WHAT DO WE DO IN THE FACE OF SUFFERING?

A Newfrontiers paper exploring philosophical, theological and

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pastoral perspectives. Mike Frisby (Cambridge 2011)

CONTENTS Introduction

● Setting the scene● Historical perspective

A. Philosophical Perspective

● Framing the argument● Answering the objections

B. Theological Perspective

● Fall and futility● The goodness of God● Divine judgement and discipline● “Unjust” suffering● Physical affliction and infirmity● New Testament teaching● Opposition and persecution● The example of Jesus Christ● Development of Christian character● Discipline● God’s glory● Future glory

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C. Pastoral Perspective

● Ready or not?● Intentional seeking of deliverance● Signs and wonders● The “now” and the “not yet”● Big picture● Experiencing the risen Christ● Body ministry

End Point

Introduction For many people living in the West where the cultural bias is towards an expectation of everybody being healthy and living longer, sickness readily becomes seen as the main focus of one’s “suffering”. But, suffering is a far broader concept than struggling with physical, emotional or mental illness. The Dictionary defines suffering as

● A serious pain that someone feels in his or her body or their mind.● A situation in which something painful, harmful or very unpleasant happens to you.● Being badly affected by an unfavourable event or situation.● The bearing of pain, inconvenience or loss; pain endured; distress, loss or injury incurred.

This paper seeks to widen our understanding and handling of some of the real life situations of suffering that confronts us on a daily basis. But, because of the breadth of the subject, it has been necessary to be selective on what areas and aspects of the subject to include. The hope is that the following material will help build a working Biblical framework for further thought and study on the subject. Setting the scene “Act of God” is a legal term for events outside of human control, such as sudden floods or other natural disasters, for which no one can be held responsible. And the opening decade of the 21st Century has seen its fair share of them! Europe Heat Waves (35,000 dead) China Earthquake (70,000 dead)Iran Earthquake (43,000 dead) Guatemala/El Salvador Hurricane (1,638 dead)Asian Tsunami (275,000 dead) Global Swine Flu (11,800 dead)Hurricane Katrina (1,800 dead) Haiti Earthquake (230,000 dead)

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Pakistan Earthquake (75,000 dead) Pakistan Flooding (1,800 dead)Myanmar Cyclone (146,000 dead) Russian Heatwave (15,000 dead) Notwithstanding, the sobering effects of these particular statistics, the United Kingdom based charity Oxfam has stated publicly that, “the number of people hit by “climate-related” disasters is expected to rise by about 50%, to reach 375 million a year by 2015”. (01) (For a helpful article on the issue of natural disasters see, “Do natural disasters disprove God’s existence” by John N. Clayton at www.whypain.org ) Not everybody blames “God” for these disasters, but standing in the bus queue, supermarket checkout, or in conversation over a pint at the pub, it is still very common to hear people raise the question of why the “Almighty” does not step in to prevent such devastation to property and human life? Or to put the question in more familiar apologetic terms, “How could a good God allow suffering? How can you believe in God when there is so much suffering and evil in the world?”Michael Ramsden writing in a recent article on suffering says that in the Western world today, “the existence of any form of pain, suffering or evil has been regarded as evidence for the non-existence of God. If a good God existed, people say, these things wouldn’t. But they do and, therefore, He doesn’t”. (02) (It is interesting to note that in the same article, he states he has never been asked questions about God and suffering when travelling in India or other nations riddled with the daily realities of suffering!) Historical perspective The existence of pain, suffering and evil in the world has been recognised and acknowledged throughout history. Nevertheless, most would agree that it is only in relatively recent times that it has raised its head as a major problem for Christians. Alistair McGrath offers his considered opinion that, “Christian writers prior to the seventeenth Century did not believe that suffering posed any serious threat to Christian belief”. (03) Some subscribe to the view that from the seventeenth century, Christian apologists began to increasingly argue that the best defence of Christianity was to be provided by philosophy. Instead of focusing on Jesus Christ and Christian experience of the Holy Spirit, an appeal was made directly and exclusively to reason. As one writer has put it, “Christianity entered into the defence of the existence of the Christian God without appeal to anything Christian.” (04) Similarly, others believe the prominence of Enlightenment rationalism and Descartes over emphasis on the perfection of God was the reason suffering became seen as a final and sufficient ground for scepticism and the abandonment of Christianity. Until then, it is claimed, suffering was acknowledged as no more than a difficulty, “an incentive to enquiry, but not a ground for disbelief”. (05)

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Others, while agreeing that the problem of suffering has emerged relatively recently, can trace philosophical or reason-based arguments being used as an apologetic further back in history and would therefore see other factors contributing to the rise of the importance of the question of suffering. For example, the Great Lisbon Earthquake in November 1755 that was followed by a tsunami and the death of tens of thousands of people has been seen as a major turning point in the credibility of European Christianity. (06)

A. PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE Today, people are still raising genuine philosophical concerns about suffering. But more often than not, questions about suffering arise from people’s efforts to make sense of suffering in their own life. Tim Keller in his book The Reason for God suggests we face challenges on two fronts: The first front is the philosophical. Those people who are struggling with questions about the existence of God, and in particular the existence of a God who allows terrible suffering in the world. And, second the personal. Those people struggling with their own experiences of suffering. Not only trying to make sense of what has happened to them or their loved ones, but also feeling that if God does exist he is not to be trusted. Some go further and express a determined and wilful stance that they will not believe in any God who allows suffering. (07) So how can we address these concerns of our contemporaries and give a reasonable defence for our confidence in the goodness of our God? Let’s consider first the philosophical questions. Framing the argument The philosophical argument is often expressed in the following way: If God is all-powerful and all-knowing and completely good he would not allow evil and suffering in the world. Suffering and evil is a reality in the world, therefore God cannot be all-powerful or he is not good. The philosopher J.L. Mackie frames it this way:If a good and powerful God exists, he would not allow pointless evil, but because there is much unjustifiable, pointless evil in the world, the traditional good and powerful God could not exist. Some other god or no god may exist, but not the

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traditional God. (08) Two Christian writers who have sought to encapsulate and express the philosophical objections express them in the following terms: Josh McDowell If God is good, then He must not be powerful enough to deal with all the evil and injustice in the world since it is still going on. If He is powerful enough to stop wrong doing, then He Himself must be an evil God since He’s not doing anything about it even though He has the capability. So which is it? Is He a bad God or a God that’s not all-powerful? (09) C.S. Lewis If God were good, he would wish to make his creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty he would be able to do what he wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either the goodness, or power, or both. (10) Alister McGrath helpfully points out that undergirding the arguments are the following two assumptions: (i) A good and omnipotent God could eliminate suffering entirely. (ii) There could not be morally sufficient reasons for God permitting suffering. So how do we answer these objections? Answering the objections C.S. Lewis suggests that one way to begin is to ask people to clarify exactly what they mean by God being “all-powerful” and “good”. Lewis argues that for God to be all-powerful does not mean that God can do anything he likes. Once God has opted to do certain things, or to behave in a certain manner, then other possibilities are excluded. “It is no more possible for God than for the weakest of his creatures to carry out both of two mutually exclusive alternatives not because his power meets an obstacle, but because nonsense remains nonsense, even when we talk it about God”. (11) If God chooses to create a material universe, and gives his creatures freedom of action, suffering follows on as a matter of course. Having exercised his omnipotence in creating the universe and endowing his creature with freedom, he cannot block the outcome of that free universe – suffering. “Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free wills involve, and you will find that you have excluded life itself.”

