Some Long-Suffering and Faith Building (song) [intro]

We live in a fallen world. That is the sad fact of the matter. Everything is broken. Evil is rampant. Pain and suffering surround us. It can be overwhelming at times and leaving us feeling alone- again. (Naturally). And that, of course, is key to my point. The natural state of the world is in decay because of Adam and Eve's sin. But the second Adam from above, Jesus Christ, has come to redeem us and restore things to righteousness. (Romans 5:12-21) And though we have to wait for the fulfillment of everything in Revelation for the final healing (when Christ returns and fully restores and repairs everything broken and makes everything sad come untrue)- in the meantime, we have the promise of knowing that God is in control and He does have our good and best interest in mind and at heart. However, though Jeremiah 29:11 promises this, it doesn't necessarily mean that we will have a perfect and rosy life that is problem-free- at least, not in this lifetime and state. Jesus tells us that it is a hard road to follow Him- people will persecute and hate us for His Name and we will have to endure suffering. But Jesus also promises to never leave us and never forsake us- He goes through every pain and suffering with us. And He has already suffered every pain for us on the cross- and His glorious Resurrection means that we will also raise with Him in glory one day. And while we fix our eyes on the eternal and await that blessed Hope of Glory, we remember that our present suffering is not worth comparing to it. And we trust that God is faithful and He will work out His plan for us- and be with us through all the painful sorrows along that plan's path.
          I'm also glad to know that we serve a God who listens to our every cry and never slumbers. (Psalms 121). He invites us to cast all our cares on Him because He cares for us. (1 Peter 5:7). And once we've done that- leave them there. Leave the worries and cares and pains and sorrows in His hands and trust that the Hands of Grace, Righteous Judgment, Mercy and Love will do what's right and will work all things together to the good of us who love Him and are called by His purpose. (Romans 8:28) Lamenting is definitely part of worship- it's simply being honest with God about where we are right now in this stage of life- emotionally, physically, spiritually, mentally, relationally- everything. He already knows anyway, so we might as well come right out and tell Him. Just look at Jeremiah. He's called the Weeping Prophet and I don't think it's just because he was weeping for Jerusalem. (Though he certainly was- his beloved city was going to be destroyed and he couldn't do anything about it. All he could do was be faithful to deliver God's message to the people that Jerusalem was going to burn. And this is a message that God had told him people would spurn and that no one would listen to- but he must be faithful to deliver it anyway. Wow! That's tough. And Jeremiah went through physical suffering as well, at one point being imprisoned in a slimy pit and feeling like he was about to die there!) So yeah- I think he was also weeping for himself some. And through the inspiration of The Holy Spirit, he poured out his feelings in a book called Lamentations. And see also books like Ecclesiastes, Habakkuk and a ton of the Psalms. Even Jesus cried out to God the Father on cross, "Eli, Eli lema sabachthani- Why hast Thou forsaken Me?" [in Matthew 27:46] ("My God, My God- Why hast Thou forsaken Me?"- He was quoting Psalms 22, by the way.) [Of course, as Psalms 16 notes- God didn't forsake Him in the end because He didn't leave His Holy One in the grave to corruption- but raised Him again! :-)]
           And there are plenty of other examples to name of course. Elijah, coming off a huge victory over Baal and his prophets in 1 Kings 18, ran off running scared in 1 Kings 19, convinced that Ahab and Jezebel were about to kill him and that he was so sick and tired that he just wanted God to go ahead and do him in, kill him now and take him Home. But God spoke to him and told him that things weren't as bad as he thought and that He still had 700 folks who hadn't bowed the knee to Baal. He wasn't alone. And then there's Paul, about whom God actually told Ananias that He was going to show him how much he would suffer for Jesus' Name! And Paul certainly did! Just read the book of Acts. Shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned, even stoned at one point- yet, he remained faithful- even to the death! (Biblical scholars tell us that Paul was most likely beheaded for his faith in Christ.) And what did Paul say about his situation? "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21) Writing from a Philippian prison, he told us to "Rejoice in The Lord always! And again, I say- rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4). Of course, Paul is also the dude who, through The Holy Spirit's inspiration, wrote about that Glory that's coming to which all the suffering and junk in this life ain't worth comparing!
           Then we get to the guy this song talks about. (And I know that's a really long intro!) Job may have felt alone, but he wasn't- he did have some true friends. I've always found it funny that though all his kids died, the one family member we do know he was left with is his wife. You'd think this should be some comfort for him- but she was the one telling him, "What? Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!" Wow! Thanks for the words of encouragement, dear!
