pain & suffering

How To Handle Tragedy (Part 2)

/ Lee A. Robinson / Leave a comment

In the previous article we observed seven lessons we can learn from the story of Job. Here we will look at six more. If you have not read or listened to the first article I would recommend it. It lays some groundwork for what will be discussed in this article. May some things here prove beneficial to you as you navigate the difficulties of life… 

  1. Many times God chooses the most righteous people to endure the most tragedy. 

The book of Job intentionally highlights the godliness of Job. The truly pious are not exempt from tragedy. As we saw in previous lessons, our sufferings always have a higher purpose than what only concerns our personal lives. No where in the Bible are righteous people promised to escape all pain and suffering. In fact, there is actually a warning for the righteous that they will probably encounter much suffering on account of their righteousness. Jesus cautioned, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23). Remember, the cross was a torture device. The apostle Paul, who had suffered much for the cause of Christ, said in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” The sufferings of the righteous, though, are on a greater level than the natural toil of partaking of a fallen race and living in a fallen place – there is no guilt or shame involved. Rather, the sufferings of the godly are vicarious sufferings – they work in tandem with God’s good purposes in the world. Paul interestingly described this process about his own ministry this way, “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church.” (Colossians 1:24) I believe what he is saying is that the progress of the Gospel and the growth of the Church are not independent from the personal involvement and struggle of the people of God. God is the one who saves – Yes. The Holy Spirit is the one who causes the people of God to grow – Yes. But God has ordained, oftentimes, that He does His work through the toil, struggle and perhaps tragedy of the people of God. Our bodies are not our own. We have been bought with a price, and the Spirit within us yearns, “Father, if it is possible for this cup to pass from me— nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.” 

No one compares to the ultimate expression of this truth, as seen in the Suffering Servant Himself – the Lord Jesus Christ. The most righteous man to ever live (perfect righteousness) was acquainted with the most grief, during his lifetime. Then, in His death, He experienced the most pain, horror and torture ever experienced. But, Why? Because mankind sinned. And in His godliness he took our sins upon Himself, so the world may be saved (the vicarious atonement). The righteous do not look for or ask for suffering – they want to avoid it. Yet, they know that if suffering is the means by which God’s will is determined to be accomplished, then by God’s grace they embrace that road.   

  1. The correct response to tragedy is GRATEFUL WORSHIP.

This is one of the most important lessons from the story of Job. When the unthinkable happened to Job, this was his response: “Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshiped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” (Job 1:20-22) Job recognized that everything ultimately belongs to God; that any good thing we partake of is a gift from God; and that God is absolutely free to take those things away whenever He chooses. Instead of bitterness and anger, Job prayed, worshiped, thanked and blessed God for His actions. The wrong reaction to tragedy is found in Job’s wife: “Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” (Job 2:9-10) Becoming bitter and angry at God accomplishes nothing except making your own sufferings worse. Gratefulness is the balm of tragedy, the ointment that quickens healing. Are you thankful for all that God has given you? Are you thankful for all that He has taken away? Are you grateful for all of the good, and all of the privileges, that God has allowed you to enjoy? Are you grateful for all of the evil, and of the oppression, that God has allowed into your life? We must give God praise for everything, otherwise we are declaring that we are wiser than God, and more suitable than He to govern our lives. This is foolishness, as Job said.  

The way Satan gains a victory in our lives is not through inflicting pain or suffering upon us, but rather through manipulating us to react in ways that do not accurately reflect the nature of God. If he can get us to say or do anything which hints that God is not good, or that God doesn’t care about us, or that God wasn’t able to come through for his beloved: then he has won in our lives. The testimony is of utmost importance. Our job here on the earth is to magnify the goodness of God, whether it be by life or by death. If we succeed in this, the Devil has no power over us. Job championed over Satan in this skirmish. May we do the same in our lives.   

