The Mystery Of Suffering

by Hyland, T. M. | Category: General | Mar 1954

The problem of human suffering is one of considerable perplexity. It is not here proposed to deal with the subject in a general way, but to offer some observations on the place and purpose of suffering in the dealings of God with His people. There are, of course, various kinds of suffering to which God's people are exposed. They share in the sorrows and afflictions which are the common lot of humanity; and they may bring suffering upon themselves through their own folly and sin. Much is to be learned from such experiences. But the suffering to be considered is that which comes to God's people through no apparent failure on their part, or which may be the result, directly or indirectly, of their faithfulness to the will of the LORD. Such suffering is described as "according to the will of God" (1 Peter 4.19).

To particularize: there is a young disciple, faced in his youth with a decision with regard to Military Service. He may be sensitive to reproach: a decision now to suffer for conscience sake may seriously affect a career on which he has set his heart. There is the young sister whose loyalty to her Lord's will-marry "only in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 7. 39) - prevents the fulfilment of a cherished desire. Other cases of a similar character will occur to the reader, where suffering of a nature perhaps little appreciated by others, is endured as the direct result of faithfulness to the will of the LORD. Then there are oppressing circumstances in endless variety; wearing day-by-day sorrows which oftentimes cannot be shared even with one's dearest earthly friend. Such experiences abound in Christian life and bring in their wake many searchings of heart. It may well be that the reader is burdened at this moment with some trial which seems to hamper and hinder his spiritual progress. He may feel that if only he could be relieved of his present burden he could serve the LORD more effectively. What is the meaning of all this? The problem is one which has perplexed men of faith in all generations, as the Scriptures abundantly testify.

In seeking an answer to this problem we may be helped by examining our attitude towards the purpose of our lives here on earth. Are we not inclined to regard our present life as an experience to be accomplished with as little trouble and inconvenience as possible? Trials and difficulties will come, but are we resolved to face them with cheerfulness and resignation? Alas! not always do we face our troubles so philosophically! Sometimes we murmur, and complain:

"Why should this happen to me?" or, " What have I done to deserve this? " Or worse still, we blame God, and utter such strictures on His ways as should never be allowed to escape our lips. All this arises from our ignorance of the LORD'S ways and of the real purpose of His dealings with us in this present life. Unless we have some insight into these matters we shall be found wanting in the day of trouble and miss the valuable lessons which may be learned therein. It is proposed therefore to consider, for our instruction and encouragement some of the recorded dealings of God with His servant, the apostle Paul, which throw some light on this problem of the place and purpose of suffering in Christian experience.

It has been well said that no study of the letters of Paul is complete without a study of the man himself. The second epistle to the Corinthians supplies us with certain details regarding the dealings of God with His servant which add considerably to our knowledge of the man whose writings have so enriched the people of God. Probably no other epistle reveals so intimately the struggles and conflicts of this great man of God. Here he is revealed as a true man, a man of like passions with us. Here we see his weakness and his strength now, weighed down with sorrow; now, exulting in his God. Here we see a man in a crucible bearing the full force of the furnace. Here, too, are laid bare the mainsprings of that devoted life of service to his Master. All this is but the outworking in his life of the divine purpose disclosed at the very commencement of his spiritual career:

"he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My Name ... for I will shew him how many things he must suffer for My Name's sake" (Acts 9. 15,16).

The apostle's first visit to Corinth is described in some detail in Acts 18. This occurred during his second missionary journey recorded in Acts. He did a great work at Corinth and his labours there had far-reaching repercussions on the work of the Lord in those early days.

On his third missionary journey his chief objective seemed to be Ephesus, where he stayed for three years (Acts 20.81). While he was at Ephesus tidings reached him of certain irregularities in the church of God in Corinth, some of which were of a serious nature. He learned of these matters from the household of Chloe (1 Corinthians 1.11). He had also received a letter from the Corinthian church which called for a reply (1 Corinthians 7.1). These matters caused him great concern and he wrote a long letter, entrusting it to his faithful co-worker Titus to convey to the Corinthian church. Paul himself describes his feelings as he wrote this letter:

"out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears" (2 Corinthians 2.4).

It may well be that the precious papyrus roll which Titus carried was stained with the tears of this great man of God. How eloquently this reveals his tender care for God's people, and the deep meaning of his own words:

"there is that which presseth upon me daily, anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I burn not?" (2 Corinthians 11. 28, 29).

After Titus had left for Corinth events came to a head at Ephesus and Paul passed through a period of intense affliction. This he movingly describes as:

"our affliction which befell us in Asia; that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, insomuch that we despaired even of life: yea, we ourselves have had the answer of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead:

who delivered us out of so great a death ..." (2 Corinthians 1.8-10).

Apparently Paul had arranged to go to Troas to meet Titus there on his return from Corinth. In great distress of mind he waited at Troas until he could wait no longer; even though useful work lay to his hand, his longing for news from Corinth dominated his mind:

"..... when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ, and when a door was opened unto me in the Lord, 1 had no relief for my spirit, because 1 found not Titus my brother and taking my leave of them, I went forth into Macedonia" (2 Corinthians 2.12, 13).

Still he waited many weary days in Macedonia:

"even when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no relief, but we were afflicted on every side; without were fightings, within were fears" (2 Corinthians 7.5).

At long last relief came! By what means? By a night vision, as on a previous occasion of great stress? No!

"Nevertheless He that comforteth the lowly, even God, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not by his coming only, but also by the comfort wherewith he was comforted in you... " (2 Corinthians 7.0).

How true all this is to human experience! That the great apostle should thus reveal his inmost thoughts deepens our affection for him, and should be a means of great encouragement to us all. God permitted His servant to pass through all these difficulties and many others which lay in his path. It was in the light of them, and with the spiritual insight which they gave him into the ways of God, that he wrote his second epistle to the Corinthians.

In this epistle the apostle traces three ways in which divine purposes were advanced by means of his sufferings. Firstly, consider this passage:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God"

(2 Corinthians 1.3, 4).

How often have we found ourselves speechless in the presence of one of God's suffering saints! It is those who themselves have passed through the deep waters of affliction that can best administer true comfort to others. Thus God fits His servants to dispense His consolations. Think of David, of Isaiah, of Jeremiah, and many another in the divine record. Such men were prepared by God for their comforting ministry in the school of affliction. Consider such a character as John Bunyan. His work, "Grace abounding to the chief of sinners," still speaks with tenderness and power to those in distress of soul. His deep spiritual insight into these matters was born out of his own bitter experiences of the deepest of all sorrows.

The lesson to ourselves in all this is clear. If we are duly exercised in our afflictions, then we are gaining experience which will fit us to help others who may be passing through similar difficulties. This great purpose of God in the sufferings of His people should help us to view in true perspective this aspect of His dealings with us.

We now refer to one of the most touching experiences in the amazing life of the apostle Paul, the account of which gives us an insight into the grace and wisdom with which the divine hand prepared and fashioned this chosen vessel. The closing verses of 2 Corinthians ii. furnish us with a catalogue of the sufferings through which the apostle had thus far passed during the course of his ministry. These sufferings, considered in their intensity and diversity, stagger the imagination. It seems almost incredible that one frail mortal man could sustain so much in so short a space of years. Surely, then, the variety of experience here described included every lesson to be learned in the school of God! No! There is one experience which is omitted from the list in 2 Corinthians 11. and reserved for special treatment in chapter 12. It is an experience which must occupy a prominent place in any true assessment of the apostle's fruitful ministry. Here are the well-known words with which he recounts it:

"And by reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelation herefore, that I should not be exalted overmuch, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be exalted overmuch. Concerning this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me" (2 Corinthians 12.7, 8).

