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Some of you thought that. Remember, we are looking at questions like this all summer,
at what the Bible says about some of these hard questions, and the purpose is really twofold.
It's both strengthening our own faith and learning to listen and to understand non-Christian neighbors
and friends and some of their struggles with God and faith that often are similar to our own.
Almost all of us have at some point asked some version of this question this morning
because all of us have suffered. What does the Bible have to say to us when we ask, why?
Okay. We're going to look at several different passages this morning,
but first let's pray together and ask for God's help.
God, your word has pointed us already this morning to look to you, to cry out to you,
to express honestly the struggles, the questions that we have.
And so we do that now. We come to your word, wanting to hear you speak to us about the questions
we don't have answers for, about the difficult things that we struggle with.
So would you give us ears to hear and would you speak clearly and tenderly, Father,
to our hearts even now in Jesus' name. Amen.
Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
Psalm 10.
God, why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning?
Psalm 42.
Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
Psalm 44.
Why did you bring me out from the womb?
Job asks.
Why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?
The prophet Habakkuk.
Why is my pain unceasing?
My wound incurable?
Refusing to be healed?
The prophet Jeremiah.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Jesus on the cross.
See, the people of God often find the question, why, heavy on their hearts.
We understand that, don't we?
I hardly need to give you examples.
Why did we have a pregnancy only to suffer a miscarriage?
Why do so many children starve each day?
Why did the Venezuela earthquake do so much damage?
Why did my loved one have to die so soon?
Why are millions of people sold into slavery each year?
Why will my pain never go away?
I could go on all day, right?
You know these questions.
I don't have to stand up here and try to convince you that there are bad things in this world.
I certainly don't have to convince you that there are bad things in your life.
I have been with you.
I have shaken my fists and bowed my head with many of you in hospital rooms, in living rooms.
Why?
Behind that why question for many people is often a feeling that if God is really God and
He's really good, this suffering wouldn't be happening.
And so some people have concluded that the presence of evil, of bad things, disproves God's existence.
And I just want to acknowledge that up front because I'm not going to address it at length
this morning in this sermon.
Not because I don't care.
In fact, let's make sure we include that in our discussion afterwards, okay?
We'll get there.
But because the Bible doesn't focus there when we ask these questions, it doesn't give
us this simple, clear answer to why there is evil in the world.
It's that ancient question of theodicy.
We will touch on that a bit more in a couple weeks in what's kind of a companion sermon.
How can a loving God send people to hell?
But the Bible does tell us that all things are ultimately for the glory of the sovereign
creator.
That sin invades God's good creation.
That the creation is under a curse from its creator.
But often it doesn't specifically answer the specific why questions that are asked even by God's people.
Instead, I'd like to focus this morning on what God says he does with the bad things.
It's another angle on the same question.
Because the God of the Bible speaks to this a lot and he offers unique answers to that aspect of the question.
See, he doesn't avoid that.
He doesn't philosophize away the pain to defend his reputation.
He does speak to us in our pain.
So, let's listen this morning to what he has to say.
Suffering is so obvious, so heavy on us,
that some give other answers from the ones that God gives.
Some conclude with atheism and naturalism,
that the world is just a harsh place with no God and no hope to escape the suffering.
Others, not quite so hopeless,
they conclude with Buddhism or other religions
that suffering is so ubiquitous and so undesirable
that you must avoid it.
And you do that, you disconnect from attachments to life
in order to find true happiness.
The God of the Bible of Christianity says quite the opposite.
What does he do with bad things?
Well, like the others, he doesn't deny the existence of suffering.
He doesn't call bad things good.
And please hear that as we get started today.
You're sufferers.
You need to know that the pain is real.
The tears you cry are appropriate.
The evil really is unjust and wrong,
and God affirms that.
But unlike the others,
God engages bad things,
real evil,
purposefully.
In fact, he assures us that despite what it may often look like to us,
our suffering is never pointless or without purpose.
Now think about that for a minute.
Only a sovereign God could promise you that.
Only someone who is in total control of all of it
could give you a promise like that.
Let's see the same truth in an Old Testament story
and then in a New Testament statement.
Start with Joseph.
Joseph, you may remember,
suffers a lot, doesn't he?
Thrown into a pit by his brothers,
sold into slavery in Egypt,
falsely accused,
thrown in prison,
abandoned by people he helped,
alone, away from family and God's people.
