All Creation Groans, Pt. 5
Study Guide, August 17, 2025
Pastor Clay Olsen
We often speak of reading the Scriptures as ‘listening to the voice of God.’ Dr. John MacArthur, who recently moved into Heaven, is now actually listening to the voice of God. How awesome is that?! And guess what? Soon, so will you and I. But for now, as Dr. MacArthur liked to say, “If you want to hear God speak to you, read your Bible out loud.”
As we have been walking through one of those ‘shadow’ subjects of life, the subject of ‘suffering’, we’ve emphasized how important it is to look to the Scriptures for the light that we already do have about our God and about God’s ways with His children. It is essential to listen to what God has already told us about Himself and about His working in our lives. And one clear point we are making is this: Don’t ever let any of your own thoughts or feelings or anyone else’s thoughts and feelings that contradict what God has said in His Word have sway over how you then think or feel about God or yourself…and especially about shadow subjects, like suffering.
Rather, develop a trust habit like the Psalmist developed, so that he could then say what he said about struggles and sufferings…about shadows. Remember? Ps 23:4-6- “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” KJV
The Psalmist knew that in this world, there would be shadows…shadows of struggles and sufferings. There would also be enemies and troubles and tribulations, as Jesus also told us about that. That’s the reality that the Psalmist knew that he would have to face while living in this broken and cursed world. But he also knew the reality that his Shepherd, his Savior, his Refuge, his Deliverer was going to walk with him through it every step of the way, even all the way through the valley of the shadow of death. And he knew that God’s goodness and mercy to him would be greater than the shadows around him. He knew that he would have to face the shadows, but he also knew that because of his Shepherd’s love and care and goodness and mercies over him and with him, that he did not ever have to fear the shadows. He did not ever have to fear the evil, or the struggles, or the sufferings.
And that is what we can also know because we have the same Shepherd…the same Savior and Deliverer. We have the same love and care and goodness and mercies of our Savior that the Psalmist had for him also following us all the days of our lives. And in knowing that about his Shepherd, the Psalmist could also then deal with what he did not yet know about each instance of suffering in his life. For once you have the revelation of God’s immeasurable love for you, you can trust and wait upon whatever explanation you would like to have about everything else…like about trials, and struggles, and sufferings.
Remember, the circumstances of life do not define the Person and character and love of God. The Cross of Jesus Christ defines the Person and character and love of God. Therefore, do not look through the circumstances of life, like struggles and trials and sufferings, to see God, but look through the Cross of Christ to see God. For it is when you let yourself be convinced and controlled by the love of Christ that you are then prepared to face any circumstance of life…any struggle, trial, and suffering with trust and respose.
It’s like with what the founder and first president of Dallas Theological Seminary, Lewis Sperry Chafer once said. A reporter asked him what the most profound truth was that he had ever discovered that directed his life. Dr. Chafer answered: “Jesus loves me, this I know…for the Bible tells me so.” How great is that? Everything comes down to that. The Psalmist didn’t understand every instance of his sufferings at the hands of his enemies and the circumstances of his life, but he clearly understood that God’s love for him was higher than the heavens are above the earth. And in understanding that he could then rest in the comfort of that truth and drink from that full cup of God’s love for him to then satisfy any other longing that he had. And it will be the same for us.
Asaph was a Levite musician and worship leader during the reigns of King David and King Solomon. He also contributed to the Psalms. And in Psalm 73 he testified about what David had also been testifying. Notice: Ps 73:23-26- “I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. With Your counsel You will guide me, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” NASU
I like how our Brother Darrell says that two of his favorite words in the Bible are –
“But God.” Me, too! Like here with Asaph – “But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” If we could remember to say that to every trial, every struggle, every bout have with suffering – “I pray against this, I pray for deliverance from this, I pray for a miracle in this, I pray for victory over this…yet my flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
That is the same kind of ‘statement of faith’ that Daniel’s three friends made. You remember them – Shake-a-bed, Make-a-bed, and To-bed-we-go! Actually, it’s Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego…oldie, but a goodie. They said: Dan 3:17-18- “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” NASU
They, too, were ‘ready for either’ as we have been emphasizing in our studies on suffering. Again, what is possible for God’s people while living in a world of suffering is that it is possible that we may experience sufferings. But just like with Asaph and these three Heroes, we believe that our God is able to deliver us from them. But even if that deliverance doesn’t happen in the way we pray, we still will not worship or serve anything or anyone other than the Lord our God, who is the strength of our heart and our portion forever.
Again, the Cross of Jesus Christ explains everything we need to know about our God and explains everything we need to know as to why we can trust God with our spirit, soul, and body…even in times we do not understand the ‘whys’ of some hard things in this world.
And yet, how like our God, that although He has not given us an explanation for each instance of suffering in this world, He has given us many revelations about the reasons for suffering in this world. From the very beginning of Mankind’s history, God clearly revealed that because of the Fall of Man in Sin, that this world would be cursed by the effects and damages of sin. Thus, what God intended for good, would now be badly damaged…and the effects of these damages would reach into the physical environment, and into human relationships, and into the struggles in our everyday existence. Remember…Gen 3:17-19- “…Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” NASU
Even God’s first physical children would now experience hardships, struggles, and sufferings…not as a punishment or from a vindictive response of God. No, remember, God Himself provided a covering for their sin. God loved Adam and Eve and saved Adam and Eve from their sin sentence. And that atonement that God provided symbolized the atonement that the Christ, the Messiah, would one day provide for us all through Jesus taking the punishment for sin in our place. God loved Adam and Eve, just as He loves each of His redeemed children. It’s just that until God would re-create this world now damaged by sin, that even His own children would have to live their mortal lives in a world of thorns and thistles. And when you live in a world of thorns and thistles, even God’s children get scratches and cuts and wounds.
