Mental Illness 11 – Getting a Grip On Suffering

Mental Illness 11 – Getting a Grip On Suffering

Ecc 4:1-8

1 Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed-- and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors-- and they have no comforter.

2 And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive.

3 But better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.

4 And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

5 The fool folds his hands and ruins himself.

6 Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.

7 Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:

8 There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. "For whom am I toiling," he asked, "and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?" This too is meaningless-- a miserable business!

Suffering can be a real source of mental anguish. How you view suffering is what determines whether you will grow from your experience or be defeated by them.

The problem of suffering can only be addressed and understood in light of the Gospel and eternity. Many atheists have argued that the presence of suffering on this earth proves there is either no God or that our God is powerless because of it. The circular argument goes that:

1 – If God is all powerful and yet allows people to suffer, then He cannot be a merciful or caring God.

2 – If God is caring and merciful, but cannot remove suffering or save us from it, then He is not really all powerful.

Of course, this viewpoint is based on the bias that suffering is a bad thing that needs to be removed. Since that is a faulty premise, the argument is faulty as well. These people are simply assuming suffering is bad or useless and we can do without it.

This, of course, is wrong. Suffering, opposition, stress, problems, trouble… all these we need. Even the human body needs stress and opposition in order to grow and thrive and survive! In a completely stress-free environment you would die from lack of exercise! Your heart would give out and your body would weaken due to lack of physical stress.

Notice how people who’ve had injuries and are bed ridden for a long time need physical therapy to get their body to work right again. This is particular to broken bones that require casts which render certain body parts immobile for a long time. The lack of muscle activity (exercise, stress) renders that body part weak and almost useless, needing to be revived again by repetitive stress (exercise).

I learned from my cardiologist that our circulatory system also needs to be stressed (cardiovascular exercise) in order for it to function adequately. This is how God created it so we could do what He has planned for us to do in His name. Because some people seek comfort and grow complacent and strive to reduce the stress in their life, physical or otherwise, their bodies are more prone to illnesses that come as a result of lack of stress, such as heart attacks, strokes, and other problems that are a result of a weakened circulatory system.

What we need to learn to do is differentiate stress from strain. There is a fine line between them and contentment and satisfaction – maximum enjoyment of this life God gave us, is found within the balance of stress and strain. Notice this next passage, full of wisdom from our Creator:

Ecc 3:1-13

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What does the worker gain from his toil?

10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men.

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.

13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil-- this is the gift of God.

Four times does Solomon repeat this thought in verses 12 and 13 throughout Ecclesiastes! But how can we learn to put into perspective the misery and anguish we encounter during our life here?

Remember the 4 stress moderators we discussed a few months ago? Here they are for your review:

4 Stress Moderators

These moderators help us keep the stress in our life from become strain.

1- Autonomy: Autonomy is about choices. The more in control you feel about the choices that you are making, the more you are able to manage stress in a positive way; meaning, the stress in your life will actually help you conform more to Jesus. Those who feel pressed under someone’s thumb, or dominated by another person feels their choices are not their own and this weakens their ability to handle stress. God gives us freedom of choice to make decisions that will ultimately affect our eternity. He gives us choices, just like a good parent that trains their children to make their own choices in life, yet guides the child to discern what the better choices are. There are always good ones and bad ones. Autonomy is a gift granted by the Lord God Almighty and no one has the right to take that autonomy from you under the eyes of God.

2- Connectedness: How connected you are to positive, optimistic and encouraging people will strengthen your ability to handle stress to become more conformed to Jesus. God has the church connected to the best source of stress management there is. Through the building up of the body in love, in how we speak and fellowship and mentor one another we have one of the strongest stress moderators available to the entire world. We are connected! If you choose to hang out with the wrong people, who encourage negativity, fleshly desires and passions, you are not really connected, since these kinds of relationships disconnect you from the source of the church and your relationship with God. You will not be able to handle the stress effectively in your life and it will strain you. Sin is the single most effective “disconnector” there is. It disconnected us from God!

