“Why christians
suffer” pt. 1
by Gary Crandall
It was barely dawn as the women set about their grim task. The burial spices they had prepared the day and evening before constituted their precious cargo. Perhaps they tried to brace themselves for the awful sight which most assuredly awaited them: the scarred body of their dead Lord. What they found instead seemed for the moment even more disastrous. The stone was rolled away and the body of Jesus was gone. "Why?!" resounded in their already broken hearts.
Looking back on this resurrection event
through enlightened eyes, we see a glorious moment. We realize the victory that was won there. We celebrate this event dramatically every
Spring. We may have a hard time
identifying with the feeling of perplexity these women experienced.
A careful look at Luke 24:4 may help us
understand these women and ourselves better.
The verse explains what was happening inside their hearts and
minds. We are told: "And it
happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood
beside them in shining garments." We
are chiefly concerned with the word "perplexed." It is the English translation of a Greek
word that means literally "to be without a way." It was used in a variety of fashions to
indicate being at a loss, in doubt, or uncertain.[1] If we plug this idea back into the verse,
we begin to see the frustration these women experienced. Something terrible had happened and they
were at a loss. They were completely
"without a way" to explain the empty tomb. The overbearing question which loomed before them was why? why?
why?!
In my years as a pastor I have been
asked that question more than any other.
I have asked it myself more than once.
It is a frank and often frustrating admission on our part that we are
"without a way" to explain what has transpired in our lives.
In my first year as a pastor, the
husband and father of a family in the church died. They knew he was in heaven. They knew his suffering was
over. They knew God was with them. But
all that knowledge did not answer their "whys." Why did he have to die now? Why did he have to die in that manner?
Why did he have to leave them? Why did
God allow it to happen? Why did they
have to go through this? As I was
bombarded with these questions, I could only offer a lamentable "I don't
know" and wonder myself why such things happen. I felt like a man in a cave looking for a star. I knew that the answers, if they existed at
all, did not lie within me. Although I
had wondered "why" before, now my search began in earnest to discover
both the answer to "why" and the way to respond.
Is it okay to ask "why"? Before we answer that question, we need to
understand that it is not okay to question God's goodness or knowledge
or judgment or power. We must agree
with the Psalmist that "As for God, His way is perfect" (Psalm
18:30). It is not okay to
substitute knowledge for faith.
Ultimately, what is most important is not that we know but that God
knows. It is not okay if our
attitude is one of demanding instead of humble request. Our goal must be to bring into focus God's
purpose, not to call into question God's authority. Beyond such limits, however, the question "why" is not
only appropriate, it is often necessary.
Was it important for the women to know why the tomb was empty? Yes!
It was part of God's plan for them.
Notice that they had the privilege of being the first ones to proclaim
the risen Lord!
We may not always be able to understand
"why." That, however, is
based upon our own limitations and does not invalidate the question. In fact, since God often uses adversity as a
teaching tool, it is helpful to ask, "why am I experiencing this
difficulty?"
The quest before us is not for more
information. The quest is to know God better, to seek to discern His purpose,
and to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ" (2 Peter 3: 18).
In this section, we offer some possible
solutions to why Christians suffer. We
do not suggest that there are no other possibilities, but this list will cover
most situations. These suggested
reasons are not mutually exclusive.
That is, it is not a matter of narrowing
it down to one or the other. In fact,
it would be normal to find two and perhaps more of these possibilities in
operation at the same time. The
possible reasons for adversity, which we shall examine one at a time, include:
To each believer who travels through
the darkness of adversity, Christ has proclaimed Himself to be the One who came
"to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified" (Isaiah
61:3).
Although there is comfort in knowing
that others share in the same kind of sufferings we do, only the Word brings
hope and only Christ brings victory. Therefore, this book is not a compilation
of stories connected together with some verses but rather a presentation of
biblical truth illustrated by some stories. Our ultimate goal in this study is
to experience "the oil of joy for mourning… that He might be glorified."
