How Can God Be Sovereign and Good and Allow Suffering?

00:00:00.000 | [Music]

00:00:04.000 | Well, how can God be good and sovereign over all things and also allow intense personal suffering into people's lives?

00:00:12.360 | This is a such an important question really central to some of the things that we do at Desiring God

00:00:17.400 | In fact, and it's a question that arrived in the inbox from a young man. Hello Pastor John

00:00:22.560 | My girlfriend is becoming a respiratory therapist and since beginning her training

00:00:27.660 | She has interacted with many patients who are brain dead or have no control over their bodies

00:00:32.960 | And she has serious questions about where is God in all of this personal suffering?

00:00:38.060 | How can if he is sovereign be good by allowing certain people to suffer in this way?

00:00:43.520 | What purposes do they serve in this state?

00:00:46.400 | I've spoken to her about these things trying to answer her questions

00:00:50.000 | And I will continue to do so for I only desire her to see the Lord's character in all of this

00:00:54.660 | But I also wanted to ask you for guidance in answering these questions. What scripture should I walk her through?

00:01:00.160 | What's the best approach to answering her question?

00:01:03.000 | I have found it helpful

00:01:05.600 | to distinguish between what I call

00:01:08.660 | micro reasons for why people suffer and

00:01:12.580 | macro reasons for why they're suffering in the world

00:01:17.600 | because when it comes to micro reasons like

00:01:22.920 | Why this particular suffering?

00:01:24.920 | Why on this particular person?

00:01:27.980 | Why at this particular time? Why this particular?

00:01:32.540 | intensity, why with these peculiar

00:01:36.320 | complications Lord

00:01:38.680 | Why in all these particular relationships? Why this particular duration?

00:01:44.600 | Etc. When we're talking about those micro reasons, we usually don't have answers

00:01:51.820 | The Bible doesn't address

00:01:53.820 | the precise

00:01:56.760 | particular

00:01:58.180 | Situation of each person and that's where a lot of people stop and they just say oh, we don't know why

00:02:03.820 | Suffering is a total mystery

00:02:06.460 | Instead of saying no, no, no, no, no, no keep reading your Bible when it comes to macro reasons

00:02:13.060 | For why there is suffering in the world. The Bible is rich

00:02:19.060 | With helpfulness, it's explicitly intending to be helpful for us at the macro

00:02:26.300 | reasons and I have time to go into them all here if

00:02:30.880 | People want to see what I mean and what they are

00:02:33.840 | Go to desiring God and just type in the search engine

00:02:37.320 | Five purposes for suffering and and you'll get a little short summary of what I mean by the macro reasons

00:02:42.660 | So what I thought I would do here is just give one perspective

00:02:48.000 | That our friend and his girlfriend

00:02:50.000 | May not have thought about much that could perhaps

00:02:54.800 | Be a fresh insight into dealing with either brain dead people or or people

00:03:01.560 | Who are totally unable to help themselves?

00:03:04.520 | We usually look for the purposes of suffering in the effect it has on the sufferer

00:03:10.600 | So for example, Paul says three times

00:03:13.440 | I pleaded with the Lord about his thorn in the flesh that would leave me but the Lord said my grace is sufficient for you

00:03:20.160 | My power is made perfect in weakness. And so Paul concludes well, okay

00:03:25.360 | I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me

00:03:31.140 | So so Paul the sufferer

00:03:33.140 | Turns his pain into a Christ exalting experience by showing

00:03:38.680 | Christ's all-sufficiency in his weakness. That's the way we that's the way I usually think about

00:03:43.800 | Trying to come to terms with why I or somebody else might be suffering but what we don't usually look for is

00:03:50.840 | God's purpose for our weaknesses in the lives of others

00:03:55.320 | in other words could our weaknesses be intended by God our

00:04:00.960 | Suffering be intended by God to draw out of others

00:04:07.040 | something they wouldn't otherwise have experienced concerning Christ and

00:04:12.200 | we don't often take into consideration that

00:04:15.880 | There's a whole spectrum of weaknesses

00:04:19.720 | ranging from minor personality annoyances

00:04:23.720 | Which might call for patience from a husband or a wife or or friends all the way to being?

00:04:30.120 | braindead or being utterly dependent on the goodwill of

00:04:35.880 | Others, so let's think about this for a moment. This is very very helpful for me to do this

00:04:41.840 | I saw things in pondering this question that I had never seen before in 1st Thessalonians 5 14

00:04:48.200 | Paul says we urge you brothers admonish the idle

00:04:52.300 | Encourage the faint-hearted help the weak

00:04:56.160 | Be patient with them all now think of it God in his sovereignty

00:05:02.520 | Could cause idle saints to be industrious. He could cause faint-hearted saints to be lion-hearted

00:05:09.320 | He could cause weak saints to be strong

00:05:11.800 | But instead he tells the leaders of the church that these people are an occasion for their patience

00:05:19.640 | At least in the short run, then he doesn't act as if they're going away

00:05:24.000 | Some people are just gonna be that their weaknesses draw out of others evidences of God's grace

00:05:31.720 | now

00:05:32.840 | consider the fact that being utterly unable to feed oneself or care for oneself or

00:05:39.960 | Even communicate is at the far end of the spectrum of disabilities

