This Sunday at Koinos will be Suffering Sunday – a day to acknowledge that there are many who suffer affliction daily and to point them to the tender kindness of our Lord. For all those who are going through trouble, God wants you to know He understands and He cares enough to come to your aid. So call out to Him and be sustained by His gracious touch.
I light of that, here’s a bit of what the Bible has to say about suffering taken from the life of Job.
1:6-12 God uses Job’s suffering to show Satan and the world that He is worthy of worship as the greatest treasure in life.
1:6-12 In Job’s suffering, we are shown that Satan’s power to inflict pain is limited. He would do worse if God allowed him.
1:6-12 In Job’s suffering, we are shown that God restrains harm. It would be worse if God allowed it.
1:6-12 Satan is the direct cause of Job’s suffering.
1:21 God is also the cause of Job’s suffering.
1:22 Job did not sin when he credited God as the cause of his suffering.
1:20-22 God’s sustaining grace enables the heart to worship even in the worst of suffering.
2:9 A husband and wife can have a very different mindset while suffering and need each other to point the other to trust God.
2:10 We are to accept good from God’s hand AND also accept suffering.
3:1-5 Suffering that God causes can bring even the spiritually mature to despair.
6:14 Godly friends should surround the one suffering with kindness to help him continue to trust God.
13:15 God’s sustaining grace empowers one to continue trusting even through the darkness of death.
