Christian Attitudes on Suffering⤒🔗

In this article I hope to discuss the difficulties in our life. We can encounter difficult situations in many different ways. We have a difficult time to see our loved one is sick or die. We can also have a difficult time in our relationship with our spouse or our children. If you live long enough, it is inevitable that you experience difficulties in your life. This morning what I want to show is the proper Christian attitude toward these difficulties. We can approach the topic in various ways, but, in order to be selective, I am going to use a well-known story in the Bible: the Exodus.

By focusing on what is written in Exodus 1:8-18, I hope to talk about the two aspects concerning the Chris­tians understanding of the difficulties: the source of the difficulties and the purpose of the difficulties.

The Source of Difficulties←⤒🔗

What is the source of difficulties in our life? Of course, each struggle has a different origin. Thus why you have a difficult time with your spouse is different from the reason why you are struggling in your business. Neverthe­less, according to the Bible, there is a root cause of all the difficulties in our life. The situations in Exodus 1 can give us a good example. There we meet the people who knew what difficulties mean in life. They are slaves. We can well imagine many difficult situations these slaves had possibly encountered. They were forced to do hard labor. There was constant hunger and lack of water. It was not uncommon for them to see their loved ones suffering because of their miserable condition. Sometimes, they could not be sure about their own lives since it was more important for the slave drivers to meet the dead line for the project than to protect the slaves. It was also the case that other people could determine the fate of these slaves. The king can simply command: 'let the new born boys be thrown into the river'. It is not that difficult to imagine the struggles these slaves had to endure. What is to be noted is that there is a fountain from which all the difficulties flow. What could that be? What causes all the struggles for these slaves? It is their condition as slaves. If they were not in slavery, they would not have to suffer all these struggles. Many difficulties happened to them because they were enslaved.

According to the Bible, we are in the same situation as these slaves: we are in slavery. Do not get me wrong. I know we are living in the 21st century in a demo­cratic world. We do not have slavery as a social system. Then what kind of slavery am I talking about? Jesus says, 'everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin'. In the same way, the Apostle Paul also describes sin as the master who rules over those who commit sin. It is a clear teaching of the Bible that we are slaves to sin. Such is our reality. Sin is something we think and do against the will of God the Creator. And we commit sin. We are under the power of sin. Make no mistake that sin is the source of all our difficulties and troubles. They could be the result either of your own sins or someone else. But one thing is clear: we experience difficult situations because of sin.

Two points deserve further comment. First of all, we will have difficulties as long as we are under sin. In that sense, the Bible presents the reality of life. It is good for children to know the way some children stories end. So, the good looking prince and Cinderella lived happily ever after. But any adult knows that is not true. They will have arguments in their married life. In case they truly live happy by loving each other, we also know it will not last forever. They have to die. It is not nice to see your loved one die. The point is that, according to the Bible, we will have difficulties as long as sin dwells with us. We do our best, however, to forget such reality. A young man believes that he will live happily ever after as long as he gets a well paid job. A young woman might think she will live happily ever after if she meets a nice young man. In reality, there will always be disappointments. They will encounter difficulties and struggles as long as they live under the power of sin. Sin is the source of the difficulties in our life.

Secondly, we should not undervalue the power of sin.

Paul described sin as our "master" with a good reason. Sin is powerful and we can be enslaved to it. We can see the power of sin in two ways. Sin shows its power when we act like a bottomless pit. Think of the people who are responsible for the financial crisis in 2008. They are not the people who are poor. Rather these people's average income was way beyond than anyone else. Nevertheless, they cheated and lied to make more money. It does not matter how much money they had. They wanted more. They caved in to their greed, causing many difficult situations. It is easy to criticize other people. But it is good to have a self examination. Do we not act like a bottomless pit, wanting more and more? Look at the things you have bought in the past months. What do you hope to buy? Are we not enslaved to greed? When was your last time to open your wallet for the poor around you? Do not forget sin is powerful.

