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Tag Archives: Suffering

Hebrews 10:32-34

31 Jan

32 Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. 33 Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. 34 You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.

Hebrews 10:32-34

Dear God, I am in a position of privilege, and I have friends who are not and suffering. What shall I do? What will be my response?

This was the New Testament reading for many church denominations today including the Catholic church. As I sat down to pray to you this morning, I was trying to think of a passage where Jesus comes to someone else’s defense. Maybe the woman who anointed his feet (probably the best example). The children who the disciples tried to keep away. To a lesser extent, some of the people he healed who were harassed by the Pharisees. But then I decided to check out the Catholic church’s daily readings for January 31, and I came across this passage. It really works well.

I don’t like bullies, but I am also not necessarily good at spontaneously responding to them. I need a plan. Yesterday morning, a friend was in tears. They told me they had been in a local shop and a customer told them they better get out because ICE was coming for them, and then they called my friend a racial slur. My friend happens to have been born and raised here, has a college degree, and works in a job serving the community. They are a great person by any measure. While they cried, all I could do was cry with them and speak truth into them. All of the good things I know about them and how much they mean to the community and to individuals they love. Frankly, I was surprised at my own tears, but I was actually grateful for them. I was grateful to know my heart is still capable of empathy.

Then that left me with the question for them and for me: What do we do the next time we experience something like that? For them, the next time someone does something similar to them. For me, as a privileged white man in the middle of Texas who will probably not experience racial discrimination on that scale, when I witness it. What will I do? And is there anything else you want me to do in the meantime? Is there a way I can make this pain count and not let it be wasted?

That takes me back to this passage. The author of Hebrews is talking about persecution because of you, but persecution is persecution. Even if my friend had been exactly what this person was purporting them to be–undocumented–it would have been no justification for that behavior. Those words. That venom. Verse 33 says, “…and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things.” That’s me now. How do I help others? What price am I willing to pay? What am I prepared to do when, not if, I see this happen to someone? How much will I risk for them?

Father, we are so precious to you, and yet we see throughout all of our known history, human life is cheap to us. While there are natural disasters and diseases that kill us before old age can, too many people die at the hands of other humans. It’s incredible. As an American, I can sit here on this side of the world and not think about the human suffering and mass deaths in Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Russia, different parts of Africa, etc. They are just numbers in my mind. I’ve become numb to it. But now that I can put a name and a face to the human suffering, it hurts to see human life, the human life you’ve created and love so much, treated so cheaply. Help me to see each soul around me. Help me to love the abused and the abuser. Help me to know how to love the soul that is scared and help the soul that is so lost that they feel the need to inflict pain on another soul. And help me to lean into you. My heart hurt yesterday. I was sad. I was angry. I still am. But help me to be exactly who you need me to be for your kingdom’s coming into this world’s sake as well as my own.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2025 in Hebrews

 

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Ecclesiastes 4

13 Oct

4 Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless. 2 So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living. 3 But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.

4 Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

5 “Fools fold their idle hands,
    leading them to ruin.”

6 And yet,

“Better to have one handful with quietness
    than two handfuls with hard work
    and chasing the wind.”

7 I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun. 8 This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.

9 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. 11 Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? 12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

13 It is better to be a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who refuses all advice. 14 Such a youth could rise from poverty and succeed. He might even become king, though he has been in prison. 15 But then everyone rushes to the side of yet another youth who replaces him. 16 Endless crowds stand around him, but then another generation grows up and rejects him, too. So it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4

Dear God, there are three main topics in this chapter.

