God's Sovereignty Over Suffering

I woke up in the middle of the night early last week and I couldn't move my neck. The pain was excruciating. I was able to lay back down and fall asleep but whenever I woke up I could barely move, the pain was so bad. It became so bad in recent days that I couldn't sleep on either side and only on my back for an hour or two at a time without shooting pain. I believe I had (have) multiple muscle spasms in my neck, but am thinking something else might be wrong as well. On top of this, I started working full-time last Monday and so I dragged myself to work each day, popping pain killers and putting a heating pad on during the day at work.

This kind of pain isn't something that I'm unfamiliar with. I've had neck/back problems for the past 15-20 years, and have been to numerous chiropractors, and even did a few months of physical therapy at Sister Kenny Institute about two years ago. But this has probably been the worst because of the intensity and the fact that it doesn't seem to be going away. I had to call in sick on Monday so I could go to the doctor. He gave me some muscle relaxants and pain pills and scheduled an MRI of my neck for this Friday.

Which brings me to my point on God's sovereignty over suffering. It is such a comfort to me to know that God is sovereign over my pain. And I don't just mean that He can heal me if He wants, but rather that He is ordaining/allowing this for my ultimate good (Romans 8:28), my ultimate sanctification, and for His glory. And that this is not just some random occurance based on the condition of muscles, connective tissue and nerves throughout my body, (though that is most probably the second cause of my pain) but that God is the ultimate cause, working it for good.

"Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good." - 1 Peter 4:19

"Who has spoken and it came to pass unless the LORD commanded it. Is it not from the Most High that good and bad happen?" - Lamentations 3:37-38

"....we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." - Romans 5:3-5

I want to write more on God's sovereignty through suffering, but my time is limited, so I'll write more next time.

"They will all be taught of God" - John 6

I just have to give a link to John Piper's sermon from this past Sunday because it is so tied to his sermon the week before, which I already posted. Really, he's going through the whole book of John and I encourage any reading this to watch the series. You can just click on my Desiring God link at the right and look under "sermons". Here is last weeks sermon though. His interpretation of the text is just not what the vast majority of us grew up learning in church. Very eye-opening.

"There go I but by the grace of God"

I was thinking about this phrase as I was writing my last post. We’ve all heard this phrase. But have you ever really thought about it? When we look at people we know who are lost in sin and refuse to repent and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, can we honestly say, (and believe) “There go I but by the grace of God”? Do we believe in our hearts that it’s God’s grace that has made the difference in our lives - that it’s because of His grace that I’m going to heaven and that person is not (unless they come to trust in Jesus)? Or do we believe God gives equal grace to all and that the person’s “decision” is what really makes the difference between one going to heaven or hell? One produces an attitude of deep sympathy for people who don’t know Christ because that was me! The other produces an attitude of wondering what in the world is wrong with “other people” that they refuse to humble themselves and turn to Christ. One produces a deep thankfulness to God for what He alone has done. The other produces a more shallow thankfulness for what He and I have done. One produces humility. The other produces pride.