I keep running into people lately who are suffering financially. Hardly surprising since we are in the middle of what has been dubbed the GFC – the global financial crisis. While I have heard some economic commentators describe this as one of the smallest economic ‘”dips” this century, they have also acknowledged that it is perhaps the single most globally synchronised downturn in the history of the planet. What the dip lacks in depth, it has made up for in breadth.
At the same time we have the H1N1 virus – aka Swine Flu – seeping the planet. Like its economic counterpart, at a global level this virus is moving at a pace unheard of in decades.
It’s no wonder the press is having a field day.
Behind both of these phenomena, however, is real human suffering. What is almost impossible to fathom on a global scale, hits home when a number of my closest friends have either lost jobs, been demoted, or are living under pressure created by the economic downturn. A relatively minor “dip” perhaps, but in the adult lifetime of me and my peers, we have not experienced anything quite like this. While we have not begun to approach the depths of poverty, powerlessness and daily suffering endured by thousands in the developing nations (and in previous eras), we have, nonetheless, had the security of our economic confidence and stability shaken, and people are hurting as a result.
So, where is God in all of this? Why does God let us suffer? People have often referred to this as “the problem of pain and suffering”. If God is loving, good and all powerful, then why does he allow it, and not put an end to, pain and suffering?
M Scott Peck, begins his book “The Road Less Travelled” with a paraphrased quote from the teachings of Bhudda:
“Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult – once we truly understand and accept it – then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.”
For many years I have known this quote, and it has been helpful to me in times of struggle. I have known through this quote, and the teachings of Jesus, that suffering builds patience and endurance – noble and desirable character traits which are not easy to obtain when we are at ease in our leisure.
My own struggles this year in particular, have raised the bar on my own experience of suffering to new levels. I have had physical experiences of fear and anxiety which were previously beyond my experience. At times I have wondered if the anxiety, stress and resultant sleep deprivation and physical weakness would in some way break me. In some ways I think it probably has. I know the same circumstances have profoundly affected and hurt some of those closest to me – and in one case – in ways far beyond my own experience of pain.
So, where is Jesus in the midst of this? Where is the healer of the blind, deaf and dumb? The friend of sinners? The one who encouraged us in the following passage not to worry about anything, but to trust God to provide for all of our needs?
LK 12:22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
LK 12:27 “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
LK 12:32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
As usual Jesus turns everything upside down. How will I control anything if I’ve sold all of my possessions? All of them? What would I do for equity to get a loan? God may have given me the kingdom – but I still feel a very strong need to have “things” to hold on to for some sense of security.
When my very survival, and that of those around me, seems to be threatened by financial instability, I still feel extremely vulnerable. I would like very much not to worry, but I do. Far from adding a single hour to my life, I expect I am losing days off my life through stress and worry.
I suspect my fear and worries are tied up in the fact that I am probably not truly seeking God’s kingdom as much as I could or should be. While I try to orient my heart in the right direction, to be generous and kind and submit myself to Jesus, I still find much of my energy – every working day – is spent in efforts to shore up my security and that of my family.
There are no easy answers. Jesus didn’t promise any. He called those who would follow him to daily pick up their cross and follow him – to take a road of suffering and death, which will ultimately and counter-intuitively, lead to life. “‘Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.’”
So in summary, what on earth does this mean for us in the midst of suffering? As Peck suggested earlier, we need to acknowledge it, embrace it, and with Jesus’ help, grow through it. It may seem unpleasant for a time, but like hard physical labour and exercise, the suffering which doesn’t kill us may well make us stronger.
Through my current experience of suffering, I have grown closer to those around me. I have learned new things about myself, both good and bad. I have become stronger through having to make hard decisions, and I have had to find and develop new strength to make those decisions. I have learned new things about others, also both good and bad. I have met new people who have provided expertise, advice and kindness. I have sought out the prayers and fellowship of others to help me through.
In some unexpected ways, my current experience has broadened and deepened my experience of God and of life. have experienced life more deeply, and in a more raw and real way than before. I believe I prayed somewhere along the way, based on the words from a book I had been reading and studying, for “a battle to fight, a beauty to rescue, and an adventure to journey on”. As they say, be careful what you ask for – you just might get it.
