My Own Personal Theology of Suffering
Well…I’ve come to the end of what’s turned into a three month series on establishing a biblical theology of suffering to tuck away for “when.”
By no means is it conclusive, and there are great books on suffering that I highly recommend (one being Paul David Tripps book entitled “Suffering…”)
I simply like to dig, discover, and develop based on what I uncover, then read what others have to say.
I admit it has been good for me!
However, as I wind this up, I feel the need to look back and remember each point as precisely as possible, so I can tuck it away the next time a struggle or hardship finds me.
So, as I sit sipping on a cup of tea, looking back over the past blogs, here’s what I now know:
Perspective is everything.
Recognizing that the Lord doesn’t protect us from sorrow and suffering is crucial, but He will use everything that comes our way for our good and His glory.
The furnace of suffering reveals what is in our hearts, and offers us an opportunity (an invitation, even) to do some internal house cleaning —- and, while it is always good to examine our hearts, not all suffering is the result of personal sin.
All suffering teaches us something; we must provide for ourselves still, sacred spaces where we can reflect and dissect what that might be.
We’ll never go through the trials unchanged; but, we get to determine the answer to this question: will I come through bitter or better?
One of the best ways to learn some of those lessons is to ask others who’ve made the journey victoriously (after all, the worst thing we can do during times of trial is to isolate – those who’ve gone before us are always more than glad to go the extra mile with us).
One of the best perspectives I can embrace is this: suffering is a gift of grace…and, the Lord would love to see us use this gift as an opportunity to advance the gospel.
Speaking of suffering as a gift of grace, the Lord reminds us in one little Greek word (poikos) tucked away in two passages of Scripture that for every trial, no matter how dark or hard, there is a grace of equal shade that matches our difficulty. God’s grace is sufficient for our every need.
Adding to the point above, suffering comes in various shades (that’s what the Greek word, poikos, means)…some difficulties are, well, just more difficult than others. However, a trial is a trial, sorrow is sorrow, and pain is pain because all of it is so personal. It helps to NAME OUR SUFFERING, to label it what it is, no matter the shade. We simply can’t gloss over them or we’ll never receive what God has for us in the middle of the mess of it all.
Suffering can never strip away our ability to worship…and, in fact, even in the middle of the messiness of suffering, one of the best things we can do to remind ourselves that God is bigger than our pain is to praise His name!
In the midst of all we go through, we cannot forget (we must not forget) that the Lord is ever present. He is with us, hurting for us, grieving with us; and if He’s here, we need not fear! He will see us all the way through.
Sometimes God allows things in our lives, things we don’t understand, to accomplish something greater than we can ever imagine!
While we do what we can to alleviate the HARD of suffering, sometimes trust and prayer are the two most practical things we can do.
All suffering is seasonal…there’s a beginning and an end.
Fixing our eyes on the Lord, remembering and rehearsing His character, will settle our souls in peace.
One last thought…
In the midst of life’s storms, while tossed about on rough seas, we have a safe harbor and one anchor…
That harbor is in the arms of the Lord – don’t turn your back on Him when in the middle of trials, run into His open arms.
That anchor is God’s promises. In them, we find hope and a steadfast spirit to walk through this journey to the other side.
This here…in a nutshell…this is my Theology of Suffering.
Have you settled yours?