Thursday, October 12, 2006
Faith and suffering
I received an email recently from a friend whom I have not been in contact with for more than four years. In the course of our exchanges, he shared the fact that he and his wife are going through the pain of losing their first two unborn babies, one after another. In these situations, there cannot be any words or actions that can fully take away the hardship that my friend and his wife must be undergoing.He mentioned that often times, he finds himself feeling angry with God and how everything has turned out. He has also admitted that his faith has been pushed to the limit, and daily he finds that it's moving from one milestone to the next. I did feel for his situation, and this had made me consider about faith and suffering...
I found that I could not conjure up the 'right' words to say to him. But I prayed that God would hold both of them, which I also expressed to him.
I was re-reading a book "When Heaven Is Silent" by Ron Dunn. The author expresses a perspective on faith and suffering very frankly:
- "... I have always thought of faith as a buffer, a cushion that would protect me from the sharp edges of life. But when one of those sharp edges penetrated my faith and pierced my flesh - that's when the questions began. That's when I made the shattering discovery: you can trust God and still get hurt.
And that's when you begin to discover what kind of faith you have, because there is one thing both God and Satan agree on: faith that depends upon prosperity is not genuine. Satan's challenge (in the book of Job) is legitimate."
In a world that is clamouring for easy and instant answers - even as children of God we do this - in the end, we have to learn to accept that for many circumstances there won't be answers to our whys or hows. God is sovereign - we need to trust that even through the most intense pain, God works all things for the good of those who love Him, and are called by His purposes (Romans 8:28). It is easy and dangerous to romanticise or oversimplify this verse. Sometimes, healings don't come, problems are not solved, and forgiveness is not released - and we can only hang on to the fact that God's grace is sufficient for us in our weakness. We try to pick up the pieces in periods of pain and brokenness - and sometimes, like in my friend's situation, the pieces do not come back together as we like it to.
In the end, Ron Dunn, who himself went through many years of agony and depression over his teenage son's suicide before writing his book, does not write with any cavalier notions or heroic whims about a faith that is centered on humanistic thinking, religiousity, and easy-living. He paints a picture of the kind of faith that is authentic:
Faith is...
- the wisdom to see treasure in trash;
- the courage to face things as they are, not as we wish them to be;
- the boldness to embrace those things and say, 'I will not let You go unless you bless me,' making our greatest weakness our greatest strength.
Then, and only then, do these 'things' become fuel for our journey and construction material for building a Christ-like life.
Words and intentions are sometimes cheap -- what matters is the fruit that materializes when we abide in Christ.
Labels: Hardship / Struggles / Pain
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Sal,
I like what you write here a lot. that book sounds good too, especialy given teh author's own hurts.
Just this last week I've been doing a study on this very topic of deep hurts, let downs, trials, etc. What i learned is that we too often ask, "Why did God let this happen to me?" A better question would be "What does God want me to learn from this?" Or another way of asking is this: instead of asking "why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?" ask, "What good things can God reveal and teach me through this bad experience?"
God Bless,
duncan
I like what you write here a lot. that book sounds good too, especialy given teh author's own hurts.
Just this last week I've been doing a study on this very topic of deep hurts, let downs, trials, etc. What i learned is that we too often ask, "Why did God let this happen to me?" A better question would be "What does God want me to learn from this?" Or another way of asking is this: instead of asking "why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?" ask, "What good things can God reveal and teach me through this bad experience?"
God Bless,
duncan
Another thing that comes to mind is how the Amish said through their horror and loss they would have more opportunites to love again. They would more cherish those left behind, their kids, spouses, freinds. My wife had expressed a similar sentiment when I asked her about these tragedies beforehand.
One Amish person said that such experiences can either tear one's faith down (if centred on temporal life situations) or build/stretch one's faith if placed on eternal Truth, His nature, etc. I guess as awful as these things are when we've sort of come through it we can have learned endurace which leads to hope. Easy to say, I know, but harder to go through, but we must choose to learn to lean on the graces of God.
One Amish person said that such experiences can either tear one's faith down (if centred on temporal life situations) or build/stretch one's faith if placed on eternal Truth, His nature, etc. I guess as awful as these things are when we've sort of come through it we can have learned endurace which leads to hope. Easy to say, I know, but harder to go through, but we must choose to learn to lean on the graces of God.
Hi Duncan, thanks for your thoughts - much appreciated.
It's often a struggle sometimes when from our human perspective, so much is "at stake" trusting God to direct and open doors, or for changes that we may not see in the physical - and so it's all too easy to want to take things into our own hands and decide our own fate.
More often than not, we ask the "why God?" question only when things are in the doldrums, but not when things are bright and sunny. Do we ever ask "Why God?" when blessings are given, or that we have good health to enjoy? I find that I often forget that even the 'smallest' blessings (which we take for granted) is a privillege, and not a right.
The other thing is that God is God - he can give and he can take away. Who are we to demand? Ultimately, God's the kind of Father who will make decisions that are best for us, not necessarily what is not the comfortable or convenient.
The key to building faith (in the face of hardship) is whether we know and understand enough the character of God in Christ through the Word of God. For me, this "knowing" needs to be experiential - an intellectual understanding is often not adequate. Trust and faith are built "brick by brick, stone by stone, and pillar by pillar".
When all is said and done, there aren't any easy ways - just as with any relationship, it's gained through finding out and interacting with the person. That's where the "ordinaries" of life act as foundations to build towards the "extraordinaries".
Sorry... being overly philosophical here... ;)
God bless
~Sal
It's often a struggle sometimes when from our human perspective, so much is "at stake" trusting God to direct and open doors, or for changes that we may not see in the physical - and so it's all too easy to want to take things into our own hands and decide our own fate.
More often than not, we ask the "why God?" question only when things are in the doldrums, but not when things are bright and sunny. Do we ever ask "Why God?" when blessings are given, or that we have good health to enjoy? I find that I often forget that even the 'smallest' blessings (which we take for granted) is a privillege, and not a right.
The other thing is that God is God - he can give and he can take away. Who are we to demand? Ultimately, God's the kind of Father who will make decisions that are best for us, not necessarily what is not the comfortable or convenient.
The key to building faith (in the face of hardship) is whether we know and understand enough the character of God in Christ through the Word of God. For me, this "knowing" needs to be experiential - an intellectual understanding is often not adequate. Trust and faith are built "brick by brick, stone by stone, and pillar by pillar".
When all is said and done, there aren't any easy ways - just as with any relationship, it's gained through finding out and interacting with the person. That's where the "ordinaries" of life act as foundations to build towards the "extraordinaries".
Sorry... being overly philosophical here... ;)
God bless
~Sal
First read of yours - very well written, and very true.
God never promised that it would be easy. I'm eternally grateful that grace is enough.
God never promised that it would be easy. I'm eternally grateful that grace is enough.
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