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(12) The terms “good”, “goodness”, and “loving God” are often ill-defined and for many put man at the centre, with hedonism as its goal. Rather than being self-evident, it requires as Lewis argues, that we give these terms considerable thought and careful definition. For unbelievers, notions of goodness and love are shaped by their own ideas, influenced as they are by their own worldview. Believers on the other hand take their cue from what God has revealed about himself. For Lewis and many others “goodness is the natural outcome and expression of the love of God”. The Bible’s teaching on the love of God should therefore safeguard believers from, “reading into the terms “goodness” and “love”, trivial and sentimental human parodies of the divine reality. It is a divine love, which proceeds from God and leads back to God, which embraces suffering as a consequence of the greater gifts of life and freedom. (13) Speaking of the love of God Lewis says:It is not a senile benevolence that drowsily wishes you to be happy in your own way, not the cold philanthropy of a conscientious magistrate, nor the care of a host who feels himself responsible for the comfort of his guest, but the consuming fire itself, the love that made the worlds, persistent as the artist’s love for his work and despotic as a man’s love for a dog, provident and venerable as a father’s love for a child, jealous, inexorable, exacting as love between the sexes. (14) Another approach outlined by Tim Keller is to address directly the notion that, “there is much unjustifiable, pointless evil and suffering in the world, therefore God does not exist”. The first point to remember here is that behind such a statement is the hidden premise that if evil and suffering appears pointless to me, then it must be pointless! But just because a person can’t see or imagine a good reason why God may allow something to happen, doesn’t mean there can’t be one. Indeed, it also implies that people must have enormous faith in their own cognitive faculties – if my mind can’t come up with a good answer(s) for suffering, then, there can’t be any! Second, the life experience of many people, unbelievers as well as believers, often witness to the fact of “good” coming from the most difficult, painful and even evil circumstances and experiences of life. Speak to family, friends or work colleagues and you will probably find as Keller remarks: “Though none of these people are grateful for the tragedies themselves, they would not trade the insight, character and strength they gained from them for anything. With time and perspective most of us can see good reasons for at least

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some of the tragedy and pain that occurs in life.” He then adds: Why couldn’t it be possible that, from God’s vantage point, there are good reasons for ALL of them? Keller concludes his argument:If you have a God great and transcendent enough to be mad at (because he has not stopped evil in the world), then you have (at the same moment) a God great and transcendent enough to have good reasons for allowing it to continue that you can’t know. You can’t have it both ways! (15) Third, we need to remember that unbelievers have their own set of questions to answer. It is a mistake to think that if you abandon belief in God it somehow makes the problem of evil easier to handle. Particularly so in our own generation where the world acknowledges that the evolutionary mechanism of natural selection depends on death, destruction and violence of the strong against the weak. Where do unbelievers get their idea of what is “just” or “unjust”? How do they obtain their sense of what is fair play and justice? What gives rise to their belief in why people ought not to suffer, be excluded or die of hunger or oppression? What is the basis by which they judge the world to be horribly wrong, unfair and unjust? As Keller points out:For the unbeliever to be sure that the natural world is unjust and filled with evil, they need to assume the reality of some extra-natural (or supernatural) standard by which to make their judgement. We have only skimmed the surface of the approach taken by Lewis and Keller and for those interested there is value in investigating further their very helpful writings. However, a third approach, and one that many in our churches would feel more comfortable articulating, is that of Christian hope. This approach aims to show that, although Christianity does not provide the reason for each experience of pain, it does provide deep resources for facing suffering with hope and courage rather than bitterness and despair. The Bible reveals a God who suffers. A God who is not indifferent or detached from our condition, but who takes our suffering and misery so seriously that he was willing to take it on himself! The cross may not be the answer to why God allows evil and suffering in the world but it does demonstrate that he loves us. God became uniquely and fully human in Jesus Christ and therefore knows firsthand despair, rejection, loneliness, poverty, bereavement, torture and imprisonment. On the cross he went beyond even the worst human suffering and experienced cosmic rejection and pain that exceed ours as infinitely as his

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knowledge and power exceeds ours. In his death, God suffers in love, identifying with the abandoned and God forsaken. (16) When we embrace the fact that Jesus is Lord, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, then we find strength to face the harsh realities of life, and experience the reality of his promise to be with us in our worst hardships and sufferings. Or to use Paul’s words, we discover God to be: The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. (2 Corinthians 1 v 3, 4) The gospel declares that God will be with us in our suffering, and gives hope that our suffering is “not in vain”, for there is a greater good yet to come. Alistair McGrath states: This hope is no groundless hope for it is grounded in the reality of the suffering and resurrection of Christ. For the resurrection of Christ demonstrates that suffering is not pointless but leads to glory. Christians know what awaits them at the end of history. The Biblical hope is for a new heaven and a new earth. Evil and suffering ended and so radically vanquished that what happened will only serve to make our future life and joy infinitely greater. (17) Lewis comments:They say of some temporal suffering, “No future bliss can make up for it”, not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory. (18) McGrath speaking of the Bible’s vision of hope says:We are thus presented with a glorious vision of a new realm of existence. It is a realm in which suffering has been defeated. It is a realm pervaded by the refreshing presence of God, from which the presence and power of sin have been finally excluded. It lies ahead, and though we have yet to enter into it, we can catch a hint of its fragrance and hear its music in the distance. It is this hope, which keeps us going in this life of sadness, which must end in death. (19) Some of course may object that this hope is simply wishful thinking. Christians need such things to enable them to cope with the darker side of life, while they can cope with the grim realities of life unaided! Others may see this kind of “pie in the sky when you die” thinking as dulling people’s senses and preventing them from changing the world for the better. But properly understood Christian hope should act as a stimulus, rather than a sedative. If the Christian hope of heaven is an illusion, based upon lies, then it must be abandoned as misleading and deceitful. But if it is true, it must be embraced and allowed to transfigure our entire understanding of the place of suffering in life. (20)

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The Christian may not know what is around the corner as he journeys on the road of life, but he does know that wherever he goes and whatever he should encounter he has the constant companionship of the God of compassion who will comfort and console him until the day when he sees God face to face. Reasoned answers to philosophical questions may better help us to aid our contemporaries and to face suffering when it comes our way. But, people filled with hope by the Holy Spirit will be a constant source of encouragement and provocation to a suffering generation. (Romans 15 v 13)

B. THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE To be of further help to our generation, it is important that we gain a good grasp of what the Bible teaches on the subject of suffering. What follows is a brief survey of some of the Bible’s teaching, seeking to be true to what Scripture says, rather than what one might wish it to say! While this will provide only parts of the puzzle, nevertheless our hope is that it will build a reasonable framework for future growth in understanding. While “mystery” does surround the whole subject, nevertheless it is important to try and build “a theology of suffering” on what has been revealed through Scripture, remembering that confidence in what has been “revealed” is meant to enhance our trust in God and produce lives lived to his glory! (Deuteronomy 29 v 29) Fall and futility As with so many other questions we start back in the early chapters of Genesis, where we find God creating the universe. When God saw all that he had made his verdict was that it was “very good”. (Genesis 1 v 31) However, we do not find today’s world in the state in which it was created. Genesis (3) demonstrates clearly that Adam’s disobedience resulted in “very bad” consequences that were immediate and far-reaching. Evil entered the world through sin, and God’s curse promised pain, toil and death for mankind. (Genesis 3 v 14-19) Because of the fall, the world now is abnormal. Things are not in the state they should be in. Man, as a result of the fall, has been separated from God. Nature is not always kind to man and the animal world can also be his enemy. There is conflict between man and his fellowman. None of these conditions were true before the fall. (21) Andrew Wilson speaking of the Bible’s story of the Fall and its far-reaching consequences reminds us that it is man’s original and continuing rebellion against the creator that gives rise to the evil and suffering that we experience in our world today.

