Introduction

Paradoxes of paradoxes is how God uses suffering to produce righteousness in His children. Through suffering, God’s children ultimately find joy and peace with their Father. The world can never know this, let alone understand and relate to it.

Suffering comes in many forms: physical pain, disease, persecution, familial divisions, friendship conflicts, etc. God can, and does, use these sufferings for his own purposes and for the advancement of His children to accomplish His will. These situations are never pleasant at the time, but looking back, the believer with his or her eyes wide-open, should be able to see the fruits of these painful experiences. Just ask Job!

I’d like to give the reader an example of just one of several instances of sufferings I have endured in this life, in an effort to inspire and encourage others who have gone through, or are going through, their own trials and tribulations.

Jesus Himself said:

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

It’s not a matter of “if” we will have trials and tribulations; it’s a matter of “when.” They will happen, and when they do happen, it’s up to us to lean on the Holy Spirit and allow Him to guide and direct us in accomplishing what these trials and tribulations were meant to produce – righteousness and holiness through our growth in the Lord.

Jesus Himself is our example:

“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:” (1 Peter 2:21).

The Reader’s Digest Condensed Version

Around 10 years of age on summer break, two of my friends and I broke into a construction site wanting to climb the structure that was being built. Ironically, this structure resulted in a three-story Assembly of God church. Evading the construction crew, we climbed the stairs of the hollowed-out structure to the top of the building. The roof was right above our heads and the ceiling we were walking on had crossing two-by-fours with insulation in between each square. My friends were aware, but I wasn’t, that the insulation wasn’t boarded up underneath. They were walking on the two-by-fours and I, being the competitive chap I was, decided to beat them to the other side. I took off into a full run, and the first insulated square I stepped on immediately gave way. I fell on a beam that ended up right at my crotch. I fell backwards and hit my head on the beam behind me and fell through the square, along with the floating piece of insulation falling to the ground above me.

Being indoctrinated into Darwinian evolution, as my school-mates were, I remember thinking, “Well, I’m going to die. I’m going to ‘splat’ all over the ground. I don’t believe in God, but I’m about to find out if He exists.”

This was the last of three near-death experiences I had before the age of 12. In all three I had my short life pass before my eyes. The experience, for me, is best described as seeing a picture of someone or an event that moves for a brief amount of time, like an extremely quick silent movie for each picture. What I remember most about all three experiences was that when it came to time, it was almost non-existent. What happens so fast in real time is perceived as almost timeless.

At the very last moment, a thought was put into my mind. I needed to tuck my chin to my chest, and when I landed, I was to keep my chin to my chest with all my might to try and keep my head from snapping back and cracking open from the impact. I’m pretty sure now, I know where this thought came from. When I landed, all I heard was a thunderous “boom” as my right hip impacted, rapidly followed by my tail bone and my left hip and back as I crashed into the hard-packed dirt. Even though I tried as hard as I could, my head still flung back with astonishing force, striking the ground at last.

My next thought was, “I can’t breathe! I’m going to suffocate to death!” I’ve had the wind knocked out of me many times in my lifetime, but this was something altogether unique. I absolutely couldn’t breathe and almost passed out. I remember the construction workers running toward me, screaming, “Are you OK?” They didn’t know what to do with this young boy gasping with all his might, desperately trying to draw any amount of oxygen into his lungs. They were terrified and couldn’t believe I was actually alive after falling such a distance and landing the way that I did.

Because there were signs on the fencing that said, “Danger! Do not enter construction zone. Trespassers will be prosecuted!” I was terrified of the consequences of our actions. I don’t know how long I was there trying to catch my breath, but I do remember telling them in sputtered breathless words that I was OK and I just needed to get out of there and go home. The workers were white as a ghost and, with looks of utter amazement, they let me go as I hobbled out of the site, tilted to one side, limping like a zombie and still gasping for breath.

Of course, because of the fear of being arrested, I told my Mom I injured myself playing football. Then the pain came. I couldn’t stand up and walk; I had to crawl. I pinned myself, sitting with my back firmly against a wall, and the muscles in my neck pulled my head to my shoulder, alternating my head from one shoulder to the next in long intervals. I couldn’t straighten my neck and hold my head upright. It was really weird. I could barely breath and the pain was truly indescribable. I could find no relief in any position I tried; it was utterly useless. These episodes lasted several days, maybe even a week or two – I can’t remember; it was a long time ago. I refused to go to a doctor, and after many days, the pain finally began to subside.

To top it all off, a year or so later, I injured myself playing the “pass-out game,” striking my head on the right side of my temple, full weight, on solid concrete. (If you don’t know what the “pass-out game” is, that is a good thing. You aren’t going to hear what it is from me.) I’m not sure it is possible for any human being to have had a more severe headache than I did that day; it was absolutely excruciating as I held my head, rolling on the bed, screaming and crying out. This too, lasted several days.

