This week's promise...

This week's promise: God protects His people

Does God care when you suffer?

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later. Romans 8:18 NLT
The problem of suffering

On my shelf is a little book that asks a big question. It is titled Does God Care When We Suffer? and was written by Randy Becton. Randy is a good friend and a cancer survivor who has spent much of his life ministering to people with terminal illnesses. Randy writes:
Of the hard "why" questions, "why is there suffering?" may be the hardest. This is probably because it not only attacks us personally, but also because whenever the question is raised, the question of God's part in suffering follows close behind… We are desperate for the meaning behind all this. We seek someone to blame or deliver us, and that always leads to our view of God.

Doesn't God care when we suffer? Of course he does. Then why doesn't he do something about it? He did. Becton sums it up this way:

The answer is the cross of Jesus Christ.… From now on all human suffering must be understood in the light of his suffering; it is the source of meaning, hope, and new life for sufferers. When someone cries out, "He doesn't care. He's immune to pain," they are brought to the foot of the cross to see for themselves.… The cross and resurrection hold the key to the mystery of suffering.

adapted from Embracing Eternity by Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins and Frank M. Martin,, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), p 3

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. C S LEWIS