UNWARRANTED SURPRISE

GENESIS 3:9–19

“Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life”

(Gen. 3:17).

It is significant that one question we do not read of Mary or Martha asking at the death of their dear brother is “Why?” They did not seem to feel the hopelessness that many people feel when a loved one dies. They certainly grieved, but they did not despair. But why do so many today feel despair when death, illness, or some other tragedy strikes?

One reason is we have become so comfortable with the life of ease and good health that we are surprised when suffering comes. The death of a loved one, the illness of a friend, the loss of a lucrative job—they come crashing down like thunder on a sunny day. But the Scriptures teach us that we should not be surprised by suffering, for it is common to life.

Suffering is common to the human experience—not that it necessarily occurs frequently in any one experience, but that everyone suffers in one way or another throughout their lives. Pain and tragedy are common because we live in a fallen world. In a day of rampant naturalism, this is a lost doctrine and thus one of the reasons why people are so surprised by suffering.

It is not uncommon to hear people faced with physical ailments say, “But this is not supposed to happen. I have cut out dairy products, meat, tobacco, and saturated fats from my diet. I have taken herbs, minerals, and vitamins. This should not happen. How can I possibly be sick?” Or try another one: a nursing mother suddenly finds that her milk is no longer nourishing her infant. Unfortunately, the mother has bought into the lie that “what is natural is incorruptible.” So, she becomes distressed, surprised that what she thought should be working is not.

Now, none of this is to say that eating right is unimportant or that a mother’s grief and disappointment over low milk production are irrelevant, but if we enter into even these most mundane aspects of life thinking they are supposed to act perfectly, we will inevitably experience distress and surprise. We live in a fallen world, and because it is fallen, things will likely go amuck. Therefore, we should never be surprised by the suffering we face. We will certainly by grieved by it, but never surprised.

CORAM DEO

Job 40–42

Acts 15:22–41

Read the passages below. What do they say about the fallenness of man and of creation? Have you ever been or are you currently surprised over a trial you are suffering? If so, commit that situation to prayer and ask God to strengthen you for the trial and give you the grace to endure it for His glory.

For further study: Job 5:6–7; 14:1–6 • Eccl. 2:22–23 • Rom. 8:18–25

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