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The Hebrew story of the Fall, whether you take it literally or figuratively, is a deeply insightful account of what’s wrong with the world. It presents evil as a universal human problem; then links that problem with our desire to be in charge, rather than ruled by the creator; and then it links together the human and the planet, so that, the choices and mistakes of human beings have global consequences. It explains why evil is here, and it also explains why we feel like it shouldn’t be. It explains the mysterious paradox of humanity, the way we pine for beauty and justice but can’t quite attain them, the tragic-comic way we are both the world’s problem and its potential solution. (22)

Paul in the New Testament also helps us to understand the far-reaching consequence of God’s judgement on Adam’s disobedience in that all creation has now been subjected to futility. (Romans 8 v 18-28) John Piper commenting on this passage says:The age in which we live, which extends from the fall of man into sin until the second coming of Christ, is an age in which creation, including our bodies, has been “subjected to futility”. This world stands under the judicial sentence of God upon a rebellious and sinful mankind – a sentence of universal futility and corruption. And no one is excluded, not even the precious children of God. (23) This is not however the end of the story. Scripture points out that it was God himself, not man or the devil that subjected creation to futility. And, God did so, “in hope”. Like the Genesis record where God’s curse falls on creation, but the promise of a coming deliverer is made (3 v 15). So “hope” speaks of a coming day of liberation where: “Creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God”. (Romans 8 v 21) The design or purpose of God in subjecting creation to futility was that: “The hope of redemption might be kindled in men’s hearts and that someday the “freedom of the glory of the children of God” might shine more brightly”. (24) From this broad picture of suffering being a direct consequence of the fall, we turn to ask the question, what does the Bible reveal to us about God’s part in this whole matter of suffering? Is it simply that he allows it to occur? Or does he use it for his own purposes? Is he indifferent to his people’s suffering or does he suffer with them? The goodness of God

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Before we answer these kinds of question, it is important to state that God is good and only good! In no respect is he evil and evil can have no place either in the very nature of God or in the created order as God created it, or in the heaven God will re-create. (Deuteronomy 32 v 4; Psalm 5 v 4; Nahum 1 v 7; 1 John 1 v 5; Revelation 21 v 3, 4) Bruce Ware helpfully points out:Even when God uses evil and suffering for good purposes; or intentionally designs at least some suffering for the express purpose of bringing some good through it; or employs pain and affliction to do his good and perfect will; it does not make evil or suffering good in itself. Evil is evil, suffering is suffering and death is death. No amount of good that may be brought about through them can change what they are in their essence. (25) We note also that Scripture says very little about the sufferings of humanity generally, but it does speak extensively about the suffering of God’s people. Divine judgement and discipline One frequent picture of God we find in the OT is of God meeting out judgement by bringing suffering either as a punishment on individuals and nations, or as a chastisement of his people. This may not sit comfortably with some, but we would do well to remember that many Scriptures underline this truth, and that we should not minimize the force of such statements. (Exodus 9 v 10; 1 Samuel 5 v 6, 9; 2 Samuel 24 v 15; 2 Chronicles 21 v 14, 15; Daniel 4 v 31, 32) Ware points out that suffering as a means of divine judgement:Can be punitive, in that people are brought to death by the judgement itself; restorative, in that it brings some to repentance, and educative, in that it is a warning to those who witness or learn of the judgement. (26) We also need to note the following examples, which clearly evidence God as bringing both good AND evil: Job 2 v 10But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. Isaiah 45 v7I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I the Lord, do all these things.

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Lamentations 3 v 37, 38Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? Joshua 23 v 14 – 16Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. But just as all the good things the LORD your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things he has threatened, until the LORD your God has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. If you violate the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the LORD’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.” As this last scripture notes, suffering assumes a distinctly negative character in much of the OT owing to the nature of the Mosaic covenant, which stipulated for the children of Israel health, prosperity and success for obedience and a variety of afflictions for disobedience. (27) (Exodus 15 v 25, 26; 23 v 25, 26; Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28-30) Blessings and cursings were seen to have their ultimate cause in a covenantal relationship contingent upon covenantal faithfulness. In this respect therefore the consequence of violating God’s covenant was devoid of mystery. However, while recognising this clear “cause and effect”, the wicked in Israel sometimes prospered while the righteous suffered. God’s judgement on national apostasy often meant that the wicked and the righteous were swept away by the same calamities. This led many to question God’s purposes, while producing in others, a sense of perplexity and frustration. (Psalm 37; 44; 73) Before moving on to look at the question of “unjust” suffering, it may be good to remind ourselves of what the Bible affirms regarding God and good and evil. Don Carson states that, “God stands behind good and evil in somewhat different ways; that is, he stands behind good and evil asymmetrically.” That is, God is not the cause of evil directly, but God is the cause of good directly. When evil occurs, God is not the primary actor willing it so, but he is the ultimate actor who directs evil according to His own good ends. Don Carson expresses it further: God stands behind evil in such a way that not even evil takes place outside the bounds of his sovereignty, yet the evil is not morally chargeable to him: it

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is always chargeable to secondary causes. On the other hand, God stands behind good in such a way that it not only takes place within the bounds of his sovereignty, but is always chargeable to him, and only derivatively to secondary agents. (28) (N. B. Genesis 50 v 20 – “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”) “Unjust” suffering Job - a blameless and upright man, who feared God and turned away from evil. (Job 1 v 8) At this juncture, it may be good to refer to the book of Job to see how he wrestled with seemingly “unjust” suffering. And to ask what insights on suffering his story provides? First, we note that the two human atrocities and two natural disasters that came upon Job, plus his own bodily affliction with disease, were the work of Satan. However, Satan can only afflict suffering with God’s permission and within God’s appointed limits. He cannot move outside of God’s sovereign plan. (1 v 12; 2 v 6) Second, despite his afflictions, Job maintained his faith in God’s absolute control over his life and bowed in submission and worship. Although, Job’s faith and reverence were not rewarded by the quick healing of his disease, he nevertheless held fast to the sovereign power of God, the goodness and justice of God, and the integrity of his own heart. Third, his suffering and misery was so intense that it led him to curse the day of his birth and wish he had never been born (3 v 1-3; 11) Job sees no reason for why he should have been given life or why his life should be preserved if there was to be so much on-going misery. He alternates between despair and hopelessness on the one hand, and confidence and hope on the other. Suffering for Job is not only massively painful but disorientating and confusing. In his struggles he questions God and longs to argue his case with the Almighty. He feels certain that death will come and desires to be released to die. In the midst of his trouble he asks, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (13 v 3; 14 v 13, 14) Eventually, after much inner turmoil he comes to the assurance that finally beyond the grave he will meet God as a Redeemer and not an angry judge. He will be redeemed from his misery – even if it will only be after death. There will be life and light, not just death and darkness. He will receive his vindication.(19 v 25-27)

