Maintaining hope in suffering

My Step with God
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Hi friends,

One of the things that bothers me is the suffering that never ends.

For instance, as I think about American slavery, it breaks my heart that glorious human beings were born into, suffered under, and died in slavery. There was no relief from their oppression.

What hope is there? How can we have hope when life can be so bleak?

But today’s liturgical reading includes Psalm 146:

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

Do not put your trust in princes,

in mortals, in whom there is no help.

When their breath departs, they return to the earth;

on that very day their plans perish.

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord their God,

who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them;

who keeps faith forever;

who executes justice for the oppressed;

who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;

the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

the Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord watches over the strangers;

he upholds the orphan and the widow,

but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

The Lord will reign forever,

your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord!

What’s the point? Craig Boyles writes,

The message is this: contrary to the popular adage, God helps those who cannot help themselves. Yahweh turns the world system upside down: in his economy, princes are devalued and the marginal in society are given value (UTB Commentary).

If there is no God, then ‘the world system’ is all there is.

No one lifts up those who are bowed down.
No one will bring the way of the wicked to ruin.

It is what it is.

But if is true that the Lord reigns forever, then there is hope.

As the Psalmist says, “Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever…”

Does injustice win? Or is there a Creator who will establish justice?

Knowing that God will make all things right gives me some measure of satisfaction - and joy.

But this isn’t pie in the sky. This hope also animates my conviction to join God in pursuing justice.

If God will overturn wickedness, I want no part in the oppression that he opposes.

What about you?

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These lines give me so much hope! The Creator of all things, the one who is faithful forever, who never gave up on the Israelites in the wilderness, or David, or on any of His people despite their constant straying, He is the one who brings justice and cares for those in need!

It’s amazing to see the way Jesus brought healing and food and cared for those whom others looked down upon during his earthly ministry!

I certainly want no part in the oppression He opposes either, like you I long to be a part of pursuing healing, blessing, and justice alongside Him. It’s incredible to me that we are called into and get to be a part of His work on earth (Isa 58:6-14; James 2:15-16)!

Yet, even as we join Him, as you noted, there is still so much suffering on earth that does not get addressed in this life. Whether suffering that we face or the suffering that we see around us, the weight of it can be crushing and can at times tempt me to despair.

What helps me in these times, is remembering Paul’s encouragement in 2 Corinthians 4:

16b Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 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.

There is promise of joy, peace, and justice to come. What we see now, painful though it is, will one day be no more. And because God cares for us, is powerful and working, and is faithful, we can trust that one day we too will get to experience what John saw in his vision:

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev 21:1-4)

So, I can hold on to hope, that one day everything will be made right and we will dwell face to face with God while injustice is no more. That gives me strength to live for Him and to care for others in whatever ways I can, knowing that, though not all will be healed now, one day it will and in the meantime I can join with the work and the suffering of Christ to bring His love, life, and healing to those around me!

Sometimes it can be hard to know how to even begin to bring justice or healing into situations though, particularly when they are engrained and systematic.

When facing these kinds of issues, how can we find an attainable next step as we seek to join with God in pursuing justice?

I’d also be interested to hear how others have maintained hope in the midst of suffering and what verse or practices have brought encouragement as well as how others have been joining with God in pursuing justice and how they’ve seen Him working through it!

This year, I’ve had the chance to join the Graduate Student Council at my school to engage with and advocate for the student body, and it’s been so encouraging to see how God has been working through conversations to both bring comfort and actual relief for concerns. I’ve just been really thankful for all that God has been showing me and doing through it and so would love to hear and be encouraged by how He is working elsewhere too!

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These verses certainly bring hope for eventual justice where there is injustice now. I also think about situations of suffering that aren’t due to injustice, but to the natural evils of this fallen world, such as ongoing sickness and the pain of seeing loved ones suffering without end in sight. It can be hard to cling to the eternal perspective of hope when the present is so visceral, so painful and so encompassing of all thought. I think of people I know who have such a deep eternal hope in the Lord Jesus but also carry a daily sadness that brings no hope of conclusion anytime soon in this life. I know that to bear these things will require a daily meditation on the truth of scripture.

Thankfully even in these circumstances, we know that this world is not all there is. We know that Jesus transcends it, who stepped into our human frailty and lived life, experienced pain, and suffered a brutal death alongside us. That he conquered death, and was resurrected, and now intercedes for us before the Father. That all who believe in him will join the resurrection of the saints, and that one day there will be no more suffering and no more tears but we will live in his presence forever. It can feel like we’re playing the long game when clinging to this hope sometimes, but really, what else is there?

I really believe this is why Paul exhorts the churches to encourage one another so often. Think of the persecution and suffering they endured, and how often Paul reminds them of who Christ is, and the joy that is to be had in him. As members of the body, it is so important that we encourage one another in the suffering, reminding each other of our eternal hope in Christ.

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