As a new believer, I tried to witness
to a co-worker. As I sought to explain
that God loved this man, he shot back angrily, "if God is a God of love,
then why was my baby born with a cleft palate?" I was taken back. Being so inexperienced, I fell into the trap
of trying to justify God and get Him out of a jam. Quite honestly, I did not
know how to answer. I was frustrated by the dilemma. I could not deny the pain this man felt; I could not deny the
love and grace of God. "What was
the answer?" haunted me.
"If God is sovereign, then why was
my granddaughter born with a cleft palate?" This question, coming years after the first one, threw me in a
different way. For one thing, I was
struck by the similarity of both the ailment involved and the anger of the
speaker. More upsetting, however, was
that this question was being asked by an acquaintance of mine who was the pastor
of a large church!
Both of these men had experienced similar problems. Both were angry and hurt by what had happened to a precious baby girl in their lives. But there was one main difference which became important in solving this problem: the first man was a nonbeliever; the second man was a believer. The nonbeliever did not experience this tragedy just because of his nonbelief. The believer was not immune to this tragedy just because of his belief. What had befallen one had befallen the other. Why? Because we live in a sin-sick world with a cursed environment. This planet is cursed because of original sin and because we are all "by nature children of wrath, just as the others" (Ephesians 2:3).
This is a large part of the answer to
the question "why." It is
not, however, the answer to the problem (i.e., "what can be done
about it?"). That important topic
will be addressed later. For now, let's examine what God has to say about why
sin has such an effect on our lives and our world.
"The Lord God commanded the man,
saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it
you shall surely die" (Genesis
2:16-17). This death was brought about,
not because the tree of knowledge bore poisonous fruit, but because of the
disobedience associated with eating the fruit.[2] Sin leads to death. As James wrote: "Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;
and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death" (James 1:15). This death is first of all, in its most
drastic and horrible form, separation from God. This spiritual death has as its only cure and hope the blood of Christ.
The reader is referred to the entire second chapter of Ephesians and especially
verses 1, 5, and 12-13. Although the spiritual death is much more critical, it
is the physical death which is more the focus of this present study.
That physical death, as well as
spiritual death, was intended in Genesis 2:17 becomes readily apparent from
Genesis 3:17-19. Of particular interest, we note the last part of verse 19,
which reads: "…till you return to the ground, for out of it you were
taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return." Part of the curse upon Adam is that he would
one day die. At least part of the
reason God drove Adam out of the garden of Eden was to prohibit him from
partaking of the tree of life "lest he put out his hand and take also
of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" (Genesis 3:22). In fact, no one was allowed access to this
tree (Genesis 3:24). That Adam and his
near descendants lived for long periods of time (Adam lived 930 years, Seth 912
years, Enoch 905 years, etc.) was a testimony to the state of perfection in
which Adam was created. Also, whereas
we have a history of disease in our ancestry (consider for instance all of the
hereditary illnesses), Adam had none.
Ultimately, however, the concern is not how long we shall live, but the
fact that we shall die. The curse upon
Adam has fallen upon us. "Therefore, just as through one man sin
entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men,
because all sinned" (Romans 5: 12).
The curse has fallen on us all. None of us have the right to point an
angry finger at Adam "because all sinned." We have less right
to blame God for our troubles than an arsonist has to blame the fire chief for
the smoldering rubble of a building he torched.
Why do Christians suffer? One reason is that we live in a sin-filled
world. Our bodies bear the curse of
Adam and we are in the process of dying.
Dying in most cases will involve some sort of suffering. In addition, because we have imperfect
bodies, the genes we have received and those we transmit are corrupted. This results in defects, some of which are
obvious at birth (eleven toes, cleft palate, etc.) and others which take longer
to discern (lower IQ, poor vision, etc.).
We all have numerous defects. The
wonder is not that such defects exist, but that they are not more severe, obvious,
and prevalent. Also, we live in
relatively close proximity to many other sinners. Because of our sinful self-centered nature, we rob, murder,
terrorize, cheat, and in general bring destruction and pain upon one
another. Much of the suffering in this
world, both by Christians and non-Christians, comes from the hands of our
fellow sinful men and women.
An elderly widow who has her life's
savings consumed by a con artist knows this truth. A mother who loses a son in battle knows this truth. A husband who loses his wife in an accident
caused by a drunk driver knows this truth.
A child who is born with a serious defect because the mother was an
addict knows this truth. Through the
pervasiveness of sin, we are destroying one another.
It was not mankind alone that was cursed in the garden. This planet also felt the sting of sin. In Genesis 3: 17, God told Adam "cursed is the ground for your sake." This was not a temporary curse which the earth would outgrow. Indeed, all of creation still groans and will continue to suffer until the end when God will restore all things. The reader is referred to Romans 8: 18-23 and Acts 3:21. Among other things, we find the statement that "the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now" (Romans 8:21). The earth, in a sense, suffers. We can see in such events as earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, and hurricanes the self-destructive suffering of the earth. Part of man's curse is that he is self-destructive; the same is true for the earth. We know, of course, that these kinds of disasters affect much more than the earth itself. Man not only causes the earth to suffer (through pollution, for example), but the earth, being cursed, inflicts suffering upon man. Since this planet is cursed itself, and since it is occupied by sin-filled and cursed people, the natural consequence is adversity and suffering.
That natural disasters fall upon
Christians and non-Christians alike is evident both by experience and by the
explanation of our Lord that "He makes His sun rise on the evil and on
the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew
5:45). In this verse the emphasis is on
good things (sun and rain), but the principle still holds. We cannot expect a hurricane to hit only
pagans. We cannot expect a cold, or
virus, or cancer to attack only the unsaved.
We cannot expect an earthquake to divide the sheep from the goats or the
wheat from the tares. We can expect
trouble. Jesus said, "In the
world you will have tribulation" (John 16:33). Consider this personal
account by M. R. DeHaan II:
Following the terrible Mexico City
earthquake of 1985, live satellite coverage carried the news of Mexico's
anguish to a watching world. I remember sitting in front of our
television set stunned by the extent of the damage. Mountains of broken concrete filled the screen. Rescue workers dug frantically. Fires raged. Smoke and dust filled the air.
Then suddenly in the lower left-hand comer of the screen appeared the
words "Courtesy: SIN." The letters S-I-N actually stood for Spanish
International Network, but for a moment it meant something different to
me. It reminded me that in some way all
trouble, pain, and suffering can be traced back to the problem of sin.
Christians suffered in that earthquake
as well as non-Christians. Sin exacts a
high price and it is no respecter of persons.
The scenario is not a pleasant
one. God does not take sin
lightly. It was necessary for God, as
the holy Judge, to condemn sin and to pass the judgment. But the story does not end on a bitter note.
God not only judges perfectly; He loves perfectly. Even in the verse quoted above (John 16:33), the emphasis is
really on hope. In its entirety it says: "These things I have spoken to
you, that in Me you may have peace. In
the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, for I have overcome
the world." Wherever you find
the note of curse you find the song of hope and love. Going back to Romans 8, we find much to celebrate about. Yes, it says that the total creation is
cursed and we suffer along with it. But
verse 18 says that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." As verse 21 says, "the creation
itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God."
The theme of Romans 8:23-25 is that there is hope!
My sister, Kathy, was born with a
congenital disorder (Downs' Syndrome) which resulted in mental
retardation. I used to feel sorry for
her, but not anymore. She has family
and friends who love her. Her own love
and loyalty toward others could teach us much. She doesn't worry about the
national budget deficit, taxes, or the threat of nuclear war. She does cry, however, when someone else
gets hurt. She will one day depart from
this life and the imperfect frame in which she was procreated. She will, by God's grace and mercy, put on a
new, eternal and incorruptible body. All wounds will be healed on that glorious
day.
We live in a sin-sick world. It hurts, and so do we. But if an earthquake should destroy our
home, we know that we have a better home
awaiting us (John 14:2-3). If a flood
should wash away our business, we know that our treasure is in heaven (Matthew
6:25-34). If our friends should turn
their backs on us and perhaps even mistreat us, we know that our closest
friend, our precious Lord, will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews
13:5). Even if a spouse has broken a
promise of love and commitment, we know that God loves us with an everlasting
love (Jeremiah 31:3), and He is always faithful (2 Timothy 2:13). If our bodies should give way to disease and
death, we know that God has an immortal and incorruptible body awaiting us (1
Corinthians 15:53-54 and 2 Corinthians 5: 1), and that "We are
confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be
present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8).
