I don’t see how suffering brings glory to God either. However, I do
think there are some inherently negative things in the universe,
courtesy of God’s plan, that exist. These nasty things can happen to
any of us. How we deal with them can be a test of faith, I think.
Sometimes it will be within God’s plan to heal us; other times we are
out of luck.

In Larry Dossey’s excellent book, Healing Words, which examines the
power of prayer, he notes some of the great spiritual leaders of
history, people of unquestioned great faith–and good moral character,
have been plagued with horrible physical ailments, even to the point
of
those killing them. Surely no one is going to seriously suggest that
some of those individuals were “deserving” of their suffering or so
“poor in faith” that that caused their problems.
I don’t fully “get” the Catholic concept of the “victim soul”–that
some
people apparently accept horrible physical problems and “offer up”
their
suffering to God as a way of atoning for the incredibly amount of
willful disobedience there is on earth. Perhaps it is an attempt to
“justify” some of the horrible things that happen on earth.
Given the areas I have worked in, NO ONE, Pope, “saint,” or man is
going
to tell me that an infant deserved to be raped and have syphilis
and/or
gonorrhea or the like all over its body–talk about a 19th level of
hell! Yet you can speak to rape crisis counselors, cops, EMTs, and ER
doctors and nurses and see some of the lovely photos of just such
occurrences. Anyone who believes a baby could “earn” something of
that
nature is EVIL and INSANE.

Why does God allow that sort of horror to happen? I think we get back
to free will. If God put up a “protective barrier” for infants, the
saintly, etc. then, again, where’s the challenge in being “godly” and
good? It’s all I can see in this at this time.

A true doctrine of healing requires a true doctrine of suffering. I
haven’t the time to develop one here, but Scripture is replete with
references to the virtues acquired in the endurance of suffering.

1. It teaches us diligence and faithfulness in prayer ( see the story
of the widow before the unjust judge)

2. Suffering may be God’s attempt to awaken us to sin and repentance
(Heb. 12)

3. Suffering may be the trial that develops perseverance, maturity,
and ultimately the crown of life (James 1)

4. Noting the difference in a previous submission between “healing”
and “cure”, we should remember Jesus’ journey in suffering and
deliverance in Hebrews 5:7-10: During the days of Jesus’ life on
earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears
to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of
his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience
from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source
of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God
to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

** Notice that the deliverance passed through suffering, not around
it. It passed through obedience, not around it, and it passed through
death, not around it.

Yes, we should pray mightily against the ravages of sin. But we must
do so with an eye on God’s sovereign plan to perfect us – sometimes
through suffering.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has
prepared for those who love him” – 1 Cor 2:9

Rev. Steven Felker The United Church of New Marlborough Southfield,
MA
01259 (413) 229-8109

Visit the United Church of New Marlborough at
<http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch03125>

There are many times when we see healing as the ‘fixing up’ of what we
perceive to be ‘not right’ and sometimes ‘down right messed up’.

During the past 12 years we served under a wonderful man of God who
pastored us after losing our eldest child to SIDS (cot death). Our
entire church struggled with the fact that as a couple who walked
strongly in the faith and testified to a strong personal committment
with the Lord, God would allow this to happen.

To condense some points though:

1. God loaned us a precious gift – He never gave us a possession
to have and to hold forever. We needed to grow in our understanding
of the role of parents in their children’s lives. We have
subsequently been blessed with two beautiful boys (one a Christmas
Day baby and one a Boxing Day baby). We have changed our parenting
style to appreciate the privelege of raising these boys. Our
personal framework now for parenting is to be good stewards of our
time, knowledge and especially our faith to these boys as we aim to
raise them in the love and admonition of the Lord.

2. If God gauranteed that His people would never have heartache
and sorrow, then 3 concerns arise –

a] we would not have learnt some of the heart of a Father who
gave His only son, if we had not experienced the ache of empty arms.
The richness of our spiritual growth over the last 14 years has been
amazing as we have tapped into the Fatherheart of God.

b] we no have learnt the compassion for the lost and their
families. We have had the privilege of completing tertiary
qualifications in the counselling field to complement our ministry.
this has led to a richness of ministry and a deeper understanding of
the ache our Father has for His children, especially those who are
yet in the wilderness.

c] if there was such a guarantee, would there not be a great
risk of our egocentric society clambering to join the queue in order
to get away from the pain and reality of the world. Would that not
therefore be contrary to the commands of Jesus to go ye ‘into’ the
world, not draw others out of the world.

3. finally I believe it is important for us to show a real God,
a God who knew pain and suffering to a hurting world. A God who
grieved and cried, who wondered and even questioned in order for the
world to relate. If we are truly to be Christ to the world then we
need to be real in our lives, in our heartaches and in our joy. It
is only then that the world can really understand the peace and joy
of Christ when they see that as Paul said, ‘in’ the midst of our
trials and heartaches we have chosen to find the joy of the Lord,
then we have experienced the true peace of His love and faith in Him.

Many years ago our church sang in the combined churches choir a song
‘Let them see Christ in me’. The song went on ‘let me be His hands,
let me be His feet, let me be His eyes that I may see, let me be His
heart of compassion, let them see Christ in me’. Sadly many
Christians get to achieve these goals, because they are unable to
develop a true heart of empathy and compassion for a hurting and lost
world.

I am not saying that God took our daughter, Angela, or that He does
horrible things to good people like we are puppets. But I do believe
that He works all things for good, and that as we seek His face in
our hurts, we come to know Him more and show Him to the world as a
‘channel or a conduit’ of His blessings in our lives.

May the Lord bless you as you work through your personal hurts and as
you minister to those who ache. Show them the love of the Lord and
He can truly heal the heart and the soul. Whether the body is cured
is another issue, they do not mean the same thing at all.

Julie Mayer
Lay-preacher
Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia