Our church, as a whole, is dealing with a season of suffering. We have several members either personally dealing with a devastating illness or have family members who are suffering a terminal illness. And it is not just the old but the young as well. There are several children associated with members of our church who are dealing with leukemia. There is a 25 year old grand daughter of one of our flock who is battling terminal brain cancer while having to care for 2 young children. Suffering seems not to discriminate by age. And the pain felt by those who are caring for the sick seems just as intense, in some ways, as those who are dealing with the sickness themselves.
A week ago Sunday pastor Dave, being sensitive to the current atmosphere in the church, preached a message on the comfort of God out of 2 Corinthians 1:1-11. The message was faithful to Gods word and weighty to my soul. Pastor Dave pointed out some misconceptions about suffering we tend to hold to in our society. He then reconstructed our worldview of suffering by putting a biblical context to words like comfort and troubles. In this blog I want to share two things I gleaned from my meditation of the sermon with you.
1. There is purpose in our pain.
There are many texts in the bible that would support this conclusion. For example, the book of Job is a powerful illustration of Gods sovereign hand in ordaining suffering to fulfill a greater purpose. Also, the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-52 where he suffers tremendously at the hands of his brothers and spends most of his life a slave in captivity. Only in the end to say “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (Genesis 50:20).” However, one of the strongest verses that supports that our pain has purpose is Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” It is hard for us to understand that the word “all” in this verse really encompasses absolutely everything. In America at least, we are more inclined to try to get God off the hook when it comes to the evil that floods our life at times. However, this verse, as well as the mentioned above, shows that God does not want to get of the hook. Instead He has a purpose in brining the rain to our souls. In this verse, the purpose is to bring good. What is this good might you say? The answer is in verse 29, that we might be conformed to His Son Jesus.
It is every believers desire to conform to the image of Christ. God gives us this desire when He transforms our hearts from stone to flesh, when He breathes life into our dead souls, when He shatters the scales from our eyes as they fall into a million pieces and our souls can behold the beauty of Jesus. From that moment on, our heart has one desire; that is to be like Jesus. Why? Because He is the radiance of Gods glory. He is perfect in every way. There is none like him. He is the essence of what is good, what is beautiful, what is powerful, and noble, and pure, and loving, etc. Just as a flower needs the rain to bring its beauty to life, so our souls need suffering to help us conform to the beauty of Christ.
In order to become like Christ we must go through a transformation. The word conformed in verse twenty nine is the Greek word “symmorphous”. This word is made up of the prefix “sym” which means the adjustment of parts; and the suffix “morphous,” which is to shape or to make resemble. The idea here is to fashion together to have the same form. Everyday we are conforming to Christ. Sometimes that conforming is painful. Paul alludes to that when he says “ I have counted those things as loss for the sake of Christ… I may know him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.” (Philippians 3: 7-11)
The word symmorphous is only used one other time in the bible; Philippians 3:21 “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” Here we see a transformation happening. Our old vile bodies will be conformed into new glorious bodies; a morphous if you will. God uses suffering to aid in this transformation process and to make us able to see the surpassing value and worth of Christ.
2. My Idea of Comfortable Is Not God’s Idea of Comfortable
Something I really took note of in the sermon was when Pastor Dave defined the word
comfortable in the text. My idea of comfort or comfortable is to have ease. When I think
of comfort I think of a soft chair or a firm mattress. I think of a cool breeze on an autumn
day. And when it comes to trials I want my comfort to give me ease. Unfortunately, that
is not what the bible says. The word comfort in this text is the word “paraclete.” It
means to come along side or to brave with. It is the word that describes the “comforter”
that Jesus promised the disciples. The promise that comes with the text is that God will
brave what ever you are going through with you. It coincides with the promise that God
will never leave or forsake you. That in and of itself is comforting. You will never walk
through the fire alone. You are never abandoned. Your not an orphan left to the streets.
God will always be with you.
However, it does not mean that He will lift the pain. He does not promise ease. Many
times in our pain we, rightfully, ask for the pain to be lifted. And if God does not lift it,
we are not comforted. Therefore, we get disgruntle and question God’s faithfulness. This
is sin. God does not promise to always take away your pain while you are on earth. That
promise is reserved for heaven. On earth we will walk through trials and tribulations,
pain and suffering, sickness and dismay. And as stated before, God uses pain as an
instructor and reformer to transform us into the glory of His Son. This process is painful
at times and will stretch us beyond our capacity. However, God will never abandon His
work. He is faithful to complete the good work He began in you. Our God is a faithful
God, keeping His convent of love to a thousand generations to those who love Him. This is in itself a comfort.