The effects of both original sin and the pervasiveness of sin in general are so widespread as to account for, at least in part, every instance of adversity and suffering in this world. If you are suffering, it is because of sin. That is not to say that you are suffering as a direct result or consequence of your own personal sin, but you are suffering because sin entered the world and brought with it adversity, sickness, and death. Sin is the mother of all suffering. There may be (and often are) other reasons for the difficulties we experience, but sin is always a factor.
Let us not dwell with remorse on the
failure in the garden of Eden by the first Adam. Let us instead rejoice in the victory won in the garden of
Gethsemane by the second Adam. Let us
not gaze at the tree with the forbidden fruit, but let us fix our eyes upon the
tree of Calvary. Let us not look back
to the closed door of Eden, but let us look forward to the torn veil and the
open door to heaven. "In the world you shall have tribulation; but be
of good cheer, I have overcome the world. "
In the late 1700s a minister was riding through a section of the State of South Carolina where custom forbade innkeepers to take payment from the clergy who stayed with them. The minister in question took supper without prayer and ate breakfast without prayer or grace and was about to take his departure when his host presented him the bill. "Ah, sir, I am a clergyman," said the minister. The landlord responded, "But you came here, smoked like a sinner, ate and drank like a sinner, and slept like a sinner; and now, sir, you shall pay like a sinner." Some Christians have the mistaken idea that since we belong to God, and since Jesus already paid the penalty for all of our sins, then individual sins are not and cannot be held against us. In other words, God would not in any way hold us accountable for sins that Christ has already paid for. In this chapter we will examine two reasons why adversity and suffering may be directly related to individual sin. They are (1) the practical results of sin and (2) the chastisement of the Father.
What, however, shall we say to the
charge that since "Jesus paid it all" we have nothing to pay?
The answer is this: Jesus paid for all of our sins in a judicial sense. That is, we will not come under judgment for
our sins since we have (present tense) everlasting life, and will not come into
judgment (a promise for the future), but rather have passed (accomplished in
the past) from death into life (John 5:24).
The judicial penalty has been removed. It was paid when Christ was
nailed to the cross (see Colossians 2:14).
Imagine yourself in a human court of
law. Suppose that you had been arrested
for driving under the influence of alcohol and that you had wrecked your car
and injured your back. The judge fines
you $1,000. He then takes the money out
of his own pocket and pays the fine for you.
You are free to go. Judicially all has been paid and you do not need to
pay a cent. However, because of your
sinful actions, your car is still in need of repair and your back still
hurts. This is, admittedly, a faulty
analogy; but perhaps we can at least get the general idea. The judicial payment for our sin has been
paid in full. The Judge paid it
Himself. There may be, however,
"side effects" which can be costly.
We can be our own worst enemy. When things are going wrong, perhaps the
culprit who is ruining our life is the one we see in the mirror. God may be allowing or even causing us to
suffer as a direct and practical result of our sin. We should not expect otherwise.
Anyone who abuses drugs or alcohol, whether he is a Christian or not,
runs a great risk with his life and health.
You might be tempted to think "yes, but I would never do
that." Maybe our sin is not so
obvious, but it may be just as harmful.
Our sins may be like little stones which, when piled one on top of the
other, eventually come crashing down on us with extensive damage. The law of sowing and reaping has not been
overturned.
Sin and its cost to our lives can be very deceiving. Consider how an Eskimo kills a wolf. He first coats his knife blade with blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of blood, and then another. As each succeeding smear of blood freezes to the blade of the knife, the Eskimo adds an additional coating until the blade is concealed by a substantial thickness of frozen blood. Then the knife is buried in the frozen ground with the blade up. The marauding wolf follows his sensitive nose to the scent and tastes the fresh frozen blood. He licks it. More and more vigorously the wolf licks the bait until the razor sharp edge is bare. Feverishly now he licks harder. Throughout the arctic night, so great becomes his craving for blood that he does not notice the sting of the naked blade on his own tongue, nor that the blood he is now drinking is his own. His carnivorous appetite craves more and more — until the dawn finds him dead in the snow. We would not set out to ruin our lives or even bring suffering into our lives anymore than the wolf set out to commit suicide. But it can happen and we must be on guard, watching even the small things. As James wrote, "even so the tongue is a little member… and defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell" (James 3:5-6).
