1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,200 As the saying goes, "God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good." 2 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:13,680 As long as God exists, He will be good. And saying as God is eternal, that means good is eternal. 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:19,280 The whole idea of good came from God, with our first seeing that in the first book of the Bible, 4 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:24,720 when He created the plants, the animals, the earth, the skies, and He said, "It was good." 5 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:33,200 But then you step back and look at the world today. It's not so good anymore. We are famine, 6 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:42,720 war, disease, crime, heartache, death, disappointment. If God is so good, why is the world so 7 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:44,080 full of bad? 8 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:54,240 Hello, weirdos. I'm Pastor Darren. Welcome to the church of the undead. Here are the church of the 9 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:58,400 undead. I can share ideas which are relevant to those who suffer with depression. 10 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:03,600 Need some encouragement. And for those who love or are just curious about the God of the Bible, 11 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:08,960 it doesn't matter if you are a weirdo in Christ or just a weirdo. Everybody's welcome here at 12 00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:16,320 the church of the undead. And I use the word undead because here we are dead to sin and a live 13 00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:21,680 in Christ. If you want to join this weirdo congregation, just click that subscribe or follow button 14 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:29,120 and visit us online at weirdarkness.com/church. Full disclosure, I might use the term "paster" 15 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:33,600 because I've branded this feature as a church, but I do not have a theology degree. 16 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:39,280 Nor did I ever go to Bible College. I'm just a guy who gave us life to Christ in 1989 and has tried 17 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:47,040 to walk the walk ever since and has stumbled a lot along the way. Because like everybody else, 18 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:52,960 I am an imperfect, heavily flawed human being. So please don't take what I say as gospel. 19 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:59,360 Dig into God's word yourself for confirmation, inspiration, and revelation. That being said, 20 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:09,600 welcome to the church of the undead. I once saw cartoon that attempted to illustrate the Christian 21 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:16,320 view of suffering. The cartoon depicted a man asking God for protection. A rock then strikes the 22 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:23,360 man in the head. In dignity, he screams towards the heavens asking for a rationale as to why such suffering 23 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:30,320 his befallen him. The cartoon then zooms out to show Jesus towering over the person, blocking 24 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:38,480 him from a vast onslaught. Jesus turns to the man it says, "Sorry, did I miss one?" The message 25 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:45,760 seems clear. Jesus protects us from the sufferings of life. Nice thought, but that's not the 26 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:53,520 way life works. Nor is it the way faith works. Not only does this cartoon suggest that there is a limit 27 00:02:53,520 --> 00:03:00,080 to Jesus power, but it also implies that Jesus shields us from all that is harmful or painful. 28 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:06,800 The cartoon assures that faith protects us from the ills of life. If only that could be true. 29 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:14,720 But nope, that's not what the Bible teaches. Jesus himself says, "In this world, 30 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:21,440 you will have trouble." John 1633. He's saying it outright. It doesn't matter what you believe, 31 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:26,880 life is going to throw stones at you, big and small, and it's not God's job or intent to keep 32 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:33,760 that from happening. Faith never amounts to a get out of suffering free card. So what does the Bible 33 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:39,840 teach about suffering? What are the divine promises God has given us to cling to if we find ourselves 34 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:46,320 going through a time of trial or turmoil? Glad asked, there are some important truths to keep in mind. 35 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:54,240 First, suffering does not deny God's love. It can be easy to see the presence of suffering as a 36 00:03:54,240 --> 00:04:00,320 sign of God's absence from your life. People who reject Christianity, and often point to suffering as 37 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:07,440 the reason why faith is untenable. If God is so good, they say, then why is there all this suffering? 