Last night in class, as I often do, I asked what people thought caused disease before Leuwenhoek's microscope paved the way to learn about microbes. As students provided answers it dawned on me that, despite the Christian beliefs that dominated in Europe during the middle ages, apparently they didn't even seem to recognize the paradox of their answer. As we gain more tools and increase in understanding, of course sometimes the scientific explanation is adjusted to fit what the recently acquirable data suggests, but there is no evidence that in antiquity this occurred in the instance of suffering and wickedness. Of course, we all know that the supposition in ancient times, far back to before the time of Christ, generally assumed that disease came from disobedience to God. From Job to Jesus, and then afterwards into the Bubonic plague, mankind assumed that wickedness brought pestilence, even though both Old and New Testaments teach us that sometimes it did not.
According to the ninth chapter of the Gospel of John, when Jesus encounters a blind man, the throng asks Jesus whether this man had sinned or his parents to cause his blindness, and Jesus tells them that neither was the case. Rather, according to Jesus, the blind man was blind so that Jesus could heal him and show His power as the Messiah.We know from the Book of Job that Job was "perfect" and that his boils were brought upon him when the devil, having been unable to get Job to renounce God after God allowed the devil to strip him of all of his increase except for his health, persuaded God to let him afflict Job and make him unhealthy. Again, this was not because Job did anything wrong.
I am struck suddenly by the paradox that Christians continued to believe even until the modern era that suffering is from wickedness. After all, many of the most wicked men in all of history had at least some period of prosperity, and many of them died surrounded by wealth and glory. In fact, it seems that the advent of suffering is most likely to happen, if it's not random at all, to the FAITHFUL rather than the deviant. This occurs for two reasons that are actually one.
Firstly, opposition mounts to those who are headed down the path of truth and right. There is no need for the devil to detour someone who is already headed down the dark path. That man already voluntarily ascribed himself to the principles of pelf, power and perversion. Rather, we find in life that the closer we get to a goal the more difficult it becomes to achieve it. Often the most exertion is required right at the finish line or during the final countdown where, in Olympic fashion, outcomes may matter by milliseconds. So, the easier your life is, it is more likely a sign that ignoble ease indicates wickedness rather than the favor of the Almighty. As CS Lewis writes that God "relies on the troughs even more than on the peaks; some of His special favourites have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else" (Screwtape Letters Number VIII). Or if you prefer, this poem: "Good timber does not grow in ease. The harsher the gale, the stronger the trees". God is not satisfied with having us "make it through" but He desires more than anything for us to improve and progress, and without opposition or increased requirements, we might stagnate. Ergo, He allows the devil to try us knowing that it is only after appropriately administered clinical trials that the final product actually works.
Secondly, opposition invites us to reject Christ or to draw toward Him and be healed. If everything came up sunshine and skittles, what need would we have for a Savior? Opposition exists we learn so that God "give[s] unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them (Ether 12:27)". The weaknesses and trials and suffering are invitations for us to turn ourselves to God. Even Job turned closer to God, though it was not for sin that he suffered, which ended up in a marvelous manifestation. So too did the blind man in the book of John who turned to Christ and was instantly and literally healed of his physical and spiritual blindness. In fact, spiritual blindness and stubbornness and rebellion can only be healed by the touch of the Master's hand. No matter what we may do, how good we may be, after all we can do it is by grace we are saved: His grace.
How then do so many Christians continue to believe that sin is causal to suffering? We learn that suffering can happen to anyone and that it actually happens to the wicked less than to anyone else. There was a flood recently in Nepal, but the most wicked were probably spared, either because they do not live in the region or because they were able to extricate themselves while the righteous and the poor were forced to remain behind. In fact truly righteous people usually bother themselves far less with "things of the world" because they are trying to live like Jesus and bring other men to Him. So, they might actually STAY in a dangerous area like Daniel or Jeremiah to continue to advocate for truth and right and to help the people after the trial actually happens. After all, the whole need not a physician but them that are sick or otherwise afflicted.
Paradoxically as Christians then we misapprehend both the purpose of tribulation and upon whom it is most likely to fall because we unjustly ascribe suffering to "the dark side". While a great deal of our suffering may be self induced purgatories concomitant with our decisions, things like flooding in Nepal happen to both the righteous and the wicked. Sometimes suffering does not discriminate, but we discriminate ourselves based on our reaction to it. Those who decide to blame God or withdraw from Him because it's "not fair" or because they have suffered already for a "reasonable amound of time" may quit, while the penitent submit to the wisdom, timing and grace of a God they believe loves them knowing that He would not have allowed it to happen if it were not somehow contributory to their eternal best good.
Last week, my air conditioning unit shorted out during a thunderstorm that apparently struck near the house. I am not sure where it hit, but I have found blackened remnants of wood in my yard. It has been around 110F this week, and it was rather expensive to replace the entire system, but I am grateful that I have been putting away money for many years so that, when it failed, I would be able to simply write a check and right the situation. Sleeping was tough, and I have been a little testy. School started this week too, but I'm grateful to have classes and purpose again on a more regular basis than the interstitial weeks between semesters provide. Some people might see this as a terrible thing to suffer. I am grateful that I had AC in the first place, that it lasted for almost 16 years after I bought the house and that, when it happened, I was able to simply pay someone and move forward. I know not everyone is prepared or able to do so. Did this happen because I'm wicked? Maybe. I need repentance as much as any man, but it does not mean that I am more wicked than my neighbors. It was an invitation to qualify for, seek after, and follow divine direction and move myself to a better place. I do not know why God chose last week for this to happen, but I am grateful that I had time and means to prepare and that I found a way to quickly move forward.
In your life, there must be challenges. The road to hell is paved with unbroken success, without detours, without sign posts. The path of least resistance is often the path of least reward. It would have been easier to stay in Eden. It would have been simpler to stay in Egypt. It would have been simpler to acquiesce to the demands of Rome. It was simpler for Peter to claim he knew not That Man. It would be easier to simply do whatever we like. None of those things would be better if people chose the easy way. There MUST be opposition, not just for perspective, but also as an invitation for us to choose whom we list to serve. When you shine the correct light on suffering as Leuwenhoek made it possible to do on microbes, you can see that suffering is a chance to either break down or break through.
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