Part 14 “How To Handle Unjust Suffering”
James 5:7-11
Intro – welcome back to our series in the book of James… …please open your Bibles to 5:7-11…
John Zielsdorf’s story of unjust suffering…(story attached)
That is what James is teaching in our passage today…how to handle unjust suffering…how to respond in a godly way when bad things happen to us…when we suffer unfairly…
All of us can relate to being treated unjustly…to one degree or another…we’ve had something happen to us that was unfair, undeserved…where we’ve suffered at the hands of some difficult person or been in an accident like John, or gotten sick, or taken a financial hit, or been put through a painful process that we didn’t ask for or bring on ourselves…
-the key question is what do we do about it? how do we handle this? the very question John had to come to terms with…how does God want us to respond when really bad things hurt us…
-from James 5 we are going to hear what God would say to those of us who are suffering unjustly…
-let’s read the passage…prayer…read…
Background
-in this passage James is addressing those who were being mistreated by the wicked wealthy that we talked about last week…
-in the first part of chapter 5, James has some strong words for those who used their wealth in an evil way…a way that unjustly oppressed the poor…
…in particular wealthy employers who were not paying their poor day-workers a fair wage, on time…and as a result these innocent workers were unjustly suffering all kinds of pain and loss and heartache…
-now James turns his attention to these poor workers themselves who were being oppressed by these rich and ruthless employers to help them handle their unjust suffering…
But the teaching he is about to give is far more broad than this particular context…for what we about to learn can be applied to any type of unjust suffering we are experiencing… …no matter how you have been mistreated, or however you’re suffering, here is God’s counsel on how to respond in a way that pleases Him…
The Answer is Patience
And right away we see that the main theme of the passage is patience…patience is the answer…patience in the face of suffering…that is how to handle unjust suffering in a godly way…
v.7 “Be patient then…”
-the word patience is used in this passage in one form or another 4 times…if you add in the words waiting and perseverance then it’s a total of 8 times…that’s significant for just 5 verses…
So that’s the Lord’s answer. We could summarize the Lord’s counsel to those who are suffering unjustly with these words: “be patient…stand firm, wait, persevere…”
Now this may sound enormously unsatisfactory to some of you…it may sound like flowery, religious language without offering any real help…pious platitudes without any meaning…someone on a high moral horse speaking down to the struggling masses…
That is so far from the truth. The Lord loves us too much to offer empty phrases and truth detached from reality…that’s why James goes further and gives us at least:
Five Ways to Be Patient When Suffering Unjustly
-this is helpful, real life stuff that everyone of us can apply, no matter what we’re going through…
-this is also helpful biblical counsel that you and I can offer to someone who is going through a time of unjust suffering…
1. Look ahead to the Lord’s second coming vv. 7-8
-“be patient then until the Lord’s coming…the Lord’s coming is near…”
-James instructs us to look ahead with longing and anticipation to the second coming of Jesus Christ…
-and how is the second coming of Jesus Christ a helpful way to be patient when we’re suffering?
-in a number of ways:
• there will be an end to the suffering…trouble is temporary…”this too shall pass…”
• we’re going to be in heaven some day free from all this hard stuff here on earth…
• we have hope of eternal life in which God will make all things new…
But here’s a reason that can really help us in our suffering: when Christ comes again the score will finally be settled.
1 Cor 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.
At the end of history God will settle the score with each person…and those who have caused you suffering in an unjust way will have to answer for it…and the consequences will be handed out…
Rev 22:12 Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.
-so even if it looks like the perpetrator is getting away scott free in this lifetime…there is coming a day when God will make it all right…and justice will be served…not necessarily man’s justice, but God’s justice…
2. Look within to what God is forming v.7
-James gives us that great picture in v.7 of the farmer who sows the seed in his field and then waits…waits…patiently waits…waits for the rain to come…waits for the crop to grow…and then waits some more.
-and for the longest time, it looks like nothing is happening…and so the impatient farmer would be tempted to give up and walk away if he didn’t know the truth…
-that there is a lot going on underneath the surface…in the hidden place there is life and growth and development and the birth of something valuable that hasn’t yet broken through the surface…
-so, dear sufferer…God is forming something valuable and wonderful and life-giving deep inside you while you suffer…you can’t see it now, but it will appear…
2 Cor 4:17-18 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
-you think God is finished with what He’s doing in John? John knows He’s not. He’s not finished with any of us yet. He is at work through the suffering to refine, purify, make beautiful, produce the beauty of Christ’s character in all of us who are going through this time of suffering…
3. Look up at the real Judge, who is not you v.9
-I love v.9…
-it is so easy to get angry and critical of the people around us, especially those who have caused our suffering…
…and to blame them, even hate them…and become bitter because of them…and hold on to our unforgiveness and vengeance…feel justified in doing so…
-but when we do that we only hurt ourselves…and our soul shrivels and we needlessly wallow in our misery…and we invite God’s judgment on ourselves…
That’s why God says, “stop looking at the people around you who have hurt you…and look up at Me again…I am the only One qualified to be a Judge…you can’t do it…so leave it to Me…I’ll take care of things…”
Rm 12:19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
In 2 Tim 4:8 God is called the righteous Judge, Who will do His rewarding, for good or bad on the day of His coming…
-so keep your eyes on Him and you’ll make it through this time of unjust suffering…
4. Look around at the example of those who have suffered well vv.10-11
-James tells his suffering readers to consider those who have suffered well, the OT prophets…and in particular, the example of Job…
Now we could say a lot about Job, but let me summarize his story from the book of Job in this way:
Job endured unimaginable, unexplained suffering. He was very wealthy and very godly, but in one day he lost it all: his wealth (flocks and animals), his health, his children, his reputation and his sense of God’s presence…
…all because of what seems to be some kind of challenge by Satan to God to let him test Job to see if he was truly devoted or not…
Now during that whole ordeal Job certainly said some things that weren’t kind or godly…but, who of us would do any better!?
