You Do Not Suffer Alone

King David penned the following lines for his song to the LORD: “My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them” (Psalm 139:15-16 NASB). To say that God has ordained in His book all the days ordained for each one of us includes whatever trials you and I might face.

Some of us disciples and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ may never be faced with physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual anguish. Many of us may never experience much pain on these levels in any relative sense. Death is not natural, but at one time or another, we will all face the death of a loved one. Disastrous weather is not natural, but at one time or another we may be faced with the destructive force of weather, or know someone who has.

If any Christian has not experienced suffering of any kind, however, then he or she is at least called to suffer with the rest of Christ’s body who are experiencing suffering or persecution or trauma (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:26). Because we have been forewarned, Peter writes, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12 NASB).

We are immediately reminded of Job. In one moment he lost his means of income and transportation (Job 1:14-15), his means of food and an offering to God, his employees (Job 1:15-16), and all of his children (Job 1:17). Remember, Job did not know that Satan had talked with the LORD about his integrity. All Job knew was that all at once his life had come crumbling down around him. How would you have reacted?

Job replies: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job. 1:21 NASB). When Job’s wife tempted him to abandon his integrity -- to curse God and die (Job 2:9) -- he replies: “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks [cf. Psalm 53:1]. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10 NASB). Though Job complains about his troubles (his “friends” being no help whatsoever), he never abandons God.

However, Job was convinced that the LORD had become his enemy. So, the LORD answers Job in chapters 38-41. He does not, however, give Job a reason for the suffering he had to endure. God is sovereign, and He owes us no reason for the things which He either ordains or permits us to experience. What He calls for is our trust in Him. He knows what He is doing. He is not held accountable to anyone.

When Greg Harris, former Professor of Bible Exposition at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, was a pastor at Berwyn Baptist Church in Maryland, the last thing he expected to suffer was the death of twins in his wife’s womb. How does one explain such suffering? Losing your children must be an inexpressible experience. Yet, he and his wife also experienced a peace that surpasses understanding or comprehension (cf. Phil. 4:7). Dr. Harris writes:

I had stepped into the ever-expanding society of mourners and sufferers. I had rarely been there before and never on this level. It is not a realm you enter voluntarily. Still in the midst of my overwhelming grief the underlying support and love of God were evident in a manner I never knew existed. Although the death of the twins was the greatest sorrow I had ever experienced, I could not break through the quarry rock of God’s support for me. I existed in a composite of grief and grace, mourning and peace, heartache and hope -- and I have never felt so infinitely loved by God as I did during this time.¹

Two years passed when Dr. Harris, having experienced such emotional grief and sorrow, would also experience physical suffering. He experienced crippling, severe rheumatoid arthritis throughout his body. The pain at times was incomprehensible. After experiencing sorrow and suffering, he expected God to bless him with new ministry opportunities. However, what he received next was a wilderness experience. Dr. Harris explains:

Far from having suffering and trials ending, they intensified as I unexpectedly stepped into the wilderness. The wilderness is a domain that I did not know existed. I was, however, learning. . . .

The wilderness is not a place as much as it is a condition. Nonetheless, it is quite real. Often we will seek to be with God away from the distractions and problems of our everyday life. We call this a retreat, or to some, communion with God. What makes the wilderness the wilderness is the appearance of the lack of God’s presence. It is that baffling condition of going from spiritual light into spiritual darkness, and often you do not realize you are there until you are in its midst.²

Subsequent to Jesus’ baptism and filling with the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:21-22; 4:1), the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness (Luke 4:1). He was there “for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days; and when they had ended, He became hungry” (Luke 4:1-2 NASB). If ever there was a man who experienced sorrow and suffering, it was Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Isaiah prophesied that He would be a “man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3), and that His appearance would be “marred more than any man” (Isaiah 52:14).

Jesus knew suffering. The author of Hebrews informs us that “we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15 NASB). This truth should be greatly comforting to all followers of Jesus Christ, for in our trials, sufferings, persecutions, pain, and torment, we can “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16 NASB). Run to the One who knows all about suffering and find solace in Him. You do not suffer alone.

__________

¹ Greg Harris, The Cup and the Glory: Lessons on Suffering and the Glory of God (The Woodlands, TX: Kress Christian Publications, 2006), 12.

² Ibid., 14-15.