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The Bible is real in recognising the battle for faith that often rages in the human heart during times of suffering until it is brought to a settled place of peace and a fresh trust in God. God does not blame us if in our suffering we vent our despair and sense of hopelessness. Indeed, the Bible, especially the Psalms, appears to give us permission to protest and to respond in a whole range of ways to the evil we encounter. John Piper comments on Job’s settled assurance:This confidence does not answer all Job’s questions or solve all his theological problems. He still is utterly perplexed as to why he should have to suffer as he does. His suffering goes right on. God seems utterly arbitrary in the way he parcels out suffering and comfort in this life. (29) Fourth, in the cycles of conversations with the friends that come to comfort him, we are given insight into what they and many today wrongly claim to be the real cause of why individuals suffer or continue to suffer. Eliphaz claims that Job’s suffering is the result of the principle of justice. “Trouble comes to those who sin, but the innocent do not perish”. Suffering is the result of sin, and prosperity is the result of righteousness (4 v 7, 8) But, recognising that all men are sinners he concedes that some suffering is the loving chastening of God and is therefore God’s way of making Job a better person. (4 v 17 – 19; 5 v 17) The remedy for Job is to simply stop being impatient, seek God in the right way, commit his way to God, and all will be well! (5 v 8; 5 v 18, 19) Bildad joins Eliphaz in insisting on this “principle of justice” and extends this to Job’s children that died, claiming they also must have been guilty of some unknown sin. He accuses Job of not being pure and encourages him to seek God and then he will be restored and rewarded! (8 v 3, 4, 5 –7) Zophar repeats the party line, but a little more harshly, rebuking Job for claiming to be innocent and even suggests he is covering up his sin and not getting what his sin deserves! He too suggests that Job should put away his sin so that God can restore him (11 v 4 – 6, 14, 15) After these three, a young man called Elihu, who appears to be unable to hold back any longer, joins in the discussion. He is angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God and for offending God by speaking out of his pain. He seeks to refute Job’s arguments, and claims that God has different ways of speaking to people – visions, dreams in the night, and sometimes sickness – in order to bring correction into their lives and save them. God may well have some purposes and perspectives in mind that Job knows nothing about. Job’s suffering is God’s chosen method to help him mend his ways before he dies! (32 v 2; 33 v 14)

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According to Job’s friends, he is suffering because he refuses to fear God and put iniquity far from him. They insist that suffering follows wickedness. Eliphaz reminds him: it is the wicked man that writhes in pain (15 v 20) Bildad: it is the light of the wicked that is put out (18 v 5) and Zophar: the joy of the wicked is short (20 v 5) But their arguments do not hold up. Along with many of their contemporaries, “They all assume that we live in a cause-and-effect moral universe, and try to force the facts to fit their beliefs. (30) Job is an upright man, and they are unable to prove differently, yet he suffers far worse than many wicked people. The correlation of wickedness and suffering in this world simply does not hold. It will not answer the question why some suffer in an extraordinary way even though they have not sinned in an extraordinary way, but in fact may be godly and upright people. It doesn’t answer why some prosper in an extraordinary way even though they are extraordinary sinners. (31) Fifth, although Job extols the mysterious power of God and the unsearchable wisdom of God (Chapters 26-31), throughout his speeches he asks God to speak with him in order that he might plead his case (some 36 times!). At the last he openly charges God with injustice, while he defends his own integrity. (27 v 2-6) He wants personal vindication by God. When Job finally stands before God, God reminds him that he is the Creator, and runs through his awesome activity of creating and sustaining the world, challenging Job whether he could match his work? Job has no answer. Then God asks him two penetrating questions:Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?(40 v 8) Job is on the carpet not because he seeks to justify himself, but because of his willingness to condemn God in order to justify himself! God rebukes Job for the error of thinking that he should explain himself to him and again challenges Job about his own abilities and power. God speaks of two of his creatures and asks Job for his thoughts on them. Job realises that not only does he not understand the animal world, but also the moral world, and thus the futility of trying to argue with God! He begins to realise that his questioning of God was totally inappropriate, and he despises himself and repents in dust and ashes. Job 42 v 2-6I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what

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I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and make it known to me. I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you; therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. God’s refusal to answer Job or “appear in court” may have been so that Job would ultimately come to a fresh and greater view of God. At the last, God does not give Job any answers to his questions, or tell him the reasons for allowing him to suffer. Nor about his wager with Satan. But, Job is restored to his relationship with God, and to the knowledge that God reigns and has sovereign control over all things. That he is vindicated as God’s servant, and becomes wealthier and happier than he ever was before is a mark of God’s continuing grace at work in his life. David Pawson notes that a Jewish reader should have been able to draw the following conclusions from this story of Job (32):

a. There is no strict correlation between sin and suffering in this life.

b. God allows all suffering.

c. We may never know the reason why. Some suffering can be punishment. But even if it is not, it can be purposeful even if the reason is hidden from us.

d. If sin and suffering were directly related, we would be forced to be godly

for purely selfish reasons. Love for God and people would not be voluntary.

It is interesting to note that the tendency to view specific sin as the immediate cause of suffering continued to the time of Christ. (Luke 13 v 1-5; John 9 v 1-3) Physical affliction and infirmity Before leaving the OT, we note one further issue that arises from Moses encounter with God at the time of his commissioning to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt. In reply to Moses’ plea that he was not a suitable candidate for the job because he was, “not eloquent, but slow of speech and of tongue”. God says to Moses: Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? (Exodus 4 v 11)

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This is a difficult verse. Jerry Bridges comments: These physical defects are not merely the product of defective genes or birth accidents. Those things may indeed be the immediate cause, but behind them is the sovereign purpose of God. If you do not believe that, you have a strange God who has a universe, which has gone out of gear, and He cannot control it. Deafness, muteness, blindness, cancer, arthritis, Down’s syndrome:None of these afflictions just happen. They are all within the sovereign will of God. God does work in nature and our physical bodies through a complex sequence of cause-and-effect relationships. But God so superintends the actions of the system that all cause-and-effect relationships are under his direct control. (33) There are those who would take issue with such a view and insist that the laws of nature that are established are simply left to run their course with little or no direct intervention from God. Jon Tal Murphree and Harold S Kushner state: The method we observe operating in the world reflects the arrangement of nature to run itself with little divine tampering. Because the system was given the ability to run itself once it has begun, the specific purpose of God is not immediately and directly behind every natural event. (34) Nature is morally blind, without values. It churns along, following its own laws, not caring who or what gets in the way. (35) However, the Bible consistently demonstrates God’s continued direct and immediate control over nature. Bridges gives an example - Job 37 v 3, 6, 10-13. Although, he concedes that some argue these verses are simply metaphorical expressions to denote the laws of nature God established. Nevertheless, he sees the phrase, “to accomplish all that he commands them”, coupled with the motive to either punish or bless, to indicate both immediate control and discriminating action that cannot be attributed to the laws of nature left to run their own course. (36) Some may raise the question of whether or not knowledge of God’s sovereignty and his superintendence of the realm of physical affliction and infirmity are any real comfort to those suffering from permanent birth defects, accidents that have led to lifelong limitations, and those who have endured chronic or crippling illness for years.

