Why does God allow suffering or need?

There are no accidents with God.  No “oops”!  He is never up in heaven wringing His hands.  If you don’t learn anything else from your reading and study of scripture, you can’t help but see that God has a plan.  He patiently, purposefully, and calmly brings that plan to pass.

From the 1^st Chapter in Luke, we learn that Elizabeth and Zacharias were childless and had been in great pain for many years because of it.  Was Elizabeth and Zachariah’s deep suffering over childlessness a part of God’s plan?  Yes.  Does that mean God wanted them to suffer?  Did He get some sort of pleasure from their suffering?  Absolutely not.  Then why did He allow it?  Because He certainly could have given them a child long before He did, right?

I believe God could stop all suffering right this minute if He chose.  But if He did, He would have to destroy all sin and all the results of sin – and once He did that, the world as we know it would be gone, and there would be no more chances for anyone to believe.  It would be finished.

So, no, He doesn’t like it when we suffer.  But, yes, He does continue to allow it.  And YES!!!  There is a reason!  There is a purpose.  There is an end-result which we will someday be glad of.

Someone, somewhere, needs to get ready to meet Jesus, and yours or my suffering may play a part in that, just like Elizabeth and Zacharias’ suffering played a part in the perfect timing for the Savior to be introduced to His world.

Some of us may not be sure who was praying for us before we came to genuine faith in Jesus.  But many of us do remember who it was who told us about Jesus, or prayed with us as we gave our life to Him, or was preaching or teaching when we knew we must bend our knee before Him.

My Dad came to true belief in Jesus when I was 13.  His testimony of giving his life totally to God burned like a brand on my heart and mind.  My sister, Susan, became a follower of Jesus about that same time, and I know she prayed for me.  Pastor Dick Buck, was preaching 4 years later, when I was 17, when I realized Jesus had actually died for me.  That’s when I believed in Him and gave my life to Him.

My Dad, my sister, my Pastor – all of them were at the right place at the right time for me, getting me ready for the relationship with God which changed me into the person God always intended for me to be.

I am struck with this:  My sister came to know Christ at the time He chose for her.  My Dad came to know Christ at the time He chose for him.  My Pastor preached the message needed to reach my heart because Jesus had gotten him ready to preach that message at that time and in that place when I was ready to hear it.

When Jesus called me to faith in Him it wasn’t an accident of timing.  He knew exactly what I needed to hear and when I needed to hear it, not just for me….but also so that my time of salvation would have the most impact on someone else.

Our joy in meeting and believing in Jesus is amazing…but it isn’t just for us.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  Romans 8:28

I’ve heard I should tell my story of knowing Jesus to others…but why would anyone want to hear my story?

Just look at the writers of the four Gospels in the New Testament.  Each one told his story because he knew his story would help change lives.  Not everyone wanted to hear their stories, and not everyone believed their stories.  But they just kept working on it and writing it down because they was convinced  many other people needed to know the facts of what they had learned about Jesus.

The same is true for you.  You may not have a riveting story, but that’s ok.  People don’t’ need to hear your story.   The story they need to hear is His story.

Talk about yourself in order to get the ball rolling, but tell the story of Jesus.

Here are 6 questions you can use to get your story organized and put into words.  Think of being interviewed, and someone is asking you each of these 6 questions.  Write out what your answer would be.  In your own words.  Just be honest and just be you.

1. Where are you spiritually right now?
2. When did you first start learning things about Jesus?
3. Where did you learn those things?
4. What are some of the things you have learned?
5. As you learned about Him, how did this affect you – your feelings, attitudes, actions, and relationships?
6. In this process of learning about Him, have you ever wanted Jesus to be more real to you…Have you ever wanted to just give your life to Him and let Him be the center of your life? (If you have, make this a part of your orderly account)

Here are the answers I gave to these questions:

1. Where are you spiritually right now?

“At 66, I’m a little overwhelmed at the idea that I have been a believer in Jesus for just about 50 years.  How could it have been that long?   I know He’s with me all the time –  and that He’s been taking care of me for my whole life.  I would like to know Him better and better as I walk into my last 20 or so years, and I’m really anxious to finally see Him when I die.”