The Early Years

Unbelievably, and by the grace of God, I had a very successful athletic career and was essentially pain-free. I even had a couple of other head trauma incidents playing football. I played everything, including basketball, baseball, tennis, soccer, racquetball, golf, track and field, bowling, etc. I received ribbons, trophies, athletic records, and the like.

The one thing was that, even though I had experienced such pain and agony, I still had little to no empathy for others and their infirmities and physical struggles. I just couldn’t relate because, as I said, the grace of God gave me rather good health in my early years reaching up into my late 20’s. Then things began to change…

The Repercussions

Pain, slowly at first, and more rapidly progressing as time went by, became a constant companion. It wasn’t until I was in my late 30’s that I was finally able to get an MRI and it was discovered that from the impact of my fall, I had five bulging and degenerative discs in my neck combined with major arthritis and inflammation. And this has been my lot in life ever since.

One by one, and very rapidly, I had to give up all my sports and hobbies and, finally, my love of writing, recording and performing music. It’s been a long and arduous road – depressing at many intervals along the way – but the Lord is still, and always has been, gracious to me.

The Results

Now I’m the compassionate man God had always wanted me to be. He has given me a heart that empathizes with others, and I can relate and encourage others in their trials and tribulations of physical pain and suffering. That is something that could never have been generated in me had I not had this traumatic experience in my life.

As I look back today, I actually find myself, at times, thanking God for allowing all this pain and suffering to inflict me the way that it has. It has produced a sympathy in me that would have never been attained in any other way. Also, this suffering has produced other positive attributes and godly characteristics within me, as these experiences have bled into other areas in my life, all for the glory of God. This is none other than God’s way.

A Note on Suffering

“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).  The definition of “persecute” is: to harass or punish in a manner designed to injure, grieve, or afflict specifically: to cause to suffer because of belief.

No matter where this persecution comes from, and it will come, what matters most is what can or should be done when it arrives. We in the West tend to think of persecution as something our brothers and sisters in Christ are enduring at the hand of the enemies of God in other lands; and indeed it is. But allow me to suggest that persecution can, and often does, run a wide gamut of possibilities that are not often considered. These include all trials and tribulations one goes through in life and isn’t necessarily limited to the common understanding we have of persecution. My own story can be considered a form of persecution in relation to the chronic pain I endure every day. I’m certain many of you can relate. Scripture tells us that often pain can be administered by the enemy of our souls, with God’s allowance, of course:

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 5:8-11).

Conclusion

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:1-5).

I know, dearly beloved, that you too have your stories of sufferings, trials and persecutions. My prayer for you is that this article has encouraged and inspired you to allow those sufferings, which God has ordained for your short life, to produce the righteousness He has planned for you to carry on into eternity.

Trust me, I know it isn’t easy, but we do have wonderful promises from God Himself that are too great and magnificent for our finite minds. Those are things we just cannot comprehend this side of heaven.

Paul put it this way:

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

Hang in there, child of God. Righteousness Through Suffering God’s Way never fails!

Love, grace, mercy, and shalom in Messiah Yeshua, and Maranatha!

Email: mab10666@yahoo.com

An Exposition

Luke 14:1-6: “A Lesson in Compassion”

“And it came about when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely. And there in front of Him was a certain man suffering from dropsy. And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees saying, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?’ But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him and sent him away. And He said to them, ‘Which one of you shall have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?’ And they could make no reply to this” (Luke 14:1-6, NASB).

The Lord Jesus is an expert at knocking people, who think too much of themselves, off their pedestals. He has no tolerance or empathy for anyone who believes that they are somehow more worthy or important than others in terms of wealth, status, or influence. He does not see people in terms of classes or categories, and all lives matter to Him, both then and now. Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things (John 1:1-4; Colossians 1:13-17), the developer of our skin color, intelligence, character, emotional development, culture and environment. He has a place and value for every human being, and no one should think of themselves as better than the next person to justify their ego and self-centeredness.

The gullible, hate-filled radicals of today, who trash cities and deface monuments, are now going after crosses and other symbols of the Christian faith, declaring them to be symbols of “racism” and “white privilege” and are determined to destroy them. The devil and those who follow him have blinded these souls to the fact that, if it were not for the cross of Christ and His gift of salvation, they and every one of us would find ourselves in eternal hell after death, not for a cause or grievance, but because of our wickedness and sins regardless of color or creed.

The Scriptures plainly show us that any kind of pride or perceived aggression, based on race and status, was also part of the attitude of God’s chosen people towards peers and the other cultures that made up the polyglot structure of the Roman Empire and those kingdoms that had been in existence earlier. Unfortunately, some of God’s chosen people tended, at times, to show a lack of real empathy or compassion towards even those within their own culture, especially when it came to illness or poverty, which was seen as punishment from God for their sins. A prime example of this bad attitude came from the religious officials who considered themselves as being more pious and attentive to the Law of Moses than the rest of the Jewish population in the province of Judea – a trait that was challenged and rebuked by the Lord Jesus continually.