3- Perspective: This moderator is acquired by wisdom: learning and experience. Christians are the only people in the entire world that have the edge on perspective: We know the TRUTH! Knowing the truth about what will happen to you and what is happening in the spiritual realm around you helps you put in perspective all that happens to you. You know the angels are ministering to you, the Lord is with you, the Holy Spirit helps you and that you are headed for eternity. All the stress added to your life is properly processed when you have the “spiritual insider information” on life. You can take a whack at anything Satan throws your way. Can you image what people do who have no idea of what is really happening to them? I remember what it was like and all it brought me was cynicism, bitterness and anger. I was being consumed by my lack of perspective! A person without perspective drowns themselves in their stress and anxiety. They allow the things of this world to dominate them and make choices for them and disconnect them from the only source of LOVE: the Lord God.

4- Tone: Since we live in a body that is affected by our mental, emotional and spiritual state; the body reacts to stress also. Our bodies are like shock absorbers, taking in the stress and dissipating it in various different ways: heart and respiratory rates, muscle tone, digestive health and chemical balance. If we keep our bodies well maintained, we will handle stress better, allowing us to be conformed unto Christ. Remember the body is a machine. A machine which is not well maintained will break down with stress. You maintain your car and other machines that you may have by oiling and lubricating them, cleaning them and using them. A car that is not used will not be stressed and will break down from lack of use! Likewise the body needs to be exercised, well fed and well maintained. A person who is physically healthy is able to handle tress better than a person whose body has already been affected by stress in a bad way. If your body is run down, it will have an effect on you emotionally, mentally and physically. While you are in your body it is of some value to train it rightly (1 Tim 4:8)!

These help us understand the balance we need to have in life in order to really enjoy it. To balance is to moderate. We learn to moderate by appreciating differences. When we compare differences we contrast. Life is about contrast, that’s what Ecc 3:1-13 teaches. We cannot fully understand one end of the matter unless we welcome the other. I am not saying we need to go to extremes, quite the opposite; the wise man, fearing God, avoids all extremes (Ecc 7:16-18) – he seeks balance, and balance comes from appreciating the contrasts of life:

Ecc 11:8-10

8 However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is meaningless.

9 Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.

10 So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.

Learn to live a balanced life and you will be blessed! The dark days that we dread, they are the ones that bring things into balanced perspective for you. Even Jesus had to suffer to not only learn obedience, but to become the perfect source of salvation for those who would obey Him (Hebrews 5:7-9).

10 things to understand about suffering:

1 – Suffering proves we need to depend on God – We are frail and weak. Sometimes I wonder why God didn’t make us of metal. Perhaps we would not be hurt physically as much! Or what about those animals that can grow back an appendage? That would be great for us if we lost a finger, arm or leg in an accident! Some people, wanting to be their own god, try to eliminate any source of weakness in themselves they can encounter, but of course, in the end, they cannot eliminate death, the great equalizer! Even Jesus was made like us in every way that he may provide us with true comfort (Heb 2:17-18).

Heb 2:17-18

17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Pain can be humbling! It can slap the pride and arrogance away from us, as Job stated:

Job 6:11-13

11 "What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient?

12 Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze?

13 Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?

Of course, make sure you are not suffering for being a fool!

Pr 13:20 He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

1Pe 4:15-16

15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.

16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.

2 – Suffering can draw our interests towards the true God – Our natural inclination when we are suffering is to turn towards a higher source of help:

Ps 18:6 In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.

The first time I really turned to God in prayer was after a period of deep depression during my first year of college. I had lost the love I thought I had at the time, I felt alone and far from home. For the first time in my life I noticed I had no one I could really depend on, not even myself. I was scared and out of fear I turned to the Lord. He answered! One month later Bob came knocking on my door and the rest is history.

