God's Word on That

Category: Words on Suffering

God’s words of encouragement for those who suffer.

  • Lessons From Job – Part 3

    God’s questions to Job are not intended to teach, but to stun.  They are not to enlighten, but to awaken.  They are not to stir the mind, but to bend the knee.

    Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell? It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing… (Job 28:20-21)

    What is wisdom for us humans? It is not finding all the answers but is an ongoing process of asking the right questions. There will always be a new situation that causes us to ask a new question. This gives us a new view of life.

    God understands the way to it and He alone knows where it dwells (Job 28:23).

    The solution to Job’s [and all our] problems cannot be found in human wisdom. Only divine wisdom can help make sense of suffering

    There are questions at the jagged edge of faith. They are the queries that cannot be reached, that agitate us, and perhaps make us uncomfortable with our religious certainties. “How can I relate to God when nothing makes sense anymore?” “Where can I find God when the world looks so cold and lonely?” “How can I believe in God when there doesn’t appear to be any future for me?”

    Since ancient times wise men have thought they could discover anything if they sufficiently contemplate the world around them through the eyes of philosophy. But we are vulnerable to life experiences which will make us question our answers, and force us to ask unanswerable questions. To acknowledge this limitation opens us to life in a new way.

    The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding (Job 28:28).

    Thus true wisdom for us humans always begins with a proper attitude: fear of the Lord.

    Allow the answers to come from God. His answers are not given in trite, simplistic phrases. Rather, they bypass the mind. His Spirit touches our spirit. Our hearts discover the Presence of the Almighty One, and this produces an unexplainable calm!

    [Taken in part from “Basic Bible Commentary” on “Job” commentary on Job chapter 28.]

  • Lessons From Job – Part 2

    “Faith does not comprehend the divine plan. Yet faith knows God reigns in the visible and invisible world. Though he does not understand, the man of faith can trust.” Yes, part of our human experience means accepting that everything about God cannot be understood or explained. This does not mean we look at horrific events and blindly call them “God’s will.” It does mean that we acknowledge God’s ways are beyond our comprehension. Even without a clear understanding of God, we can learn to trust Him. (Andrew Blackwood)

    Trust God to lead you through your dark times. He sees the whole picture.

    The intense dialogue between Job and his friends not only reflects Job’s inner turmoil, but also reveals his chief desire – an explanation for his suffering. When God breaks His silence and speaks to Job “out of the storm,” He does not answer one of Job’s questions. He doesn’t even concern Himself with Job’s heartfelt cry of “Why?”

    To the casual observer this response from God seems uncaring. But if we look closely at God’s communication with Job, we find that when God speaks out of the storm, His intent is to calm that storm. In order to do so, God must go beyond Job’s questions to the core issue that forms the basis of his inquiry: trust.

    God could give Job an explanation for his suffering, but Job, being human, would be incapable of really “getting it.” Understanding why will not bring Job’s children back to life, or restore his financial security, or erase the pain from his heart or the nightmares in his head.

    And so, instead of giving answers, God gives Job peace by reminding him that God is in control.

    Trusting God equips us with the proper perspective from which to view disappointment. Like Job, I too know the pain of burying a child. I too know what it is like to be angry at God. I too have “shaken my fist” at God. I too know the pain that gives rise to the bitter cry, “Why?” And I too have found that trusting God is more important and valuable than understanding how God works. Trusting in God’s promises and provision has enabled my wife and me to rise up from the ashes of tragedy and look forward to each new day with anticipation and joy.

    In the darkness of disappointment, we can still find the path to God. Job and others like him have blazed that trail to prove that it can be done. And the first step is trust. “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him!” (Job 13:15)

    [Taken in part from “Night Vision“, an article on “Finding God’s light in the darkness of disappointment” by Rusty Tugman]

  • Lessons From Job – Part 1

    In 1858 the Illinois legislature, using an obscure statute, sent Stephen A. Douglas to the United States Senate instead of Abraham Lincoln, even though Lincoln had won the popular vote. When a sympathetic friend asked Lincoln how he felt, he said, “Like the boy who stubbed his toe: I am too big to cry and too badly hurt to laugh.” When faced with disappointment, many of us find ourselves in the same position as Abraham Lincoln – unsure of our response. Do we laugh? Do we cry? Or do we simply give up?

