffering so that through it He may glorify Himself. “Jesus answered, ‘It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him’” (John 9:3). He allows suffering in one person for the benefit of another: “But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation” (2 Corinthians 1:6). Like Paul’s thorn He allows it to cause us to humbly rely on Him for His all-sufficient grace “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!” (2 Corinthians 12:7). God allows suffering as a consequence of sin. “For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the
body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep” (1 Corinthians 11: 29.30).
The Solution
While we can’t often control the sources of our suffering, we can control our response to it. God gives us direction as to how to respond so as to make it meaningful: Get to the root of the suffering, not just the symptoms. If you believe your suffering is as a result of sin, then repent and ask God’s forgiveness and healing (James 5:13-16; 1 Corinthians 11:29, 30). It’s OK to pray for the suffering to be removed (2 Corinthians 12:8 cf. James 5:13). If God does not remove your suffering accept it with humble submission to the will of God, committing it to Him, knowing He still loves you. Resist self-pity since the devil will use that to build bitterness (1 Peter 5:6-8). Seek grace to endure the suffering (2 Corinthians 12: 9a). Remember that you are not alone in your suffering. You already have the presence of Christ (Matthew 28:20), the prayers of other believers (2 Timothy 1:3) and the “fellowship of suffering”—other believers who are also suffering (2 Timothy 1:8; Hebrews 13:3; Colossians 1:24). Reframe your suffering recognizing that in light of eternity the present suffering is momentary and your right attitude toward it is gaining you a reward (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). Turn the suffering into a situation to praise God for His strength amid your weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9b). by
Insight for Living Canada
23
Phase 2: Pastors’ Conferences $ 50, 000
$ 34, 950
Because of your support, 30,000 leadership books have been printed and shipped to Cuba! Now, help us raise the remaining $15,000 to organize two Cuban pastors’ conferences where church leaders will be encouraged and these books will be distributed.
Visit insightforliving.ca/cuba for project details or to donate.
P.O Box 8, Station A, Abbotsford, BC V2T 6Z4