2. When did you first start learning things about Jesus?
3. Where did you learn those things?
4. What are some of the things you have learned?

“Our family attended first the Catholic church, and then the Presbyterian church when I was a little girl, and then into my teens.  The name of Jesus was familiar to me, and of course I believed that God existed.  But that was about it – I knew a few facts.”

5. As you learned about Him, how did this affect you – your feelings, attitudes, actions, and relationships?

“But at 17 I finally began to know more than facts.  I actually felt like He was communicating with me through the preaching at church and through what I read in the Bible.  My few facts suddenly were not enough – I wanted to know more about Him.  At that time I remember thanking Him for dying for me, and asking Him if He wanted my life.  I told Him I knew it probably wasn’t worth much, but I would love to serve Him.”

6. In this process of learning about Him, have you ever wanted Jesus to be more real to you…Have you ever wanted to just give your life to Him and let Him be the center of your life? (If you have, make this a part of your orderly account)

“In Tucson, Arizona, 1965, in a church service, sitting in the audience, I gave my life to Jesus when I realized He had given His life for me. That’s when I became a Christian.  Before that I would have told you I was a Christian because I went to church, but I wasn’t. ”

Over the years, as I’ve read my Bible, I’ve learned much more of His life and death and resurrection, and I’ve learned that He lives in me because I believed in Him.  I’ve learned that He loves faith most of all, and that He has a whole bunch of people in the world whom He loves but they haven’t had faith in Him yet.  He yearns for them to hear of Him and have faith in Him.  So, because that’s what He wants so much, it’s what I want, too.

 

Is the Bible really word-for-word from You, God?

Here’s a pretty simple picture of what God has done with all of Scripture:  He has inspired and compelled ordinary men to write down what happened and what was said so that all who would come after would have a true account to read and think about.

The Bible claims to be inspired by God.  Accepting that means I have the very Words of God Himself in my hands when I open my Bible.  I can’t ignore any of it, or mimimalize any of it.

And not accepting what the Bible says about itself means I can’t trust anything in the Bible to be true.  After all, if the Bible lies about itself in one place, who am I to decide what else might be a lie?

I believe God has spoken.  And I believe the Bible is what He has spoken.  Here’s what I mean:

• Dual Authorship – God spoke through men.  He used their personalities and experiences and used their very hands to write out His words, but those words are, word-for-word, His very words.
• Inspired – God inspired men to write the words He wanted them to write. They were not their own thoughts.  They are totally trustworthy to be directly from God.  Therefore, they apply directly to our lives today, even though they may have been written  6,000 years ago.   And not only were the words inspired, but also the men who decided which books would make up the Bible were inspired, too.  They were led by God to determine, in a logical and normal way, which letters and writings to include in the canon of the Bible, and which to exclude.
• Sola Scriptura – There is no other book like this one. There is no other authority which competes with this one.  The Book of Mormon does not.  The Koran does not.  There is no other word from God which would negate anything in the Bible.    If you ask a Catholic educated in their own belief system, if they believe in Sola Scriptura, they will tell you no.  They believe that the Bible is the Words of God, yes.  But they also believe that the writings and proclamations of the Church Fathers of the past carry more weight than the Bible.  They believe church fathers decided what books should be in the Bible, therefore church fathers have more authority than the Bible.   The Bible itself claims otherwise.

My favorite Bible passages on which I stake this faith:

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  ”   Hebrews  4:12

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  II Timothy  3:16&17

“No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”  2^nd Peter 1:20

“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;  The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.  More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and honeycomb.  Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.”  Psalm 19:7-11

Therefore, this is what I do because of what I believe about the Bible:

• Learn about it .
• Go to a church where it is preached every Sunday, verse-by-verse.
• Teach it myself.
• Read it, every day.
• Live it…I try.
• Memorize it.
• Speak it.