I see Gods presence as a comfort is a couple of ways. First, not to be redundant, we are not alone. In our suffering, we tend to believe we are the only ones who have suffered. Being in that state of mind leads us to believe we are all by ourselves. And sometimes it seems
that way. Sometimes our friends and family do not know how to handle certain tragedies
and seem to distance themselves from us. God will never do that. By His hand he brings
us to the river. By His hand He walks us into the river. And by His hand we are
delivered from the river.
Secondly, God is able to deliver us from any and all trouble. Because He is sovereign
and all powerful, He is able to overcome every obstacle in our way. When the Psalmist
says, “I lift my eyes up to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from
the Lord, the Maker of the heavens and the earth (Psalm 121:8),” his comfort and hope lies in the power of His maker. We have the same hope. Our trials are not bigger than our God. He
ordains them for His purpose. Therefore, when they are fulfilled He will end them with
certainty, accomplishing all that He intended. Again, Job suffered a great deal without
ever knowing why. But as we know, God was in the middle of it all from beginning to
end; orchestrating a magnificent display of His glory for many generations to see.
Knowing that there is purpose in every ounce of pain gives me tremendous hope.
Nothing is ever wasted. God is incredibly efficient in His sovereignty. If there is purpose in my pain, then pain has been allotted to me to serve me as an instructor. Ease would negate my learning and ultimately my intimacy with God. Very rarely am I as intimate with God on the mountain top than I am in the valley. My comfort is in the knowing that God is with me and will never leave me. He is sovereign over every second of my life and will only let things go this far and no further.
Charles Spurgeon was an incrediable pastor ans teacher. He suffered many physical ailments as well as depression. He has said many amazing insights to suffering with the experience to validate them. Here is one that speaks volumes to the soul.
“If you would find out the cause of most of your sorrows, dig at the root of your self-will, for that is where it lies. When your heart is wholly sanctified unto God and your will is entirely subdued to Him, the bitter becomes sweet, pain is changed to pleasure and suffering is turned into joy. It is not possible for that man’s mind to be disturbed whose will is wholly resigned to the will of God.”
Charles Spurgeon
A week ago Sunday pastor Dave, being sensitive to the current atmosphere in the church, preached a message on the comfort of God out of 2 Corinthians 1:1-11. The message was faithful to Gods word and weighty to my soul. Pastor Dave pointed out some misconceptions about suffering we tend to hold to in our society. He then reconstructed our worldview of suffering by putting a biblical context to words like comfort and troubles. In this blog I want to share two things I gleaned from my meditation of the sermon with you.
1. There is purpose in our pain.
There are many texts in the bible that would support this conclusion. For example, the book of Job is a powerful illustration of Gods sovereign hand in ordaining suffering to fulfill a greater purpose. Also, the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-52 where he suffers tremendously at the hands of his brothers and spends most of his life a slave in captivity. Only in the end to say “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (Genesis 50:20).” However, one of the strongest verses that supports that our pain has purpose is Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” It is hard for us to understand that the word “all” in this verse really encompasses absolutely everything. In America at least, we are more inclined to try to get God off the hook when it comes to the evil that floods our life at times. However, this verse, as well as the mentioned above, shows that God does not want to get of the hook. Instead He has a purpose in brining the rain to our souls. In this verse, the purpose is to bring good. What is this good might you say? The answer is in verse 29, that we might be conformed to His Son Jesus.
It is every believers desire to conform to the image of Christ. God gives us this desire when He transforms our hearts from stone to flesh, when He breathes life into our dead souls, when He shatters the scales from our eyes as they fall into a million pieces and our souls can behold the beauty of Jesus. From that moment on, our heart has one desire; that is to be like Jesus. Why? Because He is the radiance of Gods glory. He is perfect in every way. There is none like him. He is the essence of what is good, what is beautiful, what is powerful, and noble, and pure, and loving, etc. Just as a flower needs the rain to bring its beauty to life, so our souls need suffering to help us conform to the beauty of Christ.
