2 Corinthains 12:9
Why Does It Have to Hurt?
2Cor 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made
perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will
I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power
of Christ may rest upon me.
The Apostle Paul knew something about pain, betrayal, tears,
lonliness, and hurt. He lived with it on a daily basis; yet he
learned that it was better to suffer with Jesus than to live the
"good life" without Him.
One of the most often asked questions by the saved and the lost is,
"Why do we suffer?" The question may not be phrased just like that.
It can be asked in a myriad of ways.
a. Why me?
b. What did I do to deserve this?
And it is not always in a "me-centered" fashion.
Three weeks ago
Sometimes it can be "other centered."
Just three weeks ago, Hurricane Laura hit the Louisiana shore line.
As of September 6, 25 had died in Louisiana and the last record I
could find was 4 died in Texas.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53955186#:~:text=
Fourteen%20people%20are%20now%20confirmed,
fire%20from%20an%20industrial%20plant.
https://time.com/5886488/hurricane-laura-death-toll-louisiana/
This week, tropical storm Sally is in the gulf. At present, it
appears to be shirting the entire gulf coast, dumping as much as 4
inches of rain per hour on it, and is projected to become a hurricane
before coming ashore on the Louisiana coast later this week.
Some could ask, "How could God allow this? These people have not
recovered from the last hurricane and now another is headed for
them."
The bottom line is no matter whether it is about us or about others,
it is still the same question, WHY DOES IT HAVE TO HURT?
The Bible makes it clear that Christians are to suffer. I will not
read the verses for time's sake, but consider the different writers
who spoke to Christians about suffering.
James:
James 5:13 Is any among you afflicted? let him
pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
Unknown:
Hebrews 10:32 But call to remembrance the former
days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye
endured a great fight of afflictions;
Paul:
Romans 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in
tribulations also: knowing that tribulation
worketh patience;
Jesus also had much to say on the topic!
These verses teach us that we are not just going to suffer for
Christ, but that we are to have a share, perhaps an equal or even
larger portion of suffering than the lost world in this affair.
So why do we get sick?
get laid off?
have accidents?
face death at an early age?
have unexpected bills?
become the victims of crime? of fire? of storms? of drought?
suffer at the hands of evil doers?
And on the list goes.
I. Let me share some WRONG reasons of why.
A. It is not because God enjoys our suffering.
1. God is not cruel.
2. God takes no pleasure in our sufferings.
3. God is not seeking to get even.
4. The Psalm 100:5 says that the Lord is good.
5. 1John 4:8 calls God LOVE.
6. You cannot possibly reconcile a good God who IS love as
being one that enjoys seeing others hurt any more than
a parent should enjoy seeing their child cry.
B. It is not necessarily because we have done any particular
evil.
1. Note that I say NECESSARILY.
2. The Bible does teach that sometimes evil events are the
direct results of evil actions.
a. I am currently preaching through Revelations. How
could we say that God never sends pain and suffering
as part of justice?
b. By the same token, God can also use pain and suffering
for correction. A wise person should go to God in
times of adversity to see if they might have brought
an evil upon them, but it that will not always the
case.
3. Sometimes the sweetest, most Christ-like people suffer.
C. It is not because God couldn’t stop the suffering.
1. Some apply logic to God and come to false conclusions.
a. The fault is not in the logic.
b. The fault is in the lack of knowledge.
c. Logic will only work when you have sufficient
understanding.
2. People have reasoned that if there is a God and suffering,
there are two possibilities.
a. God is evil.
b. God is weak.
3. Both conclusions are wrong.
4. Some years ago I watched a video about Charles Darwin.
a. I had never thought much about it but just supposed he
was a God-doubter and a God-hater.
b. That is not true.
c. In fact, he considered being an Anglican minister.
d. By his own testimony, given late in life, he never
became an atheist; but the older he got the more of
an agnostic he became.
e. It started because he had questions about God and
God’s dealings with man that he could answer—and I
suppose the preachers and teachers of his day could
not either.
f. So he began to open his mind to new possibilities.
g. And as is always the cause, where ever there is a
lacking in truth, the devil will fill it with a lie.
h. How many souls could have been spared damnation if
only someone had helped Charles Darwin fill in the
gaps of missing knowledge.
II. Where did suffering come from?
A. Short answers:
1. Suffering was not "created" by God as we understand
creation.
