Suffering

One thing is sure in life, and that is that sooner or later we, or someone we love, will have to face the problem of suffering.

Hello, I'm Michael Mazzalongo, and this is Bible Talk. Now, when we talk about this problem of suffering, the key question to answer is this: How do we respond to suffering?

Some people merely get discouraged and they give up, and they quit. Some people even take their lives because they're so discouraged when faced with the problem of suffering. Other people get mad. They get mad at themselves, they get mad at their families, they even get mad at God. And still others kind of take it like a grain of salt and carry on doing the best they can.

Well, when we study the Bible, we find out that it teaches us that when we face suffering, we should rejoice. Isn't that a strange reaction to suffering?

Today on Bible Talk we're going to explore the problem of suffering and how we should respond when we face suffering. So get your Bibles out, and a pencil and a piece of paper in order to take some notes, and join our class as we explore the wonderful Epistle of James as he talks to us about the problem of suffering.

We'll be right back right after this.

Setting the Scene

Welcome to another Bible class. It's good to have you here with us today. It's good to have our viewers at home with us. We encourage you to take out your Bibles and open them to the Epistle of James–a wonderful epistle.

Today is our day of encouragement. We want to encourage our people in our class here in our studio, and people at home as well.

James 1:2-4

Before I explain these verses, I need to give you a little background about the situation. James was a Jewish Christian. He was a Jew and then he became a Christian. He was the brother of Jesus–this is James the brother of Jesus, not one of the apostles–who is writing this epistle.

In the first century, the first people who became Christians were Jews. Many of the Jewish Christians who lived in Jerusalem went out and settled in different cities throughout the Mediterranean. These Jewish Christians had a hard time for two reasons.

First, they were separated from their Jewish families, because when you became a Christian in those days, your Jewish family would cut you off–you were like you were dead. They suffered the difficulty of being cut off from their family because of their faith.

Second, they were living in an incredibly pagan society. If you think we live in an immoral society today, it isn't anything compared to what it was in the first century. It was terrible.

So these Christians were under tremendous pressure because they were cut off socially from their cultural brethren, and also cut off from the world around them because of the pagan nature of the society they lived in.

James writes a letter to encourage these Jewish Christians–one of those "hang in there, don't let go" type of letters. The point he's trying to make is this: How should a Christian live?

Christians don't live like other people. They have a particular lifestyle. He's trying to explain the lifestyle–not of the rich and famous–but the lifestyle of a Christian, and how he should react to normal circumstances.

James begins by saying:

²Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, ³knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

- James 1:2-4

"Consider It All Joy"

The first thing he says is: "Consider it all joy... when you encounter various trials."

Right away that sounds strange. How do people normally react when they face trials? Do they say, "Oh goodie, my dog died–goody"? No. When people endure trials they get mad. They say, "Not again," and they get stressed out, and they get mean-spirited. And trials are all kinds. Missing your bus is a trial; having cancer is a trial. They're both trials of a kind.

James is saying Christians ought to react in a different way. When you encounter these trials, your automatic reaction should be joy.

Why Joy?

Is it easier to suffer because you're a Christian? When you become a Christian, you're baptized, you come out of the water–does somebody hand you some sort of plastic suit so nothing happens to you? Does God put a bubble around you so nothing ever happens? No way. So why should a Christian be joyful in trials?

James tells us because a Christian recognizes that something is happening beyond the trial. The trial is there, the difficulty is there, but something else is happening that no one else can see except you and God. He says: "Knowing that the testing of your faith..."

What's really happening here is your faith is being tested. It's as if God took your faith like a precious stone and holds it up to the light and examines it. Sure, you broke your foot–but something else is happening. God is examining your faith.

What the Testing Produces: Endurance

Why should the examination of our faith be a cause for joy? James explains: "Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance."

How is endurance produced–by being rich and comfortable and cozy, nothing ever going wrong? No. Some Bibles may say perseverance or patience. Same idea. James is saying that through trials God tests your faith, and the testing produces patience or endurance.

What Patience Means

We need to define patience. Some people think patience is missing your bus and getting mad and tapping your foot and snapping your fingers, and saying, "I am patient." That's not what patience is.

Biblical patience is the idea of bearing under. Like Superman–holding up the train and bearing under the load. That's patience: the ability to bear under stress, trial, difficulty, and do so without getting mad. Biblical patience is the ability to bear under trials without losing faith, without losing hope, and especially without stopping to love other people.

You ever notice when things go wrong, the first thing to leave you is your love of other people? As if trials give us some sort of right to be mean. But trials don't give us a right to stop loving. James is saying that testing through trials allows you to develop that strength of character where you can bear under without losing faith, hope, and love.

James 1:5 – Asking God for Wisdom

In verse 5 James goes on to another idea:

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

- James 1:5

Does God leave you alone and say, "You got a trial, you're on your own"? No, he helps us.

God is not the one who sends the cancer or sends your child being run over by a truck. He doesn't send bad–only good comes from God. But he allows us to suffer these things in order to build our patience. And when we suffer, he gives help–the help he gives is wisdom. So if you have trouble, trials, don't sit there in a stew. Don't get mad. Don't give up. Go to God in prayer and ask him for wisdom.

Prayer of Faith

When you ask God for help, ask believing. Ask in prayer of faith–knowing that he hears you, understands, and is going to do something about it.

Sometimes people pray and say, "Yeah, why not, it can't hurt." That's not a prayer of faith. Prayer is a sure thing. There's no gambling in prayer.

So to wrap up: when suffering, and in need of help and wisdom to bear under trials and difficulties, we need to pray and ask God to give us wisdom–insight into the difficulties we're having–in order to bear under them. If we ask, and we take that first step of faith, God will reward our faith.

When we come back, we're going to talk about the reward we receive when we ask God to help us.

Class Discussion: Joy, Happiness, and Endurance

The discussion turns to what James is about: practical Christianity, how to live, and how a Christian should react when he suffers.

The class recalls the reaction: joy.

They discuss joy as interior and exterior–showing it from the outside and having it inside. They talk about taking advantage of the situation: seeing it as an opportunity to get better in an area of weakness.

They distinguish between happiness and joy. Happiness is more of an exterior state; joy is deeper. You may not have a smiling face, but you still have joy within.

They compare excitement and joy. Excitement is time-framed, temporary, physiological. Joy is longer, deeper, connected to meaning and outcome.

They note that Jesus faced his death with joy knowing the outcome, yet he did not die on the cross with a smile on his face.

Someone describes joy as a peaceful feeling of security, inner calmness.

They return to the text: "Consider it all joy... knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance."

They discuss endurance as being able to hold a certain intensity for a longer period of time, and how over time you realize you're changing.

They mention that there's no value in suffering if you don't suffer in faith, and that suffering in faith can be a witness to others–bearing up under difficulty with calmness and joy.

A question is asked: we know we should be joyful, but how do we adjust to that–how do we change?

They respond that the answer is in the word, and that the word provides the reason to be joyful. They discuss that joy is natural if you have a reason to be joyful, and the word reveals why: something is happening beyond the trial–God is testing faith and producing endurance.

They note that people tend to think suffering means God is mad at them, but the opposite is emphasized: trials can be seen as something to learn from, to be edified, and to grow.

Summary and Closing

First, we all have to suffer. We don't have control over the car smashing into our car, or having a cold, or losing our job–but we do have control over how we will react.

Second, suffering is a cause for joy as Christians because it tests our faith, shows our faith to be true, helps us develop as Christians, and is a proof of our love for Jesus Christ.

Thank you for joining us this week. We invite you to be here next week for another edition of Bible Talk.