Five Purposes for Suffering

For those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

We seldom know the micro reasons for our sufferings, but the Bible does give us faith-sustaining macro reasons.

It is good to have a way to remember some of these so that, when we are suddenly afflicted, or have a chance to help others in their affliction, we can recall some of the truths God has given us to help us not lose hope.

Here is one way to remember: 5 R’s (or if it helps, just pick three and try to remember them).

The macro purposes of God in our sufferings include:

Repentance: Suffering is a call for us and others to turn from treasuring anything on earth above God. Luke 13:4–5:

“Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Reliance: Suffering is a call to trust God and not the life-sustaining props of this world. 2 Corinthians 1:8–9:

We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

Righteousness: Suffering is the discipline of our loving heavenly Father so that we come to share his righteousness and holiness. Hebrews 12:6, 10–11:

“The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” . . . He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Reward: Suffering is working for us a great reward in heaven that will make up for every loss here a thousandfold. 2 Corinthians 4:17:

This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

Finally, Reminder: Suffering reminds us that God sent his Son into the world to suffer so that our suffering would not be God’s condemnation but his purification. Philippians 3:10:

. . . that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings.

So, it is understandable that the Christian heart would cry out in suffering, “Why?” since we don’t know most of the micro reasons for our suffering — why now, why this way, why this long? But don’t let that ignorance of the micro reasons cause you to overlook the massive help God gives in his word by telling us his macro purposes for us.

“You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11).

John Piper 

Bible Study

Job 1:21-22

[21] And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

[22] In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Job 2:10

[10] But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Job 42:10

[10] And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Exodus 34:6-8

[6] The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, [7] keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” [8] And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.

Seeking God for the Wrong Reasons

Pray Over This

“Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”

Acts 8:22-23

Ponder This

Do you know why so many churches have trouble? They are inhabited by bitter people who are in bondage. These people have met religion, but they’ve never met Jesus. They have never been broken at the foot of the cross. They’ve never laid their pride in the dust. They have come into a church, not for what they can give, but for what they can get. 

The Spirit of God is not in these people, and they are troublemakers everywhere they go because their religion has never satisfied them and it never can. They are disillusioned, they have unfulfilled desires, they got into religion for the wrong reason, and they never have satisfaction. Everywhere they go, they’re like Simon, full of bitterness and full of bondage. As Jesus reminded, those who know Him are not characterized most by bondage but by freedom.

What are some wrong reasons people might seek God today?

How can you know you are seeking Jesus for the right reasons?

Practice This

Make a list of your most prominent desires right now. Assess if these things point to a life that honors God or one that seeks selfish gain.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Prevailing Grace

“I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners.” (Isaiah 57:18)

Learn your doctrine from biblical texts. It stands up better that way, and feeds the soul.

For example, learn the doctrine of irresistible grace from texts. In this way, you will see that it does not mean grace cannot be resisted; it means that when God chooses, he can and will overcome that resistance.

In Isaiah 57:17–19, for instance, God chastises his rebellious people by striking them and hiding his face: “Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry” (verse 17).

But they did not respond with repentance. Rather, they kept backsliding. They resisted: “But he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart” (verse 17).

So grace can be resisted. In fact, Stephen said to the Jewish leaders, “You always resist the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7:51).

What then does God do? Is he powerless to bring those who resist to repentance and wholeness? No. He is not powerless. The next verse says, “I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners” (Isaiah 57:18).

So, in the face of recalcitrant, grace-resisting backsliding, God says, “I will heal him.” He will “restore.” The word for “restore” is to “make whole or complete.” It is related to the word shalom, “peace.” That wholeness and peace is mentioned in the next verse which explains how God turns around a grace-resisting backslider.

He does it by “‘creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace (shalom, shalom), to the far and to the near,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will heal him’” (Isaiah 57:19). God creates what is not there — peace, wholeness. This is how we are saved. And this is how we are brought back from backsliding — again and again.

The grace of God triumphs over our resistance by creating praise where it did not exist. He brings shalom, shalom to the near and the far. Wholeness, wholeness to the near and the far. He does it by “restoring,” that is, replacing the disease of resistance with the soundness of submission.

The point of irresistible grace is not that we can’t resist. We can, and we do. The point is that when God chooses, he overcomes our resistance and restores a submissive spirit. He creates. He says, “Let there be light!” He heals. He leads. He restores. He comforts.

Therefore, we never boast that we have returned from backsliding. We fall on our faces before the Lord and with trembling joy thank him for his irresistible grace that conquered all our resistance.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Isaiah 57:21

    [21] There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

Jeremiah 6:13

    [13] “For from the least to the greatest of them,

        everyone is greedy for unjust gain;

    and from prophet to priest,

        everyone deals falsely.

Isaiah 56:11

    [11] The dogs have a mighty appetite;

        they never have enough.

    But they are shepherds who have no understanding;

        they have all turned to their own way,

        each to his own gain, one and all.

Micah 3:11

    [11] Its heads give judgment for a bribe;

        its priests teach for a price;

        its prophets practice divination for money;

    yet they lean on the LORD and say,

        “Is not the LORD in the midst of us?

        No disaster shall come upon us.”

Not Every Sign is From God

PRAY OVER THIS

"But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, ‘This man is the great power of God.’” Acts 8:9-10

 

PONDER THIS

Don’t be deceived or dazzled by the power of false religion. It is real. Pharaoh’s magicians performed miracles when Moses performed miracles of God. As we think about counterfeit Christianity, it is important that we not be dazzled by it. If some magician, some soothsayer, some astrologer, some necromancer, or fortune-teller comes and does things that you cannot understand, don’t go trailing after him because you say, “Well, I know it’s real!” That is the point. It is real. That doesn’t mean to follow it; it means to flee from it. Just because there is a sign or a wonder, does not mean the thing is from God. We should always come back to the Scripture to see what it says about such signs and about how God reveals Himself. The things of God always point back to God.

What are some examples you know of signs or wonders that are not of God?

How can you seek to prepare yourself to know if things you see in the world are of God or not?

PRACTICE THIS

Spend time reading through Acts 8:9-25 to see the difference between the signs Simon performed and those of the apostles. Consider how this might help you discern the truth about signs you witness in the world.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Caused to Return

Cause us to return, O Lord, that we may return! (Lamentations 5:21, my translation)

There is no hope for God’s people unless God causes them to return from their sliding and leaping into sin and unbelief.

The book of Lamentations is the bleakest book in the Bible. God himself had decimated the apple of his eye: Jerusalem.

The Lord gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger, and he kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations. (Lamentations 4:11)

He has killed all who were delightful in our eyes. (Lamentations 2:4)

The Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions. (Lamentations 1:5)

So how does the book end?

It ends with the only hope there is:

Cause us to return, O Lord, that we may return! (Lamentations 5:21)

That is my only hope — and your only hope!

Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31–32).

Not if you return. But when you return. I have prayed for you! You will return. And when you do, it will be my sovereign grace that brought you back from the precipice of apostasy.

Christian, this is true for you. This is your only hope of perseverance in faith. Glory in it.

Christ Jesus is the one who . . . is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. (Romans 8:34)

He will cause us to return. Therefore, “to him who is able to keep you from stumbling . . . be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever” (Jude 1:24–25). Amen!

John Piper