Who’s in Charge of a World That Suffers? a Billy Graham Devotional

Scriptures: Romans 12:15, Psalms 139:14

The Reality of Suffering

Suffering is difficult to talk or write about, for it is not something that can adequately be examined outside the realm of experience. It is not abstract, nor is it philosophical. It is real and concrete. It leaves its scars. When the winds of adversity have passed, we are seldom unchanged. It is only when one has passed through a crisis event that one can truly comprehend what it means to suffer. And often it is only in retrospect that we realize the purpose and value of our suffering. 

Struggles in life can uncover untold depths of character and unknown strength for service. People who go through life unscathed by sorrow and untouched by pain tend to be shallow in their perspective on life. Suffering, on the other hand, tends to plow up the surface of our lives to uncover the depths that provide greater strength of purpose and accomplishment. Only deeply plowed earth can yield bountiful harvests. 

Pain has many faces. One can suffer physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. Our difficulties are rarely confined to only one of these areas; they tend to overlap in human experiences. Some of the most intensive suffering can be psychologically induced and frequently lead to complications in the physical realm. 

There are as many invisible hurts as there are visible hurts, and there can be difficulty in diagnosing them. We know that the unseen part of man is often the victim of the most debilitating of pains. In certain circumstances, a man can endure excruciating physical pain; and yet he can be felled by one unkind word. When we hear the story of the torture inflicted upon a P.O.W., we are astounded by his personal fortitude and the resiliency of the human body. But that same man’s life can be devastated by a single viciously perpetrated act or word. 

Scripture has much to say about the power of the tongue to inflict cruelty. The psalmist says that bitter words are like deadly arrows. James wrote: “The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body” (James 3:5, 6). 

Man is capable of great victories and susceptible to great defeats. Man is both strong and sensitive. As the psalmist exclaimed, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14). 

In earnest we must endeavor to apply this sensitivity when dealing with the matter of suffering, especially as we consider the sufferings of others. We cannot feel someone else’s pain. We can see the anguish in his face and try to empathize. But we do not have his nerve endings. We cannot fully know the magnitude of his anguish. We must never minimize the suffering of another. Scripture’s mandate to us is, ‘‘Weep with them that weep” (Rom. 12:15, kjv).

Our physical sufferings express a great truth. As C. S. Lewis cogently penned, “Pain . . . plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul.”1 The truth is this—man’s body is mortal, temporal. Man must look beyond himself to find immortality. 

Suffering is one of God’s ways of speaking to us, of awakening us to our need of Him, and calling us to Himself. To quote C. S. Lewis again: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”2 If our suffering leads us to God, it has become a blessed and precious friend. 

We are indebted to modern medical science for the tremendous strides made in finding cures for so many diseases and harnessing others. And yet pain is still with us. Many of you know the reality of cancer, strokes, heart attacks, birth defects, auto injuries. Many of you have been bedridden and racked with pain for years. Some of you are shocked by the discovery of a friend’s or relative’s terminal illness. Maybe you yourself are facing the prospect of death. Let me assure you that you do not need to face your situation alone. God wants to comfort and help you. 

Some suffering comes as a natural result of the deterioration of the body. Some forms of physical suffering are inflicted upon us by others. 

There may come a day when we Americans will undergo intense persecution for our faith. Are you prepared to face martyrdom? Jesus gave His life for you. You may be called to give your life for Him. God has many precious promises for those who suffer for Christ. 

Respond

What might a “bountiful harvest” as a result of suffering look like?

How have you seen God’s work manifest itself in your life during or following times of deep suffering? 

What is meant by “The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body” (as described in James 3:5,6)? How does this impact the way you relate to others who are suffering?

How do the promises of God set forth in Scripture impact how you relate to God while walking through hard times?

Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 5:19, Romans 5:8

He is a God of Love

God is not blind to man’s plight. He does not stand on a mountaintop, helplessly viewing the crash of mankind. Since man caused his own crash by his rebellion against the Creator, God could have allowed him to plunge on in darkness and destruction. This would have been in keeping with God’s holiness and righteousness. However, this other great attribute of God, His love, would not allow Him to do it. From the very beginning of that crash, God had a plan for man’s deliverance, redemption and reconciliation. In fact the plan is so fantastic that it ultimately lifts man far beyond and above even the angels. God’s all-consuming love for mankind was decisively demonstrated at the cross, where His compassion was embodied in His Son Jesus Christ. The word compassion comes from two Latin words meaning “to suffer with.” God was willing to suffer with man. 

In the thirty-three years preceding His death, Jesus suffered with man; and ultimately He suffered for man on the cross. “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:19). Again, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). 

It was the love of God that sent Jesus Christ to the cross. It was because He was in control and controlled by love that He provided that divine substitute for our sin. 

God’s love did not begin at the cross. It began before the world was established, before the time clock of civilization began to move. The concept stretches our understanding to the utmost limits of our minds. Turn back in your imaginations to the countless eons before God created this present earth, when it was “without form and void” and the deep, silent darkness of outer space formed a vast gulf between the brilliance of God’s throne and the dark vacuum where our present solar system now exists. Imagine the brilliance of God’s glory as the cherubim and seraphim, the very angels themselves, cover their faces with their wings in awe and reverence toward Him who is the high and holy One who inhabits eternity! 