We are not told what this "thorn in the flesh" was, and nothing is to be gained from mere conjecture. Whatever it was, it caused the apostle acute anxiety. This may well have appeared to him to be a handicap which would very seriously curtail his activities in the service of the Master he loved so well. With all the spiritual insight with which he was endowed he could see no other course but to plead for its removal. He "besought the Lord thrice," not that he might be enabled to endure it, but that it might depart from him. We listen with subdued spirits, and almost feel the impact of his Lord's reply on His beseeching servant:

"He hath said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for My power

is made perfect in weakness'" (verse 9).

His Master has spoken, tenderly but definitely. The decision is taken in heaven, and it will not be questioned by the earthen vessel. The thorn in the flesh will remain, the messenger of Satan will continue to buffet him, but into the vessel divine grace (which is only to be experienced, never defined) will flow in overflowing fulness.

In this case, although it is not always so, the Lord graciously revealed to His servant the reason for this strange and fearful disability. To fulfil his ministry he needed a mighty influx of divine power. Let us note well the words: "My power is made perfect in weakness." Reduced thus to a state of utter weakness, dependent entirely on divine grace, a vessel was fitted through which the power of Christ could be manifested. There was nothing the apostle coveted more than this. He would pay any price for it. We listen to his noble self-effacing words with the blush of shame on our cheeks:

"Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake; for when ! am weak, then am I strong" (2 Corinthians 12.9, 10).

We cannot measure the blessing which has resulted from this "thorn in the flesh." To labour the lesson would be superfluous. We pass on with this reflection: What may not God accomplish through any one of His children who thus places himself at His disposal arid says "Amen" to all His dealings!

There is another important passage in this epistle in relation to our subject which we may now consider:

"Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen:

"for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not

seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4. 16-18).

Here the apostle takes a wider view of the purpose of his afflictions. He views them, not in relation to his earthly life and ministry, but in their bearing on the life to come. He saw in his sufferings an instrument with which God was forging for him something of eternal worth which would abide when temporal things had passed into oblivion. He knew that he was being prepared in this life for higher service in eternity. Solemn thought! It opens to us a field of wonder. It gives us a view of life unknown to men of this world.

"Not only here

The rich result of all our God doth teach:

His scholars, slow at best, until we reach

A nobler sphere.

Then, not till then, our training is complete

And the true life begins, for which He made us meet.

Are children trained

only that they may reach some higher class,

Only for some few schoolroom years that pass

Till growth is gained?

Is it not rather for the life beyond

To which the Father looks with hopes so fair and fond?

Bold thought, flash on

Into the depths of eternity

When time shall be a faint star memory

So long, long gone!"

God's dealings with us here will be reflected in our resurrection bodies. Somehow, our eternal service will bear an impress of our present experiences, and will be affected by our reactions to the discipline of our lives on earth. Observe that our afflictions work for us only "while we look .... at the things which are not seen .... The things which are not seen are eternal." If our visi6n is bounded by this life only then our experiences here will not be viewed in the light of eternity.

In this process of preparation for higher service, the divine Workman alone knows the pattern of the finished vessel. One day we shall be permitted to view the result of His work:

"The morning shall awaken, The shadows pass away, And each true-hearted servant Shall shine as doth the day."

To describe this glorious result the apostle employs remarkable language. With "our light affliction" he compares our "weight of glory." Serious as present sufferings may appear when measured by human standards, the recompense in glory will be overwhelming - " Our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory." This conception of the purpose of suffering disclosed in 2 Corinthians 4. is one demanding our earnest consideration. It should encourage us to trust when we cannot trace. How fitting are the words we ofttimes sing !"Not now, but in the coming years,

It may be in the better land,

We'll read the meaning of our tears,

And there, some time, we'll understand.

We'll catch the broken threads again,

And finish what we here began;

Heaven will the mysteries explain,

And then, ah then, we'll understand."

Hyland, T. M. | Mar 1954
General