Sooner or later, we will encounter suffering. Sometimes suffering comes as a drip (perhaps just a low-level, nagging fear or sense that something isn't right) and other times suffering hits us with the force of a battering ram. Folks within our congregation have experienced profound loss recently. And the world is watching the suffering that comes when the “nations rage” (Psalm 2) as events in the Ukraine unfold.
When suffering comes our way, it's natural to wonder what God is doing and why, and if he's even there. The Psalms are loaded with examples of the people of God crying out to God in the midst of their suffering.
In times of suffering, I am often reminded of this reflection from the late John Stott.
Stott says: "I could never myself believe in God, were it not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as 'God on the cross.' In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross that symbolizes divine suffering." (from The Cross of Christ, 326-27)
When suffering comes our way, while we may have questions, we know God is not far from us.
Have you lost a loved one? A child? God did - his one and only son was brutally murdered. Have you suffered injustice? Jesus did - he underwent a bogus trial and was wrongfully convicted. Have you been mocked and stripped of your dignity? Jesus was - he was stripped naked and a crown of thorns pressed upon his head. Have you suffered betrayal? Jesus was betrayed with a kiss. Have you endured unbearable physical pain? Jesus was flogged beyond recognition and pinned to a tree.
When we suffer, God is near. He understands. He's not removed from it. Questions remain regarding our own suffering, of course. But when we look to Jesus we see that suffering is followed by glory; being brought low is the path toward exaltation; death is followed by resurrection; what looked like defeat was victory.
In other words, the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus gives us a template for understanding suffering both near and far. Like the disciples huddled and hiding on the Saturday following Jesus's death we wonder what God is doing, but take heart, Sunday is coming! Resurrection is around the corner. And this future resurrection will wash away the tragedy of the sufferings of the present. Paul says: "I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18).