Why God Ordains Your Suffering

By Shane Kastler

One of the most prominent people in the Old Testament was a man made famous for his suffering. He was also described as an extraordinarily righteous man. The Bible tells us this man, named Job, was “righteous and just” and that he “feared God and shunned evil.” (Job 1:8) Yet the suffering he endured was catastrophic. He lost his livelihood, he lost all ten of his children in a tragic disaster, then he lost his health. Pain and misery marked Job's life for a season. And this pain and misery was inflicted on him by Satan. But it was also inflicted under the sovereignty of God.

While Satan hated Job and would have gladly destroyed him; the Bible tells us that Satan could not lay a finger on him without God's permission. In fact, an often forgotten fact of the Job story is that it was God (not Satan) who originally brought up the name of Job. God said to Satan: “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and shunning evil.” (Job 1:8)

Many times we see the story of Job as one of testing. And in some ways it is. But the test was not for God to find out what Job was made of. God already knew because He was the one who made Job that way. If anyone is “righteous and just” it's because God changed them into that; since the Scriptures tell us that by nature “no one is righteous.” (Romans 3:10) So the test was not for God. But in some ways it was for Job. Maybe Job didn't know how much he could endure; until he endured so much.

The story of Job is also used by God to expose Satan to be the fool that he is. Satan was adamant that the only reason Job feared God was because God had blessed him in so many ways. Yet, even when the blessings were removed Job still praised God. He wept. He mourned. He suffered. He was pained. But in all this, he still “worshiped" (Job 1:21). And he “did not charge God with wrong.” (Job 1:22)

The secret to surviving suffering is to see a sovereign God who reigns and controls and ordains it all. Satan despises you and is indeed wrong for the pain he inflicts. People, at times, will hate you and do much evil against you. They are accountable to God for this. But be comforted by the fact that even the evil acts of the wicked cannot come to pass unless a loving God allows it. And what they intend for evil; God will use for good. (Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28) Sometimes in ways that we will never know. Sometimes in ways that we do.

In the New Testament we also have a man whose life was marked by suffering. The Apostle Paul was one of whom God said: “I will show him all the things he must suffer for the sake of my name.” (Acts 9:16) As he took the gospel from city to city; “bonds and afflictions” awaited him (Acts 20:23). He was frequently beaten and imprisoned. Was exposed to the elements and went without food and sleep. (2 Corinthians 11:23-27) He was shipwrecked (Acts 27:14-44) and snake-bitten (Acts 28:3). And God was sovereign over all of it.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12 of a heavenly vision that God had given him. And right on the heels of this vision, God gave him a “thorn in the flesh” to humble him. God ordained the vision; and God ordained the thorn. One was awe-inspiring. One was painful. They both took his breath away. And they both were used for good in Paul's life. Interestingly enough, Satan is also mentioned as a secondary causality of Paul's thorn. While we don't know exactly what the thorn was, Paul described it as a “messenger of Satan” – yet he also describes it as being sent from God. Don't miss this vital point. Just like with Job, Satan hates and would gladly destroy. But he cannot act, unless it occur under the permissive power of a sovereign God. What Satan intends for evil; God intends for good. And in the end, it is God's will that wins out because ultimately His will cannot be thwarted. It is in this bedrock reality of God's sovereignty that Christians should find their deepest comfort in the midst of their fiercest pains. But sadly, Christians often miss this truth. Sometimes because they're blinded by the suffering. And sometimes because they've been taught wrong things by those who want to help, yet don't understand the depth of God's sovereign power.

One final example can be seen in an act that is both the most glorious act of love ever performed; as well as, the most heinous sin ever committed. Jesus “died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3) Yet He was also put to death “at the hands of godless men.” (Acts 2:23) Was the cross an act of love from God? Or was it an act of evil from man? The answer is both. And in that day, both dark and glorious, do we see the sovereignty of God most magnificently displayed even in the most vile acts of the depraved. No single verse in the Bible encapsulates this truth better than Acts 2:23, where Peter proclaims to the men of Israel that Jesus was, “delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.” But that also, “you nailed Him to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.” What is the lesson for us here? It is that our God reigns. And that we should take our greatest comfort in His sovereign control over all things, even our deepest pains and darkest sorrows.

God not only allows suffering for His people; He ordains it. There are many reasons why. Some of these reasons He reveals to us. Some of them He doesn't. Either way, the heart of faith finds it's resting place in the sovereignty of God. And the believer keeps believing. May that be said of you today.

Comments

[Mari]

I needed to hear this so much. Thank you so much for sharing this life changing truth