  1. Some people serve God for what they can get from Him…we should not be one of them.

Satan made an accusation against Job, that the only reason he served God was because God had blessed him in every way, and that if God were to remove the blessings then Job would curse God to His face. Thankfully, Job proved the Devil to be a liar, as we saw in the last point. It is unfortunately true, however, that some people do really only serve God for the blessings: whether it be for a “get out of Hell” free card, or for financial prosperity, or physical protection, etc. God is worthy of our worship, praise and obedience merely on the basis of Who He is. His own character and Person demands awe and obedience. I love the words to the song Settled at the Cross. It says, “So if You never speak another word of blessing, And the silence leaves me with a sense of loss, I’ll remember when my heart begins to question, Any doubt that You love me was settled at the cross.” We have been given enough reassurance from God that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8). We must remember this when tragedy comes, and remember to give Him praise through it all. God is good, and He does good to those who love Him, but He will not be reduced to an ATM or good luck charm. At some point you will turn away from following Him if your ultimate motivation to believe is self-centered.  

  1. It is natural and acceptable to grieve, but we must be careful that our grief does not turn into ungodly unbelief & despair. 

Job expressed grief in his trial. The initial tearing of clothes and shaving his head were not signs that he was angry at anyone or angry at God, but a common expression of deep sorrow. It is natural to grieve. When Lazarus died Jesus wept because he loved him and his family. We all want life and healing, and ultimately for the righteous we will experience them perfectly and eternally, but until then there are moments in this life where it is appropriate to mourn the loss of these things on account of sin and the fallen state of this world. 

We do need to be careful though, because the Bible speaks about a sorrow of the world that produces death. “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10) Godly sorrow is sadness over the consequences of sin or heartbreak over displeasing God, but the fruit of this kind of sorrow always leads to sweetness and peace, and the sorrow always has an end. Jesus said, “Blessed (happy) are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4) The sorrow of the world has no end, and it is hopelessness and despair. Wordly sorrow does not break you free from a difficult circumstance, but rather drowns you in it. Don’t go there. There are real, evil spirits and people in the world, but rest in the fact that ultimate judgment will come one day. There is real pain and suffering in this world, but rest in the fact that one day it will be completely abolished; even death itself will die. God makes no mistakes. Everything from His perspective makes perfect sense. Rest in the fact that one day it will all make sense to you as well.     

  1. “Why?” is the wrong question. 

The bulk of the book of Job is him wrangling with his friends on the deep subjects about the nature of God, the meaning of life and the reason for this trial. It gets deep. Job really struggles with his situation, and is asking the question, “Why?” “God, why are you letting this happen to me?” The answer God gives is so profound, and is so important for us to embrace. God doesn’t actually give Job the reason why, but what He does give him is better…

The LORD challenges Job with a series of questions, basically saying, “If you tell me the answer to my questions, then I will tell you the answer to your questions.” God demands of Job things such as, “Job, tell me the dimensions of the universe.” “Have you gone into the places where I store the snow, for the time when I need it.” “Can you send out lightning bolts?” and a number of other details only the infinite God of the universe would know or be able to do. Why was God confronting Job like this? I believe what was happening was God saying to the effect, “Job, what is more important than you understanding why all of this is happening, is you understanding that you can trust ME even when there seems to be no natural answers.” Essentially God’s answer to Job’s questions is, “You don’t have the right to ask me, “Why?” or, “Asking, ‘Why?” is the wrong question to be asking.” 

This reminds me of what is said in Romans 9:20-21, “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” Clay is not able to, nor is meant to know the will of it’s maker, or the reason why it was molded the way it was. The role of the clay is simply to be formed and used for what the potter desires for it. Compared to God, we are just as intellectually bankrupt as a piece of pottery is, as it relates to understanding the eternal and perfect plans of God. Our place is simply to be and do what our heavenly Potter desires from us. If His will for us at this time is tragedy, then we must submit to it cheerfully. “Father, I do not need to know, “Why?” Knowing You is good enough.” The instructions of Philippians 4:6-7 are very fitting, “Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” 

