It’s in our nature as human beings to try to understand and ask why and how things happen, particularly pain. Men and women have been trying to understand ‘things’ since time began. I’m sure Adam spent a lot of time trying to understand the new creature, Eve. And we men are still trying to understand!

The bible tells us clearly that we were made in the image of God. As we continue to read in Genesis, mankind becomes so wicked in the eyes of the Lord, and all but wipes out humanity. Think about that for a moment. In one sense, that’s challenging to grasp. On the other hand, we know we are frail and less than dust compared to our Almighty God, and it is our most basic inclination to seek the self and glorify it. God creating mankind (in His image) is repeated three more times up to and including Genesis 9. There are a significant number of verses that talk about God’s care, love, and desire for humanity.

Job says in chapter 10, verse 8, Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me. I don’t want to run away from this verse, particularly the end. We must hold it together with verses like Job 33:4: The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. Now, there are a few Chapters in between, so I would encourage you to read more there to see how the story develops. Let us not forget Job was singled out by God as being faithful and upright and staying away from evil. Yet, we see Job say “yet thou dost destroy me”.

Jacob and Esau

I recently heard a pastor talk about Jacob and Esau. Malachi is talking to Israel and states that God has loved them, he says, “I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob, ³ and I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.” The pastor, Paul Washer, applied this verse on a personal rather than national level to Jacob and Esau. His point was that although He loved Jacob, look at what Jacob had to endure in his life. Yet, Esau, well, he let Esau be Esau.

Throughout scripture we see the rejection of God from Israel, and time and time and time and time again God makes Israel’s path straight, and brings them back into His fold. I should not minimise the suffering Israel received though, 400 years of slavery is not a minor correction.

I can recount numerous people from the Old and New Testament, who truly love God, like no others, and yet they endure quite traumatic pain and suffering. Why?

Interestingly, no, astonishingly, and amazingly, what we don’t see are these people running away from God. What you see in the bible are people who seem to grow deeper in a relationship with God.

I recall saying to a friend when I asked him how He was doing, he mentioned some health issues, I retorted, “Spiritual health is more important than physical health”. Now, as true as it is, that’s not always an appropriate statement for all people at all times. And we should be careful to make statements like that. This person is a true friend who knows me and knows that I care about him.

Physical health is very important to me, even more so as I get older; I don’t want to minimise that. I have become increasingly aware of my age and the influence my environment and choices have on my health. Obviously, the same can be said for spiritual health.

The truth is I have come to a position in my faith that I cannot get away from, and I think we really need to understand for ourselves what this means – “I don’t believe it is possible to enter heaven without suffering”. That is the summation of my experience these 50 years. Now, let’s be honest, to some extent, we all suffer from the corruption of the flesh and the world. There is definitely suffering humanity endures naturally. When I have witnessed to people over the past three decades, people have said to me, “This is hell”, referring to this specific time and place on earth.

Maybe I’m wrong

Maybe I’m wrong. I was going to say that I believe the suffering we must endure to enter heaven is more than the oppression of the world and flesh. But let’s be honest, that’s more than enough to suffer. Nonetheless, in John 15:2, Jesus (God Himself) says, “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.”

When you prune a vine, the reality is, you are causing significant damage to the branches. Sometimes they are cut back to almost nothing, almost nothing at all. However, when they grow back, they are stronger and more beautiful. This is what Jesus is telling us about how God works in the life of the true believer, one whose life bears fruit.

Look at Jesus’ promise about abiding in Him from verse 4, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. ⁶ If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. ⁸ Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”

“For without me ye can do nothing”

When I was witnessing to a former employer, I was talking about my love for God at the cost of everything else. I didn’t realise at the time, but these words and the message I was bringing had a negative impact on his perception of my faith. He told me he couldn’t ever imagine loving something more than his children, and for that reason, wasn’t interested in anything further I had to share about my faith. When I think about that exchange, I’m not sure what to think, except this:

Matthew 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

What I do know is that in the bible, the beauty of God’s faithful love toward His children is revealed from Genesis to Revelation.

Not only did God come to us and suffer in this world as a human being, but He was tortured, rejected, and killed by the ones He loved and came to save. Romans 5:8 says, But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Promises

There are several promises Jesus makes about His presence to us, like this one, Matthew 28:20, “and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” What makes this promise interesting for me is that it is said after the resurrection and in a context where Jesus knew there would be suffering in following His command.

I guess one might want to know where you go from here. Despite what some churches may preach about prosperity, I know what my bible says, and I’m holding on to the word of God, not man-made religion.

So, for me, I’m going to cling to the Lord Jesus for all my life. I tell my children, nobody loves you the way God does. He created you, and died for you, for you to have eternal life with Him. I tell them I can’t do that for you and neither can my faith. But you can enjoy all God has to promise if you abide in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.