Psalm 119:107 The Discipline of Suffering

Is April Fools Day a holiday?

I'm going to say no, it's not. Please no.

I'm not a fan of holidays. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know that my family has sort of a Holiday Curse. Car problems, sickness, arrests, emergency room visits, and even deaths seem to accompany holidays with disturbing regularity for us.

Between Christmas day and New Year's Day this past holiday season, no less than three phone conversations with my son began with one of us saying, "Happy Holidays" in a less than cheerful voice. The response each time was, "Oh no. What happened?"

While I can name literally dozens of holiday-timed calamities over the past 40 years, the truth is there has been plenty of suffering at other times as well. Yes, I've come to expect things to go wrong during holidays. Truth be told, I've developed a somewhat fatalistic attitude about life in general.

I grew up in a fairly sheltered household. My parents went overboard in their attempts to shield my brothers and I from suffering and tragedy when we were young. There were plenty of problems, but mom and dad did their best to keep things swept under the carpet.

As soon as I left home, things started going wrong. I was shocked that life could be so cruel and ill-equipped to deal with the calamities of life. By the time I was married, I had learned to believe wholeheartedly in Murphy's Law: whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

Even now, certain situations elicit a rising sense of dread within me. If my phone rings and I see it's my son calling, there's a small part of my mind that steels itself for bad news (he's in his 30's now, but his teen years left their imprint on me). Whenever it's time for my wife and I to move from one home to another, a disquieting expectation of things going wrong tries to take over my mind.

I have suffered much;
preserve my life, LORD,
according to your word.

Psalm 119:107

Suffering can either teach you to have greater fear or it can teach you to have greater faith. The difference comes through discipline.

David's words in verse 107 express three truths.

Truth #1: You're going to suffer. A lot.

The scriptures are quite clear about this. I've mentioned before the excellent book by Joni Eareckson Tada, When God Weeps: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty. In the back of the book she lists dozens of scriptures that promise we will suffer. You can also find a list of scriptures on the topic at OpenBible.com.

The verse that should grab the attention of Christians the most is this promise that suffering will be an essential part of following Christ:

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians 3:10-11

Truth #2: The Lord will preserve your life amid suffering.

David keeps coming back to the idea of God preserving his life. The word he uses is not just about preserving life, but giving life, quickening, granting the kind of life that's worth living. He repeatedly talks about affliction as a faith-producing, life-changing experience. It's something to praise God for, rather than cursing God, as Job's wife counseled.

While you're reading through those lists of verses about suffering, the purpose and blessings of suffering will be as clear as the fact of suffering.

Truth #3: The scriptures are the key to embracing affliction as a necessary part of life and as an opportunity for the Lord to enhance my life. Only by continual meditation in the Word will suffering become a cherished part of life.

Only a fool would face the lifelong wrestling match with suffering alone.