Tag: whydowesuffer

When Prayers Fail – Jesus’ Ones

When Jesus was praying in Gethsemane in Matthew 26:36 – 56 we
see Him praying to God. Now a quick note with Jesus’ prayers, isn’t it kind of
like talking to yourself? But in verse 26:39 he prays something that is not “granted”
by God:

Going a little farther, he fell
with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this
cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

As we know Jesus prayed this particular prayer so fervently to
the point of sweeting blood, yet God did not grant his request. Here the SON of
God was praying for His life and God did not honor this request. We see
Nineveh, who was evil, repent for a short time and God did not destroy them as
promised.

So don’t get so upset when we pray for God to do something
and it appears to God unanswered. I know I have prayed many times where God has
seeming ignored the prayer. Recently, I prayed for a lady to receive her
hearing back and it did not happen. Why? I have no clue, but look at Luke 22:31
– 32 to see another failed prayer of Jesus:

31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have
you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I
have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again,
strengthen your brothers.”

Jesus had foretold Peter’s denial and prayed it would not
happen. As we know Peter denied Jesus three times shortly after he prayed. So
when we see Jesus’ prayers fall on apparent “deaf ears” of God why should we
expect every one of our prayers to be granted as we desire? We shouldn’t, but rather
understand that we may never understand why this is.

My prayer for the lady with hearing was from afar, I often
wonder if I had boldly prayed for her WITH her if the outcome would have been
different. I don’t know since I did not do that. But I do know that often my
unanswered prayers often become clear in time.

The key is don’t fret if prayers are not answered the way
you expected. Sometimes you have no clue what is in store. Also, as we talked
about yesterday, God’s number one commandment to us is freedom. With freedom
comes responsibility and with that we sometimes suffer the consequences. God
will not correct all the ills of this world that the world has inflicted on
itself by free decisions.

Mankind can derail God’s plan for a time, but will never
cease it. I think of this new home as a great example. As we walk around the
beautiful property and look at the wonderful scenery you start to notice little
things that show the damage man has done from logging to hydraulic mining of
our hillside. Yet in less than a 100 years that desolation is a faint memory in
the land. So like the land, God eventually can and will repair and restore us
to the path He desires. We just can’t get our panties in a wad when our prayers
seem to go unanswered and injustices we see are not righted.

Just remember God’s will be done!

But What About REAL Suffering (Part 2)

I think of those who are really suffering and wonder about
why God allows this. Like my friend whose son had a snow skiing accident and is
paralyzed. Or another friend who has been tortured by their father since almost
child birth and after getting free of the abuse their body is a wreck and they
have constant serious problems with their health. When is enough, enough for people?

1 Corinthians 10:13 gets abused in cases like this:

 No
temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is
faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But
when you are tempted,he will also provide a way out so that you can
endure it.

Now the Greek word translated for temptation or tempted can
also mean trials. So is this verse today’s cliché to toss out to those
suffering? How do you comfort someone who is really suffering with this verse?
It ends up making someone more bitter about their situation than comforted,
since if God is all powerful why would he allow “me” to suffer like this?

See how many of the answers in the Bible can cause more pain
than comfort!

We know from the stories in the Bible that God often works
over very long periods and sometimes the suffering is intense. I think of Job
who lost his family and suffered health wise. To me the family loss would be
difficult to bear, yet through the story Job kept faithful.

Now one may argue that this is just part of the fallen world
we live in. Crap just happens, our bodies are not perfect and are flawed.
Sometimes we are born with problems, born into problems or just happen to be in
the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t believe God is orchestrating the
earth as much as many would like.

We look at “nature” and the horrible things that happen
there like earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes and wonder why God allows
that. At the same time without a dynamic nature we would not have the “purple
mountains majesty” or swamps like the Everglades. Our lands would be rather
boring and swamps would be toxic since hurricanes clean the system out from
time to time. No the tragedy is we desire to live near beauty and sometimes the
nature that created this beauty rears its ugly head.

The same goes with the body, God is not controlling
every aspect of life on this planet. Sometimes we have accidents and immense
suffering. Sometimes we run into the wrong people and suffer great loss.
Sometimes we have health issues beyond anyone’s control. The key is how we
respond and grow. Do we assume God is punishing us or He caused these
afflictions to “test” us or do we assume God will help us grow through life?