We can also see the power of sin when we do something wrong even though we know very well that it is not right to do. It seems impossible to resist the power of sin. Just look back at your past wrong doings. How many times you have done something even though you knew perfectly well that it is not right to do? How many times have you said to yourself, 'I could not help it'? Of course you could make an excuse by blaming other people. For example, you could say I did something wrong to him because he did something to me first. Or you could have said, 'it is my nature to be angry.' 'I am born in that way.' Whatever excuses you make, one thing is certain. You knew that it was wrong and you have acted as if you are enslaved to the power of sin. Because of our sins, we make not only our life but also other people's life miserable and difficult. Here we can summarize what the Bible says about sin and the diffi­culties in our life. Sin is powerful and it can enslave us. Furthermore, sin is the origin of all the difficulties in our life.

Purpose of Difficulties←⤒🔗

So far we have talked about the origin of difficulties we experience in our lives. Now let us take a look at the purpose of the difficulties. Yes, according to the Bible, there is a purpose in our life. We can say there is a purpose because of a specific Christian belief. Chris­tians believe that God is in control of everything in our life. This teaching is based on the Bible. For example, Jesus says that not a single hair from our head can fall without God's will. In Exodus 1 we find a similar thing. Long before, God already said to Abraham that it is his plan to bring the Israelites to dwell in Egypt as slaves (Gen 15). This Christian understanding is important to keep in mind. It is meant to shape the Christian's attitude in facing the struggles in life. If we do not believe God, what would be our likely response to the difficulties? I would imagine there are two options. Either you can blame yourself or you can blame other people or circumstances. You can say I have these difficulties because I have made wrong choices. You can also blame others. Your parents might not have provided for you what you need for a successful life. Or you have not had the right circumstances. It is the case that there is legitimacy in these blaming games. You might have made a wrong choice in your life to your detriment. I have also met some people who could not get proper education because of war or because their parents got divorced. Nevertheless, it is not biblical to simply blame yourself, others, or circumstance in responding to the difficulties in our life. Since God is in control of our life, Christians are meant to find God's purpose in life.

What would be God's purpose when we have difficul­ties in our life? I would point out two general purposes. First of all, through the difficulties in our life, God is telling us that we are still living in a sinful world. And this world is not the place where we are going to live forever. As I mentioned previously, the Bible says that we are sinful. Furthermore, we are quite good at getting used to the evil conditions in our life. Thus, God can use difficulties to tell us that it is not right for us to get used to evil, causing difficulties to ourselves and others. Let me give you a well used example. Let's say there are two young successful business men. These men are dedicated and they work hard day and night. The problem is that they are too busy. It is not unusual for them to skip the meal with the family members. They felt a little bit bad when they forgot to celebrate their respective anniversaries with their spouses. But, after some years, not any more. There are far more important and urgent things to do than spending time with kids. Then one day one of them has a quite serious health issue. Because of this difficulty, he has time to think about what is really important in his life. He decided to spend more time with his wife and children at the expense of a less successful business. From a Christian perspective, it is a blessing for this man to have a health issue. In a similar way, when we have difficult times, we should not waste our struggles by blaming others or circumstances. It should give a Christian a moment for medita­tion whether she is living out of love for God and her neighbors.

Let us consider a second purpose in having difficul­ties: we become sympathetic because of the struggles in our life. Since the Israelites were in slavery in Egypt, they knew what it means to be slaves. Thus they are commanded to treat the slaves fairly. We can give a similar example. It is almost impossible to comfort those who are bereaved. Who can comfort the young widow who lost her husband? Who can solace the parents who mourn for the loss of their child? In South Korea, there is a saying that only an old widow can comfort a young widow. It means that having our own sufferings can make us sympathetic toward those who are in suffering. When we hear other people's calami­ties and mishap, it is very easy for us not to pay too much attention. Upon hearing a calamity, we can easily regard it as one of the many bad things in this world. But when a mishap happens close to us, we become personally involved. We cannot simply sit down and say distantly, 'that's too bad'. For that reason, I do believe that one purpose of having a difficult time personally is to be prepared to be sympathetic toward others who struggle. It means that when you have struggles, you can regard it as a part of the prepara­tion to comfort those who will be in a similar struggle. When you are in suffering, think of those who are in more severe struggles.