Human suffering: This is the one that is hard for so many of us. “How can a loving God allow such things to happen?” That’s the question a lot of unbelievers (and believers) ask. I think about the women who are trapped in sex trafficking, or any human trafficking. I think of children in abusive situations. Or the women. I think of the people who are sick with diseases that painful such as ALS. Horrible. What about those who are in war zones? Those who are born and live in dangerous neighborhoods? Now, there is some of this that is our responsibility to remedy. It’s my responsibility. The trick is, how? What can I do? If I gave $10,000 to a charity that works in this area, would it free one person from slavery? We give money to a local domestic violence shelter. To a food pantry. To all kinds of nonprofits. But the suffering is still out there. I don’t have any great answers for this except to say that sin is in the world and we, your creations, are capable of terrible atrocities against each other. I’m sorry for any role I have played or inadvertently continue to play in human trafficking. For example, I have heard that a lot of chocolate comes from cocoa beans harvested in Africa with slave labor. When I buy my favorite candy bar, am I contributing to their victimhood? Some buy drugs that fuel drug cartels. Some watch porn that is filmed with trafficking victims. There are all kinds of ways in which we can be complicit and even encouraging of these great sins.

Alone: There’s a line from Ted Lasso (spoiler alert) in which he says there is something worse that being sad. There is being alone and being sad. I am fortunate that I am not alone. You have given me a wife who I truly enjoy and love. You have given me a few close male friends. And you have given me good coworkers. I am the opposite of alone. But some are not. Help me to be sensitive to those who are alone, and show me how to minister to them.

Wise vs. Foolish: When I think about decision making and the best ways to do it, I think of two things. First, is the friend who tried hiking the Appalachian Trail alone. He injured himself three days in, but he told me later that after two days he found his decision making was compromised because he didn’t have anyone to bounce ideas off of. The other is an exercise we did in a team building day at work when the leader gave us a problem to solve individually. Then he put us in small groups to solve the problem. Then he brought the whole group together to solve the problem. The small group and then the whole group came up with answers that were better than the individual. In this way, this is a continuation of the concept of alone. And some people can be surrounded by people and still be alone. Insecurity can drive it. Arrogance. Hubris. And maybe the insecurity drives the arrogance and hubris. Either way, I am always better when I take input from others.

Father, remind me to be willing to let go of the foolish. Help me to embrace the people you have put around me. Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil. And show me how to 1.) alleviate the suffering around me and 2.) not contribute to any suffering.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 13, 2024 in Ecclesiastes

 

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Job 38:1-21, 40:1-5

04 Oct

38 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:

2 “Who is this that questions my wisdom
    with such ignorant words?
3 Brace yourself like a man,
    because I have some questions for you,
    and you must answer them.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
    Tell me, if you know so much.
5 Who determined its dimensions
    and stretched out the surveying line?
6 What supports its foundations,
    and who laid its cornerstone
7 as the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?

8 “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries
    as it burst from the womb,
9 and as I clothed it with clouds
    and wrapped it in thick darkness?
10 For I locked it behind barred gates,
    limiting its shores.
11 I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.
    Here your proud waves must stop!’

12 “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear
    and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
13 Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,
    to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
14 As the light approaches,
    the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal;
    it is robed in brilliant colors.
15 The light disturbs the wicked
    and stops the arm that is raised in violence.

16 “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come?
    Have you explored their depths?
17 Do you know where the gates of death are located?
    Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
18 Do you realize the extent of the earth?
    Tell me about it if you know!

19 “Where does light come from,
    and where does darkness go?
20 Can you take each to its home?
    Do you know how to get there?
21 But of course you know all this!
For you were born before it was all created,
    and you are so very experienced!

40 Then the Lord said to Job,

2 “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty?
    You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?”

Job Responds to the Lord

3 Then Job replied to the Lord,

4 “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers?
    I will cover my mouth with my hand.
5 I have said too much already.
    I have nothing more to say.”

Job 38:1-21, 40:1-5

Dear God, this might be one of my favorite things in the whole Bible. I remember the first time I tried to read Job on my own I had a really hard time because some of the things Job, his wife, and his friends were saying seemed so reasonable. Why had things gone so poorly for him? Didn’t he deserve better? The whole thing is like a petulant child throwing a fit and then you coming in and setting the child straight. And Job was really suffering, so I’m not trying to make light of that or his complaining. I get it. I’m a complainer too. I can get roughed up a little and then feel sorry for myself. But we rarely see you deal with someone one-on-one like this in real time. We don’t see you bluntly correct an individual like this. We’ve seen you speak through the prophets and warn groups of people. We’ve seen you correct Moses for an act of disobedience. But to see you just let Job have it for three chapters is really quite something.

The thing that helped me turn the corner on this was the Introduction of a commentary on Job by David McKenna from the Mastering the Hold Testament series (Lloyd J. Ogilvie, General Editor). In it, he listed the six levels of faith as developed by James Fowler and his book The Stages of Faith. Quoting McKenna:

  • Intuitive-projective faith is associated with a child’s faith, based upon fantasy.
  • Mythical-literal faith is the family faith of the early school years, which is sustained by moral rules and either/or thinking.
  • Synthetic-conventional faith is an adolescent faith that conforms to the tradition of the community and creates the “kind” of person of faith whom it models or rejects.
  • Individuative-reflective faith is the faith of the young adult who is capable of critical thinking, independent reflection, and dialectical reasoning.
  • Conjunctive faith is a mid-life and old-age faith that integrates self-identity with a comprehensive world view to see the order, coherence, and meaning of life in order to serve and be served.
  • Universalizing faith is the rare faith of a world citizen who incarnates a transcendent vision into a disciplined, active, and self-giving life.

According the McKenna, Job opens with him and his friends at the synthetic-conventional level of faith. They all believe the same thing about you and part of that belief is the idea that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. Frankly, it is probably where the disciples are when they first meet Jesus. It is evident by this story from John 9:1-2: 9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” Jesus told them that neither is true: “3It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.” So Job and his friends start here, but the road of suffering take Job all of the way to universalizing faith.

I’ve gone deeper down the rabbit hole on this than I intended, but I just love it so much. A book that totally confused me and eluded me was brought to life by McKenna and his application of Fowler’s work. One thing I notice about Paul is that he seems to get to this level of faith very quickly. In Acts 20:24 he says that his life is worth nothing to him. He only lives to complete the task you have given him. Then he goes on to suffer and see the opportunity in it without complaining. And there was amazing opportunity in Paul’s suffering. I am probably sitting here this morning because of Paul’s suffering.

Father, first, I don’t know what suffering is. I have sorrows. I have things that bring me to tears. But I have not truly suffered. So I want to just start by acknowledging that I mainly speak of this out of ignorance and from an academic standpoint. Watching Job go through real suffering and then be so chastened by you is also very sobering. And I don’t want to invite suffering. I’m not stupid. But I do, right here, right now, submit my life to you. It is worth nothing to me. If only I may finish the race and complete the tasks you give me. Help me to know exactly what those tasks are.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 4, 2024 in Job

 

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The Value in Suffering

03 Oct

The son of one of the nouveau riche, Francis of Assisi, was raised as a spoiled and privileged young man. Imprisoned for a year for being on the losing side of a war with a rival city, his friends noticed a change. He found a little abandoned church and spent whole days there praying. He renounced his inheritance and all claims on his family. 

From “The Inconvenient Elder” by Fred Smith

Dear God, I read Fred Smith’s blog this morning and, while this wasn’t the point of his peace at all, something struck me. It was a follow-up thought to a conversation I had with a friend yesterday. Suffering is an important tool that you use to teach us and help us grow.

In Francis’s case, I knew that he had renounced his family’s wealth out of devotion to you, but I didn’t know that his transformation included a year in prison. Apparently, he got arrested being part of a military expedition (prisoner of war?) and this changed his life. In his older life, I’m sure he regretted his participation in the military expedition, but I also wonder if he was ultimately grateful for the fruit of that suffering. It changed his life.