    Searching for God through the darkness.

    C. S. Lewis was once asked the question that eventually appears on every believer’s radar screen, “Why do the righteous suffer?” His reply was, “Why not? They are the only ones who can take it.” From a Christian perspective, dealing with disappointment is a good news/bad news story. The bad news is that a relationship with God does not exclude us from discouragement, tragedy, heartache, pain, or suffering. The good news is that a relationship with God equips us to handle disappointment in positive and constructive ways. Yet, in the midst of distress, many of us wonder if, as C. S. Lewis suggested, we can really take it.

    This is precisely why the inspired Word of God includes the story of Job, God’s faithful servant who gained the dubious honor of being the world’s foremost expert on human suffering. In his honest no-holds-barred tug-of-war between faith and suffering, Job teaches us the value of working through our difficulties instead of being dominated by them. His experience accurately reflects the observation of Helen Keller who said, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”

    Those of us who have read the book of Job know that, despite his candid laments toward God, Job remains faithful and God rewards him by giving Job twice as much as he had before. Because we know the ending, many of us fail to grasp the full impact of Job’s experience. In the midst of his immense emotional and physical anguish, Job does not know how things in his life are going to turn out. He does not know that he will have more sons and daughters and grandchildren. All he knows is the incomprehensible pain of burying all ten of his children. Job does not know that he will be twice as rich as he was before. All he knows it the paralyzing anxiety of financial ruin. Job does not know that his reputation will grow and that his faith will inspire a multitude of generations. All he knows are the callous accusations of his friends who say that his suffering must be the result of some hideous secret sin. Job does not know that his relationship with God will be stronger and deeper and more satisfying than ever before. All he knows is that God seems to be absent and uncaring.

    We don’t have God’s eternal perspective in which to view our life’s story. Consequently, all many of us are able to see at this moment in time is a marriage that’s failing, a family divided, a bank statement that exposes debt, an addiction that seems unconquerable, an illness that appears incurable… It has been said that “those who know the path of God can find it in the dark.” Even though Job could not see too far ahead, he did indeed find the path to God through the darkness of disappointment. Along the way, he imparted a valuable lesson to fellow travelers like you and me.

    Job learned that trusting God is more important than understanding God.

    [Taken from “Night Vision“, an article on “Finding God’s light in the darkness of disappointment” by Rusty Tugman]

  • But God’s Discipline is Not Harsh

    God is very ingenious in making crosses for us – He makes crosses of whatever we love best, and turns all to bitterness.  They crucify such persons from head to foot, and teach them their own lack of power and the uselessness of all they possess.  But faith turns these crosses all to good account.  It teaches us to look upon all such things as mere bondage, and in our patient acceptance of them it shows us real freedom.  Happy are those who learn to see God’s hand bruising them in mercy.     (Fenelon)

    God doesn’t discipline us to be mean. Beauty does come from it.

    Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him! (Job 13:15)

    The Lord has chastened me severely, but He has not given me over to death (Psalm 118:18).

    God is a fountain of endless novelty.

    It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority (Acts 1:7).

    You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but You will restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths of the earth.  You will restore me to even greater honor; and comfort me once again…  Then I will praise You with music on the harp because You are faithful to Your promises, O God (Psalm 71:20-22).

    Everything in heaven and on earth is designed to purify us and make us worthy of Him.

    Blessed is the man You discipline, O Lord, the man You teach from Your law.  You grant him relief from days of trouble (Psalm 94:12-13).

    [Even] Though He [Jesus] was a [firstborn] Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered (Hebrews 5:8).

    A wise son heeds his father’s instruction (Proverbs 13:1).

    He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored (Proverbs 13:18).

    No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have indeed been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11).

    Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain (Psalm 139:6).

    The ultimate measure of a friend is where they stand in times of challenge.  In the same way, we will never know (in a personal way) the faithfulness of Jesus apart from adversity and Him sharing it with us.  God is in the process of engineering circumstances through which He can reveal Himself to each one of us.

