When loved ones, close friends, or someone we admire dies we experience great sadness. For me, when someone close to me dies, initially a heavy burden of sadness weighs on my heart. But it is not long before the sadness is overwhelmed by peace.
This might seem inappropriate or even deranged, but allow me to share three reasons that suffering has taught me about authentic peace.
Courtesy of Amit Kujur from Flickr.com
A New Life
Working at a church is a blessing. I have the opportunity to be invited into the lives of many people. This has its positives and negatives. It’s a tremendous honor to learn about people’s lives. On the other hand when they experience suffering or pass on I share in their pain and in the pain of their families.
Yesterday morning I was sitting at the back of the church for a funeral service. A long time parishioner passed away from Leukemia at the age of eighty three. As his daughter stood at the pulpit reading the eulogy she reflected on a man, who, in spite of enduring great suffering (had cancer on five different occasions in addition to the removal some organs) lived a life that brought joy to loved ones and strangers alike.
1. There Is A Point To Suffering
To be clear, we she should never willingly seek out suffering for the sake of suffering. There is no righteousness that can be found in that. However, when suffering comes our way we must face it head on rather than run from it.
Jesus showed us that we should not fear suffering. He endured incomprehensible suffering. If you would like to read about what Jesus most likely endured leading up to and on the cross read my post Did Jesus Really Die On The Cross?. Yet despite his complete innocence and undeserving of any punishment Jesus faced the suffering head on. By staring suffering with confidence in the eyes he conquered through it. Not his suffering, nor his death could keep Jesus from the Resurrection.
Gordon (the gentleman whose funeral I was sitting in) exemplified Jesus conquering through suffering. Despite having multiple forms of cancer on multiple occasions, having four knee replacements, and the removal of one kidney he brought joy to his family, friends, strangers, and even transformed the lives of his enemies. Wow! What a witness of Jesus’ relentless love.
Gord’s life of conquering through suffering as opposed to letting suffering conquer him reminds me of what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans:
“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)
2. Finding Hope in Suffering
In the West, for one reason or another, we have the tendency to run from suffering or medicate ourselves in the face of suffering. By “medicate” I’m not speaking about taking medicine to ease suffering, I’m speaking about the steps we take forget about suffering. Distracting ourselves by superficial means. Some turn to alcohol, drugs, pornography, the approval of others or even getting lost in the online world of social media. Perhaps the most negative expression of running away from suffering is the taking of one’s own life.
For those who suffer I encourage you to use this moment to turn to Jesus and do two things. First, complain and pour out every frustration and anger. I guarantee you the Creator of the Universe can handle it. Second, invite God into your suffering. But, wait a moment. You might say. What does it mean to invite God into my suffering?
I love how God is not some far off impersonal force. But, rather he is a loving God who took on human flesh to show us that he understands our suffering by suffering himself in most brutal way possible. Invite him into your life and allow him to help you conquer through the suffering as he did on the cross.
Immediately, this begs a lingering question. If God is personal, loving and cares about our suffering, why doesn’t he intervene to stop our suffering? That’s a great question which I will discuss in my next post.
Before invading the French beaches of Normandy on D-Day during the Second World War, Winston Churchill told his soldiers, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” Churchill is absolutely right. What is more courageous than to keep going in the face of suffering and conquering it. By your example you will bring hope to those to whom you witness just like Gord.
3. There is a Heaven
When I was an atheist suffering seemed to be predestined by our biological condition. There was no underlying implications to suffering. And if our suffering happened to get the best of us and we died, that’s it. There is nothing beyond our earthly life. If this is true, then there is no point in conquering or overcoming suffering. We would simply be postponing the inevitable without purpose. At least so I thought.
But there is a major problem with this line of thought. If there is nothing beyond our earthly life then life has no ultimate purpose or meaning. Any purpose or meaning that is derived is purely subjective. I create meaning for my own life and you create meaning for your own life. And everyone does the same because there is nothing greater than ourselves towards which we are predestined for. If meaning is subjective then so are morals and ethics. I wish not to digress. This is another hole in the atheist mindset that will be explored at a later time.
Do you see the underlying problem with this. If everything is subjective then absolutely nothing is True. You can’t have nothing be true and everything be true at the same time. In some cultures people care for their neighbours while in other they eat them. In some cultures babies are killed for being female while in others champion women’s rights. In some cultures women are valued at half the worth of a man while in others they are equal to a man. Which is it? If everything is subjective there is no logic in championing human rights or other moral high grounds.
Meaning is derived from people making themselves believe that what they hold to be true is true. Do you what this is called? Makebelief. In the West we created a culture where purpose is equated to child’s play.
Only if there is Heaven can there be true purpose to life. And it is only in the light of hope of Heaven can we conquer suffering.
Question: Do you see a purpose to suffering? Have you or anyone you know ever experience suffering and have something good come out of it?