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The Bible answers that there is no solution to the problem of suffering that will ever satisfy the human heart other than God reigns. Indeed, it constantly seeks to encourage faith in this God and urges us to trust this Father of compassion and love who is committed to the ultimate well-being of humanity. Lamentations 3 v 32, 33“Though he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love. For he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.” In John (9) Jesus gives a clear explanation of why the blind man was born blind, “that the works of God might be displayed in him.” In other words, that he might experience God’s mercy and power in delivering him. The problem for us is that we often do not know why God in his mysterious and wise providence allows us to experience physical affliction and suffering. Unlike God, we are unaware of the “bigger” picture that would explain and make sense of our confusion and bewilderment. John Piper in a recent essay notes that Jonathan Edwards in his writings speaks of the infinite complexity of the divine mind. Edwards says: God has the capacity to look at the world through two lenses. He can look through a narrow lens or through a wide-angle lens. (37) Piper expresses Edward’s view in his own words: When God looks at a painful or wicked event through his narrow lens, he sees the tragedy or the sin for what it is in itself and he is angered and grieved.But when God looks at a painful or wicked event through his wide-angle lens, he sees the tragedy or the sin in relation to everything leading up to it and everything flowing out from it. He sees it in all the connections and effects that form a pattern or mosaic stretching into eternity. This mosaic with all its (good and evil) parts he does delight in. (38) Physical affliction and infirmity is perhaps also part of this great mosaic, and no matter how unjust things may seem to man’s limited view, they are in fact the tactics of infinite wisdom. Only eternity will demonstrate the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! (Psalm 115 v 3; Romans 11 v 33 – 36) New Testament teaching As a general statement, the sufferings Christians experience can be divided into two broad categories. First, suffering that arises from the consequence of sharing in a fallen humanity in a fallen world. Second, suffering as a direct result of the

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grace of God. In regard to the first, Christian suffering is qualitatively no different from that of the unregenerate. We can and do experience sorrow, poverty, sickness and death. We can bring suffering on ourselves by our own folly and sinfulness and are equally as vulnerable to suffering as the rest of mankind. Christians are saved in such suffering, not saved from it! However, one difference is how God uses such suffering in our lives, and our own personal response to it. As believers we have access to “the powers of the age to come” and the gifts of grace that God makes available to his church. As regards the second, suffering comes as a direct result of us being “In Christ”. Christians are called to share in Christ’s sufferings and to suffer for him. Suffering, for the sake of Christ, is therefore different in cause and purpose from anything that the unregenerate suffer. Indeed, in the NT, the context of a believer’s “suffering” is frequently that of persecution for the name of Christ. (Philippians 1 v 29, 30; Matthew 5 v 11; Roman 8 v 17; 2 Corinthians 1 v 5; Hebrews 13 v 13 and 1 Peter 4 v 13) Opposition and persecution Jesus warned his followers to expect opposition and persecution. But, he also promised them help in times of persecution and both present and future blessing. He also taught his disciples to respond in a right way towards their persecutors, by loving them and praying for them! (Matthew 10 v 16-18, 21–23; John 15 v 18-21; John 16 v 1-4; Matthew 10 v 19, 20; Luke 21 v 12-15; Matthew 5 v 10-12; Matthew 5 v 43-45) In a similar fashion Paul speaks of the inevitability of persecution for the believer: 2 Timothy 3 v 12“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” 1 Thessalonians 3 v 2-4“We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know.” Paul confirms the need for a right response to those who persecute them, underlining the promise of God’s presence through times of persecution, and pointing to future blessing to come. He is also unafraid to encourage and enlist

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prayer for his own deliverance from those who persecute him! (Romans 8 v 35,37; 2 Thessalonians 1 v 4-7; 2 Corinthians 1 v 10,11; Philippians 1 v 18,19) Peter, no stranger to suffering and persecution, tells believers that they should not be surprised at the painful trial they are suffering. He encourages them to endure unjust suffering, and not give way to fear, but rather give bold witness to Christ. More than that, he encourages them to rejoice in that they participate in the sufferings of Christ, pointing them to the glory that is yet to be revealed when Christ returns. (1 Peter 2 v 18-21; 3 v 13-17; 4 v 12-19) For those of us living out our Christianity in the West, where life is relatively comfortable, linking “suffering” and “persecution” may seem at best unimportant and at worst totally irrelevant to our current experience. However, we need to remember that the early church was born in times of persecution, as the writer to the Hebrews records: Hebrews 10 v 32-34“Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering; Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.” Persecution has been the experience of the church down through history. Today, the majority of God’s people around the world face hardship, opposition and persecution. At the beginning of the 21st Century, between 150,000 and 300,000 Christians die for their faith each year. In only 24 countries is Christianity completely free of restrictions and this number is shrinking every year. Thirty-six countries at least actively persecute Christians. (39) In the last few years as the Newfrontiers family has sought to expand its church planting work around the world, we have become increasingly aware of what suffering and persecution can mean for believers. This has been particularly so in relation to those coming from a Muslim background. “The convert, in predominately Muslim countries, faces rejection from his family, is likely to be ostracised from his community and pushed on to the fringe of his society, may well lose his employment opportunities, and even suffer the ultimate penalty for conversion from Islam, namely death itself.” (40) In the UK today concern is often expressed about the steps being taken to marginalise Christianity and remove it from public life. While some see this as a key battleground, nevertheless others welcome such a challenge believing it will ultimately lead to a stronger and more authentic Christianity.

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Whether Christians in the UK will face greater hardships in the future is unknown, but it is certainly a time to recapture the vibrant faith and persevering spirit of the early believers, who despite hardship and persecution, continued to fulfil Christ’s commission by fearlessly making him known to their contemporaries. It is also time to pray and practically support our persecuted brothers and sisters around the globe.The example of Jesus Christ In the NT Christ is seen as an example to believers in all things, and none more so, than in the matter of suffering. (1 Peter 2 v 21; Hebrews 12 v 2, 3) The fact that he not only suffered for us, but also suffers with us, should be a source of encouragement and strength to every believer. (Acts 9 v 4, 5; Hebrews 2 v 18; 4 v 15) We read in Hebrews (5 v 8):Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. Bruce Ware commenting on this verse says that the purpose of the suffering could not be to move Jesus from a position of disobedience to obedience, for Scripture tells us he was without sin. Rather, he suggests that the experiences of suffering provided even greater challenges and ever increasing difficult demands to Jesus’ obedience to the Father. Even down to the supreme test of obedience, death on a cross! Jesus’ obedience to the Father was not easy or automatic, as his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane illustrates. (41) (Hebrews 4 v 15; Matthew 26 v 36-46) Development of Christian character God can, and does, appoint suffering for the growth and strengthening of a believer’s character, and to test our allegiance and hope in him alone. This is true even when a believer is faithfully walking with God and there is no sin. Paul and James encourage believers to “rejoice in their sufferings” and to “consider it pure joy whenever they face trials of many kinds”. We must learn to look past the pain and to the purpose for which God has sent the trial. Unless we do so, we take away the reason to rejoice! (Romans 5 v 3-5; James 1 v 2-4) Loving God in the midst of great difficulty, as in relative ease or days of pleasure, can deepen trust and build character.