The group of officials that Scripture gives attention to the most are the Pharisees, and not in a good light. They are presented as religious ritualists obsessed with keeping the traditions and teachings of the elders before them, who had interpreted the teachings of men before them, as it pertained to their belief on how one should adhere themselves, so as not to violate their preconceived rules about how to honor God and His day of rest. The Sabbath, God’s decree of allowing a time of rest from work one day a week, had been turned into a rigid set of rules that one dare not ignore or disobey. That brought about resentment from the citizenry towards the religious leaders.

When they were confronted and challenged by the Lord Jesus on their stands, He pointed out, time and again, that we are to obey the Scriptures, and not interpretations. We are to love God and His Word and reject any dogma or addition by men as to what is deemed essential to the worship and adoration of the Sovereign Lord of all Creation.

There are people within the realms of religion, even today, who see themselves as used by God to enforce a system of rules and behaviors that define what genuine faith is meant to be, and woe to you if you screw up anything they have interpreted as vital to eternal salvation. Their definition and misplaced zealousness have caused far too many souls to reject what they have experienced in the name of Christianity. Issues such as dress, music, translations, and types of entertainment were deemed more important than godly compassion and love towards the fallen and less fortunate who tended to fall into sin and its consequences.

In verses 1-6 of Chapter 14, Luke writes that Jesus is at the house of a leader of the Pharisees as a dinner guest, not so much out of courtesy and fellowship, but as an opportunity for the religious officials to see if He would do a work that, to them, was forbidden to do on the Sabbath. He had healed a crippled woman previously on a Sabbath (13:10-17) and rebuked the synagogue official for an apparent lack of compassion for this woman and her condition. While these acts of mercy on the Lord’s part won the attention and affection of the people (at least for now), they also enraged the Pharisees and other officials who saw Jesus not as the Promised Messiah, but as a direct threat to their authority and influence over the spiritual lives of the populace.

In the house of Jesus’ host is a man who is suffering from a condition known as dropsy, which was an accumulation of excess fluid in the joints and can prove debilitating if not treated. It is often associated today with the loss of kidney function to eliminate excess fluid and waste matter from the body and causes swelling in the joints. We have medication now that causes the fluid to be eliminated through urine output and reduces such swelling; but in that time, so far as we know, no such medicine or treatment was in existence. Jesus sees this man’s suffering and heals him. He also asks the religious legalists whether healing can be done on the Sabbath. If God Himself desired to give mercy to someone in the form of healing them of an affliction, is that not His right and privilege despite the day or time?

Another issue Jesus brings up is the issue of common sense in dealing with a situation where an animal or one of their own family members is stuck in a ditch or another precarious situation and needs help immediately. Concern for the well-being of the animal or person and the need to rescue them takes precedence over the observation of a holy day, and so you do that which is right and merciful. Should not the Sovereign Lord be able to do the same? Who are we to allow a self-imposed legalism of our own making to stop God from doing anything? That is pure arrogance on our part. He does not need our approval or assistance to do that which is right. The entire act of healing grace, on the part of the Lord Jesus, silences them.

When I read this passage, I tend to think of the absolute cockiness that some people have towards the Holy One today. People arrogantly demand immediate answers to problems and grievances, or they want to challenge Him to prove His existence yet would refuse to follow or obey Him even if He did so. This attitude is also found in what some believe to be authentic Christianity. There are so-called “teachers” who declare that God is not able to work in the earth without our permission or that He will eagerly enter into some deal with you to get what you want in terms of being “prosperous.”

Worse yet, there is the blatant lack of reverence He deserves when we come to church to supposedly “worship” Him. Instead, we look at our social media page on our phone, pass notes, roll one’s eyes over the length of the sermon or  tolerate preaching from a “pastor” that sounds more like a pep talk than an exposition of Holy Scripture. If God did decide to perform a work of mercy and grace in a service or convict us of our unholy and wicked attitudes and bring about repentance and salvations, it would end up upsetting and angering some people because it would interrupt their ritual and order.

O, LORD, revive us. Convict us. Let your elect have the faith to endure these wicked days and open the eyes of the lost. Let us recapture the wonder of Your majesty and glory in our worship and work. Let our lives be totally surrendered to Your guidance and direction. Let us not only call You LORD but live a life that demonstrates it before a lost and dying world. Get us to take our eyes off the things of the world and turn our hearts towards heaven and the promise of Your return. May we be found at our posts, performing the tasks to which You have directed us.

Forgive us of our arrogance, wickedness and lack of reverence for Your Holy Name and Being. Let us have no unclean thing before us that would deter us from following You, nor have us to forfeit that which was our duty and responsibility because of hypocrisy or willful sin. May You be honored, glorified and praised for all time because of the saving grace and mercy the Lord Jesus gave to us. We are unworthy, sinful creatures. Bless and praise You for not abandoning us. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. In Your name and for Your Honor, Amen.

donaldwhitchard@gmail.com

www.donaldwhitchard.com