When the State of Washington first passed a law taxing the retail sales of gasoline, the legislature slipped up on one very important detail: they forgot to attach a penalty to the violation of the law. At first dealers began collecting and paying the tax, a very small one comparatively, but when they discovered the error in the law, they refused to comply. The legislature then had to be called back into special session in order to attach a penalty to the violation of the tax law. If there was no penalty for not paying income tax, how many would do it? If there was no penalty for stealing, how long would stores remain in business? We need laws and we need penalties to encourage our compliance. God sometimes allows us to suffer the consequences of our sin in order to deter us, warn us, and chastise us for our own good.
The result of sin not only affects our lives, it affects
those around us as well. We may be
causing others to suffer as a consequence of our sin. A good example of this is an incident in the life of Abraham as
recorded in Genesis 20. The situation,
in brief, was this: Abraham knew Sarah was beautiful and that others, including
nearby King Abimelech, would be willing to kill him in order to get Sarah.
Abraham told Sarah to lie about being his wife. Abimelech took Sarah, God
threatened Abimelech with death, Abimelech scolded Abraham and returned
Sarah. As we look closer at the details
of the story, the pervasiveness of sin's affect becomes clear. Indeed, we can see five different levels or
groups that sin affects. First, sin
affects those we don't even know.
According to verses 17-18, "the Lord had closed up all the wombs
of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife." That list even included servants (v.
17)! Abraham had no intention of
harming Abimelech's servants when he lied.
You don't mean to harm anyone else, but your sin may touch the lives of
people you don't even know.
Second,
sin affects those we barely know. It is
likely that Abraham and Abimelech would have barely known one another. Abimelech could not have known Abraham well
since the lie about Sarah was not immediately apparent. Abimelech was involved and did in fact take
Sarah. God's response to Abimelech was,
"Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken,
for she is a man's wife" (v. 3).
Abimelech protested. He
maintained (and rightly so!) that he was innocent because he had been lied to
(vv. 4-6). Despite his innocence
because of ignorance, Abimelech suffered.
This is seen by verse 17 which says that "Abraham prayed to God
and God healed Abimelech."
This was likely an illness which would have resulted in Abimelech's
death (see v. 7). Further, I believe
this illness is what God had used to keep Abimelech away from Sarah. In verse 6 God tells Abimelech, "I
also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch
her." In this case, the
illness was an evident display of God's grace to Abimelech as well as to Sarah
and Abraham. Even so, Abimelech did suffer
and he was ill because of Abraham's sin.
Our sin can affect those we barely know without our even realizing what
is going on in their life or why.
Sin also affects a third group of
people: those we know well. Here I am
thinking of the affect on Isaac. Isaac
was not even born yet but perhaps he grew up hearing the story. It became public knowledge (v. 8), and there
are always those who delight in reminding others of their sins. There is an amazing parallel in Genesis
26:6-11. Isaac dwelt in the same place
(Gerar), feared the same problem (being killed so others could take his wife),
involved a king by the same name (Abimelech-though not necessarily the same
person since it was a title like Pharaoh) and resorted to the same lie ("she
is my sister"). Where did
Isaac learn that? He got it from
dad. If you continue in your sin, it is
likely your children will too. That
does not reduce their guilt; it increases yours. What do your children see concerning your attitude and
performance in such areas as prayer, worship, church, service, giving,
witnessing, trusting God, responding to trials and responding to
temptations? What you do will affect
those you care about. Do you want them to pay a price for your actions?
The fourth group is comprised of those
who are closest to us. In the case of Abraham in Genesis 20, that would have
been Sarah. Abraham placed Sarah in a
no-win situation. If she told the
truth, she would have to be disobedient to her husband and run the risk of
seeing him put to death. If she did not
tell the truth, she would, of course, be guilty of lying (which she was, v. 5)
and might be taken anyway (which she was, v. 2). Sarah was caught in the middle and she lost. Only the grace and intervention of God
spared her worse humiliation and suffering.