38 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:14,720 Even people who do believe in Christ can fall into this mental trap? This was actually the false 39 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:20,400 theology of Job's friends. They believed that all of Job's suffering meant that he had stepped 40 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:26,400 outside of God's loving presence, that he had done something to tick God off. So God abandoned him. 41 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:32,800 A rationale appeared straight forward and sound, too. Job suffered because God was angry at him. 42 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:40,240 But he was wrong. Sadly, many people believe that the sufferings we deal with in life are a punishment 43 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:45,760 sent by God because of something bad we did, or something we didn't do that we should have done. 44 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:51,200 We even have slogans that teach this very thought. What goes around comes around. 45 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:58,000 Or we justify the suffering as an instance of our just desserts. And let's not forget the whole concept 46 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:04,800 of karma. Such sayings and thoughts are rooted in the assumption that everything bad or tragic and a person's 47 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:11,200 life is an instance of God's punishment. This belief is a distortion of the Christian faith. 48 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:17,920 It's incompatible with the truth of the gospel, and it completely misrepresents what God revealed to us 49 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:24,160 in Jesus Christ. Jesus addresses this misconception when he says, "Do you think that these 50 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:31,360 gallalians were worse sinners because they suffered this way? I tell you, no, Luke 13 verses 2 and 3." 51 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:37,360 Jesus verbally shoots down the belief that it quates suffering with divine rejection. 52 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:45,680 The unfortunate truth is that we live in a world that itself, longs for redemption. This means that 53 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:53,120 at times, life is eggs when we want it to zag. Suffering occasionally befalls us without any rationale 54 00:05:53,120 --> 00:06:00,800 or warning. While we might struggle with why God would allow such suffering to occur, the suffering itself does 55 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:08,240 not mean that God does not love us, that he's abandoned us or that he's punishing us. God's love is eternal. 56 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:14,960 Furthermore, scripture teaches that nothing in heaven or earth can separate us from the love revealed 57 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:24,640 in Christ Jesus. Romans 639 and nothing means nothing. Nothing, you can do or say nothing did anyone else. 58 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:30,880 Can do or say will separate you from the love Jesus has for you. So if you're going through a 59 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:38,240 time of suffering, please know that God's love for you remains intact. God's love for you is a fact 60 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:47,760 of your life. It cannot be denied. Second, suffering does not deny God's victory. The road of suffering and 61 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:53,920 trials can feel long and unending. Still, the promise of our faith is that in the end, 62 00:06:53,920 --> 00:07:01,280 God will win. Evil will be overcome. The book of Revelation records John's vision of the end of 63 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:08,320 all things. In this vision, he observes the tree of life described as yielding its fruit every month and the 64 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:13,520 leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22 verse 2. 65 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:22,320 God's desire for all creation is its holiness or completeness and its healing. We can have salvation 66 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:28,320 now in our lifetime, but it will be fully realized later when God destroys every instance of evil 67 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:35,200 and every moment of suffering. How cool a day is that going to be? Of course, no one can say when this 68 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:41,440 might happen. Sadly, this ultimate victory may not happen in our lifetime or maybe it will. We don't know. 69 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:48,480 Again, this is part of living in a fallen and imperfect world. Yet this still does not deny God's vision 70 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:54,800 for the redemption of the world. So what do we do if we find ourselves suffering? Well, we cry. 71 00:07:55,440 --> 00:08:01,280 We weep. We yell out our righteous frustrations and we pray for the day when God will fully establish 72 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:08,000 his rule upon the earth. The fact is, trying to rationalize suffering so that it makes logical 73 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:15,040 sense to us, it's not helpful. Sometimes suffering doesn't make sense to us. In fact, it doesn't 74 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:21,040 make sense most of the time. It's unexpected, it's unpredictable, it's never convenient, and it's 75 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:29,920 always burdensome. Suffering sucks. But God does not invite us to rationalize our suffering, trying to figure out 76 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:36,080 why we're dealing with it. But to cry out about it, to him, scripture includes the books of 77 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:43,200 Job, Psalms, and limitations for this very reason. These books give us freedom to express our confusion 78 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:49,520 in our hearts to God. Hey, in those of your hurt and already, so why not be honest with him about it? 79 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:54,880 And these books of the Bible give us the appropriate words to express our questions and limitations. 