2. Suffering came in with sin.
B. For a longer answer, we would need to go the Scriptures.
1. Ezekiel 28:11-15
Ezekiel 28:11 Moreover the word of the LORD
came unto me, saying,
12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the
king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of
wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God;
every precious stone was thy covering, the
sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the
onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald,
and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of
thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee
in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth;
and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy
mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in
the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day
that thou wast created, till iniquity was found
in thee.
a. The passage is describing how God created Satan.
(1) \\#12\\ "sealest up the sum" - He was the total
package.
(2) \\#12\\ "full of wisdom"
(3) \\#12\\ "perfect in beauty" - \\#13\\ describes
Satan’s unique beauty.
b. \\#15\\ He was "PERFECT IN HIS WAYS FROM THE DAY" he
was created until "iniquity, " that is sin, "was
found in" him.
(1) God never created anything flawed or sinful, not
even the devil.
(2) What God created was a perfect heaven with a
sinless being and God gave him a choice,
(3) Satan choose to sin and that is where sin
originally began.
2. If you want to read more about Satan’s sin, read
\\#Is 14:12-15\\.
3. Genesis 3:14-19
a. This passage shows what happened AFTER Satan tricked
Eve into sinning.
b. It is the same scenario: God created a perfect world
with sinless people and gave them a choice.
c. This time, Satan became an added force, tempting Eve
to do wrong; but it was Adam and Eve choose to sin.
d. When they sinned, they brought in pain, death, and
suffering.
C. So where did suffering come from? It is a mutation created by
sin, Satan, and mankind.
III. Is there a cure for suffering?
A. The short answer is, "No, not in this life time."
B. Even salvation does not stop suffering.
1. Granted, in some ways, being saved with lessen some
suffering.
a. Salvation gives us wisdom to make better choices so
that sin cannot hurt us as much.
b. The Bible does teach that Christ has borne SOME of
our suffering.
Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was
upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
c. However, Christ left a good-sized cup of suffering for
each Christian to partake of. (Just look around.)
2. In another way, getting saved will intensify your
suffering.
a. Many preach a false gospel of prosperity and plenty
for the Christian.
b. The truth is that getting saved and living right will
likely open a whole new door of suffering up to you.
2Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
c. Jesus spoke of this often.
Matthew 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall
revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all
manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men
for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the
end shall be saved.
Matthew 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to
be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall
be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
C. The joy of the Christian is that in the midst of all of our
suffering, Jesus will be with us.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I
give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I
unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid.
Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee; and through the
rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when
thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not
be burned; neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee.
1. As for myself so far, I would rather have gone through my
troubles with Jesus than to have not had my troubles
without Him.
2. I do not say that I have had many troubles so far in my
life and I do not say that is true of every Christian,
but so far, it is true of me.
IV. Is there anything good which can come from the suffering?
A. To give the short answer again, "Yes."
1. But every person must decide whether they will let good
come from their suffering or not.
a. We have no choice about our suffering.
b. Whether we are a Christian or not, it will come.
c. We do have a choice what good we will let God bring
from our suffering.
2. Verses:
Romans 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in
tribulations also: knowing that tribulation
worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose.
B. What kind of good can come out of our suffering?
1. Our suffering increases our faith.
Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of
God revealed from faith to faith: as it is
written, The just shall live by faith.
2. Our suffering allows us to empathize with the lost.
2Cor 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound
in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by
Christ.
6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your
consolation and salvation, which is effectual
in the enduring of the same sufferings which we
also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is
for your consolation and salvation.
3. Our suffering teaches us godly characteristics.
1Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace…after that
ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,
stablish, strengthen, settle you.
a. endurance
b. gratitude
c. compassion
d. kindness
e. patience
f. obedience
4. Our suffering demonstrates God’s confidence in us.
1Cor 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you
but such as is common to man: but God is
faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that ye are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye
may be able to bear it.
a. I do not want to cause theological problems, but I am
not sure that means we can handle our problems the
moment they arrive.
b. I think that might mean—that if we let Him—God is
going to make us strong enough to handle them before
they are over.
c. You might not think you can, but God knows you can—
with His help.
5. Our suffering often opens a new door of ministry.
2Corinthians 1:4 Who comforteth us in all our
tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them
which are in any trouble, by the comfort
wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
a. No one understand the hurt you have felt better than
the person who has felt it too.
b.
6. Our suffering allows us to share something in common with
Christ.
Philippians 3:10 That I may know him, and the
power of his resurrection, and the fellowship
of his sufferings, being made conformable unto
his death;
The greatest demonstration that our God can bring good out of bad is
not our lives. It is the cross. Our Lord suffered as no one else ever
will, but from that suffering came the greatest good.
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