Isn’t it funny? We all know that the only way we grow is through struggle and yet we do everything we can to avoid it personally, and our temptation is to interfere with our children’s lives so that they will avoid it too. I’m as guilty as anyone. Maybe not as much in my personal life, but certainly at work. I like to build a very comfortable, low-stress environment, sometimes at the expense of expanding our services. I talk a good game, but does my reality reflect what I say I believe?

Father, make me sensitive to any action you’re calling me to. Maybe it will mean struggle for me. Maybe you’re calling our nonprofit to grow and serve more, but my fear keeps it small. Maybe I let my ego and desire to get the approval of others keep me from pushing the envelope. I’m sorry. Give me your vision and the courage to follow it. And please bless my path, not for my comfort, but so that others will be served from you working in my life.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 3, 2019 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Emails to God – What’s With All Of The Suffering Verses? (1 Peter 4:12-19)

10 Aug

12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And,

“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

Dear God, I know I sound like a broken record on this, but I seem to keep coming across verses that remind me that suffering is not outside of your plan for me. It’s funny because I think I know that, but then you apparently keep bringing these passages to me so it makes me wonder if I still haven’t gotten it.

So, yes, I’ve been going through some trials lately, both at home and at work. Compared to what other people experience in life, however, I am hard-pressed to classify it as real suffering. And I’m certainly not suffering for your name or anything like that—I’m just going through normal life stuff. But I guess the question is, do I feel sorry for myself and angry with you for my suffering, or do I just accept it as part of the journey and move forward. I thought I was doing the latter, but perhaps I am doing the former more than I know.

Father, all I ask for myself is that you give me your wisdom, discernment, and peace. Whatever else you need to do to or through me to accomplish your will, so be it. You are my God. I am your servant. I already have it better than I deserve.

 
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Posted by on August 10, 2012 in My Utmost for His Highest Scripture of the Day

 

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Emails to God – Suffering for the Lord (Luke 1:26-38)

08 Aug

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”

38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Dear God, it seems to me that Mary was put in a really tough position here. I realize that she has been revered since her death, but her earthly life was not easy. It seems to me that there are a lot of instances in the Bible when you feel like the good of the many outweighs the good of the one. Noah’s call was not an easy one to follow. Nor was Moses’. Generations of Israelites suffered in slavery. Ruth suffered until she married Boaz (which eventually produced David’s lineage). The apostles lived difficult lives. Even Jesus lived a challenging life and suffered a terrible death. And then there are Mary and Joseph. They were poor, faced being ostracized from their community, traveled during pregnancy, gave birth in a manger, ran from Herod in the middle of the night to Egypt, relocated a couple of times after that, etc. It wasn’t an easy call.

In looking at these stories I wonder why we, as American Christians, sometimes feel like our suffering should be mitigated or minimized. I think we have created this idea of a God who wants each of us, individually, to be cozy in our homes. I know that thought is certainly appealing to me. But is it consistent with what we read in the Bible? Did our heroes live easy lives. Even David had to fight wars and face insurrection from his children. Your prophets were rejected. Stephen was stoned.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I need to be careful about what exactly it is I expect from you and our relationship. I need to be careful about not expecting to be able to look back on my life and evaluating its success based on whether or not it looks good on the surface (e.g., did I have a good career, did I make a lot of money, did I live a long time, did I retire well (and young), did I live in comfort, did my family live free of disease, etc.). You haven’t promised me any of these things, and I have no right to expect them from you. And if you do give me these things then my first question should be, God, what is it you want me to do with this blessing?

Father, I confess to you that there are times when I start to worry about my career and wonder if I should be accomplishing more (and making more money). I wonder if I am starting to get to an age where I will be too old to get that one great job that will set me up for retirement. As my children near the end of high school I start to wonder about my legacy through them and how I will be perceived as a parent through their accomplishments. These are all sins because they take my eyes off of you and turn them to myself. They take my eyes off of today and turn them to tomorrow. They ignore the idea that my suffering might be for the good of so many more. So I will start the way Mary started. “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.”

