This thought-provoking and powerful blog was posted a year ago today. To view the original post, and read the comments, click here.
God knows life hurts sometimes. This is reality in a world that’s fallen.
Jesus’ forewarning that “in this life you will have trouble” (John 16:33) was certainly about more than traffic jams and tax increases.
It hurts when your marriage isn’t holding together, when you’re single but long to be married, when homosexual desires persist though you’ve prayed they’d change, when you look at porn again though you promised you’d quit, when that thing from your past haunts you.
And it hurts when God doesn’t seem to answer, when He seems content to let you suffer.
There were two thieves with Jesus at His death. Both suffering. Both seeing Jesus suffer. They represent ways all of us approach God in our own pain and sorrow.
Thief #1: “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39).
I know this prayer well. So do we all.
It is a desperate prayer expressed in different ways, but amounting to something like, “God, if You love me and if You’re able to relieve my suffering, then of course you’ll do it! Right?”
The first thief crucified next to Jesus represents our demand that Christ be a savior of our making, ready to do our bidding, willing to remove all our suffering now.
This thief’s perspective has subtly become commonplace in mainline Christianity. The unspoken belief is that Christ’s mission, and so our mission, is first and foremost to relieve pain. Jesus, the suffering servant, felt our pain to the full, so He will “save Himself and us,” and will not ask us to suffer, at least not for long. He’ll get us off this cross (and perhaps even stick it to all those religious rule-makers, while He’s at it).
Instead of, “If anyone be my disciple, he must take up his cross and follow me” (Luke 9:23), this thief preaches, “A Jesus who won’t relieve my condition is an unloving or impotent God not worth following!”
Doesn’t a God who has suffered as we have want to remove our pain?
Yes, of course He does. But if we are to believe the Scriptures, apparently He chooses how and when based on a different set of criteria than our own.
Christ crucified wanted relief. But He wanted something else more.
This thief would choose “life” over death. Christ chose death unto resurrection. Relief would have left sin and death reigning. Death unto resurrection dethroned them.
Likewise, relief will leave us and others pain-free but addicted, free of responsibility but irresponsible, unforgiving and unforgiven, sexually liberated but in bondage to sin, enjoying lust but crippled in love, romantically entwined but relationally enmeshed, having saved our lives but losing our lives.
If this is so, what about the pain you’re experiencing? What about the pain others experience? Would we demand or dole out relief where the Suffering Servant instead is asking us or someone else to take up a cross and follow?
In the realm of relationships and sexuality, this can be painfully difficult.
- Those viewing porn can learn to live without it.
- A betrayed wife can come to forgive her husband.
- A homosexually-oriented person can abstain from same-sex sexual contact.
- Teens can abstain from sexual activity until marriage.
- Singles who long to be married can be content and even thrive.
- And all of us in this day and age can live chaste and loving lives.
His invitation to follow is not inhumane. It is an invitation to His fellowship, an invitation to come to know the power of His resurrection (Phil. 3:10). It is the invitation of a Bridegroom Lover who is preparing eternal joy for you.
Jesus ignored the first thief’s request not because He didn’t care about his suffering, but because the thief was asking for something Jesus could not, in love, give.
And He wanted to give Him something greater. The second thief found this out. You can look at his response here.
I’d love to hear from you! What’s one area of pain in your life you would have chosen to have relieved sooner, but God has brought about something greater than relief? Leave a comment here.
Humbly,
Josh
Sometimes its not we who suffer, but our children. As a parent, we want to stop our child’s suffering…yet God has reminded me that He is at work in the lives of our children and is teaching and growing them through their suffering and pain. We as parents need to point them to His truth and teach them how to persevere through challenging times so they gain the greater thing rather than the temporary good.
It seems I learned awhile ago that God ‘s loving me did not mean He would fulfill my dreams and expectations. He did not alter my relationship with food until I was ready to learn His way. I tried many times to lose weight and become healthy, and I begged Him to take away my appetite, my seeking to put something in my mouth rather than come to Him. Now I am grateful for my dependence on food because each time I have to deal with it, I get to renew my true dependence on Him. It has brought me that much closer to,the Lord. He did not respond very quickly to my longing for a mate who would be a father to my children and a faithful mate and partner for me. I was single for a dozen years between my divorce and finding my husband of 31 years now. I had to grow so much closer to,the Lord and now I treasure all of the experiences that brought me to this place. I needed those experiences. Our God is great and wonderful and more awesome than we can know. I am super grateful that He is not a puppet-god but great and powerful,and in control.