3 – Suffering helps us see sin for what it really is – When Adam and Eve first opened the door for sin to enter the world, all manner of evil and their horrible effects entered into the world, even death:

Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned…

All this happened because of man’s rebellion against His way of righteousness. So when you see sin, in yourself or others; or suffer the effects of sin from yourself or others, even thought you had nothing to do with it, let it be a sober reminder of the dreadfulness of sin. Often when I read the paper or hear/watch the news I am quickly reminded of where I am; in a world full of sin that needs redemption. Although initially my flesh may want to issue judgment, out of love and compassion I see a need for the Gospel for those who are caught in the horridness of sin or have suffered their effects and are hopeless and lost without Jesus!

Remember that you are in no position to judge because you are a sinner as well! If you are quick to judge or complain or criticize, you have not yet learned and perhaps need to suffer a little more. All we can do about the sin in our world is not be a part of it and rescue the souls that don’t have Jesus!

I remember when Enoch, my first born, came into the world and was found to be deaf. Although deafness was not new for me and I didn’t consider it a handicap or a reason to be sad, many others who did not have this experience (in the world) tried to offer their comfort and viewed it as a sad event. I can understand that. Clary’s parents shared with me what it was like for them. Who’s to blame? We look for blame when we suffer, don’t we? Especially when we don’t understand why something has to be a certain way. Just remember that we live in a world that has been affected by sin. However, it is like that for a purpose! Remember when the disciples asked Jesus whose fault it was for the blind man to have been born blind?

John 9:1-3

1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.

2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

Just remember to see sin for what it is and to allow for whatever you have suffered due to sin (whether by your own doing or the doing of others or just because this is an imperfect world) to give glory to God! For when we are weak, He is strong (2Co 12:7-10)!

4 – Suffering helps us see the real worth of things – You are able to sort out what the real important things are in this life. No longer will you pursue the petty things of this life nor desire to accomplish the things that 100 years from now won’t matter. You will, however, use your life energy and resources to pursue that which is eternal.

Many who have been near death have had their priorities rearranged by the trauma of their experience. Those who learn their lessons go one to become advocates of the things worth living and dying for. They learn to make each second count in their life and are in no rush to continue running the rat race in the world.

Don’t wait for a tragic experience to help you realize that your time with your family and friends, spent in true fellowship, is what has the most worth in this minute life. Enrich yourself and them with your attention and your presence. Teach your children to value fellowship (intimate relationships) and God’s righteousness. They will learn it from you!

When I first started out filling my goals and personal assessment for 2006 I came across the question asking me to list 50 things I wanted to do before I died. Fifty??!! I said to myself; I can’t even think of 10 things I want to do before I die other than preach the Gospel to my family, make sure my children are disciples and that my wife and I always continue making Jesus the center and circumference of our lives. Then I realized how much I had changed since I was full of the world. I’ve heard some brothers listing many different items in this category like: make trips to different countries, snowboard from the highest mountain, bathe in the Dead Sea, even parachuting! Yes I realize the category asks you to list things from the mundane to the sublime, but honestly, are we to pursue the mundane or the heavenly?

5 – Suffering teaches us about compassion – When we learn to be comforted by our God we will be able to comfort others.

2Co 1:3-5

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,

4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

Only when you have been through some tragedy and have seen God carry you through are you able to comfort others with the comfort that comes from God. That is something you can’t fake. You will learn the difference between sympathy and empathy. Whereas sympathy (Greek syn – with, pathos - feeling) is the sharing of feelings and the ability to express those feelings to one another, empathy (en – in, pathos) goes deeper; it is the understanding and the ability to enter into those feelings of another – literally knowing what its like to walk in their shoes. Jesus truly is a mediator in this regard, knowing what it is like to be fully human:

Heb 2:17-18

18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

6 – Suffering helps us be aware that this world is not our home – We’re just a passing through! We are sojourners, pilgrims, travelers with no attachments to this material world or its longings. Who wants a world filled with daily problems, dangers and suffering? Would you want to put up with that forever?

