Month: November 2013

  • Human Suffering and the Christian Perspective

    There is nothing like persistent physical suffering to destroy your sense of self sufficiency. It can bring you to your knees and destroy your destroy your will to fight…or even your desire to live. Sometimes I feel as though I could handle anything, if only I could feel strong enough in my own body. After years of struggling with the fatigue of a chronic illness, I find myself pregnant and suffering in ways that make my illness seem like a cakewalk. This pregnancy has, quite literally, almost killed me. I could go into all the grisly details, but this post is not about gathering a pity party…I have a greater purpose. So I will spare you But does human suffering have a place in the Christian life? I had a sweet friend who told me that ‘Christ bled so that you wouldn’t have to suffer like this’. I’m sure the early Christians would be interested to hear her perspective. There will be a day when he will wipe away every tear and there will be no more pain and suffering. But that day is not today. Christians still suffer great physical pain and emotional anguish. How do you reconcile that womans’ belief with the suffering of so many saints? It is clear that we are still called to suffer. For now, we are to be patient in suffering. But why? What purpose does this suffering serve? For starters, it is the mark of a fallen world. Today, people no worse than myself will die. Will suffer unthinkable pain and anguish. There will be great human tragedy and loss that will make my personal suffering seem frivolous and irrelevant. If I dare feel sorry for myself, I need to gain a little perspective and realize how much worse it could really be. And if this life was the best of everything, if this was as good as it gets, that human suffering would be an enormous tragedy. But our hope is not in this life. If nothing else, I find that suffering reminds me we are not home yet. And in those moments, I find myself praising God that this life is not the best there is. The best is yet to come, and I am truly grateful for the reminder that it is from this he died to redeem us. It makes me long for home. It is in those moments of the most acute suffering that I feel his presence more closely than ever. And I must say, I wouldn’t trade that for anything. If I had known how hard this pregnancy would be, I would not have had the courage to choose this path for myself. But now, I am glad that I did…as much for what I have learned as for what treasure awaits me at the end of this journey. And is this pain worth comparing to the treasures I have been given? Hardly! I have three healthy, living children. I have a baby kicking away in my belly, thriving despite all odds stacked against him. I would choose any amount of physical pain over the anguish of losing one of them. I am so grateful that this is the only suffering I know right now. And even if that type of tragedy should strike, I will find his grace sufficient in the moment for even that kind of suffering.

    But suffering serves a secondary purpose as well. Reading through the old testament also reminds me that God used physical illness to bring attention to sin in one’s life. I have laid in bed desperately ill many times and asking God what I have done that His hand should fall so heavily on me, if there are any secret sins that I am guilty of. Pain is a great way to clarify one’s thoughts, to help me see myself as God sees me. He has brought many things to light that I had not even been aware of; sins that I had overlooked or thought were petty and irrelevant. It is not to say that illness is a punishment for sin. He has paid the penalty for our sin and no suffering we could put ourselves through would ever be enough to pay for our sin. It is not a punishment for sin but a megaphone, to alert us to the presence of sin in our lives. I cannot believe how many secret sins I have lived with, indulged in, on a regular basis without thinking much of them. So then it is clear that suffering does indeed have a place in the Christian life. It should not surprise us when we are suffering…we should learn to expect it. So then, when we are called to suffer, let us not waste it in bitterness or self-pity. Let us embrace it, being grateful for the opportunity to suffer for a purpose, and to learn the lessons he has for us without wasting one minute of it.