Suffering

All the reasons for suffering which I have considered are not enough to explain it.

Is the philosopher correct who believes that if we bear our pain gallantly our character is strengthened?

What of the counselor who encourages us to express and examine our pain, who believes the cathartic value of sharing will enable us to endure?

Can broken hearts be knit together with a sharp and rending needle?

Is there a sadistic force in the sky that is inflicting this agony on us so that he can watch us squirm?

Who does not pull away from the burning flame?

The Christian may tell us that when we compare our pain to what Christ endured, we will not complain. He may tell us that suffering is to inform us, conform us, make us better, teach us to sacrifice ourselves for the good of others.

It seems a mean and demanding god who would do this.

But then I read about Jesus. He never tore people apart to gain their devotion. He, in fact, healed the sick. He sensed the misery of the woman crawling through the crowds just to touch the hem of His robe; and then rewarded her faith by restoring her health. He walked gently into the midst of the outcasts, approached boldly the mentally ill, spoke, and raised a man from the dead. He created bread to feed the poor. He wept for the suffering of the world. He allowed to have heaped upon Himself every drop of anguish that life in this world can inflict--and not just the physical pain. He bore our sorrows and carried our grief. He felt the feelings of our weakness. Every foot step He made on this earth left a sweet imprint of love, healing and grace.

And ultimately--and this is the part that I am unable to fully understand--He descended into the darkness of all that is evil(sin), took sin and put it on Himself, died because of this sin and conquered it by rising from the dead. He accomplished all this without being tainted by sin.

So what does that mean to me?

Only a perfect person could have done what He did. He suffered and yet did not become angry or resentful--He did not sin. Certainly I can't do that!

Yet God says He can't let any evil into Heaven. God is perfect and can only allow perfection in His presence.

I know I'm not perfect--and that was proved by the fact that I can't conquer evil. According to this standard, I can't get into heaven.

But Jesus Christ is perfect. And He says that if I trust Him, trust that my evil(sin), along with yours, along with the sin of the world, was killed and conquered by Him, He will give me His perfection so that God can see me as clean and allow me into heaven.

Does that sound strange?

It is strange, viewed from my perspective.

Would I take your evil, your sin, and die for you? Would you for me?

Uh,no. And no.

The bible says that "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was...Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains;...He was pierced because of our transgressions(sin), crushed because of our iniquities(sin); punishment for our peace (with God) was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds". (Isaiah 53:3,4,5) "The Lord laid on Him (punished Him for) the iniquity(sin)of us all". (Isaiah 53:6)

That certainly dispels the myth that God is a heavenly meany sitting aloof, watching us suffer. On the contrary, He instead gave us a way to get into heaven and to be with Him, where there is no sadness or pain.

All the reasons for suffering which I have considered are not enough to explain it. Does it have a purpose? Has it made me a better person? I can't answer that. It is a mystery to me. But it seems to me that the suffering I experience is a drop in the ocean compared to the suffering I would have without God in this life or the next.

Nor can it be compared to the suffering that Jesus Christ endured.

I can't fathom the suffering of Jesus. That is a mystery that I will never explain...or understand. But because of His suffering we have eternal life.

Imagine the suffering Jesus Christ endured. And it was in my place, it was for me, so that I can be healed, perfect, made evil(sin)-free and fit to be with God in heaven.

Imagine that.