God's Will: Suffering (Part II)

God’s Will: Suffering (part II)

“It really pisses me off that you would insinuate that God has willed my circumstances. If you had any idea how hard I have it, what I have been through, you would be a lot slower to speak. And if this God of yours wills suffering for His glory, then I don’t agree with that God or think that it is possible for God to be glorified by my life. No loving, kind father would ever put his children through what I have been through. There is no glory in suffering, period!”

Let me tell you a story.

There was a man born into the worst possible scenario. His parents were poor, very poor. They also were very young. There is even “doubt” as to if his father is really his father, some even called him a bastard. His mother was looked upon as a harlot. Truly, their poverty was so great that he was not born in a hospital or under medical care, no, he was born even as a stray cat.

Shortly after his birth his family had to flee. They were in a sense homeless, run out of their town. He grew up in obscurity, in a small town that most had never heard of. He had brothers and sisters, many of which despised him, even ridiculed him. From a young age, he was hated. Trouble licked at his heels from his birth.

He learned a trade and worked with his hands. He was respectful, kind, gentle and wise and he feared God. At a certain time in his life, after learning a trade, he knew the Lord was calling him to ministry. He moved forward, in pursuit of God. Everywhere he went preaching he was antagonized. The government of his time was harshly opposed to him as were the religious leaders of his day, even his own family had put distance between them. He was even called a man of sorrow. Though no one could convict him of sin yet he was despised. He did many good works and taught many great things but it seemed that in spite of his life he only drew criticism.

He formed a small church of mostly outcasts and nobodies, nobody of any dignity or social value ever followed him. He drew large crowds but not to hear him teach as much as to see the spectacle of this man and to see whether they would be impressed with him. Many of those that would join his church would later leave. Even the highest in leadership would eventually abandon him, even being betrayed by one of the original members of his church.

Eventually the religious and political leaders would have him arrested and tried for false crimes. He would be given no legal trial. He was quickly moved from jail to execution in only a matter of days. Once arrested, he was completely alone, literally no one stayed with him, even those closest to him would later deny him.

His life from birth was poor. He was from birth despised. He was alone most of his life, and those that seemed close, weren’t. He left this world the way he came into, under suspicion, doubt and ridicule. He was not understood. His ministry stood alone but never grew, it was not what we would consider a “success” by today’s standard.

He never accumulated wealth. He never married or had children and his life was ended in his early thirties. Truly, his life was a life of suffering, continual unending, suffering. Yet…

Was God glorified in this life, this sad little pathetic life lived out in some no name region, in poverty and persecution, dying the death of a common criminal, not even having a grave to be buried in? Was God glorified in some person born into a “questionable” family? Was God glorified in a life that never “made it?” Was God glorified in a faithful servant dying as a common criminal?

Yes. For by now I hope you see that this was the life of Jesus. The only man that has the title of God’s Only Begotten Son, with Whom God is well pleased, His Beloved Son. His life was only hardship. His pain never new what we would call “victory.” His life was not a life that is envied in circumstance and yet, by that life, God redeemed an innumerable number of people to Himself. By that life and death He purchased to God a people called His Bride. The glory of God shown more brightly in this man then in any man before or since. He was God incarnate, taking flesh upon Himself. Living and dying not as the immortal, incomprehensible God, but as a faithful, humble servant.

Part of the glory of God is that even in His “weakest” and most “foolish” moment He is greater then the strongest man and wiser then the greatest intellect. His glory in the life of Christ is what secured the salvation of man and it is that glory revealed to man that saves man to this day.

Is God glorified in your suffering? Yes. Is it by His design? Yes. Is there hope beyond hope in the life and death of Christ? Yes. Let me tell you something very alarming. God will be glorified in your suffering. God will be glorified in your suffering. Again, God will be glorified in your suffering. The alarming part is that you can partake of that glory or not, but God will be glorified. The amazing part is that you can partake of that glory too. You can be an active participant in that glory or a passive participant but God will have His glory, and you can have it too.

We are not pawns upon a chess board. We are however vessels. We were created as vessels of glory but due to sin we are now vessels of wrath but due to the sacrifice of Jesus, the gospel, we can be vessels of mercy. Those who refuse the gospel will glorify God in His power, longsuffering and wrath; those that receive the work of Christ on their behalf will be vessels of mercy, glorifying God in His mercy, grace and calling. We are God’s. We will glorify God. The offer of the gospel, the command of the gospel, is to believe and be saved, partake of the glory of God, be an active participant and enjoy eternal life even now.

One question of reflection. Why is it that you so despise the idea that God has willed your difficulty and adversity and suffering? Ultimately it is sin. It is sin to reject His will and ways. It is sin to not trust His judgment. It is sin that rejects His wisdom and providence. It is sin that looks at God and despises Him for not being who you want Him to be. It is sin that you think that you could do things better. It is sin. It is sin, not the thoughts themselves. No, it is much deeper then that. The thoughts come from sin, the thoughts flow from your heart, your heart which is full of sin. The thoughts are merely fruits of the sin that dwells much deeper then just your mind. Sin is your nature and so naturally you reject God. Naturally God’s ways are an offense to you.

Oh the glory of repentance, that you would recognize the depth of your sin and see your sin for the wretched evil that it is and turn to God in despair and cry out for forgiveness. Understand that why you question God and doubt God is not an intellectual issue but a heart issue. If not for the sin that is you, you would love God and welcome His will and rejoice at all that He brings to you for then you would know He was good. But sin blinds and hardens and deceives. But the gospel sheds light and wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Believe the gospel and be saved from your sin and the wrath to come. Believe the gospel and rejoice in the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Be saved, believe.