Ross Wakeley

Oh God, I’m suffering!

Will you help me?

2

It came without warning.

Its effects shattered the lives of

people in many nations. In October

2002, a series of bombs, sequenced

to cause maximum human carnage,

exploded in downtown Bali.

Hundreds were killed, thousands

wounded. The mental and emotional

scars still weigh heavily on myriads

of people and the Balinese people

now live in the anxiety that a 3rd

bombing may occur. The first two

reduced the lives of many Balinese

to constant poverty and hardship.

Many Aussies still live with the

horror of those bombings as it

holds them in a vice of fear.

Pain and suffering occurs in

all of our lives. We‘re all familiar

with it, to varying degrees. In

the midst of suffering, the world

shouts at us to yell, scream and

demand our rights. Our pain

means we deserve attention.

This booklet is not a box full of

neat answers. The issue of a

Christian view of suffering is

not an attractive topic, there

are multiple issues and yet for

most of us, it‘s a question just

below the surface of everyday life.

In the midst of horror, such as the Bali bombing, in our human

agony, we cry out, ‗God I‘m suffering—will you help me?‘

We experience the grief cycle of shock,

denial, anger and feeling alone and powerless.

We cry out, ―Does anyone care for me?‖

Firstly, an observation. In

our pain, we may be crying

out to God the question:

“Why does God allow suffering

and evil?” This whole topic is a

vital one to wrestle with, however

it can be destructive of our faith.

Let me unpack that. If we‘re

asking from a place of pain

and aloneness, the path can

be a downhill slide like this:

3

In the midst of our heartache, we may get emotionally

entrapped as we review all the pain, suffering and

injustice in the world from an intellectual, theological

and emotionally defeated perspective. The outcome –

Focus shifts to the things in our world that are negative & evil

We look at God with human eyes and view Him

as uncaring, impotent & deaf to cry of humanity.

We shift from a Biblical worldview

and the true character of God, so that—

Our faith becomes shattered;

Hope is abandoned

We assess everything from our standpoint

as we become so immersed in our perspective

that we become overwhelmed & discouraged

We walk away from God

Is it any wonder that people yell at God when things go

wrong and they are hurting? Let‘s now focus on a positive

Biblical view about suffering and handling it in our life.

4

Aussies are pretty good at having wrong views of God.

Some of the common misconceptions include:

God is a kindly

grandfather who helps

us when we are in need.

God is a divine rescue

service to bail me out

when things get rough.

God is a moral policeman

just waiting to thump me

when I step out of line.

God is just an old man

in the sky who only

acts if we yell loudly.

The Bible assumes suffering is a

default reality. We know the ‗why‘:

With the rebellion of Adam and

Eve, the perfect creation of God‘s

intention gets hijacked. Sin always

has consequences: a world that is

riddled with selfishness, suffering and

struggle are some of the outcomes.

God is never the passive observer

in the outcomes of man‘s poor choices.

In His power and sovereignty,

God could make it all better.

Remove all the suffering and

pain. Make the world perfect

again. That sounds good.

The tension:

God created us like Himself—

we have the right to make choices.

If God remade the world, He must

violate His created order.

God’s solution:

To become one with us, deal

with and defeat the entire issue

of man‘s rebellion and empower

each person who trusts Him to live

above the natural situations of life.

5

He is the rescuer, shepherd, comforter and healer!

However there is a tension at work:

God‘s response to our suffering is

summed by Paul in Romans 8—

God knew what he was doing from the

very beginning. He decided from the

outset to shape the lives of those who

love him along the same lines as the

life of his Son. The Son stands first in

the line of humanity he restored. We

see the original and intended shape of

our lives there in him…

The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in

the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us.

Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge

between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way!

Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not

homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing …

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely

convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or

demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or

unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and

God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has

embraced us. Romans 8:29-39 (The Message)

6

With God on our side like

this, how can we lose?

If God didn't hesitate

to put everything on

on the line for us,

embracing our condition

and exposing himself

to the worst by sending

his own Son, is there

anything else he wouldn't

gladly and freely do for us?