80 00:08:54,880 --> 00:09:01,040 We're invited to scream alongside the solmist with the words, "Oh God, do not keep silent. Be 81 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:09,440 not quiet. Oh God. Be not still." Psalm 83 verse 1. Such alt bursts are not contrary to our faith in 82 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:15,840 God's love or victory. As Christians, we believe that according to 2 Corinthians 5 verse 10, 83 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:21,680 we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Ultimately, this fact gives us hope. It is 84 00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:28,640 precisely because we believe this, the Jesus will vanquish all evil that we are able to confidently 85 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:37,280 bring our frustrations and cries to the Lord without condemnation. In 3rd, suffering does not deny God's 86 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:44,960 presence. While we can never fully know why bad things happen to good people, we can know for certain 87 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:51,440 that the presence of our Lord resides with us and within us. Jesus himself is promised to be with 88 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:59,200 us to the very end of the age, Matthew 28 verse 20. Not only does Jesus remain with us, but he also 89 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:06,880 sympathizes with our weaknesses. Jesus understands the ups and downs of life. He was human once too, 90 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:12,320 you know, and he had all the same problems we do. He probably even suffered a hammer to the thumb 91 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:18,720 while learning to become a carpenter. He probably caught colds or flues. Maybe he broke a bone as a kid, 92 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:24,400 or sprained an ankle. We know he lost loved ones through death. He is familiar with how the 93 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:31,840 ugliness of life can crash into us. It may sound simplistic or trite, but the truth of the gospel is 94 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:38,240 simple. When we go through times of suffering, we are not alone. Like Jesus weeping alongside 95 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:46,000 Mary and Martha when Lazarus died John 11 verse 35, Jesus stands with us, lending his tears to our own. 96 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:51,920 His heart breaks when our hearts break. He cries along with us because we are his children. 97 00:10:51,920 --> 00:11:00,480 Because of this, we can, as Hebrews 4/16, as approach the throne of grace with confidence. In the 98 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:06,960 full assurance that you will receive help in your time of need. This is a promise made by the one 99 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:14,800 who has shown himself to be trustworthy and faithful. Again, those three points. First, suffering does 100 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:23,760 not deny God's love. Second, suffering does not deny God's victory. In third, suffering does 101 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:34,560 not deny God's presence. So where is Jesus in the suffering of this world? Jesus is with us. The 102 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:41,920 cross bears witness. The Jesus takes upon himself the very hurts that we bear. Jesus even enters the 103 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:49,120 tomb, the place of death in order to transform it into a place of life. In Christ's crucifixion, 104 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:53,920 we see there is no suffering that Jesus does not willingly enter on our behalf. 105 00:11:53,920 --> 00:12:00,240 True, this may not stop the sufferings of our lives from occurring this side of heaven. There 106 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:06,480 still might be times wherein we walk through disease or heartache, but amidst all these times, we can be 107 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:13,120 assured that we are surrounded by the Holy Spirit. This truth should bring us comfort and healing. 108 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:18,800 When suffering lands too close to home, we can invite Jesus into our pains and scars. 109 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:25,520 Jesus is big enough to bear our suffering, to listen to our cries, and to respond to our screams. 110 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:32,480 And amidst all that we go through, Jesus offers us his unconditional, never ending love. 111 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:38,160 No matter the suffering we undergo, is love is enough. 112 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:47,280 If you like what you heard, share this episode with others whom you think might also like it. 113 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:50,640 Maybe the person you share it with will join us with our congregation too. 114 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:54,160 To join the Weird Old Family yourself, you can find us on Facebook, 115 00:12:54,160 --> 00:13:02,080 listen to previous messages, even find out how to join me in my daily Bible studies by visiting weirddarkness.com/shurch. 116 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:08,640 That's weirddarkness.com/shurch. You can find the sources I used for this week's message in the show notes. 117 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:12,800 I'm Darren Marler. Thanks for joining me Weirdos. Until next time, 118 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:16,480 Jesus loves you and so do I. God bless.