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“God is more concerned for our character than with our comfort, with our transformation than with the trials necessary to get us where he wants us to be”. (42)

Discipline God’s grace also means that suffering in Father’s hand can be a means of discipline for his children, refining them and equipping them for kingdom service. This can be particularly true for his wayward children, for although godly and faithful people can suffer, nevertheless, some people still suffer due to their sin. (Hebrews 12 v 5 – 11; Acts 5 v 1-11; 1 Corinthians 11 v 27-33) Sometimes believers are called back to God, and sometimes they are preserved from further harm, through the gracious instrument of divinely-initiated suffering.(43) C S Lewis in his classic statement talks of pain as being God’s megaphone calling to rebellious hearts: God whispers to us in our pleasure, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts to us in our pains; it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world. (44)

God’s glory Paul experienced great suffering throughout his life. Yet, he understood that while suffering reveals human weakness, nevertheless, it also provides the opportunity for God’s surpassing greatness and glory to manifest itself. He believed it would be evident to others that it was God’s strength, and not his own, that enabled him to minister as he did, and was therefore eager for the power of Christ to rest on him. (2 Corinthians 4 v 7-12; 12 v 7-10) A brief comment on Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” (12 v 7) may be appropriate at this point. Along with Phil Moore in his recent paper on Healing (45), I am not persuaded that this is a definite reference to sickness. Paul is probably mindful of “thorn” being used as a description of Israel’s enemies in the OT. (Numbers 33 v 55; Joshua 23 v 13; Ezekiel 28 v 24) Also, the word “torment” (kolaphizo) means to buffet or to strike with clenched hands, and therefore fits better within the context of his later comments regarding insults, hardships and persecutions (v 10). The previous chapter which describes his many “sufferings”, including floggings and beatings, tends to lead one in a similar direction (11 v 23-25). As Phil Moore states:

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We cannot state categorically that this isn’t an example of sickness, but we certainly cannot state with any credibility whatsoever that it categorically is! Future glory In the section on apologetics we noted the fact that for the Christian suffering is “not in vain”. There is hope for a greater good yet to come, a hope that leads to glory! One final word therefore regarding Paul’s teaching on suffering in Romans (8 v 18-30) We note first that he states, “our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us”. Our hope is the redemption of our bodies and of sharing in the new creation. Paul acknowledges that as this present time we, “groan inwardly as we wait for our adoption as sons”, and he recognises the need for patience. But, he also reminds us that we have the first fruits of the Spirit. The Spirit comes alongside to help, strengthen, and assist us in our praying so that we have ability to endure. Indeed, the believer not only has the Spirit’s help but the help of the Father and the Son. The Father is, “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles”. The Son is the one who shared our humanity, and is able to sympathise with our physical pain, mental anguish and spiritual agony. (2 Corinthians 1 v 3, 4; Hebrews 4 v 14-16) The promise of God (v 28) is that nothing enters his children’s lives that is not ordered and used by him for their ultimate good. God is fulfilling his purposes in and through our suffering. God orchestrates and uses suffering in the lives of his children for the purpose of bringing to them some ultimate (and at times, some immediate) good. (46) Even evil intended against us by other people passes through his sovereign control and is either permitted or restrained as he chooses. If God allows malicious and spiteful people to act in ways that frustrate our plans and desires, or are in some way harmful to us, we can be assured that ultimately good will come from it. (47) Margaret Clarkson writes:The sovereignty of God is the one impregnable rock to which the suffering

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human heart must cling. The circumstances surrounding our lives are no accident: they may be the work of evil, but that evil is held firmly within the mighty hand of our sovereign God ……. All evil is subject to Him, and evil cannot touch His children unless He permits it. God is the Lord of human history and of the personal history of every member of His redeemed family. (48) Jerry Bridges comments further:God is in control of our pain and suffering, and he has in mind a beneficial purpose for it. There is no such thing as pain without a purpose for the child of God. God is sovereign in other people’s actions whether we believe it or not. Our belief does not make it so. But the comfort God intends for us to derive from his sovereignty is dependent upon our believing it. (49) It is clear from Paul’s writing that there is a “glory that will be revealed in us” (v 18) hence his comment that we have been “predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son” (v 29). For Paul our glorification is as certain as our calling and justification (v 30). He therefore looks for our confident response of faith in the present because we too are convinced that there is nothing (no amount of suffering) that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Or as Corrie ten Boom the Holocaust survivor expressed it:“There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.”

C. PASTORAL PERSPECTIVE Having sought to put together a few of the pieces of the “suffering” jigsaw we need to turn now to ask how we can apply these Biblical insights into the everyday life of the local church? How can we be a prophetic people evidencing the life of God’s kingdom while ministering to the pastoral needs of those in our congregations facing suffering of one kind or another? How much of the reality of the Kingdom of God may we enjoy this side of Christ’s return? Ready or not? A number of Christian writers agree that our views of God are often exposed for what they are at the onset of suffering. Michael Ramsden commenting on Christians in the West writes: Maybe we struggle with suffering so much in the West because we are so comfortable most of the time that we feel we don’t need God. We don’t rely on

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Him on a daily basis, and so we don’t really know Him as we should. When suffering comes along, therefore, it is not so much that it takes us away from God, but that it reveals to us that we haven’t really been close to Him in the first place. (50) We all need to know God rightly and understand the revelation of his purposes, will and ways. Helping each other to face with strength and joy whatever God brings into our lives, for his glory and our good. Building confidence in the wisdom of God, trust in his power and hope in his unfailing love is no small task. Especially so, when we recognise that Scripture gives principles rather than reasons with a one to one correspondence to peoples’ suffering. Intentional seeking of deliverance Bruce Ware reminds us: Suffering, affliction, pain, grief and death are enemies Christ came to defeat. Christians should never “feel good” about suffering and evil. (51) Accepting a divine purpose for suffering does not require passive acquiescence on the part of the believer. Indeed, believers should be encouraged to seek God for deliverance and release from their suffering. This may require persistence in prayer, in a similar fashion to Paul when seeking the Lord to remove his “thorn in the flesh”, but also a joyful and willing acceptance when the answer from God is a definite “no”. (2 Corinthians 12 v 7-10) While rightly seeking deliverance from suffering, Christians must also be ready to accept and embrace the possibility that God’s best for us may include our continuing experience of the very suffering from which we correctly and passionately pray to be delivered. (52) It is important to understand that building expectation and faith for healing and miraculous deliverance from suffering is not incompatible with seeking God’s grace and power to sustain us in situations of suffering when in God’s providence he does not remove them from us. Signs and wonders Under the new (better) covenant we have been called to live the life of God’s future in the present, a life reflecting the character of God. God is creating a people among whom he can live and who in their life together will reproduce God’s life and character in all its unity and diversity. Such a people should surely evidence the fact that they have tasted and are increasingly enjoying the “powers of the age to come”.