7

Four pillars to live under

God is good

all the time

Every

thing

defeated

by the Cross Nothing is

impossible

for God

You are significant

in God’s Kingdom

This means Christians no longer needs to live with a

defeatist, compliant acceptance of pain and suffering

nor with an aggressive and angry reactive response.

Rather, we can invite and expect God to release

heaven on earth in a supernatural way. To see

every area currently captured by the enemy taken back

as we flow in His anointing, presence and power to

bring the Kingdom in a tangible way into every situation.

Rather than allowing suffering to defeat and overwhelm us,

Almighty God enables us to bring Jesus‘ fullness into every

area of life and expect Him to demonstrably bring changes

such as healing, freedom from oppression, structural

changes, renewed attitudes and Kingdom values that we live.

This is living from a third heaven perspective in the midst

of suffering—not defeated and oppressed. Instead we‘re

saying: ‗God, what do you want me to do here? What do

you want me to release? How can I be Jesus in this situation?

This pillar is vital and is lived out today by the many of

God‘s people. One group are the Christians of China.

Heavenly Man is a brook written by Brother Yun—a key

leader in the Chinese house church—who has suffered

torture and years of imprisonment for being a Christian.

Bill Johnson‘s [www.ibethel.org] four pillars concepts

are foundational with having a Biblical worldview for

life and are keys concerning the issue of suffering.

8

1. God is good all the time.

We know and rely on the love

God has for us. God is love.

Whoever lives in love lives in

God and God in him. 1 John 4:16

This is truth. As we grasp this, we

discover there is nothing in the

world that we can blame God for.

The early Christians knew this

was a vital truth as they faced

persecution. They lived from a

confidence in God‘s nature of

goodness—so there was

no fear of man in them.

Look at Stephen as he faced

death. He looked beyond the

natural to Jesus—Stephen, full

of the Holy Spirit, looked up to

heaven and saw the glory of God,

and Jesus standing at the right

hand of God. “Look,” he said,

“I see heaven open and the Son

of Man standing at the right

hand of God.” Acts 7:55,56

―Don‘t pray that persecution ends for Chinese Christians—

if persecution stops we may become complacent like much

of the Western church.‖

Brother Yun makes it clear that

persecution is the reality for millions

of Christians in China. He comments:

People say, ―You had a terrible time

in prison!‖ I respond, ―What are you

talking about. I was with Jesus and

had overwhelming joy and peace in

His intimate presence.‖

―The world can do nothing to a

Christian who has no fear of man.‖

2. There is nothing that

is impossible for God.

Jesus looked at them and

said, “With man this is

impossible, but not with

God; all things are possible

with God. Mark 10:27

This should be a default

reality in our spirit with

every situation we face.

We may hear that as,

―Oh, I just call to God

and He‘ll rescue me.‖

God has a different view

to that. The stories of

Christians through the ages

are that God is with us in what

we face, not a divine rescue

service at our beck and call.

9

1 Peter 5:7-11—Cast all your anxiety

on him because he cares for you.

Be self-controlled and alert.

Your enemy the devil prowls

around like a roaring lion looking

for someone to devour. Resist him,

standing firm in the faith, because

you know that your brothers

throughout the world are under-

going the same kind of sufferings.

And the God of all grace, who called

you to his eternal glory in Christ, after

you have suffered a little while, will

himself restore you and make you

strong, firm and steadfast.

2 Corinthians 1:3,4—Praise be

to the God and Father of our

Lord Jesus Christ, the Father

of compassion and the God of

all comfort, who comforts us

in all our troubles, so that we

can comfort those in any trouble

with the comfort we ourselves

have received from God.

10

Habakkuk 3:17,18—Though the

fig tree does not bud and there

are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails and

the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the

pen and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I

will be joyful in God my Saviour.

Scriptures on this theme:

3. There is nothing that hasn’t

been defeated by the Cross.