Any of this starting to feel familiar to your own life?
But when God works to bring Joseph out of prison
and into second in command in all of Egypt,
when his brothers and father are reunited to him,
when his trust in God eventually brings the nations to Egypt
for famine relief,
he tells his brothers,
you meant evil against me,
but God meant it for good.
To bring it about that many people should be kept alive
as they are today.
The things you did, he says, were really bad.
You meant evil.
And on top of that,
I couldn't see the good from the pit or the prison.
But God had other things in mind.
Somebody else was in control.
He had in mind to bring good.
In fact, to redeem evil things
for the saving of many lives.
And there were years and years
where you couldn't have explained this.
And Joseph says,
I couldn't have told you what was happening.
But then all of a sudden,
you could.
We may not have the explanation of our bad things
even in our lifetimes.
But Romans 8.28 reminds us
that all things,
even if we don't understand how,
work together for good
for those called according to God's purpose.
He has a purpose.
So, so far from disproving his existence,
suffering bows to God's power and will.
He is so strong, y'all,
and so gracious
that he regularly brings good out of bad.
Nowhere, of course, is that seen better
than when the greatest redemption
in the history of the world
comes through the greatest act
of unjust violence ever committed.
More on that later.
But like Jesus and Joseph,
we often see only the knotted,
confusing, messy backside.
If you just look at the left side,
can you even tell what that's a picture of?
We only see the backside of the tapestry like this
while we're living our lives
when in fact God is weaving
a beautiful tapestry,
a good story
from all of the bad on the backside.
Now of all the good
that God could bring out of bad things,
one purpose sticks out from all the others.
the ultimate good
of deepening our relationship with him.
This is, after all,
what God says we were made for, right?
This is why we exist,
to know him,
to make him known.
Peter tells us
that towards that end,
it is necessary
that we face some temporary trials.
Because the trials are gonna do something.
They're going to refine our faith.
Right?
That's our relationship with God,
our trust in him.
It's gonna be refined like gold
being refined in a furnace.
He says the trials
deepen our love for Jesus
so that we rejoice in him eternally.
Peter goes on to say,
you rejoice with a joy
that is inexpressible
and glorious
because your love for Jesus
is growing.
And we do that
because the bad things
have shown us afresh
our need for him,
our dependence upon him.
See,
originally,
in the Garden of Eden,
God made Adam and Eve
and put them in the garden,
and he gave them the sun
and the moon,
of course,
to light their days.
And he also visited,
right,
from time to time.
He walked with them.
But in the new heavens,
in the new earth,
the way God's going to make it one day,
there is no need for the sun
because what?
God is the light.
We live always in his presence.
That's how God can call
our struggles here momentary
and light.
That's what he says
in 2 Corinthians 4.
Because the eternal
and weighty glory
of living in dependent relationship
with him,
sharing that loving relationship
of father and son and spirit,
that is the glory that we need.
That's what we're actually longing for
when we feel alone
or abandoned.
That's what you're longing for
when you feel discouraged
or depressed.
That's what you're longing for
when you feel anxious
or fearful.
You're longing to be
enlightened,
held,
comforted
by the God who made us
and came to be with us
and promises never to leave us.
That's what you were made for.
Let me see if I can picture it this way.
Think of the bad things
like this.
Many of you parents
have rushed
to the aid
of a crying child
in the middle of the night.
Right?
I know my kids
didn't enjoy
those scary moments.
We call them
bad dreams
for a reason.
Right?
Night terrors.
In fact,
even I,
as the one who wasn't having them,
probably was wishing
I was asleep too.
Nobody liked it.
But I found
that getting to show up,
thank you for the object lesson,
I found that getting to show up
and hold
my girls
while they're crying,
to comfort her
as she's hurting
or afraid,
to reassure her
of my care
and commitment to her
in those difficult moments,
has helped her
experience my love
in ways
that she never would have
without the dark night
and the bad dream.
Now,
we don't stop
to think like that
as crying toddlers,
right?
And we're screaming
in the middle of the night.
But we're learning
night after night
and time after time
when mom or dad
shows up
and holds me
and is there
and comforts me.
We're learning
that to make it through
the dark nights
of the soul,
we actually depend
on someone
who loves us
and will be with us.
That's a really important
lesson to learn.
One last note here.
You've probably heard
Christians say
that God will never
give you more
than you can handle.
That's not what
the Bible says
when you just apply it
broadly to all bad things,
to suffering in general.