In the early morning hours of November 6, 1977, the Kelly Barnes Dam failed. Located at the bottom of the Dam was the Toccoa Falls Bible College. The flood inundated part of the campus and a trailer park. Thirty-nine people died in the flood. A reporter asked one of the men from the campus why God would allow that to happen to a Bible College. The Christian man said, “When you live in a campus that is at the bottom of a Dam and the Dam breaks, the real possibilities are that you could get hit by the flood, no matter who you are.”
Remember, as we pointed out before, when you live in a world of suffering, everyone suffers in some way and in some degree. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. As long as we live in this world, Christians and non-Christians alike, will have to deal with the real world. Plus, as we saw in our last study, as soon as a person is converted, as much as God would love to have them come Home to live with Him in His home of Heaven, God does not remove them from this world, because He has works for them to do and a witness for them to carry out in this real world of sufferings. But when you live in this real world of sickness, and struggles, and sufferings, the real possibilities are that you may have to deal with what is real while living in this real world of suffering. And yes, our deliverances from sufferings are certain! But our deliverances may be immediate, or they may be in time, or they may be in eternity. And that is right where we have to trust God…trust Him for the timing of our deliverances.
But again, unlike the way some respond to questions about suffering, like there are no answers…on the contrary, there are clearly many answers and many reasons to the ‘why questions’ about suffering. Yet, like with Job, God has not yet told us everything we would like to know about each instance of suffering in ours and in other’s lives, but God has told us everything we now need to know about the reasons that His children and others have to deal with sufferings in this world of suffering. But as to why God doesn’t spare all His children from all suffering all of the time…that is not yet revealed to us. Actually, then it would be called ‘Heaven on Earth’. And one day it will be. But remember, God has not promised us Heaven on the old Earth, but He has promised us Heaven on the New Earth. And Jesus is preparing that as we speak!
But one thing for sure, no matter how much the sufferings of this world take from us, God has revealed all the reasons we need to be filled with ‘hope to handle any of it.’ Remember, God will not allow this world, the flesh, or the devil to take more from us than He will restore or give back or return to us much more. Rom 8:16-18 – “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” NASU
Know this: We not only have hope in the midst of our sufferings…we have the Blessed Hope, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is with us and in us, and Jesus will help us and enable us to victoriously go through any of it.
Here’s a caution about responding to questions about suffering. Sometimes when Christians are asked the ‘why questions’ about suffering from unbelievers they give answers that are without hope, or answers that are simply not Biblical. They say things like, ‘we don’t know why good people suffer”, or “there are no answers for the ‘whys’ of suffering”, and so on. But those responses are not only blatantly untrue, but they also leave people without hope! Those are the kind of answers that do not do anyone any good at all! No, remember that the Apostle Peter clearly told us that we are to prepare ourselves with the Words of God to be ready to give an answer and to speak to the questions people naturally have about this world. We are to be ready to speak to them about the ‘hope’ that lies within us…or particularly about our Blessed Hope, the Lord Jesus Christ! 1 Peter 3:15- “…but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.” NASU
Certainly, this speaks of being able to clearly share the saving message of the Gospel of Christ, but it also calls for us to be prepared to share the revelations of God’s truths to a world floundering in falsehoods. We need to be able to share God’s truths about this issue of suffering, especially since this issue of suffering is the most questioned issue of all by the world about God and matters of faith.
We need to clearly tell people in this world that a real reason for sufferings in this world is because we live in a world that is damaged and is reeling from the effects of mankind’s sin, which explains why everything is harder than it was supposed to be, harder than it was created to be. There wasn’t supposed to be struggles and sorrows and sufferings in this world. But the presence of sin in this world has now made this world to be a world of suffering in which we now temporarily live! God created a perfect world, but sin brought a curse upon it so that we now live in a world of ‘thorns and thistles.’ We need to remind people of this reality!
Plus, we need to remind people that there is no such thing as a ‘Utopian world’…but there is a Heavenly world. ‘Utopia’ is a man-made concept that is man-centered rather than God-centered. And that’s like Dostoyevsky said about man and his ideas of ‘Utopia’… “Humans make bad gods.” They sure do! So what we are then left with is that there is either this broken and damaged world of suffering or there is God’s world of Heaven, where sickness, sorrows, and sufferings are completely and forever gone from the experience of every child of God in Heaven.
But as long as we live in this world, even though it is temporary, even God’s children may temporarily suffer, from no fault of their own or without any fault in their God, for sure. Plus, we have already given several more reasons in our previous studies to add to this Biblical picture of why there is suffering in this world in the lives of both the just and the unjust.
But because we are ‘more than conquerors’ in Christ, the issue of suffering is not just about what suffering does to us, but it’s about what we can do with it…about what we can do with one of the worst aspects of having to live in this world. And it has to do, not with what ‘suffering is’, but with ‘Who God is’, and therefore what we can do about the instances of sufferings that come into our lives. And we’ll explore that in our next study together.