Even at this time He foreknew all that would happen, and yet, in His mysterious love, He allowed it. The Bible tells us about the “Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). God foresaw what His Son was to suffer. As it has been said, there was a cross in the heart of God long before the cross was erected at Calvary. Only as we think in these terms will we begin to grasp the wonder and greatness of His love for us.

Respond

How does the knowledge that God is compassionate towards our suffering change your perspective on your circumstances?

How does Scripture provide evidence for the depth of God’s love for us? 

Read Romans 8:38-39. How can you apply this message of hope to a suffering world?

Scriptures: Job 10:2, Isaiah 9:6-7, Genesis 3:6-7

Why Does a Loving God Allow Suffering?

Many people ask, “Why does God allow fear to continue to grip the hearts of people today?” They ask, “Where is God’s power? Why doesn’t He stop all this misery and cruelty with which our world has been cursed?” Others ask, “How can God be good and merciful, when every day men and women are crushed by agonies almost beyond their endurance?” These questions are asked not only by atheists and enemies of religion, but also by bewildered Christians, who, staggering under the burden of anguish, cry out, “Why must I bear this misery? How can God lay all this suffering on me?”

One of the earliest books in the Bible, the Book of Job, deals with this difficulty. Some today have experienced war, terrorism, broken relationships, financial pressures, and many other hardships. But I doubt they have sustained losses as large as Job’s were when treacherous enemies captured his men and all his herds and flocks. Perhaps there is someone whose son or daughter has been held hostage, or who has received notification that his son or daughter was killed in action. Job lost seven sons and three daughters in a single day. Others, perhaps, are stricken by sickness and groaning in pain. Job suffered from some form of sickness that made his body a mass of boils and sores. 

When Job could find no human explanation for his afflictions, he cried to God, “tell me what charges you have against me” (Job 10:2). 

This age-old question of “Why must the righteous suffer?” is as old as time. There is only one place where we can find an answer and that is in the Bible. Yet in their blindness some men have rejected divine guidance to insist that everything in life comes from chance. Fate, they declare, smiles on some people, and they have an easy, untroubled existence. Fate frowns on others, and they are beset with unnumbered difficulties. They say that it is all a matter of luck. “Since we are only creatures of chance,” they conclude, “why not press every drop of pleasure out of life while we can, and have our full fling before tomorrow comes and death with it?”

Other skeptics have gone to the opposite extreme and declared that people suffer because they are weak. “Learn to be hard and ruthless,” they urge. “Smash all opposition. Away with sympathy, kindness, and mercy. Down with love.” Oh but they haven’t considered the love of God! 

Secularists fail to offer satisfying solutions to man’s dilemma of suffering. Often humanistic philosophies tend to create further confusion and personal discouragement. 

The question of why God allows suffering is one of the most profound mysteries of life. And it is a difficult question to answer. We cannot turn to any one passage in the Scriptures to find a thorough and conclusive treatment of the subject, but the Bible does hint at some answers. I would like to share with you some truth that can be helpful. 

Realize that God has been active in working toward the alleviation of suffering. 

Remember that suffering originated in the Garden of Eden, as we discussed earlier. God gave people the freedom of choice: to choose good or to choose evil. Part of the human makeup that distinguishes the human race from other creatures is the ability to reason and make moral decisions. Man is a free moral agent. 

Adam chose to follow the advice of Satan, and he rebelled (sinned) against God. Adam’s choice (his sin) opened a “Pandora’s box” of suffering for mankind. A careful study of Genesis reveals that Adam’s action produced a wide spectrum of suffering: physical, spiritual, social, psychological, and even ecological. In a very real sense, the suffering of this world was created by man himself. The tendency to sin, the sinful nature, is a human characteristic transferred from Adam and Eve to the second  generation of mankind. And it has been transferred to every generation since. It is part of the human nature we have all inherited.

And yet it is God who took action to solve the problem. In the Garden He gave Adam a ray of hope—the promise that one day He would send His Son (the seed of the woman) to earth to destroy the devil’s work and deal with the problems of man’s sin and suffering. 

We have seen this fulfilled historically in Jesus Christ. By His life, death, and resurrection He triumphed over Satan and sin, and He is the key to the solution of suffering. By His death, He releases us from the penalty of sin. By His resurrection life, He gives us the power over the tendency to sin as we allow Him to control our lives. 

So we see that God has not been passive regarding the plight of the human race. He has taken action. In fact, all of history is moving toward a time when Christ will establish His rule over all the universe. Satan, sin, and suffering will be eliminated entirely. God promises to free us from the penalty and power of sin; and one day He will produce an environment in which we will be free from the presence of sin and the suffering associated with it. Isaiah 9:6, 7: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.” 

It is in God’s own suffering that we see His great love. We must not try to evaluate God’s character and judge whether or not He is a loving God by looking at our own sufferings. It is by looking at the cross that we come to know and experience the depth of God’s love for us. 

Respond

Have you experienced a season of deep suffering in life where you felt like Job? 

