Oakbrook Evangelical Free Church

Introduction:

1. Upfront humility:

This is not a comprehensive study of what the Bible teaches about pain and suffering.

I do not pretend to know or understand. No pat answers here.

Absent a word from God we may develop a distorted view of

crisis. We are left with a word from those like Jesse Jackson.

We can become hopeless and angry.

What does God have to say? Does He care that we suffer?

2. So we turn to God’s Word

Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ” NASB95

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. “It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.” NLT

This is my Bible. It is the truth. I can trust it says.

God is who He says He is. He always keeps His promises.

I can trust Him to do what He says He will do..

I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have.

I can do what it says I can do. Today I will be taught the Word of God.

My mind is alert. My heart is receptive. I will never be the same.

Please open your Bibles to Romans 8:17-28

I. Seasons Of Brokenness, Romans 8:18-25

A. Perspective, Romans 8:17-18

The “here and now” vs the “there and then”.

Focus – what has my attention? What had Paul’s?

Present suffering is not all there is or will be!

Suffering so often brings an inward focus. It isolates us. Paralyzes us. But God is the only stable and reliable force in our lives.

1 Corinthians 2:9 “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”” NLT

2 Corinthians 12:3-4 “And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— “was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.” NIV

I can only imagine! – by Mercy Me

“I can only imagine what it will be like, when I walk by Your side…
I can only imagine, what my eyes will see, when Your Face is before me!
I can only imagine. I can only imagine.

Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing ‘Hallelujah!’? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! I can only imagine! I can only imagine, when that day comes, when I find myself standing in the Son!
I can only imagine, when all I will do, is forever, forever worship You!
I can only imagine! I can only imagine!

We need to be reminded that Jesus has made a way through and beyond this present circumstances to something far better.

B. Making Sense of It All, Romans 8:19-22

1. An undeniable reality! “The whole creation groans”

2. A sovereign plan! “Making sense out of natural disaster.”

There is a veiled but not hidden mystery here.

The story of redemption

An illustration: The pains of childbirth

For us who fear and worry – God is in control. Calls us to trust!

Def: Sovereignty-God has freedom & power to do what He wants.

Isaiah 46:9-10 “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” NIV

Psalm 135:6 “The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.” NIV

God is over all authorities that might challenge his power and freedom to act as He pleases. His power and authority is utterly unique.

He is the only Sovereign. There is none that can frustrate His aims.

Quote: “The freedom of God consists in the fact that no cause other than Himself produces His acts and no external obstacle impedes them – that His own goodness is the root from which they (all his acts) all grow and His own omnipotence the air in which they all flower.” C.S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain

Psalm 115:3 “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.”

God has the right and power to do whatever makes Him happy.

God rules the world and He is happy.

He is not frustrated, unhappy or gloomy. TF, we seek Him…

Psalm 63:1 “A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah. O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” NIV

Therefore, we can too!

Psalm 33:10-11 “The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. “But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” NIV

Is God Sovereign Over Calamities?

Job 42:2 ““I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.” NIV

Amos 3:6 “When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?”

1 Samuel 12:16-18 ““Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes! “Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call upon the Lord to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the Lord when you asked for a king.” “Then Samuel called upon the Lord, and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the Lord and of Samuel.” NIV

Exodus 9:23-25 “When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt; “hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. “Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields—both men and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree.” NIV

Every thoughtful person must deal with the problem of evil

For those who ponder: Job 37:1-24

Job 37:24 “Therefore, men revere him, for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart?”” NIV 1:18-20 adults sons/daughters wind

Professor Richard Dawkins of Oxford University explains that human life is nothing more than a way for selfish genes to multiply and reproduce. There is no meaning or dignity to humanity.

God’s Word rejects this

C. Personal Pain – We groan inwardly (grieve), Rom 8:23-25

Suffering overtakes us. Our world is turned upside down.

And we have trouble making sense of it all.

God is the only reliable source of strength and stability.

God not only knows about our trouble. He cares so much that He invites us to come to Him and give Him our troubles.

Matthew 11:28 ““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” NIV

1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

II. Comforting Promises

A. Personal presence – For those who grieve-He grieves w/ us

Romans 8:26-27 “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. “And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” NIV

Who among us does not know how much comfort the presence of family and friends brings,

Their hug

A cold cloth on a fevered forhead.

ILL: Restless body syndrome.

Then I remembered how so many times my feet and legs ached

and my mother rubbed them until I fell asleep.

B. Personal plan

For those who need healing –

Please tell me there is a plan! Yes, there is.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” NIV

In other works, God is strong enough and wise enough to make all things work together for our good. This is where God gets His joy. Not in the immediate ciaos or devastation but in the ultimate outcome.

Job 2:10 “He replied, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.” NIV

It is true that Satan afflicted Job. But he did so with God’s permission.

And Job saw his personal suffering in the light of at least God’s permission will.

Lamentations 2:11; 3:37-38 “My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within, my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city….Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?” NIV

Lamentations 3:17-24 “I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. “So I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.” “I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. “I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. “They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”” NIV

Lamentations 3:31-33 “For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. “Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. “For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.” NIV

No one can escape the sovereign control of God.

Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.” NIV

Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery.

Potiphar’s wife framed him into prison.

Pharaoh’s butler forgot him in prison for two years.

Where is God in all his misery?

Genesis 50:20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” NIV