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Paul’s life was one long experience of suffering physically, emotionally, spiritually, and relationally. Nevertheless, his life and ministry was full of signs, wonders and extraordinary miracles. (Acts 19 v 11, 12; Romans 15 v 18, 19) Prayer for signs and wonders is no denial of the biblical call to suffering. Miracles were no contradiction of the theology of the cross, which Paul proclaimed and practiced, since they were performed not in a context of triumphant success and prosperity, but in the midst of the distress and vilification he was obligated to endure. (53)

The “now” and the “not yet” Scripture records that there were times when Paul left friends sick or found difficulty or delay in seeing them healed (2 Timothy 4 v 20; Philippians 2 v 25-27) Yet, he seems to have learnt to live with the tension of the two realities of the “now and not yet”. This age with its sin, misery and satanic power and the overlapping age to come with its righteousness, wholeness, freedom and joy. We must learn to do the same. Similarly, Smith Wigglesworth often designated “Apostle of Faith” who ministered with great power in the early part of the 20th Century and saw many miracles of healing and even raised the dead, battled himself with kidney stones, and remained unhealed for many years. His daughter Alice (Salter) who accompanied him many times on his mission trips also remained deaf much to Wigglesworth’s consternation. Nevertheless, he pressed on in pursuit of God and saw many amazing miracles as the powers of the age to come broke in on his meetings and personal encounters with people. (54) We must not downplay the tension and challenge of maintaining a vibrant faith stance in our churches while also accepting the reality that on occasions some folk may not be healed. For our spiritual well-being we need to be able to hold both these truths simultaneously. So how much of the age to come and the removal of suffering can we expect and encourage people to believe for this side of Christ’s return? This is not an easy question to answer, but there are perhaps two dangers that we need to avoid. The first is an under-realised eschatological perspective where there is little emphasis on the “already” and experiencing the “powers of the age to come” today. This can lead to a lack of expectation of healing and the miraculous. Perhaps caricatured in that it promotes a siege mentality among God’s people whereby we simply await the new heaven and earth where new bodies will be the order of the day and sickness, suffering and death will be no more. Practically, it can outwork itself in a lack of zeal for the use of spiritual gifts and a

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failure to look to God for his supernatural power to bring about radical change in people or situations. Because there is little hope for change in this life it can also lead to the accommodation of sinful practices and habits that are themselves a frequent source of suffering, The second is an over-realised eschatological perspective, with an exaggerated and even exclusive focus on the already. (Not so much pie in the sky when you die, but meat on the plate while you wait!) This leads to a kind of triumphalism where God’s blessing is expected (even guaranteed) in every area of one’s life. Opponents of such a view would claim that this promotes an unhealthy focus on health, wealth and spiritual success rather than obedience, sacrifice and faithfulness. Sometimes the impression is given that God’s power can only be manifested in visible and extraordinary ways. They often do not see as equally miraculous the way the renewed people of God behave toward one another or the fact that God’s glory can be equally manifested by his grace and power working through the weakness of a human channel. (55) The consequence of an over-realised perspective is that it often breeds an attitude of looking for a quick fix for any problem, without the willingness to engage in the hard work of searching Scripture, seeking God in prayer and renewing one’s mind. And, perhaps of greater importance, a lack of dependence on the Holy Spirit as a dynamically experienced reality in the life of the believer. It can also lead to seeking out “the anointed person” whose ministry will make everything right! Such action can result in frustration, disappointment and even condemnation when people are prayed for many times and healing or a significant change in circumstances does not happen. For many it fosters an inability to cope with delay, suffering, hardship or unanswered prayer. However, we must remember as Phil Moore helpfully points out in his paper on healing. Through Christ we are now part of a Kingdom characterised by miraculous healing as part of the loving character of God. The cross has dealt a decisive death blow to sickness and healing is no longer something alien to the here and now. It may be that despite God’s revelation of his willingness to heal and the authority he has given us to heal in his name, that we cannot understand why people are sometimes not healed either due to some fault in our part or some higher plan on His. But nevertheless we must press on in faith that our experience of healing will increase as we move further along from Pentecost to the Parousia. (56)

Big picture People will be well served if they can be helped to grasp the Bible’s story line

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from the beginning to end. A recognition that suffering stems from the Fall means we are not caught off guard, and viewing our sufferings from the vantage point of the End enables us to see them in a whole new light.When we see such suffering as, in the first place, the effluent of the fall, the result of a fallen world, the consequence of evil that is really evil and which we ourselves all too frequently indulge, then however much we may grieve when we suffer, we will not be taken by surprise. If we grasp a little better where we fit into the Bible’s story line, how God looks at our sin, what our own rebellion rightly deserves, then although not all our questions about evil and suffering are answered, we are likely to face the wounding times with less resentment and indignation, and with more gratitude and trust, than would otherwise be the case. (57)

Experiencing the risen Christ While we need to build confidence in the providence and sovereignty of God we need to recognise that such beliefs will be of no use to people unless they use them and apply them to the challenges they face in life. We need to help people think through their response under God to the specific suffering they are facing and to encourage them to reach out and find God’s grace for their situation. It is the personal knowledge of God that sustains us when everything else fails. In the dark hours of suffering, Christians want more than the assurance that their beliefs are consistent. They draw comfort only from the living Lord himself, from the Spirit whom he has graciously given, from a renewed grasp, a felt experience, of the love of God in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 3 v 14-21) (58) At the end of the day it is the nature of our relationship with God that outweighs commitment to any particular theological system. Body ministry It is important to remember that we are not called to live out our faith in an individualistic isolated manner but in the context of the people of God. Our own experiences of suffering tend to engender compassion and empathy towards others who are suffering and make us better able to help them. Indeed, Paul reminds us that the purpose of our receiving God’s comfort is that we can comfort others with the comfort we have received from God. (2 Corinthians 1 v 3-7) Sympathetic assessment of another’s suffering, not to mention the offer of effective relief, is more likely to come from those who have suffered than from those who have not. (59) In these days when people who are suffering are so quickly referred to the expert counsellor or professional (and sometimes that is the right course of action), perhaps we need to give greater consideration to the untapped wealth of comfort

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available within our churches. Larry Crabb the well-known Christian counsellor reflecting after 25 years of involvement on the front line of Christian counselling draws two important insights. The power of individual believers to release the life of God to others, and the desperate need for genuine Christian communities. God has placed extraordinary resources within “ordinary” believers that have the power to heal our relationships and us. The greatest need in modern civilisation is the development of communities – true communities where the heart of God is home, where the humble and wise learn to shepherd those on the path behind them, where trusting strugglers lock arms with others as together they journey on. (60)