How does the knowledge that your suffering is not caused by fate or your own weakness impact your view of God’s character? 

How does reflecting on God’s demonstration of love on the cross encourage you in your walk with Him? 

Scriptures: James 3:15, 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

The Significance of the Cross

We humans view life from our personal point of time and space, but God views us from His heavenly throne in the light of eternity. We see ourselves as self-sufficient, self-important, and self-sustaining; God sees us as dependent, self-centered, and self-deceived. Our worldly wisdom has made us calloused and hard. Our natural wisdom, as the Scriptures teach, comes not from God, but is earthly, sensual, and devilish (James 3:15). 

There is a difference between wisdom and knowledge. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. All truth is from God, whether it be scientific, psychological, philosophic, or religious. The truth in the Bible points us all to the cross of Jesus Christ. It is there that we find forgiveness of sins and the solution to the dilemmas and problems that face us both nationally and individually. 

The wisdom of this world, encouraged by Satan, is cynical of the cross. The apostle Paul said, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). It is impossible for the “natural man” (the one who does not know Jesus Christ as his personal Savior) to understand how God, in His grace and mercy, can forgive sinners and transform lives. It is also impossible for the natural man to comprehend how these changed lives can affect society. Those with their worldly wisdom do not understand the workings of God. The Bible teaches that the cross is an “offense” or stumbling block to the unbeliever (1 Cor. 1:23). 

I can preach on almost any subject and most people will accept it. I can speak about social injustice and human suffering and raise money for the poor, refugees or people in distress. But to proclaim Christ crucified is different. Even though the cross of Christ is the power of God unto salvation, it is also an offense to the world—and always will be. There is a tension here. Though the cross repels, it also attracts. It possesses a magnetic quality.

The apostle Paul said, “The foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (1 Cor. 1:25).

God says there is no hope for the world aside from the cross. For centuries the world has rejected God’s plan of redemption. Now, because of man’s refusal and rebellion, he stands on the threshold of what former Prime Minister Macmillan called “the extinction of civilization itself” (or Armageddon).

Stumbling and fumbling, man thinks that by his own wisdom he can save himself—that somehow he will be able to pull out of this path leading headlong to destruction. God warns that this perverted wisdom of man will lead to judgment.

Respond

In your own words, what is the difference between wisdom and knowledge? 

What does it mean to possess a “fear of the Lord?” 

Why might the cross be a challenge or stumbling block for someone who doesn’t believe in God or the Bible?

How does the cross provide hope for a suffering world? 

Scriptures: Matthew 5:10-12, Revelation 2:10, 2 Timothy 3:12, Philippians 4:4-7

Suffering for Christ

In the power-packed Sermon on the Mount, Jesus included these words: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt. 5:10–12). According to what Jesus said, not only are we to expect persecution to be our lot as we follow Christ: we are to rejoice in those persecutions! Paul echoed that divine instruction when he wrote to the Philippians who were suffering for their faith, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (4:4). They were to rejoice not only when the going was good, but always! Circumstances are not to color our reactions to persecution. When Christians encounter trial and testing, we are to rejoice again and again, right to the end of our lives. 

The apostle John in recording Christ’s message to the church in Smyrna wrote, “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution . . . Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). 

Mysterious as it appears to be, true faith and suffering go hand in hand. You can’t have the one without the other. 

Again, it is difficult to understand that suffering is with God’s permission. We may sometimes forget that we can bring suffering upon ourselves. It is wrong to believe, for instance, that if you are sick it is because Satan has inflicted it upon you and if you have enough faith, it will go away. Sometimes God delivers, but not always; and when He permits suffering, His grace is sufficient for you to endure it. He gives added strength. He walks hand in hand with you through your suffering, but He does not necessarily deliver you out of it. 

Writing to Timothy, his young son in the faith, Paul said, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12, italics mine). That is putting it pretty bluntly! I think the principle is stated clearly so that you and I, as Christians, will not be in doubt. To be sure, some seem to suffer for their faith far more than others. Some of us have never known what it means to be physically persecuted for our faith, but all true Christians are subject to subtle suffering and insidious persecution. It may lie in the ridicule of our faith by those in the world around us. It could also exist in the discreet discrimination often practiced against Christian principles in the sophisticated arena of economics and society. For example, there are often discriminatory practices against the businessman, labor leader, or political figure trying to practice biblical, ethical, and moral standards. 

Subtle persecution may happen to you in your office, school, or social gathering; an outcast and not considered “one of the crowd.” 

Victorious Suffering

No suffering that the Christian endures for Christ is ever in vain. Living for Christ, walking in His way, is not an easy path—but it is a path to peace and power. The way of the cross is a hard one, but it offers eternal rewards.

At the heart of our universe is a God who suffers in redemptive love. We experience more of His love when we suffer within an evil world. Someone has said that if one suffers without succeeding, he can be sure that the success will come in someone else’s life. If he succeeds without suffering, he can be equally sure that someone else has already suffered for him.

Respond: 

When have you experienced persecution as a result of following the Lord? How did you respond?

Read Philippians 4:4-7. What does this passage say about God’s character towards those who suffer? 

Why do you think that Christians are not exempt from suffering?