Why does God allow suffering?

Transcript

so as was mentioned I chose the topic x that I wanted to um the Bible up x and discuss with you tonight on x the very tough question and sometimes x um you know almost taboo topic of why x does God allow suffering and I did so x with x um the thought in mind of you know a lot x of the things that your equation has x been going through in the prayer request x that we've been getting x regarding some of the tragedies that you x guys are are dealing with the Heartbreak x that everyone's x working their way through so x I wanted to try to offer this as a as a x scriptural help to really kind of get x back to x the nuts and bolts of x you know looking Beyond just x the impact that sorrow and suffering can x have but like x what's the what's the big picture x so as we know even though we might be x sheltered here in America we are acutely x aware that there is a massive amount of x distress that is felt all over the globe x you would agree with me that this x ongoing pandemic x all the news headlines about natural x disasters x we have x current new threats of terrorism the x increase of War x not to mention economic instability x that's now making the cost of food at an x all-time high x all these things on a macro level and x then especially down to a personal level x of dealing with x anxiety x living with depression x perhaps living with a disability x or stress over money stress over family x issues x we almost feel some sense of x hopelessness x as we see how the world is falling apart x and that there are so few answers to be x had sometimes x and as I mentioned I asked brother Nate x if this topic might be appropriate or x perhaps even a bit too much because I x know that your Ecclesia is going through x um x just it feels like trial after trial x I know that there's an immense amount of x prayer that needs to continue to be had x for the families that you mentioned and x individuals that you mentioned x and we do pray that our God hears these x prayers and allows his angels to answer x them swiftly to intervene x from my own experience when you start x exchanging stories between ecclesias x about who's on your prayer list and x um you start learning about other people x that you didn't even x know needed to be included in prayers x it can get x pretty harrowing pretty quickly x um x when you comprehend the consequences of x some of these requests x um you know particularly I believe x brother x Tom Cannon x just how much x lives both can and will change just in x an instant and it can make your heart x sink in your chest x crying out for answers x and it feels like these days if it's not x something that's x particularly impacting us x then it's something else that's too x close to home I Know Myself personally x um back in the spring with the Uvalde x shootings that was something that really x really struck a chord to me because I x was still teaching at the time and x um x just feeling for what that school must x have been going through x every week we keep hearing about more x mental health related suicides x more mass shootings x the key word behind all of it is x suffering x human suffering x we might have a tough time dealing with x this accepting why is it that people x have to go through such affliction x what good is it doing x um x I think the question that can come to x most people's minds is that cliche why x do bad things happen to good people x I think that this question in particular x has driven people both Believers and x non-believers alike into three different x camps x so I think there's really three x different ways that people have chosen x to try to answer this question x and that's what I've got on the screen x at the moment x the first is to just x flat out say that there is no God x that we just suffer for no reason x that the events that unfold in our x personal lives as well as to nations in x general are just random chaos x and that's like the heartbreaking x equivalent of saying you know what I'm x really sorry that your daughter was x killed by a drunk driver x I'm really sorry that your country is x running out of clean water x tough luck x the second view would at least x acknowledge x that there is a Divine something x that created the world and its x inhabitants but that now events would x just unfold on their own x um much like a clock that's been wound x up and is now just ticking away x once again this kind of answer would say x that we just suffer for no reason x there's nothing to stop it there's no x hope of intervention x so obviously the third point of view x that I'd like to express this evening is x what I hope most of us believe in that x there is a personal and involved x God x that both created this Earth and still x controls it still intervenes in this x world but yet x we still suffer x so then there has to be a reason for it x I think the first step in understanding x why God allows suffering begins with x understanding and perhaps accepting as x well our position before him x the Bible tells us that we are but dust x that our egos need to be left behind x we were not created to be waited on hand x and foot but in turn we were made to x serve him and to give him the glory x it says as as uh hopefully you can see x on the screen in Isaiah 64 verse 8 x but now oh Lord you are our father we x are your clay x you are our Potter x and we are all the work of your hand x and on a similar note in Romans 9 x . what ill what is molded say to its x motor why have you made me like this has x the Potter no right over the clay x I think that something we're all x familiar with and hopefully x um x you know something we can accept x and another obvious thing