1. GOD AND SUFFERING
Isaiah 40:9-17; 25-31

2. God, why don’t you heal me?
It’s not fair!
WHY?????
What have I done to deserve this?
God, just take away the suffering!

3. Isaiah 40:9-17, 25-31 10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
9 Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
10   Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11  He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.

4. 12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand     and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure     and weighed the mountains in scales     and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has measured[g] the Spirit of the Lord,     or what man shows him his counsel?
Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
Who taught him justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?

5. 15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. …
25 To whom then will you compare me,     that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,      calling them all by name;

6. by the greatness of his might     and because he is strong in power,     not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,     and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord,     and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God,     the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary;     his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint
And to him who has no might he increases strength.

7. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;     they shall walk and not faint.

9. Behold your God!
It’s not fair!
How long more O God?
10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.

10. Behold your God! God is just.
It’s not fair!
How long more O God?
God is just.
All injustice will be made right in the end.
God never goes back on His word.

11. Behold your God!
It’s not fair!
How long more O God?
11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

12. Behold your God! God is gentle. Power AND gentleness.
It’s not fair!
How long more O God?
God is gentle.
Power AND gentleness.
Justice AND compassion.
Strength AND tenderness.
Both sides are essential to our understanding of who God is.

13. Is God really like that? a.k.a. “you sure or not??”

14. 12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand     and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure     and weighed the mountains in scales     and the hills in a balance? 13 Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,     or what man shows him his counsel?

15. 14 Whom did he consult, and who made him understand
14 Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?

16. 15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,     and are accounted as the dust on the scales;     behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
Earth from 4 billion miles away

17. If you’re so powerful, how could you allow this to happen
If you’re so powerful, how could you allow this to happen?? Why didn’t you do anything?

18. 6b All flesh is grass,     and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades     when the breath of the Lord blows on it;     surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades,     but the word of our God will stand forever.
We are not the point of reference for everything.
Just because WE can’t find a reason for our suffering, it doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have reasons that are unknown to us.

19. Walking with God through Pain and Suffering (89)
“If you have a God infinite and powerful enough for you to be angry at for allowing evil, then you must at the same time have a God infinite enough to have sufficient reasons for allowing that evil.”
Tim Keller,
Walking with God through Pain and Suffering (89)

20. The Presence of Sin It’s not fair! WHY????
Everything in this world is fallen... And deserving of death.
We shouldn’t be too shocked at the pain and suffering we see around us.
“Our rights [to anything – life, happiness, love, protection] before God have been sacrificed by our sin” ~ D.A. Carson

21. “Why is there still so much goodness around us despite our sin and fallenness?”

22. Hey! You can do it! You’ll be fine!

23. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these
Lift up your eyes on high and see:     who created these? He who brings out their host by number,     calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might     and because he is strong in power,     not one is missing (v. 26)

24. “Have you not known. Have you not heard
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth” (v. 28). OF COURSE I CARE!
God, do you even care what happens to me?? (v. 27)

26. “In the wilderness prepare     the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert     a highway for our God 4 Every valley shall be raised up,     every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level,     the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,     and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (v. 3-5)

27. Christ, the suffering servant, identifies fully with our suffering.
Isenheim Altarpiece Painting by Matthias Grünewald and Nikolaus Hagenauer

28. Christ also overcame suffering, pain and death on our behalf.

29. “What he saw surprised him as much as anything else in his whole life
“What he saw surprised him as much as anything else in his whole life. For the tawny face was bent down near his own and (wonder of wonders) great shining tears stood in the Lion's eyes. They were such big, bright tears compared with Digory's own that for a moment he felt as if the Lion must really be sorrier about his Mother than he was himself. "My son, my son," said Aslan. "I know. Grief is great. Only you and I in this land know that yet. Let us be good to one another.” The Magician’s Nephew

30. “I have come to believe that life will not always be as it is now
“I have come to believe that life will not always be as it is now. I find even more comfort in being able to stop focusing on all the heartache, and focus on the One who will someday take heartache away completely and forever.
 I spent my entire life looking for, and never finding, a recipe to go from despair to hope. It did not come from anything I did or didn’t do. Hope comes not in the solution to the problem, but in focusing on Christ, who facilitates the change.”
Tim Keller, “Life Story: Hope in Christ” by Mary, Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering