Suffer well

Journal entry by Scott — Jan 28, 2017
Suffer Well
Introduction:
Have youever been in a spot in your life when it seems there is just one big challenge after another happening to you or your family?
Have you ever asked God why is this happening, and why am I going through this?
Is your hope focused in the proper direction?
If you have suffered or you are suffering right now, you are not alone. God never said life on earth would be easy. Have you ever heard the saying, “God will never give you more than you can handle?” I say God consistently gives us more than we can handle for the purpose of leading us to Him. He wants us to rely on Him.
Do you believe God prepares us for what is to come? Right after Logan was born, Ann and I went on our first date in about four years. While on the date, I got vertigo and ringing in my ears. After a year and a half of doctors appointments, including 24 at the Mayo Clinic, I was diagnosed with Meniers disease. Then Logan was struggling with hearing issues. He had multiple surgeries for tubes and two surgeries to replace his stapes bones with prosthetics. When his sister AshLeigh came along she was born with a hole in her lung and needed to be airlifted from Virginia, MN. to Duluth and was in the NICU for a period of time. Again when JacLynn was born, she had a lung issue too in which she had to be airlifted to the Duluth NICU. The difference this time was that Ann was very sick also and was in the ICU also due to complications. About a day after that, my father had a heart attack. All three were in the hospital at the same time. Following this was a string of deaths in our family. In a two year period, there were seven deaths. The last two years have had many new challenges and two more deaths including Ann’s grandfather and her brother.
You have allheard the saying, “Everything happens for a reason.” One of the reasons thesethings happened to our family was to prepare us for this suffering. So, if we are suffering and we know that God has the plan and that He is in control, what is our role?
Our role is to “Suffer Well.”
What does“Suffer Well” mean?

One way we can suffer well is to ask WHY well. How do we do that? Are you angry and shaking your fist at God? Or are you on your knees and submitting to God and His will? If you are shaking your fist at God, God’s answer is, “Who are you?” In Job, for 37 chapters Job questions God’s decision to take his children and allow him to suffer. Then in chapter 38,when God finally enters the conversation, His answer to Job is “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” God then proceeds to use creation to demonstrate the truth of Isa 55, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
We are not entitled to an answer from our creator. If you are on your knees and you submit to God’s will, God will give you an answer and show you His goodness. God has shown His goodness in many ways over these last two weeks by the many prayers, encouragement, and the hope that poured out of everyone.

If we must ask “why?” well then we must also hope well. In other words, we must rightly place our hope. We must hope in and for the right things. ​How do we do this? I talked about hope all week and asked that you pray for miracle healing for Logan. Romans 5 1-5 says that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Hope, rightly placed, never disappoints.
If your hope was placed in Logan’s healing, you may be devastated, disappointed, or distraught.
In Job13:15, ​Job says, “Though he slay me, I will hope in Him…” What was Job saying? He was declaring that he was so confident in God’s goodness and justice that if God killed him, Job was certain it was an act of grace! That is hope rightly placed!
If your hope is in the Glory of God through Christ Jesus, you know that God has the plan and that our job is to accept His plan and look for the good in it. I say from time to time; “It is not what happens to you that is most important; it is how you react to what happens to you.” Also, one of my favorite verses is Proverbs 16:9A man can plan his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
I would be willing to bet that most of you are wondering how a family can go through something like this and have the peace and positive attitude that we have. Some of you get it because you have been there. If you have been touched by something this week; if you have seen something in someone that you met at the hospital; or if you have just been feeling like there is something missing in your life, it may be that you are hearing God call you to Him. You have probably heard it all of your life and it is welling up again. You can have the peace and assurance that we have. You can surrender your life to Christ and receive His peace. The world is full of believers…..Will you be a follower?
Please do not take away from this message that we are special people or that we are unique in some way; well we are in the sense that God has richly blessed us by holding us in His loving arms and providing your loving support while we endure this suffering. But what I mean is many are suffering; suffering is universal. So, how do we suffer well? How do we walk through pain well? All of us experience pain. How do we walk through it without being destroyed?
The answer is: We turn to Christ!
We turn toChrist for comfort and then we take it to someone else and comfort them. 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
If you have walked through any of these last two weeks with us, you have suffered, endured, built new character, and have had hope. If you are not sure that you have the love of Christ in your heart, I urge you to do something about it. If you do have the love of Christ in your heart, I challenge you to use your new character to comfort and encourage someone else.
Thank you for being there for us as Jobs friends.
Job 2:13 “And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke to him, for they saw that his suffering was great.”
If you ever have questions about any of this please ask.