00:05:46.240 | That the church is called upon to serve

00:05:49.080 | Many churches are awakening not only to the responsibility to serve those with disabilities, but the privilege of

00:05:56.960 | Serving them and and the key text

00:06:01.400 | may be helpful with regard to those who are all the way at the end of the spectrum of

00:06:07.680 | Disability namely the brain dead

00:06:10.280 | So I'm thinking of 1st Corinthians 12 21 following which says the eye cannot say to the hand

00:06:16.720 | I have no need of you nor again the head to the feet

00:06:20.240 | I have no need of you on the contrary the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are

00:06:29.640 | Responsible and on those parts of the body that we think less

00:06:34.520 | honorable

00:06:36.920 | we bestow the greater honor and our

00:06:40.400 | Unpresentable parts are treated with greater

00:06:43.680 | Modesty which are more presentable parts do not require verse 26 if one member suffers

00:06:51.880 | All suffer together if one member is honored all rejoice together. Now, this is amazing when you think about it

00:06:59.480 | Paul doesn't say that the weakness and the

00:07:03.000 | dishonorableness of these people is to teach them anything

00:07:07.760 | The way his own thorn in the flesh was meant to teach him something keep him from being conceited. He says these weak

00:07:16.440 | seemingly

00:07:19.040 | Dishonorable people whom the world would probably despise or just throw away are

00:07:24.360 | Here for you. They're here for you

00:07:28.040 | You are strong

00:07:29.720 | They are here for you to show honor to for you to serve for you to care for and show grace toward

00:07:36.880 | Service that can never be paid back in this world. Their suffering is not about their sanctification

00:07:44.820 | It's about your sanctification

00:07:46.820 | Like Jesus said in Luke Luke 14 14 when you give a feast

00:07:52.600 | Invite the poor the crippled the lame the blind and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you

00:08:00.200 | I mean, how little will you get paid by a brain-dead person?

00:08:04.160 | nothing

00:08:06.320 | except

00:08:07.520 | You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just Luke 14

00:08:11.760 | 14 and here's a remarkable thought about those who seem unable to make any

00:08:18.680 | Contribution at all had never never thought about this before I offer it for your consideration. This is first Corinthians 126

00:08:26.440 | Consider your calling brothers

00:08:28.720 | Not many of you were wise according to this world standards. Not many were powerful

00:08:33.720 | Not many were of noble birth, but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise

00:08:39.080 | God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong God chose

00:08:45.400 | What is low and despised?

00:08:48.760 | In the world and then this phrase even things that are not

00:08:54.200 | What is that?

00:08:56.440 | To bring to nothing things that are so that no human being may boast in the presence of God. Do you think?

00:09:02.960 | This is just I'm offering this for you to seriously ponder. Do you think?

00:09:07.320 | even things that are not

00:09:10.480 | which God chose

00:09:12.720 | To shame the things that are to make the strong realize they have a need

00:09:18.400 | Do you think even things that are not people so low so despised that they may as well not even be?

00:09:26.600 | Might have a relevance to the brain-dead

00:09:29.720 | One last text about the the week for us to reflect on acts

00:09:35.360 | 2035 in all things I have shown you

00:09:39.240 | That by working hard in this way, we must help the weak in other words our work

00:09:45.720 | needs to supply what they can't supply that's the point and

00:09:50.360 | Remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said it is more blessed to give

00:09:58.080 | Than to receive in other words the existence of the weak

00:10:02.760 | For whom we are to work in ways that they can't is

00:10:07.840 | Described by Paul as an occasion for us to be more

00:10:12.760 | blessed

00:10:14.680 | Because it's more blessed to give to work for the weak than to merely work for ourselves

00:10:20.960 | So God's ways are not our ways. He he has purposes with our weaknesses even

00:10:27.360 | Those massive disabilities that leave us unable to do anything for ourselves

00:10:34.040 | This is not about sanctifying the helpless in this world. It's about sanctifying the strong

00:10:39.680 | That's the whole point of those texts indeed Paul goes so far as to say it's about their joy

00:10:45.840 | Not just their patience

00:10:48.480 | Because it is more blessed to give than to receive even as we lay down our lives

00:10:53.920 | for the weakest of the weak

00:10:56.480 | Hmm some really profound connections here in these texts to feed our personal meditation and considerations

00:11:03.320 | Why weak and needy people are in our lives is very powerful Pastor John. Thank you appreciate those texts. Thanks for the question

00:11:09.280 | We appreciate those questions coming in to us and thanks for listening to the podcast over at our online home

00:11:14.160 | You can explore about twelve hundred now almost thirteen hundred past episodes

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00:11:31.480 | We tend to publish three times a week and you can follow us along as we as we publish

00:11:35.760 | Well over a dozen emails have arrived in the inbox from listeners who want to better understand

00:11:40.920 | Jesus is parable in the first half of Luke 16

00:11:43.920 | Does Jesus celebrate?

00:11:46.440 | Dishonesty, it's a real head scratcher of a text and I'll put it before Pastor John next time

00:11:52.600 | I'm your host Tony Reinke and we'll see you next time on Wednesday

00:11:54.960 | Exploring Luke chapter 16 verses 1 to 13. We'll see you then

00:11:59.920 | [BLANK_AUDIO]

00:12:08.120 | [BLANK_AUDIO]

How Can God Be Sovereign and Good and Allow Suffering?

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