that I believe x needs to be said right off the bat is x that a hard burden of Affliction is not x our Maker's fault as some would x carelessly suggest is in fact our own x the Bible also tells us this x that the suffering that we understand is x a direct x correlation so the consequences of our x own sin x that in the beginning x God did create the Garden of Eden as a x paradise x with x the most ideal conditions there was no x disease no injury no disaster no crime x no pollution these things did not exist x we did not understand stress x violence death x they were not experienced by mankind x God said that he saw everything that he x made and behold it was very good x we know that Adam and Eve's Disobedience x introduced x uh a separation x between us and our master x from them being so easily persuaded away x from obeying God they chose to change x things x mankind x no longer dwelling in harmony with God's x laws we have Disobedience and affliction x introduced to our human experience and I x think most of us would probably also x agree that it if it were not Adam and x Eve x it would have been us it would have been x myself making those same poor decisions x thinking of x the lust the eyes the lust of the fresh x the pride of life x Yahweh fairly told them x in Genesis 2 verses 16 and 17. x that the consequence of their x Disobedience would be death x says you may surely eat of every tree of x the garden but of the tree of the x knowledge of Good and Evil x you shall not eat for in the day that x you eat of it you shall surely die x so today x is the result of that 6 000 years of x Disobedience willful Rebellion against x God x so it's clearly evident why this x existence of suffering is something x that's so entrenched in our existence x that it's so Perpetual that even though x we have your babies and young children x that have not chosen yet to disobey God x born in them is a nature to even x disobey parents just because x that's that's the the downfall of the x flesh x this is the long-term effect of being x removed from righteousness x and if you went back to our three x answers and you went back to answer x number one and you said well you know x there is no God and we just x we just suffer random once again there's x no hope then there's no intervention and x if you say again that answer number two x there has been a Divine creation but x that was just at the beginning x things just almost go like a clock now x once again we're looking for what is x that answer of why is there suffering is x there any reason behind it x it's interesting to note also x that it says that God does not force us x to act against his will x that displeases his righteous character x he would wish that we would fear his x name x and in fact the scriptures indicate that x mankind is generally determined to x oppose the wisdom of God x in Ecclesiastes 8 and 11 it says x because the sentence against an evil x deed is not executed speedily x the heart of the children of man is x fully set to do evil x and in chapter 9 verse 2 x it is the same for all x since the same event happens both to the x righteous and the wicked x to the Good and Evil x the hearts of the children of man are x full of evil and Madness is in their x hearts where they lived x and after that x they go to the Grave x so I lay these things out x really really just to push the issue x why should we question the presence of x evil and suffering x when Humanity x we're told despises the very means of x its solution which is to obey God x all the horrible things around us that x we could point to famine War disease x these are all a result of Mankind's x greed x are x insatiable appetite to please ourselves x the lust of the eyes and flesh x mankind given the responsibility to x write its own destiny has just brought x us to this point x which is ignoring the Bible ignoring the x advice of God ignoring x her recognization of a Creator and a x need to respond to that creator x so x this would then be a fair time I think x to insert the tough question x well if that's the case x why doesn't God intervene x if God is truly benevolent if he truly x loves us x if there is a reason why is he let it go x so bad x I think there is um x there's a point in emphasizing x some say that God could remove all these x Dreadful circumstances from our our x Earth from our existence and he could x he could there there's power in x admitting that brothers and sisters we x believe in a god that is able x that is able to x end all things in a moment and he does x allow x suffering to continue x but we know that if God came in and x fixed everything x that we had wronged they would just x validate the mischief and sin x that we would get up to x God has told us from the beginning he x hasn't purposed he wants to accomplish x with us which is to fill the whole Earth x with the knowledge of his glory and to x produce a people for his own name a x people that are called out to represent x him x so I think it stands to make a point x that x we should be thankful that our God does x not change that he is righteous he is x right x he stands by that same principle x throughout time he does not Bend our x circumstances but it's that we should x bend to his x even to the point of being humbled even x to the point of being broken x um x there's a number of different scriptural x characters that we'll reference x um x the Apostle Paul x job as well x the honest truth is that without x suffering x we would not then know the relief of the x mercy and love of God x it's an understandable point to say you x know without a in a perfect world you x wouldn't see a need for God x if there was not trouble and discomfort x we would not cry out for him we would x not cry for help we would not ask for x guidance we would not seek answers to x these things x if there was not Affliction we would not x have any need to draw close to a god x that we saw any need of x and that's unfortunately where you've x got people who've answered those three x questions with the answers of number one x and number two assuming that x if there is no x Divine creator that is intervening on x their behalf x then they just look past any hope of x ending reflection x and that's the exact problem with what x happened with Sodom and Gomorrah the x days of Noah it's the humanistic x thinking that well x you just live for it today eat x drink x be merry x and one day you'll die x and people I guess just accept x suffering is just x part of that existence x something I wanted to x bring up x this is a little bit of different x thought that I had x let me pull this screen up for you guys x this just came to me recently but I was x thinking about the instance of when x Jesus healed the man who was lowered in x through the roof this is one of my x favorite x um healings because of how unique it was x for a lot of different circumstances but x you'll note that this is the only person x that received technically two different x blessings from Jesus he famously forgave x his sins which then shocked the room but x then he also to prove that he had the x power to forgive sins insisted that he x would also heal the Man's legs and he x gave him that healing as an additional x I think it's important to note here that x was not part of the original plan x presumably x Jesus only sought x to forgive what he felt this man needed x the most in order to better his life and x to return closer to his God which was to x forgive his sins x Jesus did not intend to heal this man's x physical calamity x something that most people would assume x was his main point of suffering x presumably x Jesus would have left the man lame if x not for the murmuring of the Pharisees x who questioned him x it reminds me of a similar circumstance x with Paul x in second Corinthians 12 Paul mentions x praying for his Affliction to be removed x from him multiple times x but yet it was it wasn't x and in both instances the fact that x Jesus presumably would have left this x man with his physical x um disability x as well as somebody like Paul x praying that a simple bodily Affliction x would be removed from him x and in both instances x it was going to be allowed to remain x that might be a little bit of an insight x to us into how x and why x God sometimes has the ability x to reverse the situation but chooses not x to x Paul writes in that reference from x second Corinthians 12. x starting at verse 7 through verse 10. x so to keep me from becoming conceited x because of the surpassing greatness of x the revelations a thorn was given me in x the flesh x messenger of Satan to harass me to keep x me from becoming conceited and three x times x I pleaded with the Lord about this that x it should leave me but he said x my grace is sufficient for you for my x power is made perfect in weakness x and so therefore x I will boast all the more gladly of my x weakness so that the power of Christ May x rest upon me x for the sake of Christ then x I am content with weakness I'm content x with insults x hardships I'm content with persecutions x I'm content with calamities because it x is when I am weak then I am truly strong x but it's when we see I think suffering x especially suffering that we feel is x undeserved from people that we're close x to that x we always wish that it goes away we x always wish that our our you know x prayers are heard x I think it can be brothers and sisters x one of the hardest things to square away x in your mind when you pray fervently x for someone to be healed x especially if it's drawn out over a long x time x and then it doesn't happen x and people can fairly question x why weren't our prayers answered x did did we not pray enough x why is it that some people recover x and then we see others only get worse x foreign x we are very prideful as humans x we get very uncomfortable when we feel x weak x when we feel that we don't have the x control over a situation and I think if x we get angry about this very easily we x despise x an awareness of being limited we despise x feeling weak x we say x How could a merciful god let this happen x how am I supposed to trust God if if x grief and suffering remain in my life if x I continue to have to deal with this x burden x people say x God has abandoned me x so I'll abandon him x and people Curse God in their heart x we make an enemy of our own maker x but yet all these things don't do x anything to take away the pain x that doesn't stop a loved one from dying x that doesn't blunt regret x people will leave the thought of God x behind x because they despise the idea of being x left in our weakness x such as Paul was asked to do x remain without x full capabilities have no control x feeling like they're being made to x suffer and that the fact that there x could possibly be a reason for it but x that is not being shown that's how x people come to think that there is no x God and that we just suffer for no x reason x and I don't mean to be cheap when I say x this but some people x want the crown but are unwilling to x carry the cross x some people want to be glorified with x Christ but are unwilling to suffer with x him x we're told though that key verse from x second Corinthians 12 it is through x weakness that God shows his glory in us x our ability to trust in him and let go x and and allow ourselves to be limited x and to be weakened to be vulnerable it x is in our sufferings