The only thing Job was left with was his wife and that wasn’t a very good thing…she was a real piece of work! She told Job to “curse God and die”. That’s one supportive woman! Thanks honey!
Job even had to listen to his mostly well-meaning friends drone on and on and on about what they thought was the cause of his suffering…
And through all this, here’s what Job said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. Job 1:21-22
eg. today is the 15th anniversary of 911 – Matt Redman song story, Blessed Be Your Name…You give and take away…
It is especially the outcome of Job’s story that gives hope and encouragement to those who are suffering…because it appears that God had at least four purposes for Job’s suffering:
• to test his faith and prove it genuine
• to thwart Satan’s attempt to destroy his faith
• to strengthen Job’s faith and enable him to know God better
• to increase the blessings in Job’s life
So if you’re suffering unjustly, the example of Job is to endure patiently knowing that the purpose God has for you in your suffering is to strengthen you, deliver you, draw you near to Himself and to richly bless you…
-there’s lots of modern day Jobs as well, men and women today, who serve as an example of patient faith in the midst of their suffering…learn from them…
-and remember that God wants to use your example of patient faith as a testimony to a watching world…a world of people desperate for this kind of strength in suffering…
5. Look closely at the Lord and His character v.11
“The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”
-He’s not mad at you…not punishing you…not getting even with you…
-everything He does with you is motivated by perfect love and a desire to bless and do good for you…to draw you near to Him…
Jer. 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
It’s like John said in his story how thankful he is for God’s grace and love, for God reminding him that He is ultimately in control…and we are not…
John is keeping his eyes on Jesus…and when we do, we can find patience and hope in the midst of our suffering…
Conclusion
-there’s one other thing John said:
“Patience and long suffering do not come from within us but through God’s grace. It all comes from our Heavenly Father and we need only accept it or deny it.”
Dear sufferers, that is our challenge today…to accept God’s gift of grace in our suffering rather than reject it…to embrace God’s purposes for our suffering instead of resent it and wish it was all over…
But, for those of you who have suffered long…with great anguish…let me encourage you by saying, “It will be over…soon…God won’t allow us to suffer more than we can bear…He is kind and compassionate…”
So let me close with a promise from God:
Ps. 30:5 weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Prayer for those who are suffering…
The John Zielsdorf Story
As some of you either remembers or are aware of the incident that happened to me on August 31st 2015.
I was in a Motorcycle accident that was, caused by the carelessness of another. For those of you nodding your heads because I was on a Motorcycle, consider this, it could have been a couple out for a fall evening walk or a Child walking across the street.
In the collision I was struck on my left side then I was launched head over heels over the hood of the car that hit me, landing forehead first on a cement sidewalk. You can’t say that wearing a helmet doesn’t save lives. I was rushed to the Alexander Hospital’s Trauma unit with the end result being the loss of my Left leg.
In some ways I wish that I had passed-out so as to not have had to experience all of this, but for some reason I didn’t. I was awake right up till I was put out for the surgery at the Alex.
In the ensuing days, weeks, months and the year since the accident how do I process all of this, I won’t lie. It has been very difficult , losing my leg, the loss of my passion in motorcycles, and even the day to day things of something as simple as getting out of bed…you have to think twice before putting your feet/foot to the floor.
I am so thankful to God’s Grace and Love for us, and to my wife Glenda, my kids, family and friends, and oddly enough my previous wife Cynthia, that I have persevered. In some ways I look at this whole incident as a 2x4 up the side of the head from God, reminding me of who is ultimately in control. To see if He has my attention you might say?
The First few days was spent lying in a hospital bed realizing that I was still alive! One of the Investigating Police officers told me that he had attended many accidents of this type resulting in much worse results, in a lot of cases not being able to talk to the victim at all.
Prior to the accident, suffering from a broken marriage, I had drifted far away from God. He was no longer a strong part of my Life. But since the accident I have returned to having Him in my heart and Life, It’s still a struggle but what in life is worth much if you don’t have to work at it?
Patience and long suffering does not come from within us but through God’s grace. As I lay in the Hospital bed I looked around myself and realized that it all comes from our Heavenly Father and we need only except it or deny it. I met some people who were extremely depressed over their lot in life and had become an empty shell of themselves, making it very difficult for anyone to work with them or to be around, it’s like they had gone into a deep dark hole that has become impossible to get out of.
In the course of this past year I have had to endure no left leg, being wheel-chair bound, the trials of learning to walk again on not one leg but I think I’m up to leg number 7 as things change in my stump. Oh and I have a new appreciation for being vertically challenged especially when you go from 6’3” to viewing life at 5 ‘nothing. However the real trials start with the Phantom pain, PTSD and other peripheral injury’s that leave me awake at night, in some cases reliving the accident over and over. Blindsiding me in some cases, drifting into that dark place of depression, it’s time to refocus and realize that God wants us to bring these things to Him.
C.S. Lewis expressed it in this way:
God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.[1]In this, we begin to catch a glimpse of the redemptive possibilities of suffering.
And it turns out, to everyone's surprise, that suffering can even result in very good news indeed:
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. (2 Corinthians 4:17)
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18)
<Link> http://www.bethinking.org/human-life/a-biblical-view-of-disability
I am so thankful to my Home church Northgate, for your support in Prayer, friendship and mentoring support from Individuals like Pastor Bob, Pastor John, and Dale Hufnagel. I hope and pray that God will use me as a witness and support to others dealing with the same issues that I am coping.
[1] C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, (San Francisco: Harper, 2001 [1940]), p.91.