Life has always been hard, but lately it seems to be so hard for so many. Lost loved ones, lost jobs, lingering health problems, and hunger surround us. Death, war, famine, and pestilence aren’t just comic book characters. The whole world is hurting.
When we suffer, we cry out to know why and receive no response. If we knew why, would it really make us feel better? Unlikely.
Job is one of the most popular characters found in the Bible; everyone knows his story. When he’d lost everything, Job demanded to know why. God didn’t tell him why. God told him who. RC Sproul put it well:
“Ultimately the only answer God gave to Job was a revelation of Himself. It was as if God said to him, 'Job, I am your answer.' Job was not asked to trust a plan but a person, a personal God who is sovereign, wise, and good. It was as if God said to Job: 'Learn who I am. When you know me, you know enough to handle anything.'”1
I am not asked to trust a plan. I am asked to trust the God who “created my inmost being” and “knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13). The God who “determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name” also “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:4, 3). This is the God who’s in charge.
But you can’t just flip a switch and turn on trust. That has to be built up over time. What is this God like whom we’re asked to trust? Why should we trust him? Why would we believe he has some kind of plan he’s working out? What would make us think he intends to work things out for the best?
All these questions need to be settled long before we need them.
A child can face almost anything while holding their daddy’s hand. When the world gets scary, the child doesn't understand but holds daddy’s hand all the tighter. As long as they trust daddy, they can endure anything.
Life is going to be hard. You will suffer. You will wonder why. Prepare for that day. Seek after a deeper understanding of who God is now, so, in the day you need it, you will have it. When life gets hard, this will help you lean on him.
How do we do that? Prayer and scripture should obviously be our first stop — especially spending quality time in those passages that speak to God’s care for us. But don't neglect those passages that remind us that God is awesome. When God looks big, the world looks smaller. Then we should also seek the wisdom of others to learn to see and rest in God’s character. Read good books that will remind you who God is. (See below.)
The day will come when you’ll need to hold onto your Father’s hand with a death grip to get through life. Prepare now.
Some books I highly recommend are JI Packer’s Knowing God, Krish Kandiah’s Paradoxology and God is Stranger, and Jerry Bridges’ The Joy of Fearing God. If you have any suggestions, please add them in the comments.
1 RC Sproul, Surprised by Suffering
Image via Pixabay
8 comments:
I love this post. Yes, knowing who God is brings peace and allows us to trust Him when we don't understand why bad things happen. One of my favorite songs, Who You Are, by JJ Heller, expresses this same thought. The books that best helped me to get a grasp on God's character are The Attributes of God Volumes 1 and 2 by A.W. Tozer.
Yes, those are great books -- in fact, several of his works would be useful toward this end. Thanks for adding them!
And thanks for the song, quite moving.
Regarding suffering, Mark Talbot's recently published books are balanced in terms of working through the biblical material along with the philosophical and theological implications. There are two books so far with another two books in the works. The two which have been published are: When the Stars Disappear and Give Me Understanding That I May Live. In terms of more straightforward philosophical theology, Greg Welty's book Why Is There Evil in the World? is excellent. And I've been edified in reading The Letters of Samuel Rutherford in the full edition from the Banner of Truth, not The Loveliness of Christ or the Puritan paperbacks editions. Project Gutenberg has the full edition freely available to download and read. In fact, the Banner of Truth's full edition is a facsimile of this full edition.
Regarding knowing God, I think a good systematic theology or similar work on God is helpful. Like Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves to the heavier but absolutely awesome The Doctrine of God by John Frame. Others: The Trinity (2nd edition) by Robert Letham, B.B. Warfield's works like "The Emotional Life of Our Lord", etc. And a good biblical theology to help us follow the unfolding story of redemption in the Bible can be tremendously encouraging in helping us to see how the whole Bible fits together and thus to see a glimpse of the whole counsel or plan of God (e.g. Beale, Carson, Dempster, Hamilton, Schreiner).
Epistle, thanks for the suggestions. Reeves' and Frame's books are wonderful. I'll have to check out Talbot.
Paul David Tripp’s book ‘Suffering’ was very helpful and encouraging to me when I was going through cancer treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukemia during 2020/2021. Plus anything written by Joni Erickson Tada.
Thanks for the suggestions, Al.
Thank you for the reminder that why is not our question, Who is what we need to ask, and we need to ask it every day. My friend says we should learn in the light what we will need in the darkness, not a new thought I know, but I would like to apply learning more of Who God is, His faithfulness and right-ness, His mercy and the depth of His love for us. So thank you for the reminder and the exhortation.
"we should learn in the light what we will need in the darkness"
That is a wonderful way to express it. Thanks for sharing!
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