Suffering in silence or in joy.

 

... and then someone said sotto voce, "if God cared so much He would not let her suffer ..."

Being a Christian and a God-loving person does not mean we will have a joyful life with nothing ever going wrong. There will be times of great difficulty, as happens to most people, whether they believe in God or not. Being Christian does not make us immune to pain. Physical pain, mental pain, spiritual pain, the pain of loneliness and rejection, the pain of poverty, of prejudice or hatred which so abounds in this world.

I guess a number of readers right here are suffering some pain or other. Perhaps it's an illness, or the heart-breaking pain of a relationship that's gone bad, or the agony concerning a loved one that has gone astray, either physically by the way they live, or spiritually by turning away from God.

It is natural for such people to ask God, "why did you let this happen to me?" It is natural to have dark thoughts, perhaps rebelling against the very God we have grown to love and trust. This is the work of the evil one. He knows what you are going through and he uses this opportunity to derail you and your very faith away from God.

He tried it on Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

“Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” Mark 14:32-42

That was the devil tempting Jesus. He tried to tempt Him and derail Him from His mission many times. So you should not be much of a challenge to him.

Many people in the Bible suffered in one way or another whilst carrying on God's work. They were beaten, had stones thrown at them, arrested, imprisoned, killed, yet they kept going.  

"Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

We do not know whether Paul suffered a physical illness, or whether it was a spiritual attack by the devil to keep him from preaching God's Word.

But what we do know, because he says so, is that God's grace was with him at all times of suffering.

And it's the same with us when we suffer. I do not believe we should suffer with joy and be glad when we're in pain. God does not enjoy and revel when we suffer. He knows that suffering of all sorts will come our way, and He is there to comfort us and relieve our suffering according to His will for us.

“Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and He will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, He will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out”. (1 Corinthians Chapter 10 Verse 13).