The Bible doesn't say that.
There is a verse
that says that
about temptation.
That it won't be
beyond what
we can bear.
But Paul actually
says the very opposite
when talking
about some
of his sufferings.
It's important
for us to see this
in 2 Corinthians 1.
Paul says
we were so
utterly burdened
beyond our strength
that we despaired
of life itself.
It was more
than he could bear.
Right?
Even Paul.
Paul.
Why?
Why is this happening?
We felt we'd received
the sentence of death
but that was,
you could say,
that happened
so that
that was
to make us
rely
not on ourselves
but on God
who raises
the dead.
You see what he's saying?
Why did we have to feel
like there was
no hope for our lives
like we were under
a sentence of death?
because the God
who was teaching us
to trust him
is the one
who raises the dead.
That no matter
what we went through
we could trust him.
You see,
God wanted to deepen
their relationship
with him
to help Paul
rely more
on who he
really is.
So I just want to say
to you this morning
if you are in
over your head
and many of us are,
if you are burdened
burdened
beyond what
you can bear,
you may be right
but it's not because
God wants to drive you
away from him.
No.
It's because God
wants to draw you close.
It's because he wants you
to know him
more deeply
as he held close
Paul
and Ruth
and Jesus
in the garden.
He will
hold me
fast.
And see,
the bad things,
when you see
bad things,
it should make you
draw near to a good
God.
That's his design.
One more part
of his design,
of his purpose,
the way he engages
purposefully
with bad things
is to bless
our relationships
with others.
This is
in 2 Corinthians 1
also.
God comforts us
in all our
affliction
so that we
may be able
to comfort
those who are
in any affliction.
How are we going
to do that?
With the comfort
that we ourselves
have received
when God
comforted
us.
Not only do you
grow in your
dependence on God
in those hard times
but then he works
so that you also
get the privilege
of comforting
others,
helping them
depend on God
also when they
walk through
hard times.
Haven't we all
been there
where we've
needed an
older parent
or someone
who's had
the same
disease
or surgery
that we're
facing
or a fellow
addict
to say
I know
what you're
feeling.
It's so hard.
God is enough.
He's good.
Trust him.
We've needed
that haven't we?
I'd encourage you
to look around
this morning
and in your
life.
Look for someone
with whom you
can share
comfort and
maybe the bad
things that you've
walked through
will have a new
sense of purpose
in your mind
as God works
in them to
bless you
and through
you to bless
others.
Lots of
purposes God
has with the
bad things
but as important
as it is to
understand that
they're not
meaningless,
the things in
our lives
and in our
world.
They're not
missing God's
sovereign work
in them.
That's a big
deal.
It's also
really helpful
to know
that God
promises to
end bad
things
permanently.
We've already
read several
phrases about
the temporary
nature
of suffering
for a little
while
momentary
and that is
because
God says
He is making
all things
new.
Revelation 21.
He talks about
the former
order.
When He talks
about the former
order of things
that's the one
you know so well.
The one with
tears and sorrow
and pain
and death.
It will be
no more.
The judge
of all the
earth will
somehow
set right
every wrong
will in ways
we can't even
imagine
make just
every injustice
will hear our
groanings
will heal
every hurt.
That's the
promise that
Romans 8
makes to
all of
creation
that groans
with us
longing
in these
present
sufferings
for a
glory
He says
a freedom
that's ahead
that ends
all the
bad
things.
It's coming.
And don't we
need to know
that?
Don't you need
to know
that dementia
has an
expiration date
on it?
Don't we
rejoice
even at a
graveside
at the
promise
of our
hurting
loved ones
having
resurrected
bodies?
Don't we
resonate
with the
hope
that war
and slavery
and starvation
and death
itself
will one
day,
can you
imagine
this?
Be so
many
millions
of years
behind
in our
rearview
mirrors
that we
can't see
them and
we can't
imagine
living in
a world
where they
exist.
You don't
get that
kind of
hope
anywhere
else
than from
a God
who engages
purposefully
enough with
suffering
that He
can be
sovereign
over it
one day
to bring
it to
an end.
Y'all,
we've tried.
Try as we
might.
We have
never been
able to
create
utopia
even for
a small
group,
even for
a small
amount
of time,
much less
been able
to create
a world
that will
last forever
like that
with no
fear of
the good
things ever
stopping
or the bad
things ever
coming back.
that is
the promise
of a
resurrected
and reigning
Jesus who
will bring
us with
Him into
a relationship
in a world
that will
never perish,
spoil,
fade,
or cease
to exist.