This is how God showed his love

among us: He sent his one and only

Son into the world that we might live

through him…he loved us and sent

his Son as an atoning sacrifice for

our sins. 1 John 4:9,10 Our thinking

and emotional reactions change

when this truth is our reality.

These people spoke from

tough experiences. They knew

that there is nothing that is

impossible for God. They

proved: God is with us in

the journey. He enables us to

supernaturally live above the

situation, not be defeated by it.

11

Gunner is the man who had a key

mentoring role in John Wimber‘s life.

Some years before they met him,

his 16 year old daughter had been

raped and murdered. Nine years

later, his son had a serious car

accident that left him brain-damaged.

Some Christians thought: ―How

much can the man take? He‘ll

become bitter and throw in his faith.‖

Gunner had a different perspective:

―Jesus is enough to get us through. I

don‘t understand what‘s happened,

but I trust Him.‖ He lived Jesus in the

reality of life and led hundreds to

the Lord as they saw what he had.

Here is core aspect about suffering—

In a nutshell: God suffers with

us and God suffered for us.

Jesus personally experienced

being a refugee; homeless;

unwanted; tempted in every way;

despised; betrayed and rejected

by the religious establishment.

He grieved with people. The writer

of Hebrews gives this summary:

The Saviour took on flesh and blood

in order to totally defeat the whole

dynamic of suffering by his death.

By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the

Devil's hold on death and freed all who cower through life,

scared to death of death…That's why he had to enter into

every detail of human life. When he came before God as high

priest to get rid of the people's sins, he would have already

experienced it all himself—all the pain, all the testing—and

would be able to help where help was

needed. Hebrews 2:14-18 (Message)

12

We‘re all familiar with the

Isaiah 53 scriptures that

graphically depict what Jesus

endured: He knew pain first

hand … it was our pains he

carried—our disfigurements,

all the things wrong with us …

it was our sins that did that

to him, that ripped and

tore and crushed him—our

sins! He took the punishment,

and that made us whole.

Isaiah 53:3-5 (The Message)

On the Cross, Jesus chose to stand in our place.

He took on all our suffering of all humanity from creation until

His second coming. He carried all mankind‘s sin, everything

Satan threw at Him. There is nothing he has not endured for

us—and Jesus conquered the lot! Not just in His resurrection,

but through the whole process.

Jesus refused to allow the external reality of what He endured

to become His internal reality and focus. Jesus lived from His

position in the Father—from the heavenly realm towards life.

13

So easily pain and

suffering can settle

on us like a heavy

blanket, weighing us

down and we feel yuk.

He was honest about

the pain, but stood in

His identity and authority

and lived above suffering.

He retreated into the

security of His Father’s

presence, love and favour.

God allows in His

wisdom what He could

prevent by His power.

Why? Partly so that we learn

to find all that we need in

Him. There is absolute

confidence that in whatever

we are facing that Jesus not

only carried it on the Cross

for us, He is with us now.

Carrying it for us.

Suffering gets seriously bad when

we feel alone and worthless. The

journey isn‘t one we need to walk

on our own. Emotional isolation is

not a good choice.

Suffering can seriously mess with

our head. Circumstances and pain

can warp our thinking. We can start

running internal ‗video replays‘ of

what took place and our self talk

shifts into overdrive.

14

4. We need to be convinced

how significant we are in

God’s kingdom.

How great is the love the Father has

lavished on us, that we should be

called children of God! And that is

what we are! 1 John 3:1

Our identity, security and authority

are transformed as we accept this.

Truth is, the Spirit of God

supernaturally is

progressively transforming

our whole thinking so that

when suffering occurs, we

may choose to refuse the

path of lies, defeat and

thinking, ‗nobody loves me‘.

Psalm 46:10—Be still and

know that I am God. When

we are in the secret place

in Father‘s arms, the enemy

can‘t see us and get to us.

In that place, we‘ll discover

what Paul experienced,

‗I have learned the secret

of being content in any

and every situation. I can

do everything through

Him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:12,13

We go through the whole downhill cycle of—

Shock Denial Fear Unbelief Feeling alone and powerless

Knowing we are loved, experiencing that reality, we step

back into the arms of Jesus. From that position of security,

we choose to respond, not react. We experience His peace

and rest in His presence.

