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2 Jun 98
"The Benefits of Suffering"
Objective: To learn that there are practical ways that suffering can bring about
good, and to understand why God might allow suffering to exist.
- Disclaimers:
- Tough subject that probably every living person has pondered, and one where God chooses
to be silent in many cases.
- Intend to give some practical suggestions to think about and meditate over.
- Humbly recognize my own lack of major suffering, but teach what the Bible says.
- Introductory Questions
- Do you ever ask yourself, "Why does God allow so much suffering in the world?"
- Why do people ask this question?
- Because people tend to assume that all suffering is evil. Also, there is a tendency to
think that suffering is a waste—that the pros hardly ever outweigh the cons.
- Can you think of a time in your own life where suffering actually brought about
something good?
- Story: These questions were asked by a Christian whose wife received in a car wreck a
broken arm, ribs, back, pelvis, leg, and over 200 fractures in her skull, requiring over a
month in the Intensive Care Unit, and more than a year for complete recovery. Did this man
have a reason to question why God might allow suffering to exist in the world?
- This Christian man suggested 8 practical and "visible" reasons why God might
allow His children to suffer.
- Suffering can bring out our best.
- When a person experiences serious trials, how does it bring out the best in other
people?
- In the constant support by friends
- In the preparation of food
- In the financial support
- Examples
- In times of natural disaster
- When someone loses a house to fire, tornado, etc.
- In times of terminal illness
- How did suffering bring out the best in people in the Bible?
- Job was surrounded by his friends and relatives (probably even those who didn’t
follow God), was given food and gifts (Job 2:11, 42:11).
- Many Jews comforted Martha when her brother, Lazarus, died (Jn 11:17-19).
- Suffering gives us occasion to silence the enemies of God.
- What famous biblical account demonstrates that suffering can silence the accusations of
Satan?
- The story of Job. Satan accuses Job of putting his securities in his material
possessions (Job 1:6-12), but in the end, Job endured and was blessed, silencing
Satan’s accusations.
- When is the "goodness" of our actions most evident? (When is a flashlight most
evident: In a light room, or a dark room?)
- When we continue to do good, in spite of our present sufferings.
- Satan thinks that we put our securities on things other than God, and he seeks to prove
it by claiming that we will cease doing good in times of trouble.
- Doing good, according to Jesus, means to sacrifice ourselves by bearing each
other’s burdens (Rom 15:1-3). Doing good also leads to weariness (Gal 6:9). There is
always a "cost" involved when we do good, because we’re giving "part
of ourselves." Doing good in these ways silences the enemies of God (1 Pet 2:15).
- "By patiently enduring, or doing good in times of suffering, the value of being a
Christian really shines through in the faith we have that sustains us in suffering, and in
the love we show toward those who suffer."
- Suffering makes us appreciative.
- Why would suffering make someone appreciative?
- What are some things we take for granted?
- Can you think of a time when you appreciated the things you have because you suffered?
- Paul took his friends for granted. He didn’t fully realize the value of his friends
until he was thrown in prison (Phil 1:3-8).
- "Suffering can help us appreciate more fully good health, good friends, and a
loving family."
- How can suffering make us appreciate our salvation?
- What sin are we talking about here? Ingratitude, which is largely based on forgetfulness.
We should be reminded of God’s grace and mercy toward us. Then we will be truly
appreciative for what we have (Col 3:12-17).
- Suffering makes us more dependent upon God.
- Can you think of a time in your life where you were forced to depend on God because of
the presence of suffering?
- Do you recognize the tendency for people to be most dependent on God in times of most
intense suffering? Why is this so?
- The man who’s wife’s bones were shattered said this: "But when a dozen of
the most skilled men in their profession tell you they have done all they can, and it is
completely out of their hands, you suddenly realize how much you depend on God."
- What sin are we talking about here? Self-sufficiency, which is born out of pride.
- Suffering helps purify us.
- How does suffering purify us?