In order to become like Christ we must go through a transformation. The word conformed in verse twenty nine is the Greek word “symmorphous”. This word is made up of the prefix “sym” which means the adjustment of parts; and the suffix “morphous,” which is to shape or to make resemble. The idea here is to fashion together to have the same form. Everyday we are conforming to Christ. Sometimes that conforming is painful. Paul alludes to that when he says “ I have counted those things as loss for the sake of Christ… I may know him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.” (Philippians 3: 7-11)
The word symmorphous is only used one other time in the bible; Philippians 3:21 “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” Here we see a transformation happening. Our old vile bodies will be conformed into new glorious bodies; a morphous if you will. God uses suffering to aid in this transformation process and to make us able to see the surpassing value and worth of Christ.
2. My Idea of Comfortable Is Not God’s Idea of Comfortable
Something I really took note of in the sermon was when Pastor Dave defined the word
comfortable in the text. My idea of comfort or comfortable is to have ease. When I think
of comfort I think of a soft chair or a firm mattress. I think of a cool breeze on an autumn
day. And when it comes to trials I want my comfort to give me ease. Unfortunately, that
is not what the bible says. The word comfort in this text is the word “paraclete.” It
means to come along side or to brave with. It is the word that describes the “comforter”
that Jesus promised the disciples. The promise that comes with the text is that God will
brave what ever you are going through with you. It coincides with the promise that God
will never leave or forsake you. That in and of itself is comforting. You will never walk
through the fire alone. You are never abandoned. Your not an orphan left to the streets.
God will always be with you.
However, it does not mean that He will lift the pain. He does not promise ease. Many
times in our pain we, rightfully, ask for the pain to be lifted. And if God does not lift it,
we are not comforted. Therefore, we get disgruntle and question God’s faithfulness. This
is sin. God does not promise to always take away your pain while you are on earth. That
promise is reserved for heaven. On earth we will walk through trials and tribulations,
pain and suffering, sickness and dismay. And as stated before, God uses pain as an
instructor and reformer to transform us into the glory of His Son. This process is painful
at times and will stretch us beyond our capacity. However, God will never abandon His
work. He is faithful to complete the good work He began in you. Our God is a faithful
God, keeping His convent of love to a thousand generations to those who love Him. This is in itself a comfort.
I see Gods presence as a comfort is a couple of ways. First, not to be redundant, we are not alone. In our suffering, we tend to believe we are the only ones who have suffered. Being in that state of mind leads us to believe we are all by ourselves. And sometimes it seems
that way. Sometimes our friends and family do not know how to handle certain tragedies
and seem to distance themselves from us. God will never do that. By His hand he brings
us to the river. By His hand He walks us into the river. And by His hand we are
delivered from the river.
Secondly, God is able to deliver us from any and all trouble. Because He is sovereign
and all powerful, He is able to overcome every obstacle in our way. When the Psalmist
says, “I lift my eyes up to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from
the Lord, the Maker of the heavens and the earth (Psalm 121:8),” his comfort and hope lies in the power of His maker. We have the same hope. Our trials are not bigger than our God. He
ordains them for His purpose. Therefore, when they are fulfilled He will end them with
certainty, accomplishing all that He intended. Again, Job suffered a great deal without
ever knowing why. But as we know, God was in the middle of it all from beginning to
end; orchestrating a magnificent display of His glory for many generations to see.
Knowing that there is purpose in every ounce of pain gives me tremendous hope.
Nothing is ever wasted. God is incredibly efficient in His sovereignty. If there is purpose in my pain, then pain has been allotted to me to serve me as an instructor. Ease would negate my learning and ultimately my intimacy with God. Very rarely am I as intimate with God on the mountain top than I am in the valley. My comfort is in the knowing that God is with me and will never leave me. He is sovereign over every second of my life and will only let things go this far and no further.
Charles Spurgeon was an incrediable pastor ans teacher. He suffered many physical ailments as well as depression. He has said many amazing insights to suffering with the experience to validate them. Here is one that speaks volumes to the soul.
“If you would find out the cause of most of your sorrows, dig at the root of your self-will, for that is where it lies. When your heart is wholly sanctified unto God and your will is entirely subdued to Him, the bitter becomes sweet, pain is changed to pleasure and suffering is turned into joy. It is not possible for that man’s mind to be disturbed whose will is wholly resigned to the will of God.”
Charles Spurgeon
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