Our sins will very often affect those who are closest to us. Whether it is something long term (like an
affair) or something short lived (like blowing up at home because of a problem
at work), our spouse and others who are close to us will bear the brunt of our
sin.
The last group contains just one
person, the individual himself.
According to verse 13, Abraham had a continual problem in this area of
his life. We know there was at least one
other occurrence of similar events (see Genesis 12:10-20). Abraham had predetermined to respond in this
way instead of trusting God. Each time he followed his own predetermined
course, he failed. It was always also an incident which brought
shame upon himself (Genesis 20:8-9) and discredited and dishonored the God he
loved and trusted. Abraham caused shame
and reproach for his own self and multiplied unknown problems for many
others. We not only suffer from the
practical results of our sins, but we may cause many others to suffer as
well. Like a virus, the contamination
and damage of sin often spreads from one person to another without notice. We get someone else's virus and another
unsuspecting party receives ours. It is not our intention to spread the virus
anymore than it is our intention to spread the results of sin; it is simply a
natural and tragic consequence to be reckoned with.
Our individual sin may also result in
some form of suffering due to our heavenly Father's chastisement. He is faithful to chastise us. We are chastised because He loves us and is
concerned about our spiritual growth and development. We must remember that to God our physical and material well-being
are important, but our spiritual well-being is more important. Consider the words of Hebrews 12:5-11:
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives." If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous: nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Our Father wants the "peaceable
fruit of righteousness" to be evident in our lives. For that to happen there will be times when,
due to sin, we feel the Father's chastening hand. The chastening may come in
various forms. Perhaps for one person
it would be the sense of the lack of fellowship with God (1 John 1:6). For another person it might be the loss of
material things, especially if they are being placed above God in
importance. For yet another person it
might be the loss of health. Misusing
the Lord's table (1 Cor. 11:27-34) is an example of some extreme
chastening. The sickness spoken of in
James 5: 13-20 suggests that sin might be the root of the problem. It is, at any rate, to be considered, and we
are told to "confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one
another, that you may be healed" (James 5:16).
The antidote for chastening is
confession. "If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
The Father's goal is not to hurt us, but to enable us to grow in Christ,
to have fellowship with God and man, and to live a life that is a proper
testimony to our gracious Lord.
Before we pass on to another section,
it is important to address a misunderstanding some people have concerning the
relationship of sin and sickness. There
are those who maintain that if a person is sick it is because they have
sinned. That may be true. There are, however, other
possibilities. When Jesus and his
disciples passed by a certain blind man who had been blind from birth, the
disciples wanted to know "who sinned, this man or his parents, that he
was born blind?" (John 9:2). They were simply voicing a common
misconception of their day. To them,
the cause of this man's blindness was directly related to personal sin. The only question was who had
sinned. Jesus' answer set the record
straight: "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works
of God should be revealed in him" (John 9:3). Jesus was not saying they were sinless but
that the blindness was not related to their sin in any way. We must remember
also that Christ suffered, yet He never personally sinned (1 Peter 3: 18). We may suffer because of our personal sin,
but that does not mean every instance of suffering is related to our sin. I have known men and women who grew closer
to God as they aged and yet suffered more.
It is not likely that they suffered more because they sinned more. In fact, the opposite appears to be the
case: they suffered more, even though they sinned less. The suffering had little or nothing to do
with personal sin, but much to do with sin in general (see reason 1) and
perhaps other reasons which we shall examine in later chapters.
God is always faithful, even when we
are not (2 Timothy 2: 13). God does not
give up on us. He continues to work in our lives even when we sin, and we can
be "confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in
you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).
g
Look
for part 2 in our next journal as the author presents three more possible
reasons for adversity.
Taken from Gold Under Fire, by Gary Crandall, MBH,
1992. Used with permission by the
author. Further reproduction prohibited
without written permission from the author.
The author has asked us to let you know that the book is currently being
reprinted and will be available for purchase through him. His address is Gary Crandall, 15010 Blackbob
Road, Olathe, KS 66062. The cost per
book, including shipping and handling, is $15.00.