Friends,
God promises
there's an
end to
the bad
things you
hate.
He's the
only one who
can guarantee
that.
He's the
only one who
has shown
He has
power over
bad things
even death
to bring
them to
an end.
And every
time you
open the
Bible and
there's a
psalm of
lament like
we prayed
together this
morning,
there's a
prayer of
pain from
God's people
or there's
a prophecy
of hope
in God's
Word.
All of
those are
longing for
that with
you,
feeling the
ache and
the groaning
with you.
That's a
great comfort.
It is so
important that
God works in
our suffering
and that He
promises to
end it.
But I want
to be honest
with you,
if that is
all that we
get, for
many of us,
that's not
good enough.
For many of
us who have
heard those
promises, it
is still very
easy to resent
a God who
from His
comfortable spot
up in
heaven gets
to watch us
suffer bad
things for
even a little
while.
that would
still be
too much
for many
of us
to bear.
And that's
why it's
so important
even to
God that
He also
endures
bad things
personally.
You may
remember Hebrews.
Do you all
remember Hebrews?
Oh, good.
Somebody remembers
Hebrews.
That makes me
feel so good.
You may
remember
repeatedly,
Hebrews would
make this
point, that
the one who
would bring
us our
salvation needed
to be like
us in having
suffered.
That was
fitting,
remember?
It made
Jesus perfect
as a Savior
because He
suffered too.
So He can
really sympathize,
empathize with,
and He can
truly represent
before God
those who
likewise are
real sufferers.
That's you
and me.
So Jesus
famously stands
before the
grave of a
loved one
and weeps
in the face
of death.
Y'all,
there's no way
that Jesus
is taking
our suffering
lightly
when He
knows what
it feels
like,
when He
hates it
as much
as we
do.
Maybe even
we could say
He hates
it more
because He
created a
world free
from death.
He designed
us never
to be
separated from
Him or
from our
loved ones.
He recoils
at the idea
of death
intruding into
His good
creation and
impacting people
He loves.
and yet,
He willingly
sets out
to be
what Isaiah
prophesied
God would be
like when He
would enter
into this
world and
take on
flesh.
What was He
going to be
like?
What was the
promise from
the very
beginning?
Was He
going to be
riding in on
a cushy
throne with
a crown and
with everybody
praising Him?
He was going
to be despised
and rejected
by men.
A man of
sorrows and
acquainted with
grief.
As one from
whom men hide
their faces,
He was despised.
We esteemed
Him not.
Surely He has
borne our
griefs and
carried our
sorrows.
Yet we esteemed
Him stricken,
smitten by God
and afflicted.
But He was
pierced for
our transgressions.
He was
crushed for
our iniquities.
Surely,
y'all,
that's what
our God is
like when
He willingly
dwells for
a while
among us.
Just stop
and think,
what a unique
comfort.
The incarnation
of God,
the enfleshing
of the divine,
what a unique
comfort that
provides.
Especially
when it's not
just for a
moment,
but when Jesus
goes all the
way to the
cross to
suffer and
die in
our place.
I want to
just contemplate
for a minute
with you the
reality of the
cross of
Jesus.
Because the
cross of all
places assures
us that the
bad things in
our lives
cannot
possibly mean
that God
is not with
us.
That's a
conclusion that
we sometimes
reach when
we're overwhelmed.
God's not
here.
He doesn't
see me.
He doesn't
care.
It can't be
true.
It's like when
Daniel's friends
Shadrach,
Meshach,
and Abednego
got thrown
into the
fiery furnace
and all of a
sudden the
king saw in
the furnace a
fourth man
walking around
in the flames
with them
while they
were completely
unharmed.
The cross
assures us
God is with
us in the
worst of
things no
matter how
high the
heat gets
turned up
to protect
us.
He's not
aloof from
suffering.
He's not
sitting off
in heaven
somewhere away
from us.
Quite the
opposite.
He has
entered in.
And think
of what
happens on
the cross.
Okay?
Think about
this with
me.
God
endures
pain.
Unspeakable
physical
torture.
Unthinkable
shame and
humiliation.
unbearable
relational
breaking.
Because at
the cross
God loses
a loved
one, even
his only
son, to
death.
Indeed at
the cross
God asks
why?
