Weekly Uplook - June 4
Over the past couple of weeks the topic of suffering has been upon my heart. With the tragic and violent loss of innocent children in a Texas elementary school, the insidious murder of people of color in a Buffalo grocery store, and the murder of medical personnel in Oklahoma it seems pain and suffering have been at the forefront of the news in our country. That is on top of the injustice and violence of war in various places around the world as well as the seemingly normal events including accidents, sickness, aging, etc. Beyond these national, global, and even local events, there are those in our small congregation who face suffering in a variety of ways in their lives or the lives of those they love or work with on a daily basis.
When I was a teenager I had what I remember as my first experience with intense suffering. After a ruptured appendix I spent about 2 ½ months in the hospital enduring three separate surgeries before my eventual recovery. I experienced pain and despair in ways I had not yet experienced nor could comprehend. I am thankful God in his love for me used that suffering to redirect my heart and life toward Him and within 18 month or so after recovery I was saved and began to serve the Lord. What I did not understand at that time however, was many others also suffered during that time. My mom certainly suffered watching her teenage son in pain, unable to eat, as the doctors struggled to find a cure for the raging infection which had spread through my abdomen. My younger sister who was left in the care of my grandmother for the most part for these months suffered some long term emotional effects of this time of which I only later learned. My father faithfully went to work every day and then headed to the hospital every evening. He was trying to support the family, concerned about our financial well-being with escalating medical bills and feeling quite helpless which is a special kind of suffering. During my time in the hospital I remember hearing the weeping of parents of the child in the next room and I was old enough to ask about it. Someone else’s son, younger than me had died and the parents were suffering in grief. It was my first real encounter with death.
These are certainly not the types of things any of us want to dwell upon and yet they are the reality of life. I often tell young people that if they have not yet experienced suffering it is certainly on the way, for it is a certain part of life. Even the Lord Jesus “learned obedience by the things he suffered”. This is why we can find comfort within the Psalms of lament because they often declare openly the pain and suffering which is present in life while invoking the promises of a faithful creator to bring redemption in and through the pain. The Apostle Peter wrote to the churches spread across Asia minor speaking to them of victory in suffering. His letter (1 Peter) mentions the word “suffering" 15 times in 5 short chapters, speaking of Christ’s suffering as an encouragement to us. Consider these words:
1 Peter 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
It is not easy to understand suffering, especially when it seems to happen to the innocent or those who have done nothing to cause or deserve it. And yet we can take comfort that even in a sinful and fallen world, as believers nothing comes our way which has not first been through the fingers of the God who loves us. Sometimes as a pastor and shepherd I am aware of those who are suffering, but it is just as possible I am not aware because some types of suffering are not physical and are intensely private and left unshared. With that said…none of our pain and suffering is hidden or goes unknown to our loving heavenly Father. May we all commit our hearts and souls to Him afresh and may we uphold those who are suffering with our prayers, help, and genuine concern and care. Once again consider the words of the Apostle Peter to the church:
1 Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
In the midst of suffering we are called to “his eternal glory” and understand that suffering is only temporary (“a while”). May it bring to each of us this promised wholeness, stability, strength, and a settled spirit in the midst of a chaotic world.
God bless you all,
BB
When I was a teenager I had what I remember as my first experience with intense suffering. After a ruptured appendix I spent about 2 ½ months in the hospital enduring three separate surgeries before my eventual recovery. I experienced pain and despair in ways I had not yet experienced nor could comprehend. I am thankful God in his love for me used that suffering to redirect my heart and life toward Him and within 18 month or so after recovery I was saved and began to serve the Lord. What I did not understand at that time however, was many others also suffered during that time. My mom certainly suffered watching her teenage son in pain, unable to eat, as the doctors struggled to find a cure for the raging infection which had spread through my abdomen. My younger sister who was left in the care of my grandmother for the most part for these months suffered some long term emotional effects of this time of which I only later learned. My father faithfully went to work every day and then headed to the hospital every evening. He was trying to support the family, concerned about our financial well-being with escalating medical bills and feeling quite helpless which is a special kind of suffering. During my time in the hospital I remember hearing the weeping of parents of the child in the next room and I was old enough to ask about it. Someone else’s son, younger than me had died and the parents were suffering in grief. It was my first real encounter with death.
These are certainly not the types of things any of us want to dwell upon and yet they are the reality of life. I often tell young people that if they have not yet experienced suffering it is certainly on the way, for it is a certain part of life. Even the Lord Jesus “learned obedience by the things he suffered”. This is why we can find comfort within the Psalms of lament because they often declare openly the pain and suffering which is present in life while invoking the promises of a faithful creator to bring redemption in and through the pain. The Apostle Peter wrote to the churches spread across Asia minor speaking to them of victory in suffering. His letter (1 Peter) mentions the word “suffering" 15 times in 5 short chapters, speaking of Christ’s suffering as an encouragement to us. Consider these words:
1 Peter 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
It is not easy to understand suffering, especially when it seems to happen to the innocent or those who have done nothing to cause or deserve it. And yet we can take comfort that even in a sinful and fallen world, as believers nothing comes our way which has not first been through the fingers of the God who loves us. Sometimes as a pastor and shepherd I am aware of those who are suffering, but it is just as possible I am not aware because some types of suffering are not physical and are intensely private and left unshared. With that said…none of our pain and suffering is hidden or goes unknown to our loving heavenly Father. May we all commit our hearts and souls to Him afresh and may we uphold those who are suffering with our prayers, help, and genuine concern and care. Once again consider the words of the Apostle Peter to the church:
1 Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
In the midst of suffering we are called to “his eternal glory” and understand that suffering is only temporary (“a while”). May it bring to each of us this promised wholeness, stability, strength, and a settled spirit in the midst of a chaotic world.
God bless you all,
BB
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