15

16

Choose to let God work supernaturally and radically in us

so that we loose our bias to fear and panic. God uses every

situation to form Jesus in us.

As we look at Jesus,

we observe that His

default response to

any pain or suffering

was to retreat into

His Father.

To be enfolded in

Father‘s love,

presence, peace

and promises that

are always there.

A Meditation Psalm: Psalm 37

Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who

do wrong...like green plants they will soon die away. Trust

in the LORD and do good...Delight yourself in the LORD

and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your

way to the LORD, trust in him and He will do this: He will

make your righteousness shine like the dawn.

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not

fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out

their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from

wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil…Wait for the LORD

and keep His way...The salvation of the righteous comes from

the LORD. He is their stronghold in time of trouble. The LORD

helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the

wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him.

Jesus lives to make intercession for us. We are never alone.

The sheer core of our being, the deepest longings and

feelings He understands and brings to the Father.

17

Choose to stand in the heavenly places

All power and authority has

been given to us by Almighty God

See things from His perspective

Stand in our identity and spiritual authority

Remember and affirm in specific terms

in the past how God has helped us

Declare God‘s goodness

Take our eyes of the

problem and our suffering:

‗I‘m no longer a victim.‘

SHIFTING OUR FOCUS

In another crowd there was a pregnant schoolgirl with sullen

eyes: "Why should I suffer?" she murmured. "It wasn't my

fault." Far out across the plain were hundreds of such groups.

Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering

He had permitted in His world. How lucky God was to live in

Heaven, where all was sweetness and light. Where there was

no weeping or fear, no hunger or hatred. What did God know

of all that man had been forced to endure in this world? For

God leads a pretty sheltered life, they said.

The Long Silence

At the end of time, billions of people were seated on a

great plain before God's throne. Most shrank back from

the brilliant light before them. But some groups near the

front talked heatedly, not cringing with shame, but with

belligerence. "Can God judge us? How can He know

about suffering?" snapped a pert young brunette. She

ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a

Nazi concentration camp. "We endured terror, beatings

torture, death!" An aboriginal man lowered his collar.

"What about this?" he demanded, showing an ugly rope

burn. "Lynched, for no crime but being black!"

So each of these groups sent forth their leader, chosen because

they‘d suffered the most. A Jew, a person from Hiroshima, a

deformed arthritic, a child with AIDS and a refugee from Niger.

Let Him be betrayed by His closest friends. Let Him face false

charges, be tried by a prejudiced jury and convicted by a

cowardly judge. Let Him be tortured. At the last, let Him see

what it means to be terribly alone.

To go further:

Nicky Gumbel, Questions of Life

Brother Yun, The Heavenly Man

In the centre of the vast plain, they consulted with each

other. At last they were ready to present their case.

It was rather clever.

Before God could be qualified to be their judge, He must endure

what they had endured. Their decision was that God should be

sentenced to live on earth as a man. Let Him be born a Jew. Let

the legitimacy of His birth be doubted. Give Him a work so

difficult that even His family will think Him out of His mind.

Then let Him die so there can

be no doubt He died. Let there

be a great host of witnesses to

verify it. As each leader gave

their portion of the sentence,

loud murmurs of approval went

up from the throng of people.

When the last one had finished

pronouncing sentence, there

was a long silence.

No one uttered a word.

No one moved.

Suddenly, all knew that God had

already served His sentence.

Anon

Scripture quotations are taken from

The Holy Bible, New International Version ®

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright ©1993-2002.

Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group

Photo acknowledgements: The Passion of the Christ

Copyright © Ross Wakeley 2009

In this booklet on the issue of suffering you‘ll discover:

The downhill spiral we can get trapped in by our pain

Views of God that block us becoming free

God‘s solution to pain and suffering

Four foundations for living in the midst of suffering

A meditation on Psalm 37

The Long Silence—a reflection on suffering