  1. Job’s restoration was in connection with him releasing his antagonists. 

The end of Job’s story is really amazing. Job is set straight. Then the Lord confronts Job’s friends, even more directly than Job, and tells them that they need to repent, offer sacrifices and basically apologize to Job for the words they had wrongly spoken. The special part though is this verse, “And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends.” (Job 42:10) You would think that God would have turned things around for Job at the point when Job surrendered to God’s will, but not so. Healing lined up with Job releasing his friends from their misunderstandings. I know I don’t comprehend this fully, but one major thing it makes me think is that sometimes it’s not so much the painful events that happen themselves that really bother us, but more so the people involved in them. It may be someone who has died that we’re upset with, and they’re not even here any more. Or it may be someone close to you who has done you wrong that you are angry with. It may simply be someone who is trying to interpret your situation, but is completely wrong. Whatever the situation, and whoever is involved, our job is always and ever to simply FORGIVE and to release them from any obligation to explain themselves to us or make any kind of atonement for things they have wrongly done to us. Let go and let God. Unless we forgive, then we will not be forgiven ourselves. If we hold on to anger and bitterness and try to punish others, our captivity will continue. Release them and you will be released. God will deal with them, just as he dealt with Jobs friends – directly and sternly. Leave that to business to Go and focus on your relationship and understanding with the Lord. Amen. 

May God have mercy upon us all, to lead us away from trials and difficulties. But if it is in His wise providence to lead us into tragedy, may we have His grace, wisdom, courage, and patience to embrace it joyfully, never forgetting His glory and reputation through the whole thing. And hasten be the day when we see the Devil, that old Serpent, cast into the lake of fire, to be torment day and night forever and ever; the day when God’s infinite perfection, beauty and wise governance of all things is clearly manifested for all to see! Peace. 

How to Handle Tragedy

/ Lee A. Robinson / 1 Comment

*This article pretty much assumes that the reader is at least familiar with the story of Job. If you are not familiar with it, I would recommend reading at least the first two chapters of the story before reading this (and thanks for reading by the way)… 

Anyone who traverses this world for any length of time will no doubt experience pain, heartache and suffering. This life is riddled by difficulty which every person encounters on various levels. There are also times, which are more infrequent, when people experience extremely difficult, life-altering tragedies, which can really shake the core of who you are and how you view the world: it may be through successive deaths of near relatives or friends, a long term, severe health issue, or heartbreaking, family destroying decisions and/or actions of people, etc. Many times these catastrophes will cause people to doubt (understandably so) God’s existence, goodness or wise providence of the world. You may be going through a time like that right now in your life. Thankfully, we are never alone in such circumstances, and also Holy Scripture is not silent on the subject either. There is an entire book in the Bible devoted to this specific subject, which most Bible scholars agree was the first piece of divine Scripture committed to writing in the world. Perhaps the biggest and most puzzling question of mankind, “Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?” was the first question God answered for man in written form. The following are fifteen brief lessons we can learn from the story of Job’s tragedy…

  1. “Bad things” happen to “good people.”

The very first line in the story of Job summarizes his character, “[Job] was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed (rejected) evil.” (Job 1:1) By God’s own testimony Job was a very godly man. He was not just religious, but internally, genuinely pious – he loved God. He also did right by man. However, in one day his very successful business was all stolen, many of his employees killed and all of his children (seven sons and three daughters) were killed altogether in a tragic accident. Soon following Job was struck by a horrible disease in his flesh that went from the tip of his toes to the crown of his head. The trials of Job were not the direct result of Job being punished by God for something evil he had done. There were much bigger purposes involved, which we will get to. The point here is to simply say that just because tragedy has happened, does not automatically mean that you are being judged by God, or that God has forgotten about you. It may be that God is trying to get your attention about something not right in your life, but not necessarily. It was not the case in Job’s situation.  

There is a wrong tendency that we have as weak, fallen creatures, which is to assume that it is always the case that “good things” happen to “good people,” and “bad things” happen to “bad people,” but this simply is not true. Consider the story of the man that was born blind. John 9:1 says, “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” (John 1:1-3) God allowed (actually purposed) this man to be born blind, for many reasons, but ultimately the purpose was so that he would be miraculously healed by Jesus and be at the center of an amazing experience and testimony of God in the world. One of the things his story did was inspire one of the greatest Christian hymns of all time – Amazing Grace, which has the famous line, “I once was lost, but now I am found; was blind, but now I see.” The ultimate example is the passion of Christ. He experienced horrendous suffering – in the will of God – yet he was the godliest man to ever live (God in the flesh). There was a much greater purpose to His sufferings.    

