Why Do Some People Suffer More?
We can be confident that all suffering in this life ultimately results from the entry of sin into the world through Adam, that Christ has paid the penalty of this sin for His people, and that He will remove all sin from the world when He returns (see Rom. 5:12–21; Rom. 8). All who trust in Him alone for salvation will enjoy a good life with Him forever, even if they have a bad life today (see John 3:16; Rev. 21).
The suffering or blessing that some people experience does not always appear to be connected to their actions. In fact, sometimes the godliest people have the hardest lives, while those who seem to hate God the most have the easiest lives. What are we to make of this?
First, the Bible says that bad lives are sometimes—but certainly not always—connected to personal sin. Sinful actions often result in harsh consequences in this life (see 2 Chron. 36:11–21). However, the book of Job tells us that Job lived a holy life and loved God but endured some of the worst suffering imaginable. His friends were wrong to believe that he suffered because of his own sin.
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The Parts We Leave Out
God is sovereign over every square inch of his creation, and so he is equally sovereign over square inch of our lives. Our building, our dreaming, our working, our sleeping, it all fertile ground for growing in faith and giving glory to God. We just have to learn to see it.
Unless the Lord builds a house,
its builders labor over it in vain;
unless the Lord watches over a city,
the watchman stays alert in vain.
In vain you get up early and stay up late,
working hard to have enough food
PSALM 127
You moved across the country to start a new job. A dear friend has wronged you. Your husband has cancer. Your child is rushed to the hospital.
In the scary and difficult situations of life we know we must look to God for help. God is big and sovereign and exactly what we need to face the daunting challenges and bitter disappointments of life. And when God pulls us through and gets us safely to the other side we are more than ready to give him the praise he deserves.
But what about the ordinary, everyday grind of life. Do we reach out for God’s help as we groggily wake up from a fitful night of sleep? Do we think God is particularly concerned about our response when things don’t go as planned on the construction site? Does the fact that we can fill the grocery buggy fill us with thanksgiving?
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Has the Modern Mind Lost Its Grip on Jesus’s Sacrifice?
Edwards emphasized the imminent danger of living in sin and the urgency of seeking salvation. His exclamation, “There is nothing between you and hell but the air; ’tis only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up,” is a stark reminder of the precariousness of life without Christ. Edwards’s message was a call to self-examination, repentance, and acceptance of salvation only offered through Jesus Christ, reflecting the profound biblical truth that salvation is found in no one else but Jesus.
In his famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” eighteenth-century theologian Johnathan Edwards boldly proclaimed, “Almost every natural man that hears of hell flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or in what he intends to do.”
According to Edwards, the natural man is engaged in a lifetime of struggle, ignoring the clear judgment of damnation. Imagine being at a funeral where the pastor boldly states that the departed, despite appearing outwardly “good,” was destined for eternal suffering in hell. This thought alone is shocking. Such a proclamation would cause outrage, confusion, and perhaps even fear.
Edwards was right. The natural man shies away from self-examination, honest introspection, and repentance. Many reject the truth of their inherent depravity and subsequent damnation. Denying this truth means ignoring the only message that saves, causing them to miss out on the hope found in the gospel.
We all possess an innate sense of something beyond this life. However, neglecting the gospel leads to creating false narratives about eternity. These assumptions ignore the need for Christ’s redemptive work on the cross, forcing some to believe that entering heaven requires a lifetime of virtuous behavior. Consequently, universalism—the idea that all souls will be in heaven—is becoming increasingly prevalent.
Our contemporary approach to faith has led to a prevailing culture of functional universalism, significantly impacting society and eroding the message of hope within Christ’s gospel. Has the modern mind lost its grip on the idea of Jesus’s sacrifice?
Celebrity Faith and Heaven’s Gate
In a society that often avoids discussing weighty matters like hell, damnation, and the necessity of salvation, we tend to divert our attention to the spectacle of celebrities. As we near the end of 2023, it is customary to contemplate the lives of notable individuals who have departed from this world. Among the famous and infamous names that come to mind are the legendary rock-and-roll queen Tina Turner, late-term abortionist Leroy “Lee” Carhart, and the lesser-known, yet respected, rap artist David Jolicoeur of De La Soul.
During his eulogy for Tina Tuner, Pete Townshend, the renowned rocker from the band The Who, hailed her as an “astonishing performer, an outstanding singer, and an R&B groundbreaker.” Townshend shared that Tina had been battling illness for some time and expressed his heartfelt desire for her to finally “have some peace now” in death.
As the condolences regarding Tina’s death came in, many echoed the feelings expressed by Kristina Love. Love, a renowned actress from the West End Stage, portrays the indomitable artist in “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical.” Love passionately proclaimed during her address to the theater audience, “We’re here tonight because of one woman who boldly lived her life, from cotton fields to stardom. . . . So tonight we are going to party because we know there is a huge party in heaven right now.”
While some may argue in favor of rewarding Tina Turner with heaven due to the challenges she endured, applying the same standard to LeRoy Carhart becomes more complex. Carhart, a self-proclaimed abortion activist and one of the few remaining late-term abortionists, passed away in April. Throughout his lifetime, he terminated the lives of 30,000 unborn babies and trained 300 doctors in abortion procedures.
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Jesus is Here
When we let God be God, our life is better. It’s when we forget his omnipresence—and his other attributes—that we start attempting to control our own lives, and then everything goes to shambles. But here’s the remarkable thing. With Jesus being omnipresent that doesn’t mean he’s only watching you from a distance or just “keeping an eye on you.” No. He is both transcendent and personal to us. He is imminent. He is near.
“Jesus keeps me safe,” Jovi, my oldest daughter, quietly said as I tucked her in the other night.
“Yes, he will always keep you safe,” I said, while hugging her.
“He is not here,” Jovi responded.
It was in that moment I knew I could send a sense of reassurance into Jovi’s toddler-sized heart. She is only 2.5 years old, so I understand she can only process so much. But I knew she remembers things well.
“Oh, sweetie,” I said, “Jesus is here. He is with you, with me. He is everywhere.”
She replied, “Jesus is here.”
To ensure she knew my point even more, I replied, “I know you can’t see Jesus, but I promise He is here. He is always with you.”
The next day my wife told me as she was putting her down for a nap, Jovi randomly said, “Jesus is here.”
Let the heart melting begin.
I knew I didn’t need to explain the mysterious intricacies of the omnipresence of Jesus—how can he be everywhere at once? But I knew the fact that he is with her would calm her for the night and, better yet, she’d remember it. And she did.
Christian, I tell this story to give you—to give me, to give all of us—a reminder. Jesus is here with us. He is not distant, far off, or lost. He is here and cares for us.
Jesus, as the second Person of the Trinity, is not confined to time and space. He is transcendent. He is truly everywhere at once. He is just as much in the future as he is in the present.
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