The Ancient Word...

Sometimes the Lord uses suffering to reveal Himself to us.

For example, when David struggled through deserts and hid in caves to escape from Saul, the future king experienced God as Savior:

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer...my rock, in whom I take refuge...my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18:2, NIV; compare 2 Corinthians 1:3)

However, when Israel turned from the Lord, the disobedient nation experienced Him as a Judge pronouncing judgment:

For forty years...you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you. (Numbers 14:34)

Through rejection and the pain of a broken marriage, Hosea gained special insight into God's heart. He learned how much Israel had hurt the Lord, but also how much God still loved His people:

The LORD said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods...." So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. Then I told her, "You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with you." (Hosea 3:1-3)

Likewise, only a careworn parent would fully understand both God's agony over His lost "children" and His joy over their safe return, as portrayed in Jesus' parable:

While [the son] was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him...the father said to his servants, "Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." (Luke 15:20-24; compare Hosea 11)

The Lord often uses suffering as an occasion for revelation -- as an opportunity for developing a deeper understanding of God in His relationship to human beings.

... for Today

Shortly before Christmas, Dave Talbot's mother lay dying in hospital. Barely conscious for much of the time, and clearly in the last few days of her earthly journey, she slipped further and further away from her grieving family. Then, with a sudden surge, her eyes shot open. She raised herself up a little and cried, "Heaven! Heaven! Heaven!" She slumped back into her bed and soon departed.

The undertaker who came for her body noted that, in 5000 deaths, he had seen only five people die with a smile on their face like hers. Her suffering became a revelation and affirmation to her family of an eternal reality.

Today Colin Harrison -- a 32-year-old losing his battle with melanoma -- prepares for that same journey "across the bar," as Tennyson once famously described it. His wife, Kasey, has suffered with him through this 12-month ordeal. His labored breathing, little speech, and drifting consciousness make this torture from a human perspective. He's transforming from mortality to immortality, and from perishable to imperishable (see 1 Corinthians 15:42, 53).

Yesterday, Kasey sent an e-mail in which she affirmed:

In acceptance there is peace.
Let thy heart be still.
Let thy restless worries cease
And accept His will.
Though this test be not thy choice
It is His, therefore rejoice.

Not everyone sees or senses the hand of God during suffering. But sometimes, by His grace, He uses suffering to draw back the veil for a moment, so that we can see things eternal. He comes to us and reveals Himself amidst our pain.

Discuss...

1. Describe some ways you have seen God "revealed" through pain.
   
   
2. Why does our suffering so often seem to reveal more of Christ than our prosperity? How does this affect your view of suffering?

Chris Davis, PhD & David Timms, PhD
Hope International University
Fullerton, California

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