    When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the rest of the world (1 Corinthians 11:32).

    No matter what you feel, God is always good.

  • God Guides Through Discipline

    God does not want us happy and comfortable. [I am a good person, therefore I deserve…]  God sustained 938,000 people in the desert for 40 years.  He can sustain you.  He has no trouble keeping you alive.  He wants you in service – He needs your spirit.   It is your spirit that He spends time disciplining.            

    Our Father is always watching to correct our path.

    Do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction.  For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights (Proverbs 3:11-12).

    Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects.  Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty (Job 5:17).

    And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves and punishes everyone He accepts as a son.”  Endure [choose to submit to] hardship as discipline.  God is treating you as sons.  For what son is not disciplined by his father? (Hebrews 12:5-7)

    God heaps crosses on those He loves.  “Could He not make us good without making us so miserable?”  But He has not chosen to do so.  He is the Master.  We can only be silent and adore His infinite wisdom without understanding it. (Fenelon)

    Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline (Revelation 3:19).

    The more we are afraid to bear crosses, the more we need them.  We should be fully aware of the magnitude of our disease by seeing the severity of the remedies that our Spiritual Physician sees good to apply!  Accept suffering as therapeutic to building faith and character.     (Fenelon)

    Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you (Deuteronomy 8:5).

    We must carry our cross as a treasure.  It is through that cross that we are made worthy of God and conformed to the likeness of His Son. Crosses are part of our daily bread.  God regulates the measure of them according to the things we really lack and require.  He knows what we need, even if we are ignorant of it.  Let Him do as He wills and let us resign ourselves into His hands.    

    My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work [in you], that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4).

    For the commandment is a lamp, and the whole teaching [of the law] is light, and reproofs of discipline are the way of life (Proverbs 6:23).

  • God Comes Down To Us

    You must become settled on this spiritual fact: God’s thoughts are not like man’s thoughts.  Nor are His ways like our ways.  He alone, who knows the end of things from their beginning, is able to determine what the result of any course of action may be.  Let no hint of doubt turn you from a steadfast faith in God’s willingness and ability to guide you.

    God’s thoughts are way above our thinking, but He keeps working with us to get us to understand Him.

    Be still and know that I am God.  I will be exalted among the nations.  I will be exalted in the earth (Psalm 46:10)

    Is He not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you? (Deuteronomy 32:6)

    For your Maker is your Husband; your [kinsman] Redeemer…  (Isaiah 54:5)

    But You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us or Israel acknowledge us.  You, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer (Isaiah 63:16).

    I, even I am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins (Isaiah 43:25).

    I am the God who heals you (Exodus 15:26)

    “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

    Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise – for He is God, our God, forever and ever.  He will be our Guide even to death (Psalm 48:14).

    But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners [unable to know Him personally] Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

    Consider Him [Christ Jesus, the very Son of God] who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 12:3).

    Jesus properly interpreted the law.  Therefore, His power was greater than the evil spirits’.

    All we like sheep have gone astray.  We have turned, everyone to his own way.  [Yet] the Lord has laid on [Christ Jesus] the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).

    The stone the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the Lord’s doing… (Psalm 118:22-23)

    On His robe and on His thigh He has this name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16)

    Surely He has borne our grief and carried our sorrows.  Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.  But He was wounded for our transgressions.  He was bruised for our iniquities.  The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are [now] healed (Isaiah 53:4-5)

    The love of Jesus compels us to do what we never thought we could do and go to heights we never thought we could reach.  Precious is the Name of Jesus!

    Yet for us there is but one God – the Father, from whom all things come and for whom we live.   And there is but one Lord – Jesus Christ, through whom all things come and through whom we live (1 Corinthians 8:6).

    If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32).

  • Our Gracious God

    That God can be known by the soul in tender, personal experience while remaining infinitely aloof from the curious eyes of reason constitutes a paradox best described by F. W. Faber: darkness to the intellect but sunshine to the heart. (A. W. Tozer)

    God is a loving Father, ready to hear our prayers and supply our needs

    What is man that You are mindful of him?  The son of man that You care for him?  You have made him a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor (Psalm 8:4-5).