Think about it... How many of you feel so good to be back home after being absent from it for a while? Even when we go out on vacation, supposedly to have a good time, we are so glad to be back home, that is, if Jesus is the center of your home. Perhaps some of you are glad to be out of your home! That’s a sign you need to get right with the Lord and make Him the center of your family life! If you can’t make Him the center of your home here on Earth, do you really think you’ll be in His home in Heaven forever?

We understand that when we are traveling we are leaving the homestead for a time, and therefore when we travel we put up with imperfections, inconsistencies and problems – knowing they are just temporary. How many of you have said while you’re at someone else’s home – “That wouldn’t happen at my house!” or “That wouldn’t happen under my watch!” or “That’s not how I keep my bathroom!”

Our brothers and sister under the Old Covenant saw themselves that way:

Heb 11:13-16

13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.

15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.

16 Instead, they were longing for a better country-- a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Notice what they considered themselves – strangers not just to a foreign land, but strangers to the entire earth! This world was not their home! They were longing for something better, something they could really call their own home – as God prepares for them and for us a heavenly city! Wow! That’s someplace I want to live and make my home!

Some get so depressed about their situation here, as if they didn’t have hope. That’s because their eyes are on this world and its problems and challenges. I’ve studied the Bible with many people who live with daily challenges that you can’t even imagine. Some who are afflicted with disease or have had accidents that incapacitate them. Some whose health has deteriorated to the point where their body is severely limited. These people live with constant challenge, every second of the day. Some live with constant pain, whether physical or emotional, the scars of battling this daily sinful life full of death at every turn. Again I ask – would you want to live here forever with a body subject to disease and imperfection?

Ro 8:18-25

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope

21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?

25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Do you say such things and meditate on them? Or are your thoughts so weighted by the concerns and affairs of this earthly place? Those who say and think such spiritual thoughts truly live like sojourners here. They don’t have much, don’t own much and don’t wish much from this earthly place, other than to continue pressing on towards the goal – the upward call in Christ Jesus! On the other hand, those who have made this world their home have the testimony of their accumulated riches, concerns and activities to show for their worldly desires. In the end, the weight of their longing for this fleshly life will keep them from the upward call and heavenly city.

Let us not live by such limited sight!

2Co 5:7-11

7 We live by faith, not by sight.

8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.

1Pe 2:11 - Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

Remember that you will only be here for a little while – don’t get engrossed in the passing glory of the world. The world wars for your soul, just like advertisements on magazines and TV compete for your attention! You don’t sit down to watch commercials and fast forward through the show do you? In the same way, pay no mind to the temporary commercials from Satan and your flesh. The real deal is coming soon, and it is permanent! Thanks be to our Lord Jesus Christ!

7 – Suffering helps us to pray better – We are more focused on our real needs and our dependence on God when we suffer.

If Jesus had to pray, what about me?

Well, He fell down on His knees,

said “Father help me please!”,

If Jesus had to pray, what about me?

- unknown

We are designed to increase our dependence on God through suffering. That’s how Jesus learned obedience as He learned to depend more and more on God! All that preparation was for the final greatest moments of temptation in the garden of Gethsemane.

Hebrews 5:7-8

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. (8) Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered

Prayer is effective when we humble ourselves before God in reverence! Prayers offered up correctly are the result of suffering. Often our prayers are trivial and reflect our selfishness – we pray for things and for our ways to happen according to us. Only when we’ve been through the purification of suffering are we more willing to align our wills to God and our prayer becomes more and more effective. It is a learned exercise! If you don’t allow suffering to work this purpose in you, your mind and heart will be hardened against the truth and you will find yourself judging God and storing up wrath for yourself on the day of God’s wrath (Romans 2:5).

8 – Suffering tempers the soul – It helps prepare us for eternity!

One of the effects of suffering is a temperate (balanced) faith. Through the purging of trials, tests and suffering, we learn to abandon extremes and outbursts and become people who wait on the Lord and are satisfied with the reply of the Lord, earnestly awaiting the blessed hope in the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Suffering helps us pursue the kingdom of God and abandon the recklessness of this world.