In such a way, Christians are expected to be sympa­thetic toward those who are in difficulty. Christians are to be so since their God is sympathetic to those who are in difficulty. In Exodus, we find a similar thing.

When the Israelites were in hardship, God shows that he is sympathetic with his people. Thus at the end of Exodus 2, it is written, God heard their groaning ... God looked upon Israelites and God took notice of them. In Exodus 4, it is also said the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction. Here we see that the God in the Bible is not a god who is detached from his people's difficulty and affliction. He is not a god who sits in the clouds, enjoying his own quiet time. Rather, the God in the Bible visits his people in their affliction. This God takes notice of you when you undergo a difficult time. This God visits you when you have tough time. In such a way, we can see in Exodus a preparation of the coming of Jesus Christ. In the Christian faith, we believe Jesus Christ is, though separate, equal to God in terms of his divine status. What is unique about Jesus Christ as God is that he was born as a human being. Thus he is both true God and true man. It is a mystery how this works. But that is what the Bible says about Jesus Christ.

What is related to our discussion is that God paid an ultimate visit to us by becoming one of us. This is the meaning of Christmas. Since Jesus Christ became a human being, our God can sympathize with us. Once again, if you believe in a god who is entirely detached from your difficulty, you would not be able to relate your difficulties and struggles to the god. If I use an analogy, you cannot expect your millenary friend to be able to understand your financial problem. But the Christian God is different. He took up the human flesh to become one of us. He can sympathize with our weaknesses and shortcomings. Thus it is said about Jesus Christ as follows: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weak­nesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. (Heb 4:15) What is also important for our discussion is that Jesus Christ came to free us from our slavery to sin and the devil:

Since therefore the children (the believers) share in flesh and blood, Jesus himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Earlier I mentioned the power of sin. Sin is powerful and it can enslave us. The evidence that we are still bound by the power of sin is that every one dies. Yes, according to the Bible, death is not a natural course of life. It was not meant to be. Think how the human beings long for longevity. We were meant to live eternally. But the coming of sin has changed it. Since the coming of sin, death has become a normal course of life as the Bible says, 'the wages of sin is death' (Rom 6:23). Yet, Jesus Christ came to change such a course of life. Jesus came to bring death to death. What is to be noted is that he did so by his own death. It says, 'through his death, he destroyed the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil' (Heb 2:14). Since Jesus Christ demolished it, the Christians are free from the power of sin. Would you want to be free from the power of sin? Come to Jesus Christ:

Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There's power in the blood, pow'r in the blood;
Would you o'er evil a victory win?
There's wonderful pow'r in the blood.

At this point, I need to clarify a possible misunder­standing. Earlier I said that sin is the source of the difficulties in our life. Then does it mean that Chris­tians will not have any troubles since they are freed from the power of sin? Not at all! It is certainly the case that Jesus has freed us from the power of sin. But, the Bible also says that perfection has not yet arrived. What is important is that Christians do not suffer because of the consequence of their sins. We believe that our sin has been forgiven on the cross. It does not mean that Christ promised a trouble free life for his people. Rather he commands his followers to carry their own cross and follow Him (Matt 16:24). In our days, we do not see people carrying crosses. But in Jesus' days, if you carry your own cross, one thing is certain. Torture and death are waiting for you just around the corner. Thus when Christ commands his followers to carry their own cross, the Christians are expected to suffer for the benefit of other people. The Christians are not meant to suffer difficulties by living out of their own selfish desire and gain. Rather they are willing to accept difficulties for the benefit of other people for the glory of their God.

Don't you think it is better to suffer for others than to suffer under the power of sin?