  1. There really are no “good people” in the world. 

When people say, “Why do bad things happen to good people?,” it is usually assumed that we all understand and agree on the standard of what a “good person” is, but we most often have an arbitrary, man-centered standard that is not supported by Scripture. According to the Bible, God is the standard of “goodness.” God is good, which means that He is morally perfect, pure, without fault or defect in any way. So if someone is “good” by God’s definition, they would be morally perfect, or without sin. By this standard (God’s standard) we have all fallen short, which is what the Bible teaches: “for all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Since Adam & Eve sinned, the human race has been a fallen race, and the world has been a fallen place. Evil, sin, suffering and death are all byproducts of the corrupted world we live in. Not only is it the world we live in, but we ourselves are all sinful and selfish from the womb. The Bible says that we are estranged from the womb and go astray as soon as we are born, speaking lies (Psalm 58:3), which is why we all need to be Born Again. But what this means is that ultimately any measure of comfort, peace and prosperity we enjoy is actually a mercy from God, gifts that we do not deserve. Things truly could be a lot worse.

  1. We humans tend to overlook the blessings, taking them for granted, but highlight the struggles and tragedies we encounter.

It is very easy and natural for us to breeze through days, months or years with things going well without much thought, and perhaps without much thanksgiving to God; but when tragedy strikes we are all of sudden bent out of shape with a “woe is me” “I don’t deserve this” entitlement attitude. I know that I am certainly this way (wrongfully so) when I am physically sick. I am thankful for generally good health, and give thanks to God – at least quietly, but when I get sick I tend to shut down and think, “Oh no! How could this be happening! Not now! When is this going to end?!” At least those near to me will hear about it! 

Perhaps the better question for us to ask more often is, “Why do good things happen to bad people?” That is what we should truly be suprised about! Perhaps we would be better off to be more vocal in our gratefulness when things are well, and reserved and thoughtful while things seem to be falling apart. We certainly should not fall into the pit of blaming God for tragedy, if all the while when blessings were being showered on us we were silent about attributing all of that to God. 

In the movie Courageous, a family lost a young daughter in an accident involving a drunk driver. The father began to be bitter and would have nightmares about all of the things he would not get to experience with her (graduations, a wedding, etc.). In counseling, a minister gave him some very profound advice which we would all do well to take heed to. He said, “You are going to have to make a choice. Are you going to be bitter about all of the time that you will not get to have with your daughter, or will you be thankful for all of the time that you did get to have with her?” 

  1. In general, blessing does accompany obedience to God and judgment disobedience (the law of sowing & reaping), buuuut…be very careful to not judge others’ situations  according to the appearance.

In the meat of the story and in the midst of Job’s sufferings, his “friends” basically told him, “Job, we know that you did something evil. God is righteous and doesn’t overlook sin, so it’s obvious you did something wrong, which is why all of this is happening to you. Just confess it and be done with all of this.” Unfortunately, they had an immature and incomplete perception of reality and the way God and the world work. Things are not always the way they appear. You might think someone is suffering because of sin when in reality they are truly, deeply righteous. Also, you may think that someone is prospering because they are righteous, but they are actually not right with God. Be careful. Things went well for the first seven days that Job’s friends were there to visit him, but this was because they didn’t say a word in those seven days – often that’s the best thing that we can do for someone who is laboring through tragedy. 

  1. God promises that every “bad thing” will become a positive in the end, for the Christian. 

In the end Job was restored twice as much as he had before: he was completely healed from his sickness, he was given seven more sons and three more daughters, and he was given double the amount of livestock than he had originally. Not only on the physical level, but more importantly on the spiritual level, much good came out of the situation: Job’s understanding of God and of life was massively heightened, the Devil was shamed in the spiritual realm and exposed for his accusations and lies, Job’s “friends” and society were well aware of the situation as saw God’s restoration in his life, and not the least of which was the publication and preservation of his story, which has given countless encouragement and hope for millions of people over the course of thousands of years now. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” The ingredients to make a cake, if eaten individually, are either not very tasty or inedible, yet when they are mixed together and put through the fire they become delicious. If you love God, you will encounter some things that will seem too hard to bear, but take courage, God is mixing it all together into something beautiful to be seen in its time. Did the sufferings of Jesus churn any good into the world? 