    For as high as the heavens are above the earth so great is His love for those who fear Him.  As far as the east is from the west so far has He removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:11-12)

    Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits (Psalm 68:19).

    He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.  He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.  Great is the Lord Almighty in power.  His understanding has no limit (Psalm 147:3-5).

    But God is a God who not merely restores but takes up our mistakes and follies into His plans for us and brings good out of them.  This is part of the wonders of His gracious sovereignty.  This is God’s promise.  This is how good God is!

    You are the God who performs miracles.  You display Your power among the peoples (Psalm 77:14)

    He causes [clouds/rain] to come whether for correction [discipline], or for His land [sustenance], or for mercy [forgiveness]. (Job 37:13)

    God’s love is such that He accepts us just the way we are but refuses to leave us there.  We can be so difficult, but God can be so patient!

    He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

    “He has set eternity in their hearts.”  To be made for eternity and forced to dwell in time is for mankind a tragedy of huge proportions.  All within us cries for life and permanence, and everything around us reminds us of only mortality and change.  Yet that God has made us from the stuff of eternity is both a glory yet to be realized, and a prophecy yet to be fulfilled. (A W Tozer)

    The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.  The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time.  You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing (Psalm 145:14-16).

    O the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable His judgments and His paths beyond tracing out! (Romans 11:33)

    Throughout the expanse of creation God has hidden things for us to discover, to enjoy, and with which to perceive the nature of our Creator.

    He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.  The Lord sets prisoners free.  The Lord gives sight to the blind.  The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down.  The Lord loves the righteous.  The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow… (Psalm 146:7-8)

    Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father forever and ever (1 Chronicles 29:10).

  • Our God, Our Maker

    The Lord said to Samuel: “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him.  For the Lord does not see as man sees; for a man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”   (1 Samuel 16:6-7)

    In all His vastness, God cares for us individually.

    What is man that You care for him?  The son of man that You think of him?  Man is like a breath, his days are like a fleeting shadow (Psalm 144:3-4).

    The rich and poor have this in common: the Lord is maker of them all (Proverbs 22:2).

    For there is no partiality with God (Romans 2:11).

    It is not enough to believe God once showed mercy to Abraham, David, or Noah.  It is an attribute of God to be merciful, not a temporary mood.  We must believe God’s mercy is boundless, free and available to us (through Christ Jesus) in our present situation, or we might as well not even pray.

    I know that You can do everything, and no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You (Job 42:2-3).

    How awesome are Your works!  Come and see what God has done, how awesome His works on man’s behalf (Psalm 66:3, 5).

    The enemy emphasizes the past with its mistakes and heartaches.  The Comforter exalts the present.  God is a “now” God.

    Who is a God like You?  Who pardons sin and forgives transgressions of the remnant of His inheritance?  You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.  You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:18-19).

    You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and did not forsake them (Nehemiah 9:17).

    I am the Lord, the God of all mankind.  Is anything too hard for Me?   (Jeremiah 32:27)

    God owes no one anything.  No reasons, no explanations, nothing.  And if He gave them, we couldn’t understand them anyway.  Just trust He is fashioning your life for the better!

    I lift up my eyes to the hills – from whence comes my help?  My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth (Psalm 121:1-2).

    His ways are eternal (Habakkuk 3:6).

    I, even I am He who comforts you.  Who are you that you fear mortal man?  The sons of men who are but grass?  That you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth?  That you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor/devil, who is bent only on destruction? ( Isaiah 51:12-13)

    You feel unsafe; you are frightened and fear limits the joy you experience in your life.  What are you afraid of?  Pain?  Rejection?  Dying?  Did you know that I am at peace always?  Did you know My Spirit – the same Spirit that is in Me – is in you?  I have built a wall of protection around you so the invisible dragon of the night will not harm you.  I save you from the dangers of the daytime.  I am for you!  Who can be against you and win?  But you worry because of past experiences.  I care for you!  I’ve even numbered every hair on your head.

