Sin, Suffering, Sickness And Our Savior Series

Why then is there sickness and suffering? God gives us the general reason: we are fallen people living in a fallen world. Though the brilliance of a good creation dazzles us, the fall casts its dark shadow across every beam. It is not the way it’s supposed to be. The world is bent, and all suffer. By why this specific suffering? Why now? Why her? Why me?

The Bible avoids specific answers for individual cases. Not because there are no answers; more because there are so many answers. An eternity would be required to explain to finite creatures the complexity of interwoven reasons for God’s workings. What we are given, however, is some benefits which may come of suffering. [Here is a sample list, mostly from Howard Dial, ‘Sufferology’: Counseling Toward Adjustment in Suffering. The Journal of Pastoral Practice, Vol. III, No. 2, 1979, pp. 19-24. Others have been added and some of his have been edited.]

1. The promotion of spiritual maturity and Christ-like character (James 1.2-4).

2. To promote endurance—the ability to turn adversity into spiritual prosperity (James 1.2-4).

3. To promote wisdom—the ability to relate truth to experience (James 1.5-8).

4. To produce humility (James 1.9-11).

5. To provide the opportunity for rewards (James 1.12).

6. To prove the genuineness of our faith (1Peter 1.6-8).

7. To manifest the fruit of the Spirit (2Corinthians 4.11; Galatians 5.22,23).

8. To provide opportunities to witness for Christ (1Peter 3.15; Philippians 1.12).

9. To learn contentment (Philippians 4.11).

10. To help others who suffer (2Corinthians 1.3-24).

11. To rebuke believers guilty of pride and spiritual cowardice (1Corinthians 4.9-16).

12. To demonstrate the power of God in our lives (2Corinthians 11.24-33; John 9.2).

13. To learn obedience to the will of God (Hebrews 5.8).

14. To vindicate the character of God before Satan (Job 1.6-12).

15. To vindicate us before Satan (Job 1.6-12).

16. To instruct the believer in the holiness of God’s character (Job 42.5,6).

17. To deliver us from sinful thoughts and actions (Hebrews 12.5-11).

18. To wean us from earth and fix our hearts on heaven, where our hope is (Colossians 3.1-2).

19. To drive us to the Word (Psalm 119.71).

20. To create a more unified church and a more interdependent body of believers (“one another” verses).

21. To teach us about our weaknesses and cause us to depend on God (2Corinthians 12.7-10).

22. To bring him glory (the Bible).

Those are other passages to study; from John 9, note well: It was not that this man sinned, or his parents….

2. God Has All Authority Over Sin, Suffering and Sickness (John 9.6-7)

I cannot answer why Jesus spits on the ground and makes mud out of his saliva. I cannot explain why Jesus sends this man to wash, while others he heals with a word from a distance. Nor do I have a reason this man is healed, while others are not. Many questions must remain unanswered that have been debated for centuries. What we do know is this: Christ Jesus has all authority to heal.

Piper and Powlison write: “You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God. It will not do to say that God only uses our cancer but does not design it. What God permits, he permits for a reason. And that reason is his design. If God foresees molecular developments becoming cancer, he can stop it or not. If he does not, he has a purpose. Since he is infinitely wise, it is right to call this purpose a design. Satan is real and causes many pleasures and pains. But he is not ultimate. So when he strikes Job with boils (Job 2.7), Job attributes it ultimately to God (2.10) and the inspired writer agrees: “They…comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him” (Job 42.11). Recognizing his designing hand does not make you stoic or dishonest or artificially buoyant. Instead, the reality of God’s design elicits and channels your honest outcry to your one true Savior. God’s design invites honest speech, rather than silencing us into resignation.”