My God,
my God,
why have
you forsaken
me?
That is how
completely he
enters in to
endure our
suffering in
our place.
There must
have been so
many why
questions between
crucifixion
Friday and
resurrection
Sunday.
When we are
asking why,
as the Bible
assures us,
we will,
our questioning
cries are heard
by a God who
has endured what
we are feeling
and more.
And so very
importantly for us,
that means he
has not left us
in the midst of
those bad things,
but he will remain
with us in them.
Y'all, that is so
hopeful because if
he's there,
and we remember that
out of the ultimate
bad thing,
the murder of the
innocent son of
God on the
cross,
God brings the
ultimate good,
the rescue of
so many lives,
right?
See, that's what
he does when he's
present in the bad
things, and God is
present to work the
bad things for good,
to deepen our
relationship with
him, to bless
others through us,
and eventually to
resurrect us to
where the bad
things are gone
forever.
But the good
thing, him, is
never gone, always,
always with us.
See, there is an
end to the bad
things coming,
isn't there?
Aren't you glad?
The Bible speaks
way more to that
than it does to
their specific
origin.
Their beginning
may be a bit
unclear, but their
ending is not
uncertain at all.
Don't ever forget
that.
When the bad
things seem
overwhelming,
seem all-consuming,
seem unending,
don't forget the
end is coming.
In fact, even the
why questions that
we've been asking
for millennia will
be coming to an
end.
All the ones that
matter will be
answered, and those
that don't will fade
from our
consideration.
Won't that be
wonderful?
Can you imagine
living like that and
not asking why all
the time?
Not having to
wonder the why
questions that we
cry in desperation
and wonder in our
fears and wrestle
with in our doubts?
They'll be gone
because we will see
him as he is and
know him even as we
are fully known.
I think the only
question, the only
why question that I
can imagine in
heaven is one along
the lines of, why
am I here?
Lord, why am I a
guest at this
incredible eternal
feast?
And even there we
will know the answer,
won't we?
Love, relationship,
grace, Jesus, the
cross, glory.
We know it in part
because this table is
a foretaste of that
unending glory and
that unending
relationship of that
eternal wedding feast
that we share with
Jesus as his bride.
Why can you come?
Why can I be here?
You know the answer?
Our Savior.
He brings good things
out of bad things.
He's washed us clean.
He's set the table.
He's insisted that we
come and be with him.
Remember what he said
to his disciples.
That it would all be
about his work done
for us.
It was that night that
he was betrayed to
such an awful death
that he took bread
and he broke it
and he gave it to his
disciples as I am
ministering in his
name.
Give this bread to you.
He said, take and eat.
This is my body
given for you.
Do this in remembrance
of me.
And then the same way
after supper he took
the cup and he said,
this cup is the new
covenant in my blood
shed for many for the
forgiveness of sins,
their sins.
Drink from it all of you
in remembrance of me
for as often as you eat
this bread and drink
this cup, you proclaim
the Lord's death until he
comes.
If you do not trust
Jesus to rescue you
from your bad things
and to give you good
things forever,
don't come and eat
at this table where we
celebrate that, where we
say, this is our hope.
We proclaim his death.
If you don't, don't
proclaim outwardly with
your actions something
you wouldn't proclaim
with your words.
But we do welcome you.
We welcome you to come
forward with us or even
to stay in your seats,
whatever you would prefer,
and to consider the hope
of Jesus, the offer of
someone who would love
you like that.
And to know that that hope
and that offer is for all
whoever would trust him.
He offers it to you
today if you will but
trust him.
And if you do trust in
him, then come eagerly
and eat with us.
Whether you're a member
of this particular church
or some other, come to
be reminded that he is
with you in your bad
things.
Come to draw strength
from his sacrifice.
Come to look forward to
the good things that he
promises are yours to
enjoy with him forever
because he has purchased
them for you by enduring
the ultimate bad thing
so that you will not
forever.
What a good Savior we have.
Let's pray and then we'll
come celebrate.
Jesus, do remind us of
that, of your great love
for us.
Don't let us complicate
this beyond the truth
that Jesus loves me.
that's why we can be here
and there is no other
way.
And so would you indeed
bring comfort because you
know we need it as we
remember that you're with
us and for us and will
never leave us.
Give us joy in that
together.
We ask in your name.
Amen.
For more information,
visit us online at
southwood.org.
Thank you.