Acts 17:2–3 (NLT) 2 As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. 3 He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” 3 ‘Spiritually Fatal’ Misconceptions “If God allows or uses suffering in our lives, he must be punishing us.” “If God allows me to suffer, it’s only because I’m doing something wrong.” “If God allows us to suffer, never ask ‘why?’ because he doesn’t ever tell us.” What is suffering ? Biblical words : endurance of pain, affliction, adversity, trouble, misfortune, injustice, etc Result of “The Fall” (Genesis 3) Main challenge to the veracity of the Christian faith: Human suffering. “Human suffering proves that God cannot exist.” “Human suffering proves that God, if he does exist, he’s cruel and doesn’t care about us.” What Purpose Does God Reveal For Suffering? Consequences of human behavior. (OT + Proverbs) Correction. (Proverbs 3:11-12, Hebrews 12:10) Training tool for spiritual/emotional maturity. Test of authenticity for believers. (James 1:12) Tunes us in more deeply to Jesus’s human suffering. (Philippians 3:10) MAIN IDEA || Suffering is not proof that the Christian faith should be disqualified — it’s a purposeful tool He uses to accomplish his plans. How do we know suffering is purposefully used by God? God dearly loved his Son more than anything and yet Jesus still suffered according to His . Acts 17:1-4 (NLT) Mark 8:31–33 (NLT) 31 Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. 32 As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. 33 Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” Jesus’s suffering proves that your suffering has… nothing to do with measuring God’s love for you. nothing to do with God’s existence. nothing to do with the veracity of the Christian faith. Self-sacrifice and suffering is the highest of human love. Romans 5:8–11 (NLT) 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. God’s love is always measured by Jesus’s suffering and death in our , never by the suffering and pain in our lives. How should Christians face suffering? Know the problems & your suffering brings. Apply the well known biblical for handling afflictions. Honest prayer. Replace your focus. Trust in God’s purpose. “Suffering can refine us rather than destroy us because God himself walks w/us in the fire.” “Suffering dispels the illusion that we have the strength and competence to rule our own lives and save ourselves.” “Suffering is only unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and w/ you.” Job never saw why he suffered, but he saw God, and that was enough. Discipline ourselves to remember our final hope. ( Romans 8:18 ) Revelation 21:1–6 (NLT) CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION Have you or someone you love ever struggled with one of these misconceptions? 3 ‘Spiritually Fatal’ Misconceptions “If God allows or uses suffering in our lives, he must be punishing us.” “If God allows me to suffer, it’s only because I’m doing something wrong.” “If God allows us to suffer, never ask ‘why?’ because he doesn’t ever tell us.” We know God purposefully used the suffering of his beloved son, Jesus, to express His love for us. So why do you think we’re so quick to categorize suffering as unfair, cruel and outside of God’s plans for us? How might this picture of a Chrsitian’s eternal future help you (or someone you’re trying to encourage) endure suffering? At the end of history the whole earth has become the Garden of God again. Death and decay and suffering are gone. . . . Jesus will make the world our perfect home again. We will no longer be living ‘east of Eden,’ always wandering and never arriving. We will come, and the father will meet us and embrace us, and we will be brought into the feast. ~ Timothy Keller Making Sense of God