Bring on the Pain wrote:
Question: Is it the Lord's will that His children should suffer? I guess I always understood the Lord's prayer to mean that His desire is that "His will be done on earth JUST AS IT IS in heaven." If this is true, would be safe to say, pray, believe, that it is ALWAYS God's will for us to be free from sickness, debt/poverty, painful physical afflictions, depression, etc...? I don't think any of these undesireables are going on in heaven...
And if God is able (which He is) to deliver us from all such undesireables, then why is His will not being manifest in the lives of His loved ones when they cry out for help? I'm all for building character, but sometimes it seems that we are tempted or tried beyond what we are able to handle. Like with depression for instance, which greatly plagues our country and world, I know for a fact depression isn't always just a temporary mood swing. It can be a killer driving some people to take their very own lives... Even if God gave them a way out, it doesn't seem like it when they are so hopeless and unable to see it, or else they would have chosen life instead of death.
To start, i think we again have to look at the idea of what GOD's will is. Many people believe (whether they realize it or not) that there are three 'wills' of GOD. One is the the revealed will of GOD. The Bible. Two is the hidden will of GOD, which is the secret counsel of GOD that only HE really knows that governs HIS plans to glorify HIMSELF. The third that i think doesn't exist, but many believe exists has to do with this, "GOD's will for 'my' life." That somehow GOD has a very special, specific plan for each of us that if we deviate from it in the slightest, everything will fall apart. I do believe that GOD knows all things, and that HE is sovereign over all, and i do believe that HIS desire is for our lives to line up with HIS Word, but i don't believe if i decide to eat at Burger King instead of Chik-fil-A, everything will go awry. Many people beat themselves up trying to make decisions about their lives because of their believe in this third will. There's much more to that line of thought, but i'll stop there for now to get back to the question.
Okay with that being said, i think that somehow in the 'secret' will of GOD, suffering accomplishes HIS glory. Primarily because it grows our character and increases our faith. That makes it a little different from what happens in heaven because in many ways faith is obsolete in heaven. It's not really obsolete, but it's no longer 'unseen.' To be more accurate the 'hope' part of faith is what goes away. Hope is based on what is to come, but once we have it, hope goes away. Ironically, you can say that heaven is a place with no hope. So, the main opportunity we have to increase our faith is in the now. Suffering does that well.
We also have to look more at suffering itself. Suffering is really a result of sin. We either suffer for our own sin or we suffer because of the sin of another. There is also suffering that has to do with the overall effects of the fall of man (for example, cancer. It's not necessarily dependent on one person's sin, but the result of world broken by sin.) Because heaven is a place with no sin, there is also no suffering.
Suffering builds our character, increases our faith, and in many ways makes us long for something else. I've heard others comment that we are not home yet. If this world were 'too easy,' we would not be like John in Revelation, "Come quickly, LORD JESUS." Many people in the NT believed that JESUS would return in their lifetimes, and some have made a big deal out of that, but the point would be that they understood, (especially with having been with JESUS,) that this world stinks compared to the glory that is to be revealed. My phrasing actually comes from the verse that compares 'suffering' with the glory that will be revealed. In many ways, then the question almost becomes mute because the today's suffering is inconsequential compared to the future's glory.
You are right that JESUS prays for GOD's will to be done the way that it is already being done in heaven. Because of sin, it will never be that way on the earth until JESUS returns and makes all things right. Suffering was not part of GOD's plan for humanity, but it has now been incorporated into things for us to be made more like CHRIST. If we had never sinned (in Adam,) then we would have had no need to suffer.
To answer the more heartfelt question - why do HIS children suffer? Honestly, i don't know. It's just not that easy. I do think that it has to do with character building, and i also think it has to do with evangelism. I've heard plenty of stories of believers on death's door witnessing to the other people in their hospital rooms or to the nurses or doctors. These people are impacted because of the peace that the believer is expressing. Everyone in the world has moments of happiness, but what distinguishes the believer is the ability to exhibit peace and joy when everyone else would be falling apart. It's when we act differently from the norms of the world that the world notices. To steal a line from JESUS, "You are happy when things are going well, so what? Even the Gentiles do that."
I wonder about your question when i think about my grandmother. She was a major spiritual influence in my life, especially early on, but she has spent the last year or so in a nursing home. She has no idea who i am. Many days she doesn't even know who my mom (her daughter) is. I don't think my grandmother even knows her own name really. Her husband has passed away. Her other son died a few years ago. Why is she still here? Her continuing to live continues to drain financial resources. When she dies, the government will take her house to pay the nursing home bills, so my mom will have to find some other place to live. My mom lives by herself and struggles with her own problems (including borderline depression.) I live almost 5 hours away, and it's difficult for me to be too involved. Why is my grandmother still alive? She's not developing her walk with GOD from what i can tell. I really don't get it, but for some reason, GOD is still using her in someone's life. I know HE has a purpose, but the reality is many of HIS purposes are going to stay hidden in his 'secret' will, so i have to just trust HIM. Maybe that is the essence of faith. Trusting when you don't fully understand.
I do agree that depression has much more to it than simply brief periods of sadness. There are a lot of people that believe it's just a result of sin (as i once did,) but i realize my foolishness now.
The last little comment would that sometimes what we think is suffering isn't even suffering at all. I might think i'm suffering because i couldn't find a parking place close to the door and it's raining. That's not suffering.
Well, that sounds like a lot of rambling, but maybe some of it made sense.
Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:18 am by Parable
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