- It proves our faith to be genuine and our worship to be true (1 Pet 1:6-7).
- It matures and "completes" us through perseverance (Js 1:2-5).
- It makes us spotless (Dan 11:35).
- God uses affliction to refine us (Isa 48:10, Zec 13:9).
- When we "walk in the light," we become purified (1 Jn 1:7). Walking in the
light means to confess ("bring to light") our sins (1 Jn 1:8-9).
- Explain "the dangers and delights of spiritual intimacy with God."
- "To illustrate how [suffering purifies], consider the man whose wife was injured:
‘Many times I searched my own life during these past six weeks in order to confess my
every failure and shortcoming to God. I surely did not want my own sins to stand in the
way of God hearing my prayers for Jane. It was absolutely necessary to be truthful with
God and myself, and I am a better man today than before.’"
- Suffering makes us sympathetic.
- Suppose you go through a time of severe suffering, and your friends try to console you.
Isn’t it more comforting to be consoled by someone who has gone through exactly what
you have gone through? (Isn’t it sometimes despairing to be suffering in some way,
and you can’t find anybody who has experienced your pain?)
- Why is this true?
- It helps the sufferer realize that "I’m not the only one suffering in this
way." This helps reduce the "personalness" of the affliction by
distributing the burden.
- It establishes a conduit of hope because the sufferer sees that the other person has
"made it through the same affliction." This leads to, "Maybe I can make it
through, too." How is this idea perfectly demonstrated in the life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus?
- It opens up a relationship between the two people because they share common struggles.
- Dictionary definition of "sympathy": A relationship or affinity between
persons or things in which whatever affects one correspondingly affects the other; Mutual
understanding or affection arising from this; The act of or capacity for sharing or
understanding the feelings of another person.
- Using the above points, can you see how Christ fits in? Read 2 Cor 1:3-5.
- What kind of people are most likely to sympathize with the sufferer? People who have
suffered in a similar way.
Why are Christians able to comfort absolutely anyone who suffers in any way?
Because God comforted us in all our affliction (1:4). Christians identify with Christ, who
suffered more than any other man on earth. Therefore, when we sympathize with those who
are struggling, we should be introducing the sufferer to Jesus who comforts (1:5).
- How are we to sympathize with others? Actively! Go find people to sympathize with,
because God found people to sympathize with in Christ.
- Suffering teaches us how to pray.
- When are your prayers most urgent? During "smooth" times, or during times of
difficulties?
- Why are our prayers less urgent when we are not in the midst of suffering? Because we
become content with worldly things, and don’t recognize our ongoing spiritual need to
be dependent on God.
- There is an element of desperateness that is missing from our prayers when we
aren’t suffering in some way.
- "In the midst of suffering, we learn how to pray earnestly, perseveringly, and with
‘groanings which cannot be uttered’ (Rom 8:26)."
- For a desperate prayer, read Psa 142.
- The man whose wife was almost killed said, "I have been a praying man since I
became a Christian. But never like this. I have learned more about prayer in the past six
weeks than in the previous twenty years. My prayers will be different for the rest of my
life."
- The next time you endure suffering, use it as an occasion to learn how to really
pray!
- Suffering keeps this world from becoming too attractive.
- As Christians, where is our true home?
- We don’t belong to this world (1 Pet 2:11).
- We should be looking forward to our real home (Heb 13:14).
- We have a place built by God that is eternal (2 Cor 5:1).
- How does looking forward to our real home help us "rejoice that we participate in
the sufferings of Christ" (1 Pet 4:13)?
- We are able to not fret about the "here and now" because of the hope that we
have: Our eternal dwelling with the Living God (1 Pet 1:3-5, Rom 5:3-5).
- "If there was no suffering, no one would want to leave this temporary world, and no
one would desire the eternal home, and therefore, prepare themselves for it."
Credits
Much of this material was found in "The Executable Outlines" Series by Mark
A. Copeland, 1992-1993.
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