  • Our Awesome God

    The planets move in split-second precision.  There is no guesswork in the galaxies.  We see in nature that everything is part of a plan: harmonious, orderly, obedient…   Could a God who make the physical universe be any less exacting in the higher spiritual and moral order?

    Everywhere we look, we can see God’s marvelous works.

    That all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God, there is no other (1 Kings 8:60).

    Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom; let not the mighty man glory in his might; nor let the rich man glory in his riches.  But let anyone who glories glory in this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.  For in these I delight,” says the Lord (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

    And He passed in front of Moses proclaiming: The Lord, the Lord God.  The compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin; yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished… (Exodus 34:6-7)

    The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.  Holy and awesome is His name!    (Psalm 111:4, 9)

    “I owe no one anything,” God declares.  “Everything is Mine.”  God owes no explanations, excuses, help, favor, or debt.  But He still gives.

    Does He who implanted the ear not hear?  Does He who formed the eye not see?  Does He who disciplines nations not punish?  Does He who teaches man lack knowledge?    (Psalm 94:9-10)

    The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.  The Lord is good to all, He has compassion on all He has made (Psalm 145:8-9).

    Grace = God’s work.  His idea.  His expense.  His discretion.

    Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.  For He spoke and it was done!  He commanded and it stood fast!    (Psalm 33:8-9)

    … You alone are God (Psalm 86:10).

    If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is Mine and all that is in it.  Do I eat the flesh of bulls?  Or drink the blood of goats?  Sacrifice thank offerings to your God (Psalm 50:12-14).

    For He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men (Lamentations 3:33).

    “Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die,” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23)

    God is God.  God knows what He is doing.  When you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart.     (Max Lucado)

  • Dealing With Ourselves

    We are not invulnerable to the devil – he is wise, he is crafty.  Guard your heart!  Do not flirt with trials.  Have confidence that God gives us a spirit of self-discipline to handle the temptation that we struggle with most in our life.  Father, please use Your power to block the paths of evil this day and every day.  Amen.

    Let us reflect on our ways to understand our sufferings.

    And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2).

    Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think.  Then you will learn from your own experience how His ways will really satisfy you.  (Romans 12:2 the Living Bible Translation)

    We would like to be consumed all at once by the flames of pure love, but such an end would scarcely cost us anything.  It is only an excessive self-love that desires to become perfect in a moment and at so cheap a rate.  (Fenelon)

    These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom – in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body.  But [actually] are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh (Colossians 2:23).

    The Ten Commandments were given for us to enjoy life better, not to make it worse.

    But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life…  (Roman 5:20-21)

    The Ten Commandments were given so that all could see the extent of their failure to obey God’s laws.  But the more we see our sinfulness, the more we see God’s abounding grace forgiving us.  Before, sin ruled over all men and brought them to death, but now God’s kindness rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  (Romans 5:20-21 the Living Bible Translation)

    Abounding sin is the terror of the world, but abounding grace is the hope of mankind.  However sin may abound, it still has its limits, for it is the product of finite minds.  But God’s “much more” introduces us to infinitude!  Against our deep creature-sickness stands God’s infinite ability to care!

    Who can discern his errors?  Forgive my hidden faults.  Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.  Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression (Psalm 19:12-13).

    Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxieties, and see if there is any wicked way in me.  Lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24).

    Through the grace that I have been given I say this to every one of you: never pride yourself on being better than you really are, but think of yourself dispassionately, recognizing that God has given to each one His measure of faith (Romans 12:3).

    Self-pity is of the devil and if I wallow in it, I cannot be used by God for His purposes.  When I stop telling God what I want, He can freely work His will in me without any hindrances.  Have faith in Him and His goodness!

    Tears shed for self are tears of weakness.  Tears of love shed for others are signs of strength.

    Discouragement is not the fruit of humility but of pride.  All our falls are useful if they strip us of a disastrous confidence in ourselves, while they do not take away a humble and saving trust in God.

    I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. (Romans 7:18).

    Don’t be ashamed of yourself; Jesus paid a high price for you.

    Do you know where to find rest?  Where you find a clean conscience?  Where you find the ability to sleep at night and live with yourself?  By living in the pleasure of the Father who made you.

    Words of encouragement: God forgives first, then forgets.