On Managing Suffering
Yesterday’s sermon at church was based in part on Job chapter 1, and I took notes on a couple of the key points that stuck out to me … I’ll try to be as faithful to the message as possible, but edit the language and fill in gaps so things make sense -
How do we manage suffering in our lives? God didn’t promise anyone that this life would be easy, which is why we can each attest that this life has its fair share of difficulties, sometimes in unfair proportions. The question is, how do we deal with suffering?
An honest look at human nature — especially in America — shows that we all have a tendency to “manage suffering out of our lives.” For some of us, we manage suffering through “clothes, cars and careers.” Some of us spend money on fashionable apparel with the anticipation that looking trendy and cool will make others like us, and then our lives will be easier. Others of us spend money on cars with the goal of attracting the admiration of others who see us with our hot wheels, expecting that such admiration will quench the unbearable thirst that suffering brings to our lives. Many others of us invest hours and hours and make sacrifices on multiple and crucial levels for the sake of advancing our careers — with the hope that earning a bigger paycheck or climbing the corporate (or whatever other professional) ladder will provide the capital we need to buy enough cushions to insure against every fall we may encounter in life.
Still others don’t struggle with consumerism, but they struggle with other forms of self-help, through addiction. Alcoholism. Workaholism. Binge-eatingism. We put our hope and trust in so many things to fulfill us. After I get married, I’ll never be lonely again… after I have children, I’ll never lack for love again… After I get this promotion, my life will begin… After I travel to all these exotic places on earth, my life will be complete.
All too often, we turn to ourselves to heal the hurts and to numb the pains, since every day/week/month or year seems to bring some sort of calamity, whether tragically large or mercifully small. While cars, clothes, careers, marriages, babies, food, diligence, and even the occasional glass of wine are not inherently bad, they become issues when, in pursuing them, we minimize the role and sovereignty of God in our lives. They are problematic when we attempt to use them to demonstrate control over our lives in a suffering world… and when we use the tactics not just to manage suffering — but to manage suffering out of — our lives.
So if that’s how we actually (at a broad, general, and empirical level) deal with suffering, how did God intend for us to deal with suffering? A visit to the the first chapter of the book of Job suggests a preferred method of dealing with suffering.
But first, a little background on Job. Earlier in chapter 1, we’re given a brief biographical sketch of Job – Job 1:2-3 says, “He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.”
The middle of chapter 1 swiftly summarizes the depth of tragedy that fell upon Job in a single day – he lost all of his oxen and donkeys, and all of his sheep and servants. And then… he lost all ten of his children. In a single day. Job quickly went from “greatest man among all the people of the East” to “most entitled to throw a pity party among all the people of the East.” Losing his vast property and wealth was shocking in itself — but losing even one child, let alone all ten, was unthinkable.
How did Job react? In chapter 1, verse 20, we’re told that, “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head.” He must have looked like an utter mess. I envision a Job who was overcome with grief and mourning; he was, after all, human. But the story doesn’t end there. Verses 20 and 21 then tell us, “Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.’”
Job fell to his knees in worship to God, even in the immediate aftermath of his incredible loss. And why? Because Job understood something that we struggle with every day – Job realized that there is only one constant in this life. At the beginning of the day and at the end of the day, and at every nook and cranny of a moment inbetween, God IS.
The rest of life is unpredictable; our circumstances so often change in ways we hardly could have predicted. Our fortunes can be built and dashed in a day. Joys that once delighted us can be extinguished swiftly with a whisper. We can fall so quickly, and we do.
Job understood that. And Job also understood that God’s faithfulness and presence endures forever. He knew that his Lord was good that His mercy endures forever. Because of that understanding, even in the midst of his tragedy of epic proportions, Job fell to his knees in worship and acknowledged that God was God.
So should our reaction be — in the midst of good days and bad. In wealth and poverty, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow – the Lord’s praise should be on our lips and in our hearts. Because we may not understand what He is doing, or what His plans are. What is happening to us may not make sense – but if we could just understand that God is in charge of our lives, down to every last detail, then we would praise Him, even when tragedies abound.