1Peter 1:6-7

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. (7) These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Having balance is a matter of having refined faith. Peter compares mature faith to the process of tempering precious metals. Faith and character, like precious metals, can be corrupted (1Co 15:33). The process of tempering (refining) by fire removes the impurities. The refiner knows when the process of refinement is finished by being able to see his perfect reflection on the surface of the metal. Pure gold and silver have surfaces that reflect light perfectly as a mirror.

Tempering also hardens metals, that they may withstand stronger and stronger pressures without yielding:

Romans 5:3-5

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; (4) perseverance, character; and character, hope. (5) And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

In this passage we can see the individual components of a mature faith: perseverance, character and hope. All are produced by trials and suffering. Any of these gained without due suffering are ineffective illusions, since these are, by definition, tested by fire. The fire will prove it genuine!

1 Corinthians 3:11-13

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. (12) If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, (13) his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.

Without this process of refinement or tempering, precious metals would be debased and brittle; of little use. You need to welcome the trials. The pressures and the suffering – it prepares you for eternity!

9 – Suffering brings about the fruit of the Spirit – Think about the noblest of virtues and how they arise in people.

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Think of how each of these fruit is proven genuine. Only through trial and testing you are able to exercise your love, joy, peace and patience. Without problems, prejudice, fear, or danger you wouldn’t be able to say you posses these fruit.

Love vs. idolatry: Can you learn how to love if you don’t have enemies? Can you say you love God without having to give up everything you call your own, including your decisions and goals in this life?

Joy vs. worldly sorrow: How can you say you have real joy unless you’ve been through the most wretched times in your life? How can you say your joy is real unless you’ve known the depths of pain and suffering? The joy you may feel is just that: a fleeting feeling. Real joy does not depend on a feeling, it is a conviction tempered by the most frustrating and trying times you’ve had in your life.

Peace vs. turmoil: Peace will never exist on earth because of sin. The only real peace comes to men who have the favor of the Lord, that is, who are obedient. These obedient men understand real peace since it has been tested by every fleshly temptation that comes to us in this body. Where there is sin there can be no fruit of the spirit, there can be no peace. But peace is not just the absence of turmoil. Those who have the peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil 4:7) work towards eradicating anything in themselves that can compromise that peace.

Patience vs. intolerance: Can you have patience without being tried? Can you say you are patient if you hadn’t had to wait and suffer long for something you desire? Having patience, which is the first sign of true love, also means you are dead to self. Without patience you could never love and are consumed in your own selfishness.

Phil 1:20

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

1Co 16:13

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.

Courage vs. cowardice: Fear, or danger, two very uncomfortable situations, temper courage. In the absence of fear or danger you wouldn’t be able to test for this fruit of the Spirit.

10 – Suffering helps us separate the seen from the unseen – Suffering helps us see the shallow things of this material world from the stable things of eternity. Suffering gives us vision that can see through the hollow screen of this world

Once a soul is well worn with suffering, and has allowed the fires to purify it, that soul is hardly deceived by the temporary pleasures of this world.

2Co 4:18

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Suffering gives you a kind of special x-ray vision, you know? It allows you to see past the virtuality of this world. That way you will remain with the unshaken kingdom of God for all eternity:

Heb 12:25-29

25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?

26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."

27 The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken-- that is, created things-- so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,

29 for our "God is a consuming fire."

Once your eyes are fixed on the unshaken Kingdom you won’t refuse anything from God. You won’t turn away from the warnings you receive here from those who really love you with the truth.

Perhaps you haven’t suffered enough and that’s why your pride still prevents you from seeing the unseen. Perhaps there is still more suffering in store for you so that you won’t have to suffer forever. Learn the lessons you are being given, for they will eventually save you if you apply wisdom. Remember our God is a consuming fire and he is not partial to any person. He is just and He is righteous as He is merciful. Right now His mercy is on you to accept His Son and sacrifice your pride.

Understanding suffering is key to having the right mind in Jesus Christ.