But Job, in one stunning blow after another, lost all his livestock and all his kids. And then he got stricken with an incredibly painful disease that left him scraping sores on his body from head to foot with broken pottery. And that's how Job felt- like broken, smashed pottery. His world had just caved in. Now we're given an interesting picture of the story going on in the Heavenly realms- where God is proving to Satan that Job is indeed faithful and that he truly worships and follows God for God Himself- not for God's stuff. (And that is indeed the attitude we should all have. Of course, that takes having a relationship with Jesus Christ where we acknowledge Him as Savior and Lord and trust Him for His salvation and forgiveness through His death and Resurrection. And it takes a realization that everything we own comes from God- it's all His to begin with and He takes and He gives as He sees fit. And whether The Lord gives or takes, may the Name of The Lord be praised!)
           And though Job doubted God on His plan throughout the book, he never doubted God's position of power and authority. As Job notes in Job 19:25-27, "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!" And his friends Zophar, Bildad and Eliphaz didn't really help him on that front. But though those guys get a bad rap over their counsel to Job, they did do at least one thing that is pretty amazing! The Bible says that they saw how great Job's suffering was and in a show of solidarity, they sat with him in silence for seven days! (Job 2:11-13) I give them a lot of props for that- they did utilize quite possibly the best comfort we can offer those who are suffering- suffer alongside them in silence. (Romans 12:14-17)
              Finally, Elihu comes along and sets everyone straight on a lot of misconceptions they've been presenting about God. God is always righteous in all His judgments. And God sometimes allows suffering for different reasons- not always just as punishment for someone's sin. But God has a purpose in it all and even in the midst of horrible suffering and pain, He can still bring a good end to it all and positive things can rise out of the ashes. The fire of pain and suffering is God's finishing tool for forging our refined lives into spiritual masterpiece works of art. (1 Corinthians 3 and Hebrews 12). And as Job acknowledges at the end of the book, after God shows up to answer Job's charges, we have spoken of what we don't know in front of the holy God. As Job said, we should put our hands over our mouths in our ignorance. God tells Job, in effect, "Hey, Job- Man up! Let's have it out. Since you know so much- tell me, can you wrestle down a Leviathan? Do you understand how all the creatures of the earth operate? Did you put the planets and stars in place? Do you command the seasons and tell them when to do what? Do you tell the snow when to fall? Do you tell the tide how far to come? Where were you when I laid earth's foundations?"
               So the answer to the initial question about the pain and suffering and the world and why it's still here comes down to this: our sin. God created man to be upright and we've gone off in search of many schemes. And so evil runs rampant, wicked people seem to prosper for now and the righteous suffer. But as Asaph found out in Psalms 73- the wicked only prosper for a while in this life. Their final destination is eternal judgment in Hell, but the righteous through Christ have the promise of eternal life in Heaven! And as Job found out, there are some things we just can't know and understand now- and that we may never understand. But we can trust that God is good and that He always has our good and best interests in mind and at heart. He is not a sadist. He takes no pleasure in the death of anyone- even the wicked. (see Ezekiel 18:23) He only wants everyone to turn from their wicked ways and live! And sometimes, even as the righteous of God, we are called to suffer and trust that He still loves us and cares for us and is working out a good plan in the midst of it. As David said when he had to go through some pain and suffering (as a consequence of his sin), "Let me fall into the hand of The Lord, for His mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man." (1 Chronicles 21:13) Amen. We can always trust the hand of The Lord. His hand does bring justice and judgment but we can also trust Him to remember His love and mercy and grace too and know that since Christ has paid for all our wrongs and endured all the suffering so no one else would ever have to- we can look forward to the coming Glory that will surpass all our suffering in the here and now. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:15-16)
         And as Hebrews reminds us in chapter 11, the great Hall of Faith, faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. Read all the accounts there- these people followed God to places they'd never been, to and through incredibly hard challenges and more- and remained faithful and obedient through it all. They were seeking a better country- our Heavenly one. "And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God has provided something better for us, that apart from they should not be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of God. Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." (Hebrews 11:39-40 and 12:1-4) And in Hebrews 13:11-13, "For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through His own blood. Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured." Notice the key word through these passages- "endured". As we are reminded in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, this life we live is a marathon. Run in a way as to get the prize. We run for an imperishable prize. And in 1 Corinthians 16:22, we see the exhortation for The Lord to come. ("Maranatha!") But remember that the marathon comes before the maranatha.
            And in running that marathon, it is Jesus Himself Who keeps us running, who gives us strength to carry on. It's this patience that God the Holy Spirit provided Job that Job is commended for in James 5:11. It's that patient endurance that we are exhorted to exhibit in Hebrews 11. And it's Jesus' righteousness that gets us the prize- and He's the One who moves our legs all the way through to the finish line. "The righteous shall live by faith." (Habakkuk 2:4) "Now to Him Who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." (Jude 1:24-25)