Making Sense of SufferingHow to keep your faith when life doesn't make sense

Making Sense of SufferingHow to keep your faith when life doesn't make sense

The Problem of Evil

God is all loving

God is all powerful

Evil & suffering exist

Therefore, God is either not all loving or not all powerful

Why Do We Suffer?

Result of sinful choices by us or others

• Persecution for the Gospel

Natural causes (diseases, natural disasters, etc.)

The Problem of Suffering

Why is this happening?

Where is God in the midst of our suffering?

Is God really good?

Can I trust him?

The Problem of Suffering

When you are happy, so happy that you have no sense of needing Him, so happy that you are tempted to feel His claims upon you as an interruption, if you remember

yourself and turn to Him with gratitude and praise, you will be—or so it feels—welcomed with open arms. But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain,

and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside.

C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

The Problem of Suffering

Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

John 11:21

We had hoped that he was the one...Luke 24:21

Job, Jesus & Suffering

The answer to the problem of suffering is not a philosophical proposition it is a person; it is found in having a relationship with God

God’s answer to Job was himselfGod’s answer to the world’s suffering is his only Son

The Story of Job• Job was an innocent & righteous man• Satan accused Job of loving God’s blessing, not God• God allowed Satan to test Job• Job lost all of his possessions and his children• He was afflicted with painful sores & illness• His friends insisted Job had committed some secret sin• Job remained faithful & honest in his suffering• God spoke to Job but didn’t give the answers he expected• God blessed Job with more than he had originally

The Lessons of Job

Having faith while suffering is a choice

• Having faith does not always eliminate the pain• Having faith does not mean not questioning God• Having faith does not provide a logical reason for suffering

• Having faith can remind you that God is in control• Having faith can be a rare gift to God• Having faith can bring you closer to God

The Ministry of Jesus• Jesus came to show us the reality of the Kingdom of God• He spent his time with the suffering: poor, sick, outcasts• He entered into our experience of suffering

Christ drew close above all to the world of human suffering through the very fact of having taken this suffering upon his very self. During

his public activity, he experienced not only fatigue, homelessness, misunderstanding even on the part of those closest to him, but, more than anything, he became progressively more and more isolated and

encircled by hostility and preparations for putting him to death.St. John Paul II, Salvifici Doloris, 16

The Garden & The Cross

The mission of the only-begotten Son consists in conquering sin and death. He conquers sin

by his obedience unto to death, and he overcomes death by his resurrection.

St. John Paul II, Salvifici Doloris, 14

The Garden

My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.

Matthew 26:39

The words of that prayer of Christ in Gethsemane prove the truth of love through the truth of suffering…suffering is the undergoing of evil before which man shudders, “Let it pass

from me”, just as Christ says in Gethsemane.St. John Paul II, Salvifici Dolris, 18

The Cross

My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?Matthew 27:46

Christ through the divine depth of his filial union with the Father, perceives in a humanly

inexpressible way this suffering which is the separation, the rejection by the Father, the

estrangement from God.St. John Paul II, Salvifici Dolris, 18

The Lessons of Jesus

• Jesus entered into our suffering & took it upon himself•God understands our suffering • Jesus transformed suffering and redeemed it • Jesus life, passion, death, & resurrection gives

meaning & purpose to suffering

The Purpose of Suffering

Suffering, in fact, is always a trial—at times a very hard one—to which humanity is subjected.

…It is suffering, more than anything else, which clears the way for the grace which transforms

human souls…[that] makes present in the history of humanity the powers of the Redemption.

St. John Paul II, Salvifici Doloris, 23 & 27

Suffering Turns Us to God

Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in

our consciences, but shouts in our pain. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Suffering Turns Us to God

Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and

endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through

the holy Spirit that has been given to us…Romans 5:3-5

Suffering Cultivates Empathy

We could say that suffering, which is present under so many different forms in our human world, is also present in order to unleash love

in the human person, that unselfish gift of one’s ‘I’ on behalf of other people, especially

those who suffer.St. John Paul II, Salvifici Doloris, 29

Suffering Cultivates Empathy

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all

encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those

who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God. For

as Christ’s sufferings overflow to us, so through Christ does our encouragement also overflow.

2 Corinthians 1:3-5

Suffering Unites Us To Christ

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking

in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church.

Colossians 1:24

Suffering as a Gift to God

I need to take the pain of loss, confusion and disappointment and hold them really close to my heart and in that context, give God praise.

In heaven, I won’t have any confusion, pain, loss, disappointment, the only opportunity that

I have in all of my existence to give Him an offering that cost me that is now.

Bill Johnson, Pastor of Bethel Church

Keeping the Faith

•God is good•God is in control• I can trust that God’s plan for me is good even if I don’t see it or understand it

Keeping the Faith

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,nor are your ways my way says the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,so are my ways higher than your ways,

my thoughts higher than your thoughts.Isaiah 55:8-9

Keeping the Faith

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with

thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and

your minds in Christ Jesus.Philippians 4:6-7

Keeping the Faith

We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your

strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

Keeping the Faith

My scriptures:

Psalm 27Philippians 1:18-27Revelation 21:3-4

Keeping the Faith

My perception of God is too often based on my circumstances and not on who He is, not in

relationship with Him. So my faith & confidence has been subject to shifting sands and waves. The Father

wants to purify my trust & confidence in His goodness based only on the knowledge that he is

good and that faith will become unshakable.

Keeping the Faith

Keep your eye on God’s promises and goodness, not on your situation.

Bl. Chiara Badano

For you Jesus; if you want it, I want it too!

I have nothing left, but I still have my heart, and with that I

can always love.

Resources & The MHC

Stephen MinistryGrief Share

Third OptionPathways to Healing from Divorce

Transitions: Divorce Support for ChildrenMiscarriage & Infant Loss Support

Post-Abortion Counseling

Making Sense of SufferingHow to keep your faith when life doesn't make sense

Making Sense of SufferingHow to keep your faith when life doesn't make sense