x that the love of God is made perfect x that he's willing to take all these x things away if we trust him if we show x our faith x but of course I say that x fully aware x that x it is a really sad thing when x righteous men and women x especially ones that are close brothers x and sisters close family x it is tremendously sad when we're seeing x them subjected to tremendous grief x trials burdens that we feel that even x they cannot bear x as I mentioned in the beginning I'm sure x even Beyond this past couple weeks I'm x sure many of us that our lives have x known faithful loved ones x who went through very tough times x despite their love of God if maybe it x frustrated us x that's okay it is okay to be frustrated x and be upset it is okay to question God x why should Yahweh permit even his own x beloved people who he has called x to still suffer the effects of evil x actually I just want to check in because x I'm not looking at my zoom screen x can everyone still hear me and see my x screen okay x everything looks great okay we can hear x you just fine thank you x so x one of the big things I think hopefully x most of you know and I assume because x this is what you were just talking about x before we started our class but the job x phenomenon is one of the key pieces of x understanding the role of suffering for x a believer x a lot of the times it's for someone's x development it could be your own x personal Spiritual Development x it could also be a way to help others x understand the reason for suffering x you can't go over the concept of x suffering without mentioning job he's x the poster child for it despite having x that righteous attitude x the very first first of the very first x chapter his introduction x describes him as a man that was x blameless x and upright he was a man who feared God x he turned away from evil x and you would think that surely of all x people x he would be protected by the God that he x served from the experience of suffering x but Yahweh saw x that there would actually be benefits x gained by job personally x and by those like him in every x generation after x if in that moment he were indeed tested x job wisely did not condemn his Lord for x his anguish x recognizing that all he possessed x came from God originally and belonged to x him x famously it says in Job 1 21-22 he said x excuse me x naked I came from my mother's womb x naked shall I return x the lord gave x and the Lord is taken away x and all these things blessed be the name x of the Lord x and we're told that in all this job did x not send a did not charge god with wrong x okay x there's another interesting x Bible character that came to me recently x thinking about this aspect and that's x Jacob x Jacob had a very tumultuous life for a x lot of different reasons but when I x think about his suffering I think x primarily about x losing his son Joseph x it caused him such grief x broke his heart x because Joseph was his favorite son x would it have been better in any x circumstance for him to instead lose x one of the other 12. x one of the other 12 that was born to one x of the handmaids and not to Rachel one x of the other 12 that he very clearly x loved less than Joseph x we know that it caused a great amount of x animosity between the family x to the point that the brothers wanted to x kill and get rid of Joseph because of x their Envy because of the emotional x damage and Trauma that clearly they x suffered from understanding that their x father loved them less than he loved x Joseph x from Joseph's sorry from Jacob's x perspective x losing his favorite son x caused the most amount of suffering than x it would have the others x but from God's perspective x any x son lost x should be cause for tremendous suffering x would it have really been better x just hypothetically but just want to put x this thought out there x would it have really been better that he x instead lost x Reuben or Judah or Simeon x and then perhaps not been as upset x because well thankfully still got Joseph x that's not the kind of heart that our x Lord wants to create in US x God cherishes all of his children x equally life is precious to our God x and perhaps this is the hardest lesson x to handle we asked the question the x cliche the cliche question x why do bad things happen to good people x but x the parallel concept x you could say why do good things happen x to bad people x there's something wrong with that kind x of mindset x and this is why I I think it included x this as part of the teaser and this has x been something I've been thinking about x in the past couple years x we should not want for only good things x to happen to good people x because the inverse is not glorifying x God whatsoever we should not want for x only good things to happen to good x people and only bad things to happen to x the bad people because where is that any x salvation x then for those who we feel are bad x or those who were less fortunate those x who've been mistreated those who've x never had the good things in the first x place x one of the x very impactful things you learn from x being a teacher is that x you can't punish a bad child x because a lot of the reasons that x they're probably already acting out is x because they've been neglected because x they need positive reinforcement x there is a quote that is such a true x quote and they'd say it every year which x is the kids that are hardest to love are x the ones that need love the most x okay x so it's important sometimes for us to x take a step outside of our own thought x about suffering and think about x we shouldn't wish that x we don't have to deal with the suffering x so that someone else has to x because x it's not that anyone else deserves the x suffering more than us x I'll give you an example x it can be easier I find this is just x pure I'm emitting this myself it can be x easier to tune out the horrific news I x hear about places that I'll never go x or people that I might already look down x on x it's easier for me to tune out suffering x when I hear about another famine in x Africa x or another news clip about a drive-by x drug shooting in downtown Philly x I could just say well x that's just how it is they must just be x in that position due to some bad x decisions x that's what you get x but then x how does God feel about that suffering x that Affliction that loss of life x we wanted to be different to God when x it's our own precious child that has x cancer we're looking for answers x why should x why should my family suffer why should x my my innocent child you know be x diagnosed with cancer x well in God's eyes x yes you and your family are just as x precious as that poor family that x lost someone to a drive-by drug shooting x or that Village in Africa that's x still running out of food x along those same lines x to God x Judas was just as cherished as Jesus was x of course Jesus was his own beloved Son x who did no wrong and Judas betrayed him x but it's important to take a step back x and say that death is not something that x is pleasing x to the god of life x Our God that we Love Takes no pleasure x in our suffering x what he does look for x his hearts that acknowledge x how limited we are x how thankful we are x that when things are plentiful and when x things do go well in our life when we do x have joy x that we trust him x God wants us to trust him x holy and not necessarily that we should x be willing to lose all things x but that in faith that he will provide x for us x no matter what Affliction we may be x going through x that it will be enough x just another example from scripture is x the Widow of Zarephath from First Kings x 17. x the Prophet Elijah comes across a widow x and her son x who we come to understand have been in x such a state of Affliction that they've x been starving to death x she literally has just enough x food x for what she says she assumes will be x their last meal x and after that she proclaims that she x expects to die x through God x Elijah makes it so that the jars of x flour and oil x that the cake was made from never run x out x so coming from their moment of x desperation x God teaches this family to trust and x have faith that even at the point of x having such intense suffering x he can still through weakness show his x love and Glory x well that son of her still died x that Widow x still did lose her son x but once again God by his Mercy through x Elijah x raised him back to life x the point being that she still had to x experience that suffering that fear x perhaps that worst fear she could have x ever had having already lost her husband x losing her own son x but nothing is beyond the power of our x God x when we lose something x or someone x dear to us it'll always hurt more to x look inwardly to dwell on what I have x lost x it will always be harder to think x outwardly and think of the rest of the x world around us and have empathy x say man you know I may have just x lost a dear family member who suffered x for a long time but x man others must have also lost someone x as well this must be so hard for all of x us x I think there's a lot of healing that x can go into looking Beyond ourselves and x thinking of a general need for the x return of Christ x and to ask God to to implore God x to help us have whatever it is that we x need to carry on x again it can hurt to dwell on x who x or what we have lost x but some of us some people have never x even had those same blessings at all x we have people in our Collegiate who x throughout the course of their life have x developed crippling disabilities that x now leave them as basic prisoners inside x their own bodies x you hear about x children who are born to drug addicted x mothers x work in the school system long enough x you'll see plenty of broken families x it may be hard to hear but any blessing x you have is a blessing blessings are x blessings having healthy family members x clean food safety and shelter these are x things to be praising God for x recognizing there are people around the x world that don't even have these things x that x grow up without any family structure x grow up without easy access to clean x food and water x grow up knowing that their body is x severely x disabled x so again there can be a lot of healing x and just appreciating and praying and x testifying to God for his Mercy and x praying that others may have these same x Comforts may have the same Joy x so like job x we need to be careful that x we don't blame our Master for any x trouble that might come our way because x it may in fact be x his means x of perfecting our character x the thing that we fear going through the x most x maybe the thing that's preparing us for x the greater purpose that he is in store x for us x I've been told this before and I like x reminding people that x faith begins x at the edge of our comfort zone x and our moment of Sorrow x that can end up being your final test of x faith are you willing to trust God even x through this x this last affliction x for Jesus that was his moment on the x cross x to the last test x so will we rely on God x to see us through x or x when suffering comes do we curse the day x that we are born which is what job's x friends told him to do x well the result of job's trial x was that by his faithful endurance x his three friends also came to a x knowledge and love of the lord and there x was by his strength it changed not only x his life but even the lives of those who x witnessed his great loss x this is something that really sticks x with me because it's something I felt x like I suffered x and witnessed firsthand x um x there's two dear friends of mine years x ago when I was living in Detroit x I'm sure you've heard of both of them x um Mary bobus and Grant Anderson x one that eventually lost her Battle of x cancer x and another who survived x and near fatal car accident x but will be permanently brain damaged x until God restores both of them x and x we were completely floored x by the tragedies that came upon these x faithful young believers x I mean we're all in our young 20s x but it witnessing it it was by both of x their tremendous strength and their x faith in God even through their x suffering dying from cancer or x waking up from a coma x that x God's glory was shown all the more x brighter because of their faith x and that's sometimes x how suffering can be a greater benefit x to the people x around them x based on how the individuals handle it x how others perceive it x showing that even in your weakness even x in being limited even in being x without answers x still having faith testifying that God x is in control x long after someone passes that can be x the lesson that someone learns for the x rest of their life x and we're told at the VIN in job 42 x that his latter end x was even more Splendid than his x beginning x God blessed him x to such a greater extent x than he even had x and all these things he recognized that x it was the Lord who gives and the Lord x who takes away x this is a parallel to what Paul tells us x in Romans 8. x Paul says I consider that the sufferings x of this present time are not even worth x comparing x with the glory that will be revealed in x US x Paul understood that suffering is part x of Human Condition it's a key part of x our trials x and in fact it's essential x to the aspect of a life in Christ x second Timothy 2 18 the saying is x trustworthy for her x if we have died with him we will also x live with him x if we endure we will also reign with x them x and first Peter x chapter 2 Peter writes x this is a gracious thing x that when you're mindful of God x one endures sorrows x while suffering and jostling x for what credit is it then if you sin x and are beaten for it and you endure x but if when you do good and suffer you x endure this is a gracious thing in the x sight of God x for to this thing you've been called x because Christ also suffered for you x leaving an example said you might follow x in his steps x foreign x as we move towards our conclusion that's x obviously x our confidence and our example though he x did no sin or cause any harm to his x fellow man Jesus the Christ suffered x greatly at the hands of evil x Godless men x who hated him x because his righteousness was a living x rebuke to their wickedness x so of course x we could say why should a sinless man x be subjected to such unwarranted x suffering and persecution x and we are told plainly in Acts chapter x 2 x it says his death was according to the x definite plan x and for knowledge of God x he x had to die he had to die to show x that God was righteous in the beginning x from the very beginning x for allowing mankind to suffer and die x for their sin x Jesus being morally sinless Rose from x the grave opening the way for us to x follow his example with the hope of x eternal life that is free from the bonds x of affliction x Our Savior refused x excuse me x refused to conform to the sinful way of x life surrounding him he now provides for x us a blueprint on how to stand apart x from the world x even though yes it may bring about x difficulty yes it may bring about x persecution x he gave us a model on how to endure x through sufferings x in order to obtain up our prize our x crown of righteousness x even just a hope to see life restored x and God can and will do those things x that says we have a high priest who is x not unable to sympathize with our x weakness x one who in every respect has been x tempted x just like we are yet without sin x so we know that suffering now x prepares us x we I would never choose to go through x some of the things that I've talked x about some of the examples I've given x and I know a lot of us would agree x I have things that I am x deathly afraid of having to endure fears x that like well what if this happened in x my life what if God brought this event x happened I don't think I could handle x that I don't think it'd be x prepared for that x and the fear of the unknown x is not something that's ever gonna x make it not happen x but we have confidence in what is known x we're told that suffering now x in whatever form that may take It x prepares us for the coming kingdom of x God x and the kingdom of God is x coming x so it's important to remember that inner x moments of suffering x for time x other people have suffered like this x other people have said similar trials x sometimes even much greater trials than x us x and such experiences develop in us the x human character and the important x Priestly qualities of empathy x compassion x by which we are strengthened to triumph x over those difficulties to encourage x others to do likewise x we're told this in second Corinthians 3. x I'm sorry second Corinthians 1. verses x three to five x where it says blessed be the God and the x father of our Lord Jesus Christ the x father of Mercies x the God of All Comfort x who comforts us in our Affliction so x that we may be able to comfort those who x are in any affliction x with this comfort with which we x ourselves are comforted by God x for we are to share abundantly in x