| God Suffers Too (Part 1 of 'Living the Christian Life') |
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| Written by David Charlton |
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Scripture Psalm 102:1-11
Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come to thee! 2 Do not hide thy face from me in the day of my distress! Incline thy ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call! 3 For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace. 4 My heart is smitten like grass, and withered; I forget to eat my bread. 5 Because of my loud groaning my bones cleave to my flesh. 6 I am like a vulture of the wilderness, like an owl of the waste places; 7 I lie awake, I am like a lonely bird on the housetop. 8 All the day my enemies taunt me, those who deride me use my name for a curse. 9 For I eat ashes like bread, and mingle tears with my drink, 10 because of thy indignation and anger; for thou hast taken me up and thrown me away. 11 My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass.
Psalm 137
By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows there we hung up our lyres. 3 For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" 4 How shall we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! 6 Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy! 7 Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, "Rase it, rase it! Down to its foundations!" 8 O daughter of Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall he be who requites you with what you have done to us! 9 Happy shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!
Core Idea, Purpose & Summary Core Idea: God deals with suffering by suffering with us Challenge: To challenge Christians to lean on God during suffering and look for God to transform them through the suffering. Summary: Bad, horrible things happen to all people, both good and bad. Everyone experiences loss, death, depression, hatred, anger and suffering as they go through this life. Everyone suffers from time to time. Some more than others. It’s part of living in this sinful world. As a result of suffering, most people have become angry at God sometime during their lives. We see this in psalms 102 and 137. In these Psalms, the authors scream at God and question God’s love. They ask God to do horrible things on their behalf. These Psalms demonstrate that we need to be honest with God about our emotions and attitudes. Once we are honest with God, God can begin to work with us. How does God respond to our suffering? He responds by suffering with us. He came down to this earth as a human named Jesus, only to suffer and die on a cross. God is now with us by way of the Holy Spirit dwelling within our hearts. When we suffer, the Holy Spirit dwelling within us suffers. God willingly suffers with us. As God suffers with us, God gives us the strength and endurance to get through the suffering. As God gets us through the suffering, God transforms and makes us better people. In other words, God uses suffering to make us more like Christ. (Consider Romans 5:1-5) So, in the midst of suffering, go to God with honest prayer and then lean on God. As a result, you will come out a stronger, more loving Christ like person. The Sermon I. Introduction: My first wife wanted to punch Jesus in the nose A. During my first marriage, (My first wife, Jackie, has gone home to be with the
Lord.) we had a daughter named Sarah.
B. Jackie was very new in her relationship with Jesus
C. Have you ever been angry at God like my first wife?
II. The Psalms are full of suffering people crying out to God A. Psalm 102:1-5 - Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come to thee! 2 Do not hide
thy face from me in the day of my distress! Incline thy ear to me; answer me
speedily in the day when I call! 3 For my days pass away like smoke, and my
bones burn like a furnace. 4 My heart is smitten like grass, and withered; I forget to
eat my bread. 5 Because of my loud groaning my bones cleave to my flesh.
B. Psalm 137:1-9 - By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we
remembered Zion. 2 On the willows there we hung up our lyres. 3 For there our
captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, "Sing us one of
the songs of Zion!" 4 How shall we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land? 5 If I
forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! 6 Let my tongue cleave to the
roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my
highest joy! 7 Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, "Rase it, rase it! Down to its foundations!" 8 O daughter of Babylon,
you devastator! Happy shall he be who requites you with what you have done to
us! 9 Happy shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the
rock!
C. Psalms 102 and 137 teach us to be honest with God when we are suffering
III. God responds to our suffering by suffering with us. A. God came down to this earth as a human named Jesus.
B. God continues to suffer with us by way of the indwelling Holy Spirit
IV. God’s redemptive use of suffering A. As God suffers with us…
B. God’s redemptive use of the loss of my daughter
V. Conclusion A. Are you suffering in some way? Do you have emotional pain? B. Don’t avoid the pain. Using drugs, alcohol, sex or any other addiction to avoid the
pain does not get rid of the pain.
C. Face the pain head on. Just don’t face it alone. Face the pain with God. God will
suffer with you.
D. Allow God to use your pain and suffering to make you a better person.
THE SERPENT LOST… My story begins with my daughter Sarah who was born 3 months premature and weighed 1lb 1oz. Sarah spent her entire life in the NICU and she thrived and got off the ventilator, was eating and getting ready to come home. In December 1997, Sarah got sick and was put back on the ventilator. Doctors had her on lots of medications and she was asleep most of the time. I had been praying repeatly for the Lord to heal her and bring her home. Early one morning around 2 a.m., Sarah opened her eyes and looked at me. I searched those beautiful eyes and knew I had to talk with God. I went to the chapel and asked God to do what was best for Sarah and not for me. I told God that I had been praying selfishly because I wanted Sarah home and couldn’t imagine life without her. So, I asked that His will be done and not mine. On January 12th, Sarah passed away. THE CRAFTY SERPENT SPOKE… David and I went back to Georgia. David was at work and I was trying to get on with life. THE CRAFTY SERPENT SPOKE… One night I went into Sarah’s nursery and it was all finished and ready for her. David was gone. I looked at all of her things and destroyed the room. I threw everything on the floor and tore everything off the walls. THE CRAFTY SERPENT SPOKE… I sat in the middle of her room and felt so horrible for ever asking God to do what was best for Sarah. I was angry at God and yelling at God and telling God what a horrible God he was because He took my baby. THE SERPENT WAS SPEAKING… I starting telling myself that I didn’t deserve to live because I killed my baby. If I had never said that prayer, Sarah would have lived. I went to the living room and got a full bottle of Tylenol PM and a full bottle of wine. THE SERPENT SPOKE… I went back to Sarah’s room and sat in the middle with the pills and the wine. I sat in her room all night rocking back and forth, crying, yelling and wanting to die. THE SERPENT SPOKE… I opened the bottle of wine and dumped out the whole bottle of pills into my hand. THE SERPENT SPOKE… Eve listened to the serpent and took the fruit from the tree that God asked her not to. I heard the serpent that night and I heard him loud and clear. I heard him telling me that God was no good and He didn’t love me or my daughter. I heard the serpent telling me that life was not worth living with my daughter dead. I heard the serpent telling me to take the pills and wine and finish it. MORNING CAME… I was alive. I made it through the night. I realized that even thought I couldn’t hear God that night, He was right there with me. He was crying with me and still loving me even after all the horrible things I was saying to Him. He was silent, but He was powerful and He kept me through the night. He kept me alive. Whenever I read the Fall of Man, I think of this night. I could have easily been Eve and taken the pills and wine and given up. The serpent is crafty and he never shuts up. But God is all powerful and loving and merciful and as He states in Hebrews 13:5 “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” Even when we can’t hear God, He is there |
