I'm ending
the look at Tim Keller's book Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering
with this final blog on it. I hope it's been helpful, but you owe it to
yourself to go get the book.
In Psalm 3
David has peace. He says God is his only glory. We often get our self worth
from something else. How does God actually become our glory? The only answer
is: through a rediscovery of the gospel of free grace. The Lord can become our
shield to protect us. We know God won't forsake us, because he forsook Jesus
for our sin.
We should
look around our lives to see if our suffering has not been unnecessarily
intensified because there are some things that we have set our hearts and hopes
upon too much. Suffering can't touch the main thing – God, his love and his
salvation. Suffering points out good things that have become too important to
us. It is only when suffering comes that you realize who is the true God and
what are the false gods of your lives. On the cross Jesus got what we deserved
as 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, so we can get what he deserves. When things go
wrong, one of the ways you lose your peace is that you think maybe you're being
punished. But look at the cross. All the punishment fell on Jesus. Another
thing you may think is that maybe God doesn't care. But look at the cross.
In the last
chapter, Chapter 16, Keller focuses on hoping. In Revelation John gave people
the ultimate hope – a new heavens and new earth. There will be a judgment day
when every evil deed and injustice will be redressed. We are headed for a
future of endless joy. How can we be sure this future is for us? We can be sure
if we believe in Jesus.
Keller added
a very useful epilogue. he lists ten things we should do. First, we should recognize
the varieties of suffering. Some are caused by wrong behavior, betrayals,
death, finances, events. Each brings somewhat different kinds of feelings, and
each requires its own specific responses. Second, we need to recognize
distinctions and temperament between ourselves and other sufferers. We must not
think that the way God helps one other person through the fire will be the
exactly the same way he will lead us. Third, there is weeping. We need to be
brutally honest with ourselves and God about our pain and sorrow. Fourth, there
is trusting. We are summoned to trust God's wisdom and trust his love. Fifth,
we must be praying. In suffering we must read the Bible and pray and attend
worship even though it is dry or painful. Sixth, we must be disciplined in our
thinking. We must meditate on the truth, listening to our heart and reasoning
and talking to our heart. Heaven and the resurrection in the future-perfect world
are particularly important to meditate on if you're dealing with death.
Seventh, we should be willing to do some self-examining. But we don't want to
necessarily always look within ourselves for the cause of our suffering. We
should ask "How do I need to grow?" "What weaknesses is this time of trouble revealing?"
Eight, we must be about reordering our
loves. We may love God too little or things we love too much. We must recognize
God's suffering for us in Jesus Christ, and by praying, thinking, and trusting
that love into our souls. Ninth, we should not shirk community. We need to find
Christian churches where sufferers are loved and supported. Tenth, some forms
of suffering require skill in receiving grace and forgiveness from God, and
giving grace and forgiveness to others.
Hope this
tour through Keller's book has been helpful. He has many other great reads as
well as audio recordings of his sermons.
They are all thoughtful and rich in content.
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