Christ's sufferings so that through x Christ we share abundantly in Comfort x too x foreign x thing to remember is that x when we are at our weakest is when x God can be at his strongest when we are x going through our worst suffering x and without answers is when God is x working the most directly with us x we should take comfort in that x we know that God tells us he'll never x put us through more than what we can x handle x even with his own son he was willing to x send Legions of Angels in a moment's x notice x you were never beyond what your God x believes you can bear x now say that again x you are never Beyond x for your God you created you believes x you can bear x he wants us to pray to him x to seek that jar of oil and flour that x somehow will just keep going day by day x it'll just find a way to keep going x and that even through death itself x help us to x have that complete faith that x life even will be restored x and like job x that our latter end will be even more x Splendid than the beginning that our x the glory that will be revealed in US x it'll be like nothing x now where we are going through now x perhaps we won't even remember x so x I'll end just with one more tough x question x make sure I'm on the right slide x needless suffering x is there such a thing x I think you say that there's like a x cliche picture of like you know starving x children that are just all bones and x skin x does that have to happen x is there such a thing as just needless x suffering x I would say no x I would say that even by that child that x you'll never meet x by it x God is showing us x showing everyone that something's wrong x any suffering is meant to wake us up and x jar us and shock us x remind us that the condition of the x earth is out of place x and that it keeps getting worse the more x we're separated from him it's not x originally meant to be this way x that's why we need intervention that's x why answer number three is the only x answer x we need God's help x whether it is another Refugee crisis I x mean the times you have to hear about x these boats of refugees that try to flee x a country x and then just sink somewhere x babies that you're x seeing are born with Incredible x disabilities x no that's not needless suffering x this is just part of the human condition x and it's meant to x have us feel the same shock and agony x that we're separated from our master x there is no earthly solution that can x change these pitiful things from x occurring it's a reminder that only when x God has set up Paradise again while our x suffering end x and all these things even the most x shocking x they're meant to Humble us to that end x to have empathy for our fellow man x to try to comfort one another x to praise God for the blessings we do x have good health and food x but remember that quick fixes in this x life is all they are they're temporary x and we need to recognize and reach this x and testify to this x that there's a need for a permanent x change x it's one thing to cure a cold x to give me a covet booster x to even strive to cure cancer it's x another thing entirely to do away with x sickness and death altogether and that x is what God has promised he will do x First Timothy 2 tells us that it is x God's desire that all mankind be saved x all of us x that all mankind somehow come to a x knowledge of his truth x and by the means that that happens x sometimes requires suffering first x you think of x the leper x the man born blind in John chapter nine x think of Jairus whose daughter died in x his arms x these individuals would have never come x to Jesus if they were all fine they were x not without grief if they were not x severely aware of how limited they were x It Is by their suffering that they were x forced to not lean on their own x understanding and to seek God x the same goes for us as well as all x mankind our heavenly father x does not want to lose any x he is willing x that none should perish x so lastly x just x get to my last slide x sorry x we know that suffering sets the stage x for joy x it is after x bitter suffering that salvation tastes x so sweet x and Romans 2 it says to those who by x patience and well doing seek for Glory x and Honor and immortality x he will give eternal life x in Isaiah 40 x but they who wait for the Lord x shall renew their strength they shall x Mount up with wings like eagles they x shall run and not be weary x they shall walk and not faint x and in psalm 30. x for his angers but for a moment x his favors for a lifetime x weeping may endure for a night but joy x comes with the morning x so we should x absolutely continue to pray for those x who suffer x we do believe that our God x his ear is not death that it does not x hear his arm is not shortened that it x cannot save x we believe our God hears our prayers he x answers prayers his angels are working x in our lives x the Bible gives us x numerous accounts of healings and x miracles that were done on the behalf of x faithful prayers x and a reminder to us that we x should not lose hope x prayer works there is such a power in x prayer x but x even if sorrow continues even if trials x remain this doesn't mean that God is not x still working in your life x we just never know the way or the time x for the plans that he has in store x but this thing we do know x the promise of the age to come x in Revelation 21 x he will x wipe away every tear from their eyes x Death Shall be no more x and there shall never again be Mourning x nor crying x nor pain x for the former things that passed away x so I would leave you with the statement x that x God allows x suffering x so that x in that day we will truly know the x unlimited extent of his love