  1. Job’s trials did not happen by accident or chance. 

There is an amazing insight given to us in the story of Job (I think certainly one of the most striking features of the whole story). The revelation is that God was the one who suggested Job to Satan and then afterwards authorized him (twice) to disturb Job’s life (Job 1:8). Satan did not come to God looking for permission to hurt Job. Instead, God proposed Job to Satan. Our natural tendency when tragedy happens is to think that it was not what God intended and that certainly God was far removed from being the origin of it, but this doesn’t seem to be the totality of what is being communicated in the story of Job and other parts of Scripture. God was the initiator in the series of Job’s sufferings. He wasn’t the one physically hurting Job, but He was ultimately responsible for it. Satan is responsible for his evil intentions and actions, but God is also responsible for His intentions and actions. Was God willing that Job would suffer? Well, in one sense, “Yes,” and another, “No.” God’s heart is that of a Deliverer, a Savior and Healer, but in this fallen world God also knows the way to the ultimate goal of Salvation sometimes involves suffering. Sometimes a physician will break a bone in order for it to heal correctly. This can seem overwhelming, but I think if we are willing to receive it, it becomes deeply, deeply comforting and reassuring. It means that there is no purposeless evil in the world. God not only allows evil, but He also (at least in some sense) superintends all evil. We must confess, based on Scripture, that God does and cannot do morally evil things, yet at the same time no evil exists outside of His will. The ultimate Power behind all things (or situations) – good and evil – is God: a pure, unchanging, all powerful, benevolent Being, Whose name is Love who cannot be manipulated or sleight handed in this universe. Satan and no other power or force in this world can sneak tragedy into our lives. Whatever the trial, God has always been with you, not standing far off, but intimately involved in the whole entire process. 

The greatest example of this again is the crucifixion of Jesus. Before the foundations of the world (also before evil existed) God ordained that Jesus would be crucified in order to bring about salvation to the world. The cross (which remember was a torture device) is central to the will of God, not only for the good of mankind, but also for the exaltation and glory of His Son, Jesus Christ. It was God’s will for Jesus to suffer. Sometimes it is God’s will for us to suffer, but always for our good and for His glory. God brought Job into this tragedy without his permission. Good thing He doesn’t ask us before He does it in our lives, because we know what we would answer. Some people get bitter at God for evil, but does that help to take it away at all? Bowing before God’s sovereignty brings joy and the best understanding that can be attained, albeit it may be imperfect, but we have the promise that He will give us peace that passes all understanding.  

  1. We must realize that our lives serve a much greater purpose than ourselves. 

After God suggested Job to Satan it says that, “Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.” (Job 1:9-11) Essentially God and Satan are disputing about whether Job will love and serve God only when God blesses him, or whether he will remain faithful to God even if God allows evil to strike his life. God and Satan are “betting” on Job’s reaction as if he is a contender in a ring, and he has no idea that he is even in this “competition.” There were certainly purposes of God for those who were on the earth, but the bigger and greater purposes for Job’s trials were actually in heaven, or in the spiritual realm. We are bound by flesh, and are therefore naturally limited in our perception and tend to focus only on what happens on the earth. Our lives are real, we are not puppets or chess pieces, but what was more important in the story of Job – the good of Job or the glory of God? Every situation that happens has at least three elements to it – the punishment of the wicked, the complete salvation of the righteous and the glory of God, but the glory of God overarches the other two. Justice on evil is good and helps mankind, but ultimately it serves a greater purpose – to magnify the justice and righteous indignation of God towards evil. Salvation serves a wonderful purpose for those who experience it, but still here the greater purpose is to bring attention to and glorify the profound mercy, grace and love of God!    

Did we mention yet that Jesus and His sufferings at the Cross are the best example of this??? 

The Cross was the grand, climactic showdown between God and Satan. Jesus struck Satan with a death blow, and how? By a cross and through death. “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” (Colossians 2:15) The picture I believe that is being painted is that after Jesus won the victory, his ascension and return into heaven was a triumphal victory procession, and among the parade was the devil himself (the arch enemy) bruised, beaten and chained up, for all the universe to see – angels, demons, saints and God himself! The ultimate tragedy of the ages – the suffering of Christ – became the catalyst through which God would most publicly shame the Devil, in the most awesome way!  

If we handle tragedy, by the grace of God, with joy, reservation, patience and hope; recognizing that our personal skirmish is in the context of the greater, comic, spiritual war; we will be accurately and powerfully declaring the glorious Gospel of God, not only for this world to see, but also for all those in the spiritual realm to see.

I hope that one or some of these lessons were an encouragement to you. Stay tuned for part 2…