 
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Posted by on August 8, 2012 in My Utmost for His Highest Scripture of the Day

 

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Emails to God – 6 Levels of Faith (Mastering the New Testament: Job)

30 Jan

Mastering the Old Testament – Job (written by David McKenna)

Dear God, okay, I am going to do things a little differently for a while. I am on vacation and I feel compelled to spend some time really digging into the book of Job. Frankly, it has always daunted me a little because its structure is too complicated to just journal through like I normally do. This is literature, and it is to be contemplated and studied as such.

So, much like I did in high school when I had to read something that I feared would overwhelm me, I am using a commentary to help me. It is from Word’s Communicator’s Commentary Series, and all I have read so far is the Introduction, but it is great. There was one part of the Introduction that I want to pray through this morning because I think it will lay the groundwork for the rest of the book.

I am just going to shamelessly quote about half of a page here:

Obviously, faith is not static. Compatible with other theories of human development, a person either grows, plateaus, or regresses in faith as the circumstances of age, experience, and events change. [James] Fowler [from his book The Stages of Faith] has also devised a helpful scale of faith development with six sequential stages:

  1. Intuitive-projective faith is associated with a child’s faith, based upon fantasy and imagination.
  2. Mythical-literal faith is the family faith of the early school years, which is sustained by moral rules and either/or thinking.
  3. Synthetic-conventional faith is an adolescent faith that conforms to the tradition of the community and creates the “kind” of person of faith whom it models or rejects.
  4. Individuative-reflective faith is the faith of the young adult who is capable of critical thinking, independent reflection, and dialectical reasoning.
  5. Conjunctive faith is a mid-life and old-age faith that integrates self-identity with a comprehensive world view to see the order, coherence, and meaning of life in order to serve and be served.
  6. Universalizing faith is the rare faith of a world citizen who incarnates a transcendent vision into a disciplined, active, and self-giving life.

Wow, there is a lot of meat here, and I feel like I need to dig into each one and be able to understand and recall each one frontwards and backwards in order to move through the rest of this book. So let me at least try to start by writing a definition for each one in my own words.

  1. Intuitive-projective faith is something that you believe without facts or knowledge. Your intuition tells you it is true, whether it is nor not. Santa Claus is an example of this. So are the Bible stories like the burning bush, the walls ofJericho, etc. You hear it and no real explanation is necessary because you aren’t in to thinking about things critically yet.
  2. Mythical-literal faith is what you pick up from your family’s structure. It includes your family’s values (what foods you eat, how much TV and what kinds of TV you watch. It’s pretty black and white. There is little room for grey area. There is always a right and a wrong answer, and your family structure helps to define those right and wrong answers.
  3. Synthetic-conventional faith is a little more mature than Mythical-literal in that it takes into account the social norms of the surrounding community, but there still isn’t an independent interpretation of beliefs the group has. For example, is homosexuality a sin or not? One can let their community form this opinion for them instead of studying, contemplating, and putting together their own opinions and beliefs on the issue.
  4. Individuative-reflective faith is the beginning of independent thought—hence, “individuative”. This person is starting to critically analyze some of their own long-held beliefs. For example, “Is scripture truly inerrant, or are there inconsistencies with which I must deal?”
  5. Conjunctive faith involves having to know yourself and then adding life experience and knowledge of the world to that so that it can inform your faith. Individuative-reflective faith can still be idealistic because it is often ignorant of experience. Conjunctive faith is the coming together of all aspects of the human experience.
  6. Universalizing faith is where it all comes together into a life that is, on the one had, at peace, and, on the other hand, driven by faith in God and hearing His call regardless of the personal circumstances.

So knowing those levels of faith, I will hopefully be a little more prepared to experience Job’s faith walk along with the faith walks of his wife and friends. Where are each of them at any given time? Where am I in my life right now? Have I reached #6. Am I still at #3? I guess that’s what the writer of Job wanted me to figure out.

 
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Posted by on January 30, 2012 in Job

 

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