REDEMPTIVE SUFFERING

(June 18, 2024

Kathy and I recently said good-bye to our longtime friend, Scout.

Scout had been getting free room and board at our place for a long time. But she more than repaid us with countless walks through the woods and in the neighborhood, with her delightful presence, and with her consistent, eager, tail-wagging, “Welcome home, guys!”

Scout was a black labrador retriever and a quirky rescue dog we took in about fifteen years ago. Kathy named her after the main character in the book / movie, “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Our dog had been slowing down for some time. But when we began to see that she was starting to suffer, knowing that she was not going to get better, we did what pet owners must do from time to time.

With the help of a very compassionate veterinarian, we helped Scout, eased her suffering, and said our tearful good-byes.

That’s what we do for dogs and cats and horses, and with any suffering animal. But that is not what we do with people – and there’s a reason for that.

Pets (animals, generally) don’t learn from suffering, and they don’t grow strong in character through suffering. They don’t look up and discover new truths about life and God through suffering.

For animals, suffering is not redemptive. It is simply suffering. So, when it is clear that there will not be any improvement and that the suffering is intractable, the most loving thing to do is to let them go.

But we humans can look up. We can learn about life and God through suffering. We can grow strong in character through suffering. For people made in the image and likeness of God, suffering of any kind and to any degree can be transformative and redemptive.

During the time of Scout’s final decline, I was reading through the Old Testament book of Job. I couldn’t avoid being impacted by the enormity of Job’s sufferings.

In one day, he lost everything. He lost his children, his flocks and herds, his possessions, and his great wealth. Not long after, on another day, he lost his health. These were all devastating losses, far worse than anything I have ever suffered.

And yet, God used them in Job’s life for good, redemptively.

His season of sufferings included ill-informed counsel from well-meaning friends and his wife’s infamous advice, “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9)

Job fought back against his friends’ blamings and finger-wagging, and he didn’t take his wife’s advice. Instead, he looked up.

He lamented his pain to God. He begged God for relief. He protested his innocence and questioned God’s justice for allowing his suffering. He even crossed a line and dared God to present His case against him, confident that he would win in court against God!

And then, after a wiser, younger man, Elihu, reminded Job of God’s greatness and goodness, God Himself showed up and taught Job wisdom and reverence. He learned about God and His ways.

Job’s suffering was, indeed, redemptive. As can yours be.

The Apostle Paul wrote optimistically to some first-century Christians who were suffering persecution and poverty.

[2 Corinthians 4:17] For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison… as he urged that they (and we) not focus on temporal gains and losses, but that they (and we) “look at” unseen, eternal realities.

            And in the letter to the Hebrews, sent to Christians who were suffering similarly, the author wrote of the redemptive value of suffering.

[Hebrews 12:10] For [our earthly fathers] disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. [11] For the moment, all discipline seems not to be pleasant, but painful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

The stories of men and women of faith who have grown through sufferings involving health, finances, relationships, or persecution are inspiring.

Some stories are well known. If you don’t know the inspiring story of Joni Erickson Tada, check it out online. Other stories – like yours – are equally inspiring but may be known only to God.

And unlike the way in which we love our dogs and cats well, by putting an end to their suffering, God often does not put an end to our suffering here and now.

That’s because the glory of being human is that your pain can be the key that unlocks growth, personal transformation, the knowledge of God, and impact for Jesus.

In your loss, turn to God and He will use your suffering redemptively.

Yours…His,

Dave