End point None of us will ever be far from suffering whether it is in our personal life or the lives of those with whom we live. Modern media means the suffering of the world flows into our living space on a day by day, if not hour by hour basis. What can we do in the face of such overwhelming suffering? Can we avoid compassion fatigue on the one hand and a sense of growing impotence on the other? Having a Biblical framework that helps us understand something of the origins of suffering and the sovereignty of God over our world is enormously beneficial. We can be strengthened by the knowledge that God controls who gets sick or suffers and who gets well or delivered. And, that all Father’s decisions are for the good of his children, even if they are painful or do leave us perplexed at times and without the answers we would have liked. What we can’t do is sit back and accept the status quo. We have a God who is not indifferent or detached from our pain and suffering but one who identified with us taking our suffering on himself. We follow one who entered our world and went around doing good, healing all who were under the power of the devil. One who through his life, death and resurrection has opened to us the kingdom of God and given us a foretaste of the age to come. We should not only deliberately and persistently seek God for healing, deliverance and release from our own suffering, but as recipients of God’s grace and comfort engage with the suffering of the wider world of which we are a part. As a people of faith and hope, and as those who have access to the powers of the age to come, we have both the privilege and responsibility to co-labour with God in seeing his goodness manifested in the earth. And on those occasions when we are still struggling to find healing or deliverance from our suffering, or simply don’t know what to pray, let us ask God to

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strengthen our faith and learn to depend on the Holy Spirit’s intercession. Let us continue to trust in the power and love of God, even in the darkest hour. NOTESAnother excellent resource on this topic is P J Smyth’s message Suffering, Sickness and Healing at the Together On A Mission Conference 2011 which can be downloaded from http://www.newfrontierstogether.org/Groups/174930/Newfrontiers/Resources/Talks_and_Preaches/Select_Event/Leadership_International_11/Main_Sessions.aspx

01 – Wikipedia, Natural Disasters 02 – Michael Ramsden - How can I believe in God when there’s so much suffering? (www.bethinking.org/suffering) 03 – Alister McGrath - Suffering (www.bethinking.org/suffering) 04 – Buckley, At the Origins of Modern Atheism, Page 67 05 – Alasdair MacIntyre, Is Understanding Religion Compatible with Believing? In B.R. Wilson (ed.), Rationality (Oxford: Blackwell, 1974) Page 73 06 – Wikipedia, 1755 Lisbon Earthquake; Referenced by McGrath in Twilight of Atheism 07 – Tim Keller, The Reason for God, Belief in an age of scepticism Hodder & Stoughton (2008) Chapter (2), Pages 22-34 - How could a good God allow suffering? 08 – Tim Keller, The Reason for God, Page 23. J. L. Mackie, The Miracle of Theism (Oxford, 1982) 09 – Josh McDowell, Why does God allow evil to exist? (www.bethinking.org/suffering) 10 – C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (London: Geoffrey Bles, 1940), Page 14 11 – Lewis, Problem of Pain, Page 16 12 – Lewis, Problem of Pain, Page 22 13 – Alistair McGrath – Suffering (www.bethinking.org/suffering) 14 – Lewis, Problem of Pain, Page 35 15 – Tim Keller, The Reason for God, Page 25 16 – Tim Keller, The Reason for God, Page 30 17 – Alistair McGrath – Suffering (www.bethinking.org/suffering) 18 - C S Lewis, The Great Divorce (Macmillan, 1946), Page 64

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19 – Alistair McGrath – Suffering (www.bethinking.org/suffering) 20 – Alistair McGrath – Suffering (www.bethinking.org/suffering) 21 – Josh McDowell, Why does God allow evil to exist? (www.bethinking.org/suffering) 22 – Andrew Wilson, A Hornet In The Icing – What’s wrong with the world? (Awaiting publication) 23 – John Piper, Christ and Cancer, August 17, 1980 (www.desiringgod.org)24 – John Piper, Christ and Cancer, August 17, 1980 (www.desiringgod,org) 25 – Bruce A. Ware, God’s greater glory (Crossway 2004) Chapter 6, Page 166 26 – Bruce A. Ware, God’s greater glory, (Crossway 2004) Chapter 6, Page 167 27 – New Dictionary of Theology (IVP), Page 667 28 – D.A. Carson, How long, O Lord? (IVP), Page 189 29 – John Piper, Job: Wrestling with Suffering, 14th July 1985 (www.desiringgod.org) 30 – David Pawson, Unlocking the Bible (Collins 2007), Page 429 31 – John Piper, Job: Wrestling with suffering, 14th July 1985 (www.desiringgod.org) 32 – David Pawson, Unlocking the Bible (Collins 2007), Page 433 33 – Still Sovereign (Baker 2000) - Chapter (12) – Jerry Bridges Does divine sovereignty make a difference in everyday life? Page 303 34 – Jon Tal Murphree, A loving God and a suffering world (Downers Grove; Intervarsity 1981), Page 106, 101 35 – Harold S Kushner, When bad things happen to good people (New York: Avon 1981), Page 59 36 - Still Sovereign (Baker 2000) - Chapter (12) – Jerry Bridges Does divine sovereignty make a difference in everyday life? Page 304 37 – Jonathan Edwards, Concerning the Divine Decrees, Page 527/8 38 – Still Sovereign (Baker 2000) – Chapter (5) – John Piper Are there two wills in God? Page 126 39 - Blessed are the Persecuted – John Edmiston, Asian Internet Bible Institute

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(http://www.aibi.ph), Jan 01, 2000. 40 - Communicating the Gospel to Muslims.

(D) Caring for the Muslim Convert (http://www.answering-islam.org/Gilchrist/Vol2/3d.html) 41 – Bruce A. Ware, God’s greater glory (Crossway 2004) Chapter 6, Page 168 42 – Bruce A. Ware, God’s greater glory (Crossway 2004) Chapter 6, Page 173 43 – Bruce A. Ware, God’s greater glory (Crossway 2004) Chapter 6, Page 168 44 – C S Lewis, The Problem of pain (New York, Macmillan 1959), Page 81 45 – Phil Moore, A healthy Theology of Healing (2008), Newfrontiers Theological Papers Page 13 and Footnote 32 (www.newfrontierstogether.org) 46 - Bruce A. Ware, God’s greater glory (Crossway 2004) Chapter 6, Page 172 47 – Still Sovereign (Baker 2000) – Chapter (12) – Jerry Bridges Does divine sovereignty make a difference in everyday life? 48 - Margaret Clarkson, Grace grows best in winter (Grand Rapids: Edermans) Pages 40 & 41 49 - Still Sovereign (Baker 2000) - Chapter (12) – Jerry Bridges Does divine sovereignty make a difference in everyday life? Page 301/2 50 - Michael Ramsden - How can I believe in God when there’s so much suffering? (www.bethinking.org/suffering) 51 – Bruce A. Ware, God’s greater glory (Crossway 2004) Chapter 6, Page 166 52 - Bruce A. Ware, God’s greater glory (Crossway 2004) Chapter 6, Page 175 53 – C. K. Barrett, Commentary on 2 Corinthians (Black’s NT Commentaries) Page 321 54 – Roberts Liardon, God’s Generals (Albury Publishing) Chapter 7 – Smith Wigglesworth. 55 – Gordon Fee, Paul, The Spirit and the People of God (Hodder & Stoughton) Page 142/3 56 - Phil Moore, A healthy Theology of Healing (2008), Newfrontiers Theological Papers Page 15 - Conclusions (www.newfrontierstogether.org)

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57 – D.A. Carson, How Long, O Lord? (Inter-Varsity Press) Page 45, 46 58 - D.A. Carson, How Long, O Lord? (Inter-Varsity Press) Page 20 59 - D.A. Carson, How Long, O Lord? (Inter-Varsity Press) Page 108 60 – Larry Crabb, Connecting, A radical new vision (Word Publishing) Page xiv, xvii

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